Submitted by ikorrellim on August 27, 2004 - 2:50am.
My Father was with Patton...My uncle was a POW in a German Camp for three years...shot down over Germany...My two uncles served in Japan during the "occupation"...
I have read both books, twice, The Greatest Generation and The Greatest Generation Speaks...and I can attest to the fact, through family ties, that it was truly The Greatest Generation.
My brother, retired Major Marine Corps, used to ask our Father about the war, but my Father never shared much about his experiences, neither did my uncle (POW)...THE ONLY time they would share anything was when they were asked by us, their children, neices, nephews, and for the most part...the news was, I am sure, told in a way as not to disclose too much...The worse thing that I have heard, and it was from my Father, when my brother was questioning him was that he was assigned to an artillery gun and that the artillery gun crews literally had to step over the bodies as they moved up as the battles progressed...My uncle, the POW told me that the Germans were not "mean" to them...as far as Officer status went, he did not know how they treated the enlisted personnel...He said they did not have enough to eat, but then added, but neither did the guards...
Since I am a history buff an avid reader, I do recall reading a book some years back when Dutch Schulz's son was wounded that, a patrol of American troops and a patrol of German troops passed within yards of each other one night and each patrol pretended that they did not see the other...
As my ninth grade math teacher told us (he was one that was minus fingernails...pulled out when he was a POW), and I remember this statement well because it impressed me so much and was my first knowledge of war, and the statement was: "The dried up old beans in Washington make the wars and send the cream of the crop to fight and die for it."....What a true statement...THINK ABOUT IT...Do we see Bush/Cheney's military records of combat? Do we see their children in the National Guard or in the service? I can see why George Bush Sr. pulled strings to keep his son stateside and in the National Guard...HE HAD SEEN THE HORRORS OF WAR...That is why Kerry would as he states, "war would be the last option after all else had failed", he has seen the horrors of war. Bush/Cheney were quick to go to war...Why, because they had not seen the horrors of war...first hand...their Macho Man ego's are restored and venticated by sending other peoples children to war to die and get maimed for life...What a shame...It is a shame that we cannot make them go to Iraq and serve a tour of duty...that should be their punishment for what they have done...
Anyway, I am on the Steering Committee for "Veterans for Kerry" in the state of South Carolina...and I am urging all of you who believe that America still has a future to get out and vote...Look at this election as the election where ONE vote can decide the outcome...and PLEASE if you will talk to five other people and lay out the issues...and get five other people to the polls...Perhaps we can truly take our country back...In closing, if Kerry does get elected, he sure does have a mess to clean up after Bush/Cheney...But, I think he is up to the task...
I have read both books, twice, The Greatest Generation and The Greatest Generation Speaks...and I can attest to the fact, through family ties, that it was truly The Greatest Generation.
My brother, retired Major Marine Corps, used to ask our Father about the war, but my Father never shared much about his experiences, neither did my uncle (POW)...THE ONLY time they would share anything was when they were asked by us, their children, neices, nephews, and for the most part...the news was, I am sure, told in a way as not to disclose too much...The worse thing that I have heard, and it was from my Father, when my brother was questioning him was that he was assigned to an artillery gun and that the artillery gun crews literally had to step over the bodies as they moved up as the battles progressed...My uncle, the POW told me that the Germans were not "mean" to them...as far as Officer status went, he did not know how they treated the enlisted personnel...He said they did not have enough to eat, but then added, but neither did the guards...
Since I am a history buff an avid reader, I do recall reading a book some years back when Dutch Schulz's son was wounded that, a patrol of American troops and a patrol of German troops passed within yards of each other one night and each patrol pretended that they did not see the other...
As my ninth grade math teacher told us (he was one that was minus fingernails...pulled out when he was a POW), and I remember this statement well because it impressed me so much and was my first knowledge of war, and the statement was: "The dried up old beans in Washington make the wars and send the cream of the crop to fight and die for it."....What a true statement...THINK ABOUT IT...Do we see Bush/Cheney's military records of combat? Do we see their children in the National Guard or in the service? I can see why George Bush Sr. pulled strings to keep his son stateside and in the National Guard...HE HAD SEEN THE HORRORS OF WAR...That is why Kerry would as he states, "war would be the last option after all else had failed", he has seen the horrors of war. Bush/Cheney were quick to go to war...Why, because they had not seen the horrors of war...first hand...their Macho Man ego's are restored and venticated by sending other peoples children to war to die and get maimed for life...What a shame...It is a shame that we cannot make them go to Iraq and serve a tour of duty...that should be their punishment for what they have done...
Anyway, I am on the Steering Committee for "Veterans for Kerry" in the state of South Carolina...and I am urging all of you who believe that America still has a future to get out and vote...Look at this election as the election where ONE vote can decide the outcome...and PLEASE if you will talk to five other people and lay out the issues...and get five other people to the polls...Perhaps we can truly take our country back...In closing, if Kerry does get elected, he sure does have a mess to clean up after Bush/Cheney...But, I think he is up to the task...