From: Ryan Gill (rmgill@mindspring.com)
Date: Fri Oct 11 2002 - 06:30:07 PDT
At 1:14 AM -0700 10/11/02, Dave Ball wrote:
>
>I suppose someday they will be old men in the museum telling the kids what
>it takes to maintain our freedom.
>Sacrifice plain and simple.
And work. And commitment. And Thought! And respect. I have to wonder
if you just don't respect people who haven't been through the
military but still have a really good concept of what it's there for,
and they support it and the men. I'm sorry Dave, not everyone can go
through it. There isn't enough room.
If you really want to know how horrible war is Dave, go to Nagasaki.
Look at the displays. Look at the picture of the 12 year old girl
carrying her 3 year old brother with no face. Look at the map and the
last known pictures of the captured American service men that were at
a camp in the city. Think about how horrible dying is. At age 16.
Understand that one of those downed and captured airmen could have
been your grandfather had he been in that place as a pilot. Spend the
day, re-assured that the incident had to take place to prevent a
million American service men dying in the invasion of the home
islands. One could have been that Grandfather that wasn't there.
Think about how angry and yet sad all of those realizations make one.
By the same token, listen to the story from a Great Uncle that was
shot down over Occupied Europe and spent the better part of a year in
a basement hiding from the Germans. Some unknown family that didn't
know him and who weren't in the fight as soldiers saved an American
life and helped him get home. Listen to the recount by your
grandmother and great grandmother how for so long they thought he was
dead. The fear was palpable in their voice 40 years after the
incident. Things like that leave a mark on a child.
I have more than a small respect for people that have been through
the military and been in battles. I know the cost. Its nearly as hard
to loose a family member to a war than it is to loose your own life
in a war, the survivor has to go on. For someone with only college
level basic history, I've a pretty good concept of Military history
and I do understand the cost. I understand the value and I understand
that you're totally missing the point.
--
Ryan Gill rmgill@SPAMmindspring.com
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'60 Daimler Ferret '42 Daimler Dingo '42 Humber MkIV (1/3)
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