World War II ended with the Allies acting as occupying powers of Germany and Japan. The decimated countries could not rebuild on their own, so we moved in and began to rebuild them ourselves. It was one of the most successful and popular extra national rebuilding effort ever undertaken. The booming West German and Japanese nations became our closest allies within a decade, and their descendents continue to be our friends and compatriots to this day.
The War built the largest military we’d ever fielded. We measured our star fleets by the thousands. Our armies counted hundreds of millions of men and women. We fought across hundreds of star systems. It was the largest war any of us had ever imagined. Most of us at least. There were some of us really impressive imaginations. But I think my point stands. It was really big. I hope we never fight another one like it.
Big business joined the game for the second generation of virtual worlds. They created powerful graphics cards that could use art to bring virtual worlds to life, and companies built the worlds. Kids modified them of course, sometimes against the wishes of the company, and an underground hacking culture soon appeared. Free and modified versions of pay-to-play games hit the bulletin boards and kids changed computing again.
World War II, The Global War as Europeans still call it, only ended after a sustained Allied bombing campaign that turned Germany and Japan into smashed collections of rubble. Germany’s great industries were gone, and Japan’s cities lay flattened and burned. German’s capital was occupied by Allied troops and Japan was targeted by the only two nuclear weapons used in war in the entire century. The surrender of both nations was total and complete.
The War made us a nation of warriors. A nation of Veterans. We answered the call of freedom and flew the red white and blue over thousands of battlefields. And red white and blue covered those we carried home. We all gave something in The War. Some of us gave everything. I hope the next time you see a Veteran you will remember this. The liberties we all enjoy exist because someone fought and bled for them. A Veteran.