Meeting the Challenge, Overcoming the Odds

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Today is the 64th anniversary of VE Day, the day that World War II officially ended in Europe.

It wasn't the end of the war — VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day) was still a few months in the future, and that would bring the final conclusion of the hostilities. But there was celebrating everywhere, in every major city in America and across Europe as well. In London, Princess Elizabeth (who became Queen Elizabeth II less than 10 years later) and her sister Princess Margaret wandered among the festive crowds in anonymity and participated in the jubilation.

That day also happened to be President Harry Truman's 61st birthday. Truman dedicated the victory to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died less than a month earlier and for whom flags still flew at half–staff. The traditional 30–day mourning period for a president had not yet concluded.

Much remained to be done — and endured. Rationing would continue. Many of the great cities of Europe lay in ruins and would need years to rebuild.

But the guns had fallen silent. Instead of the sound of cannon fire, there was music and dancing in the streets. After nearly six years of war, a weary Europe could finally start to look ahead to a hopeful future.

That hope may not have lasted long. Before the year was out, the nuclear age had begun, bringing new fears and challenges, and, before much time had passed, the Cold War held the world in a grip that would last for decades.

But all that lay in the future on May 8, 1945.

And, I suppose, if one could have spoken with those in the Allied countries and asked them to share their thoughts on that day, they would not have dwelled on the future but on the triumph over Germany and the effort it had taken to beat the Nazis.

So it is, whenever circumstances force people to pull together to defeat a common enemy. In the 1940s, the enemy was the Axis powers. Today, it is the recession and rising unemployment.

There are hopeful signs, though, that today's generation may be turning the corner in its fight.

The Labor Department released its monthly job loss figures today.

How those figures are interpreted may depend upon whether one is disposed to see the glass as half–empty or half–full, but there is encouragement if you know where to look.

On one hand, the unemployment rate did hit a 25–year high as 539,000 jobs were lost in April. That brought unemployment to 8.9% — the highest it's been since September 1983. Since the start of 2008, 5.7 million jobs have been lost.

On the other hand, however, job losses were significantly lower than they were in March, when almost 700,000 jobs were lost — and the number is lower than the 600,000 figure that had been anticipated for April.

In World War II, the Allies had to take their victories where they could find them at times — and sometimes they had to look for the good even as they were accepting the bad. But eventually, things turned around.

The same is true for this generation. The good news may come incrementally for awhile. The glass may appear half–empty. But at least something is there.