LAUSD Quiz: What significant event happened on this date: June 5, 1945?

(Whoops!) Make that "June 6, 1044"- (sometimes you just expect that you are typing the words and numbers you meant to use, and the obvious is obviously missed. Ed. 6-8-09)

What's the answer I should hear uniformly? D-Day, the Allied forces invasion of France on the beaches of Normandy to fight back against the Germans in World War II that would ultimately end in the defeat of the Germans.

A simple map that shows the locations of the five beaches where the troops landed. http://images.france-for-visitors.com/images/pdf/invasion-beaches-france-map.pdf

The question really is not one that might be tough for only LAUSD students, but probably for a lot of other high school students who really don't seem to be in touch with American history, generally. But the emphasis on the LAUSD side of the probe is due to the suspicion that many have not really been taught much about history, neither World nor American, to make questions like the one in the title unnecessarily more challenging than they should be.

I won't begin a long discussion or review of what is not taught and why, or whether the events in American history have become swept into the corner in favor of other things. The real point is that this is one anniversary of a date in history that was very significant to the course of WW II in Europe. This was a period in history where there were so many people, Americans and Allied factions, as well as the Axis powers and their citizenry, plus all the people who fell under the control of the Germans and Japanese as they invaded more lands. Each person possesses some personal, first-hand recollections, but as time moves on, more an more of them are dying and the rich history that could be added to from each person is lost unless passed on to others.

For the remaining people of the era, that day from 65 years ago does mean something important. There could be a better appreciation of what we have now from taking some time to inquire of surviving persons of their experiences, either as military participant or as civilians. WW II had an impact that could not be ignored by people alive at the time.

Living history is one of those thing that seems so easy to get, but becomes a lost opportunity by postponing or forgetting that many friends, neighbors and relatives and possibly co-workers can be the source for some real history. There were reports a few years ago that WW II veterans were dying at the rate of 1,000 per day. One item I found has stated this figure and relates a few real life experiences about the situation, too, to put it into better perspective. http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.politics/2008-05/msg03775.html The people of that day were referred to as "The Greatest Generation."

These are the kinds of things that can be preserved by recording oral histories from so many people on so many experiences. In this way, you get a true appreciation for the times and the people and it may even influence how you live your own life. In this day of such a wealth of technology, we don't record as much as could be by audio or video means, but instead usually use the advances in technology for the most mundane things. The more communication advances, we see a decline lower the level of any meaningful thought.

Application of this technology to capturing recollections and opinions from are ever-aging populations of WW II people could be a positive force in terms of collecting historical artifacts. And this approach is practiced by some classes, among the teaching and learning techniques that are employed these days. More should be do this.

Having a Happy Thanksgiving (celebration) in Claremont

Thanksgiving for kindergartners in Claremont

Do you remember these holiday times in elementary school where the origins of the holiday were often presented in class activities and performances as plays? Well, doing things like that might get up a little controversy, maybe a lot of controversy. In days of old, or older days for some, or maybe, not too old days for others of you, WE did those things and we learned, in the old hands-on learining style that gets us into the subject so that we can understand it better..

Over in Claremont, there were these two elementary schools, Condit and Mountain View, that had a decades-old tradition of having kindergarten students dress up as Pilgrims and Indians, all coming together for the Thanksgiving feast. The students would alternate by years, with one school taking the role of Indians and the other being the Pilgrims. The students walked over from one school to the other for the festivities.

This got one of the parents, Michelle Raheja, to object with a claim that this whole process was demeaning to American Indians and was racist. The parent an English professor at UC Riverside and objected to this. The school board met last week and heard from both sides on this, deciding to allow the festivities but no costumes for the kids. This all is too much political correctness that happens to dampen lots of things from the way we had seen in the past. Do you see Cinco de Mayo celebrations cut out the costumes because they are not “authentic” representations or racist? I haven’t heard that.

The history of Thanksgiving is of peace and sharing, and the idea that this is about genocide, racism and false events is simply bogus. The conflicts between the settlers and American Indians were not same as what the Thanksgiving celebration was all about. All things were not hostile and should not be assumed to have been so. The real haters in my view are the purveyors of dissension and hate who seek to "uncover" as politically incorrect whatever they decide impinges on their view of society, past and present.

Learning about the history that make up our culture comes to kids in representations for the sake of simplicity; something age-appropriate, and those more detailed history books come later. But some people use the events to raise their personal agenda issues, loudly objecting in their protest to whatever falls within their view. This is one of those cases.


The parents decided to go ahead with the childrens' festivities and have the kids wear Pilgrim and Indian costumes they made, and the officials did not interfere. People protested that to some degree, but it was pretty peaceful. After all, these are kindergarten kids enjoying the holiday with a completely positive feeling, not one of the holidays based on a sad event. A lot of people look to things to find whatever they disagree with and call it racism or something that it is not. The personal agendas of a few in this case almost took away an enjoyable experience.

The parents decided to keep their kids home from school today to send their message to the Board. The district gets money based on an ADA, Average Daily Attendance, and it is affected by absences. Parents were of the opinion that the Board might consider money being more important than words as the parents’ response to the decision of the Board. I normally object to students missing school as a form of protest, but for kindergarten, the day is a short one and a pre-holiday early day off for a young kid is not pivotal to gaining an education, where it might be productive for older students. I will say one thing that this certainly shows, and that is parent-involvement.

You can read more on this with a Google “Claremont, thanksgiving, kindergarten” or such to search to find the several stories, with details on more of the objections and the responses. Objectors even tried to make comparison of the event to Jews having a celebration with Nazis, so you can see the extremes to which the opinions ranaged.

For one source of an historical perspective See Nathaniel Filbrick, “Mayflower,” (Description: http://www.nathanielphilbrick.com/mayflower/index.html ) for a view of the details of the time.

This book, like so many other books, is at the L.A. Public Library [Call No. 974.4 P545] so you don’t have to buy to read for two weeks at a time; the borrower cards are issued free with some lightweight proof of being a city resident.) The web site is a wealth of information and searches as well as requests for books to be sent to your local branch for pick up is a helpful service provided online.