In western Europe U.S. spearheads sealed off the great Ruhr industrial area, British and Canadian troops curved a trap around The Netherlands. The entire German military situation was collapsing. General Eisenhower called upon the beaten enemy to yield.
In the western Pacific U.S. forces stormed into the key Ryukyu Islands, less than 400 miles from Japan's heartland, against opposition which was, at least in the beginning, fantastically light. Ice-calm Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz relaxed his studied reserve enough to admit: "Our final decisive victory is assured."
In the sixth year of war the Allied peoples had learned patience and caution, learned...
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