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Passing of A Generation
HAIRY
Member Posts: 23,606
The true American patriots:
Link: http://www.wtv-zone.com/Mary/PASSINGOFGENERATION.HTML
volenti non fit injuria
Link: http://www.wtv-zone.com/Mary/PASSINGOFGENERATION.HTML
volenti non fit injuria
Comments
I respecfully disagree with your caption "The true American patriots". Yes, patriots indeed, but all service men and women are also true patriots.
A more appropriate caption, IMO, would have been "America's Greatest Generation".
It is sad that we are loosing hundreds of members of this great generation daily, both vets and Rosie the rivetors types that did not serve, but were vital just the same in the war effort.
Ben
Play Ball!!!
"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a brave and scarce man, hated and scorned. When the cause succeeds, however, the timid join him...for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." -Mark Twain
Nice post!
I am the Egg-Man! I am the Egg-Man! I am the Walrus! Kooo-kooo-kee-chooo!
Inf. Div (3rd I.D.) which had the highest casualty rate, as a Inf. Rifleman in WW 2. Few us left really consider we were "a greater generation" than our troops that fought in Korea, Nam, other conflicts and wars. About the only difference was that we were in for the DURAION
of the war, no matter how long it lasted, unless.? Only the names and faces change in any war, same damn wartime for the Infantry that took most of the casualties in any war.
Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see !!
NRA Life Member
Love them Beavers
Great post but I still don't understand how Bush and the Israelis are responsible for this tragedy[:o)]
Love them Beavers
[:D][:D]
Larry
Sorry guys, I dont like the term "greatest Generation".
Joe,
Thanks for your service to our country. You're too humble.
The term "Greatest Generation" refers to not only the vets who fought, many paying the ultimate sacrifice, but also to all Americans of this generation.
This generation lived through the hardships of the Depression, only to then face this horrible war. If they weren't in the service, then they were working long hours for the war effort. All this while enduring the rationing of food, materials, etc. The parents and loved ones of the men and women in harms way also had the added stress of not knowing if their children would come back home safe.
IMO, no other generation of Americans have endured as much and prevailed as this Greatest Generation.
and sevicemen in all wars and conflicts. Seems like the "new American
thing to do" is look down on our military and vets and forget the sacrafices they made. Those in Korea had the same cold as we had in France and Germany in winter. In Nam, similar conditions of those in the Pacific and CBI theatres. For heat and sand conditions the same thing as in the African campaign. So where in hell is the big difference in wars.
Joe, all Americans owe all our vets . . . but that does not diminish the special contribution of the WW2 generation - civilian and military. As others have said, you and your comrades are entirely too self-effacing about what you did. In Churchill's memoirs of the period, one book is titled Their Finest Hour, (taken from one of his speeches). I believe the term applies to our society as well. Thank you.
"There is nothing lower than the human race - except the french." (Mark Twain)
You really know how to do it don't ya, skippy.
Sure, you're going to claim innocence and insist you meant no slight to the current military service people, but I know what you meant and I suspect several others do too.
Clouder..
You really know how to do it don't ya, skippy.
Sure, you're going to claim innocence and insist you meant no slight to the current military service people, but I know what you meant and I suspect several others do too.
You, Sir, are living proof that no good deed goes unpunished. [}:)][;)]
volenti non fit injuria
So where in hell is the big difference in wars.
The difference lies in the way they are fought and with the men who fight them. I'm afraid the great causes are all long gone, replaced by economically or politically expedient police actions with an occasional threat of nuclear annihilation. Instead of declaring war, now we just have wars on stuff; war on terrorism, war on communism, war on whatever. But what does a war on something mean exactly, as compared to war with Germany or war with Japan? Think about it: That little word on manages to change everything about the reasons and the ways we now fight wars. Back home it's ho-hum business as usual. In your day, Joe, there was Rosie The Riveter, gas rationing and Meatless Tuesdays; today we got soccer moms in mini-vans with little flag decals and peel-off bows saying Support The Troops. Just what does Support The Troops mean exactly, in a way that Support Gravity is not equally gratuitous? Weapons of war today are smart, sophisticated and far more lethal; instead of prolonged campaigns and seiges and fronts, now we have packages and looks and contingencies. Enemies don't look into eachother's eyes any more; nobody sticks a knife into anyone's belly any more. And that's the pity. Perhaps we should. War has become too indiscriminate and too impersonal and too easy to fight (not easy to win, just easy to fight). In your day, Joe, you were there for the duration; today, "combat" zones have air conditioning and MTV and Internet access and designer water and short rotations bolstered even further by flights home after a few months. Honor and gallantry and sacrifice are rarer these days precisely because the way in which war is fought minimizes the opportunity. The likes of a Teddy R. or Patton and Chesty Puller could not possibly serve today, long replaced out of necessity by politically correct, uniformed businessmen posing as generals, each with a keen conceptual grasp and an eye for detail but without soul and love for the fight.