Apologies for the delay! Here’s a brief look back in time for February 19th.
In 1847, the first search party finds and rescues members of the Donner party, a group consisting of multiple families who got stranded while emigrating from Springfield, Ill., to California. This happened because of their decision to utilize a supposed shortcut promoted by a future Confederate soldier named Lansford Hastings. Out of the 87 members, only 48 would see the journey’s end.
In 1942, 32nd U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066: the forced internment of Japanese immigrants and their descendants. This was brought on by increased hostilities towards Japanese-Americans following the attack on Pearl Harbor a couple months prior. Around 120,000 Japanese-American civilians were forced into ten camps across the U.S. West Coast.
In 1945, Operation Detachment begins in an effort to dismantle the Empire of Japan’s hold in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Led by U.S. Marines, it was preluded by a series of bombing raids intended to weaken the stronghold. The Americans would ultimately secure the Volcano Islands later that March, but would sustain a death toll of around 6,800 Marines, Coast Guard, and Navy members. One of the most notable images from this campaign was the raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi, taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal a few days later on February 23rd.