Sweden in 1941 had Nazi-occupied Norway on one side, Nazi-allied (through mutual hatred of the Soviet Union) Finland on the other, and Nazi Germany itself across the Baltic Sea. It was hard being a neutral nation in the midst of all of that. Like the Swiss, the Swedes believed in armed neutrality.
The 1941 Swedish propaganda poster below is promoting marksmanship. The wording translates as “shooting skills increase the defense force.” Both the civilian and the soldier are firing what appears to be a Model 96 Swedish Mauser.
It is hard to believe that it has been 80 years since the attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy on Pearl Harbor. For my parent’s generation, it was something that they lived in real time. They heard about it on the radio or in extra editions of their local newspaper. My dad had already been in the Army for almost a year, my mom was working for the New York City office of the Lend-Lease Program, and my Uncle John would skip school the next day to enlist in the Navy.
Those who were in the military at Pearl Harbor that day are now in their late 90s at the very least. In other words, there are very few of them left. The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association stopped their Hawaii reunions 15 years ago due to the aging of their members. They officially disbanded in 2011. It has been succeeded by the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. Even still, if you look at the pictures of their members, they are not youngsters.
A quick search of the Internet will allow you to find many, many propaganda posters from that era such as the one above. My favorite that I first posted in 2013 is the one below. Not only does it play on words but it emphasizes the total national commitment that was required to win World War Two. Notice that the knitting needles are arranged in a V for Victory.
My point in remembering the Pearl Harbor attack every year is that we should never forget our history. I fear that both our civilian and military leadership has forgotten many of the lessons that Pearl Harbor taught us and we will be caught unawares again.
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