Many of the commenters here might be too young to remember the war. I am too, but being something of a history buff, and the fact that my father fought in the U.S. army against the Germans, I have a bit of perspective on this.
People today cannot imagine how unprepared the US was in 1941. And Congress was doing everything in its power to keep the US out of any conflict, be it in Europe (which some derisively called “the Jew war”), or with Japan. Today this sounds ludicrous, but if not for Hashem’s mercies, if the US wouldn’t have immediately rallied around FDR in defense of the country, who knows if Japan couldn’t have seized areas of the western US?
The US made the decision to stand up to tyranny, both in the Pacific and against Germany. FDR believed Albert Einstein’s warnings about Hitler possibly achieving nuclear capability. The government allocated huge resources to developing the atom bomb, which military planners figured on using against Germany. Hashem guided the Allied forces to victory without nuclear weapons, but the war in the Pacific could have dragged on for years. The Japanese army was not some ragtag military force. They were tough, disciplined, and had high quality weapons. And it was nearly impossible to stop the kamikaze attacks on US warships.
So yes, we owe everything to the United States of America, and to the valiant servicemen (and women) who gave their lives so that ydden can live proper yiddishe lives in the US and throughout the world. It’s not too much to ask to fly the American flag on July 4th — not because we identify with all the American mishegassen (which lately have proliferated and deteriorated to a worrying degree), but with a sense of gratitude to all those who sacrificed to free the world from Nazi Germany and Imperialist Japan. So, yes, they are heroes for what they did. Even if we still save our principle admiration for the great ones of our nation.
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