War Stories

[Wuddus]

I don't have a dog in this fight, however, it seems to me that the only mention of glorification, are those who choose to silence or disrupt those sharing their life experiences. At least one voice in this thread who has worn a uniform to serve their country, has also said there is no glory.

It strikes me that the cries against, are misaligned with what appeared to be the original purpose of the thread. I do not understand what this thread's "protesters" hope to achieve. Shaming? No platforming? Or just an opportunity to voice their world views?

[calamus]

Wuddus is right, nobody here is saying that war is glorious.
That's a straw man argument.

[pajaro]

True, the US held back the Communism, and I´m grateful that I was born in a free western democratic country.


But back to the topic.
War is never heroic, clean, glorious, whatever.

It is always brutal, cruel, dirty, deadly, devastating and inhuman.

To glorify militarism,soldiers and pathetic nationalism is used since eons to attract young naive men in all counties to have enough fat-stock slaughtered at the battlegrounds.

There is no heroism in fighting in a war, it just destroying the lifes of the fighting people and their families.
Even the survivors are often psychologically destroyed unable to continue living a normal life.

Mainly young people are sent to foreign countries to fight the “Enemy” for their home country.
And also on the other side young people are sent to defend their home country.

They do not know each other but somebody told them that they are enemies and they have to kill the others, for god, and fatherland.

I can not see what should be glorious or good by doing that.

Collecting war stories from heroic soldiers only smoothens the path for the next generation slaughtered for god, government and fatherland.


To say it with Bruce Springsteen’s words:

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

And on the other side also young men were sent to defend their home country........

What is glorious and heroic on this......

On both sides fought young men brave for the ideals of their countries/religions/ or just because somebody told them to do so, because it’s the right thing to do .......... and died for it or were physical and/or mentally crippled.......

Really heroic and glorious,.....isnˋt it?

Back to the topic? You and adhoc have hijacked the thread for a message your own. You two are writing that war stories may not be shared because war is bad. Not glorious, blah, blah, blah. So, you are achieving your aim of disrupting and destroying the purpose of the thread, hijacking it as an antiwar tirade. Your strident message is like the antiwar activists from my college years. In hijacking this thread, you are spreading a tiresome message to people who have long hated war already. Some of us have already had enough of it that we do not need your rhetoric hijacking the thread. You are irrelevant. Some of us went into military service antiwar already, and we saw nothing to change our minds, and have nightmares playing out waking and sleeping from it. Your preachy writings are not needed. Please stop hijacking the thread. Well, I suppose you have achieved your objective by having ruined it already.

[Pterodactylus]

Come on straw men, you want to hear war stories, all of them?

Do you really want to hear war stories of the other sides as well or just the heroic US ones fighting the evil?

Do you also want to hear e.g:

WW2 stories of brave German FLAK soldiers and fighter pilots which shot down the bad enemy in form of 1000s of US bombers which bombed many cities completely to the ground with block killers, fire and fragmentation bombs, and not distinguishing between military and civilian targets?

Were these Germans heros shooting down the cruel US enemies in their bombers which killed hundred thousands of civillians just to break the enemies resistance ?

Or Japanese defender stories from atomic blast survivors where the US eradicated 2 complete cities with the whole civilian inhabitants?

Or war stories of Vietnamese soldiers which fought the US invaders which killed again many civilians with Agent Orange and Napalm bombs or in direct operations cleaning villages from the evil Vietcong?

Or Iraq soldier stories which at least tried to stop the US invaders no matter if they had no chance to do so because the enemy was technologically far superior?

Really?

Or do you just prefer the US soldier stories?

War is as said always ugly, and the winners always write the history about the conflict who were the good ones and who the bad ones.

But there are always two sides.

[Pterodactylus]

Actually I have a war story for you my grandmother told me (first hand memories).

My grandmother lived during the war on the country side in Austria, I think she was a 13 or 14 year old kid when she worked with others on the fields (mainly kids and women).
A allied strafer showed up and they couldn´t hide soon enough, the fighter pilot immediately opened fire with his machine guns at the people (women and kids!).
Fortunately my grandmother were not shot, he missed.
She told me that they feared the low flying allied fighters as hell as they usually shot on everything that moves, no matter what it was.
People were killed from strafers many times.
This was on the country side, no military targets, just civilians, also kids which fled from the cities and bigger villages (as they were all bombed down without mercy).


Back home the story from the other side most likely were told completely different like: In brave and heroic actions I´ve shot many evil Nazi Krauts wherever I found them. I’m a hero and defender of the freedom.

[SIR]

But there are always two sides.

Monotheism will always be the enemy of the people, and it will always be alone and outnumbered.

Viva Reality!

[calamus]

But there are always two sides.

Monotheism will always be the enemy of the people, and it will always be alone and outnumbered.

Viva Reality!

You're just showing off your ignorance and lack of understanding of both history and reality.
Don't you think this thread already has enough trolls? Are you really that starved for attention?

[VertOlive]

To say it with Bruce Springsteen’s words:

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man.

Relief. A qualified expert has arrived to sort it all out.

[Brilliant Bill]

Today, as every year now, I received an invitation...

"On behalf of the students, faculty and administration of [ ] High School, I would like to extend an invitation to you to attend our 49th Annual Memorial Day Service. It will be held Friday, May 25, in the Memorial Courtyard. This year, our speaker is [ ] who completed two tours of duty in Vietnam, stayed in the military and served one tour in Desert Storm, retiring from the military in 1996."

This is a high school that had the first Vietnam Memorial in the country (1970) because a teacher who was a WWII vet decided a memorial to students of that school killed in the Vietnam war was more inclusive than the battling between pro and anti-war factions at the time. There are seven names on that memorial. Each year the students witness a service of moments of silence, a military speaker, color guard, all the usual stuff. That's what the students see. I see the students.

I see rows and rows of students wide-eyed with wonder. They listen to the speakers. They see old guys like me up front. They see a reverence and honor for the military and military service. And I know that every one of them sees themselves being honored some day -- and not a single one sees their name on a memorial wall. And the recruiters love it. And a government representing corporations that depend on the military to rape the world for greater profits loves it.

This thread began with someone requesting that military veterans write their "stories." Unless your name is Dalton Trumbo, it is unlikely you're going to write a story that will dissuade anyone from military service. Since I oppose, vehemently, U.S. military service, I oppose these public confessions, whether war related or not. These experiences, I believe, are better left to the delete buttons of our minds.

There is one story of military service I can recommend. It comes from a retired Marine Corp Major General, Smedley Butler, a man awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor -- twice. He offered the story in a speech, then published a book, "War Is a Racket." In it, he said:

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."

For more information on General Butler...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler

The U.S. citizenry today seems more deeply entrenched than ever in the delusion that our military is a force for good in the world. When you suggest otherwise they rise up with the righteous indignation of the woefully ignorant. Meanwhile, the government and the corporations it serves, laughs and they all pour more blood money into their bank accounts.

And as Forrest Gump said, that's all I have to say about that!

[SIR]

But there are always two sides.

Monotheism will always be the enemy of the people, and it will always be alone and outnumbered.

Viva Reality!

You're just showing off your ignorance and lack of understanding of both history and reality.
Don't you think this thread already has enough trolls? Are you really that starved for attention?

Really? Do tell us about your knowledge and experience of God(s).

[Freddie]

Utterly Fascinatin'

Fred
Redacting:
A veteran is someone who at one point wrote a blank check payable to the

United States of America for an amount of up to and including my life.

That is honor and there are way too many people in this country who

no longer understand it.

[VertOlive]

Wait. Isn't that the famous World War One Flying Ace I see in your avatar, Pterodactylus...?

[Pterodactylus]

Wait. Isn't that the famous World War One Flying Ace I see in your avatar, Pterodactylus...?

Shoot!

You are right, I never saw it that way, Snoopy in his imagination as WW1 ace trying to soot down the Red Baron.

But wait when his doghouse in his imagination is a Sopwith Camel, what kind of plane a fountain pen could be?

I hope something better because the Red Baron always shot down his Sopwith Camel.
Maybe he can achieve his goal finally with the power of pen and ink

[Pterodactylus]

In case you need a better view on the plane to identify the type and the weapons.


Show_response_585 by Ptero Pterodactylus, auf Flickr

(Serwex MB flex EMF ..... ESS Registrars Blue/Black, Faber Castell Polychromos)

[pajaro]

Austria-Hungary started this war by invading Serbia. My great uncle was killed at the Argonne Forest and is buried in the Meuse-Argonne American cemetery maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

[VertOlive]

In case you need a better view on the plane to identify the type and the weapons.


Show_response_585 by Ptero Pterodactylus, auf Flickr

(Serwex MB flex EMF ..... ESS Registrars Blue/Black, Faber Castell Polychromos)

You draw so well!

[azkid]

Austria-Hungary started this war by invading Serbia. My great uncle was killed at the Argonne Forest and is buried in the Meuse-Argonne American cemetery maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

My grandfather was gassed during this war, survived, initially, but eventually went blind, and died of complications some decades years later.

[SIR]

Austria-Hungary started this war by invading Serbia.

One might argue that the war was actually started as a result of poor military advice...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes...ar_with_Serbia

[pajaro]

Austria-Hungary started this war by invading Serbia.

One might argue that the war was actually started as a result of poor military advice...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes...ar_with_Serbia

My point being that someone from Austria making a big thing about accusing the USA of starting aggressive wars has no moral high ground to stand on.

[SIR]

You have a fair point; but despite the Hitler connection, i have found Austrians to be quite likeable - this is now, when they don't have the second biggest empire in Europe, of course...

Genuine question: apart from the war of independence, which wars did USA start?