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Outrageous!

Discussion in 'WWII Obituaries' started by CAC, Mar 2, 2011.

  1. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

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    Yes, you can throw him a salute AND rep at the same time.
     
  2. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

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    throwing reps!? I knew there was something going on i wasn't privvy to... :) How does one do that?
     
  3. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

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    Click on that little six pointed star symbol at the bottom left of the post area. Over there by the "Blog this Post" button, the salute button and the alert button. It lets you give someone "reputation" points (in your case....point) since you are a yearling still. At the same time when you select this option to reward someone for something they posted that was neat, to the point or just explosively cool, you can leave a few words of appreciation as well. See, learn something every day eh?
     
  4. formerjughead

    formerjughead The Cooler King

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    You've done quite enough....thanks though
     
  5. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

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    I'm sure he wouldn't mind a Me-109 in his backyard :eek:
     
  6. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

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    Yes, there is an open space for it between the bunker complex and tank park, over there behind the LCI static display. I think that a tiki bar would fit better, but it's his call.
     
  7. bigdunc

    bigdunc Member

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    Where the atrocities committed by the Japanese so different than those committed by the U.S. against the Native Americans,or the way the Australians treated the aborigines?
     
  8. Spartanroller

    Spartanroller Ace

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    that's a whole 'nother thread. :)
     
  9. Volga Boatman

    Volga Boatman Dishonorably Discharged

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    The bombing of Darwin was perpetrated by none other than the same four carriers ('Kudo Batai'), that attacked Pearl Harbour. These professional servicemen were only being strictly methodical when attacking the hospital, post office and machine-gunning the streets.

    You must keep in mind that by 1941 it was plainly obvious that the winners of the contest known as WW2 were the ones that would set the tone for postwar recriminations regarding their conduct. Any act of war can be justified with the right words to accompany it. A case in point is the execution of French prisoners captured at Agincourt in 1415. The story goes that the outnumbered English were facing the distinct possibility of another assault by the survivors of the French hoard they were facing. King Henry ordered the immediate execution of many French, contrary to the enormous howls of protest issueing forth from the men at arms and yeomanry who were counting on their ransom money to pay for their exertions during this campaign....

    "Military command sometimes requires really tough decisions. This was one of the hardest Henry would ever have to face. The King broke chivalric convention by killing prisoners, but even French chroniclers understood the reason, and did not blame him for it. Significantly, they criticized, instead, the Frenchmen who had rallied the third line. This is a fine example of how the story of a battle is always told in the winners favour. Had the French succeeded, they would have been admired for their determined resistance when all seemed lost, while Henry would have been censured for failing to anticipate their actions."...(Micheal K. Jones, "Agincourt 1415", page 122, published in 2005)

    In light of this, it is interesting to note recent French attempts to paint an entirely different picture of this event. Contemporary French chroniclers had already exonerated Henrys' orders as an unfortunate consequence of the French third line attempting to restart the battle, as Titus Livius describes,
    "The King sent heralds to the French of the new army asking them whether they would come to fight or leave the field, informing them that if they did not withdraw, or came to battle, all of the prisoners, and any of them who might be captured, would be killed without mercy."

    This neat historical example of the military necessity of some atrocities dovetails very nicely indeed with attitudes in the modern period, and that as time passes it is easy to demonize or distort actions taken in the name of necessity. As time and distance from the events of the day blur, memories of the events tend to polarize, sometimes extremely so.

    Had the Japanese gained concessions from the Allied powers and by some miracle managed to bring the Pacific War to a compromise peace, it is highly likely that the actions of their serviceman may well have been explained away as "military necessity" in the same manner that Henry managed to explain them away for Agincourt.

    Another aspect that has not been mentioned so far is that WW2 was TOTAL war, and civilian targets not contributing to the war effort simply did not exist. The very nature of modern warfare meant that a safe and sound homeland was an great source of psychological pressure easement for frontline troops. This is one of the chief reasons why the Allied bomber offensive was continued until the conflict was brought to an end. German troops returning to large cities in Germany were unsettled by the sufferings and deprivations of those under the bombs, some even declaring that they had a better chance of survival in Russia than they did by sitting on the sofa at home! Too, how were we to honour our commitment to supporting the hard pressed Soviet Union? Launching "D-Day" before establishment of air superiority was idiotic, and doing precisely nothing to support the Russians was even more dangerous. So, German cities copped it, and in increasing numbers, for lack of a better form of delivery system of explosives at the time. Any other policy from Churchill would have produced HOWLS of protest from the British people, and the coalition Churchill cabinet would have found itself replaced, a-la Chamberlain.

    As for 'honouring' Japanese servicemen, we in Australia 'honour' our veterans from ALL wars whether we have come out on the winning side or not.

    And we reserve the most 'honour' for a military 'balls-up' of the highest order, (Gallipoli), a national trait that is, I believe, unique in the world. No other country celebrates military failure in quite the same way. It took the United States many years and much social dislocation before they 'honoured' Vietnam veterans, and yet they have.

    We should move forward into the future with our eyes firmly fixed on the horizon, and celebrate the fact that there were people in all of our wars that came out on the same 'side' as our enemies.....

    All on the same side?...Yep. At war's end we were all SURVIVORS.
     
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  10. Victor Gomez

    Victor Gomez Ace

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    As a soldier once told me "It is better to forgive than to forget!" when he was referring to the armies he had been in combat against and if you think about it that has a lot of thought behind it and at least for me makes a lot of sense.
     

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