V.e. Day

[Spritzup]

I've been following the V.E. Day celebrations the last week or so and it just leaves me speechless to read the stories of the soldiers who fought, and to see the size of the celebrations in Holland where they estimate over 200 000 came out to show gratituded to our veterans. It really is mind blowing, these men made a difference and were special. Most of the men who fought are around the same age we are now. I personally can't imagine what it would be like. Think of your concerns now, and then imagine what they went through. It puts things into perspective. It's sad to think that chances are our children will never have the opportunity to talk to a veteran of the war.

[Bizud]

I think the prospect of my children and grandchildren never getting to talk to a veteran of any war would be a very happy one indeed, but I'm not that optimistic for the human race.

[Dan #2]

It's mind-boggling. I would not be able to kill someone i didn't know. I honestly don't know how wars are fought.

 

As for a veteran-less future, i doubt that will happen any time soon, but i'm optimistic. Maybe veteran-less domestically, but there are what, 30 wars at any given moment?

 

tis beyond scary.

[sockcrotch]

it's not just the wars themselves that are scary to think about... it's that for some reason our political leaders see these wars as an acceptable means of solving problems that is "mind-boggling" ... hitler and the nassis needed to get germany on it's feet after the dirty thirties and in beginning WWII, they thought it'd get people out of the depression (of course that wasnt a sole objective of hitler waging war, it was just one more reason that germany put the nassis in power)

[Moonlight_Graham]

yeah Spritzup, its pretty crazy. It was amazing to see all the love for the Canadian Vets. I have the utmost respect for those who fought and/or died for our country. As they say, they were "the greatest generation".

 

What really brought WWII home to me was about a year ago, my grandmother moved out of her home to go into a retirement residence. We were cleaning out her house, and she had an old scrapbook she kept from around the time of the war (she was about 20 at the time of the war). In the scrapbook were cut-outs from newspaper obituaries, and it had all the different boys near our age at the time that my grandmother went to school with who had died in the war. There were a whole bunch of people she knew and grew up with who died.

 

It was pretty sickening. Just imagining that happening to you. Seeing dozens of friends and high school chums you know dying in war. Or checking the obituaries every morning to see if another person you knew had died? Or you yourself having to go to war. insanity.

Edited May 10, 2005 by Moonlight_Graham

[juanpe]

that's the problem: that many politicians believe (or want us to believe) that the only way to solve some problems is to go into war (no need to mention Bush, right?)... for me it is one way to show the worst side of the human being

 

wars in the end are the consequence of this dark side of human beings

[Spritzup]

Regardless of what the politicians think, I'm talking about what these men did, people our own age who went off to fight for something they believed in (at least many of them did). They had to know there was a good chance of not coming home again.

 

And let's keep this away from becoming a rant against Bush, we all know how everyone feels about him.