I was talking to my brother the other day and he was mentioning a blog he reads. He reads military blogs. I don't know why.
But he was talking about a blogger that went to The Netherlands or lives in The Netherlands or something (the details aren't all that important). But he was talking about how emotional this guy was about some World War II memorial that's in The Netherlands.
I did some research on what he was talking about and I found this site. I don't know if it's the same one, but it serves my purpose. The timing of this post is a bit awkward, but sometimes these thoughts happen at awkward times.
To further prove my point, you should rent and watch "Life is Beautiful". Wait for the American tanks to roll in and the resulting relief and happiness tinged with the grief after what they endured.
It's all interesting to me because I realized that the rest of the world is more thankful and gracious to the American military than the Americans are. Even Germany is thankful to the American military. We prevented the Russians from completely taking them over after World War II.
I wonder if it's still the case. Are the citizens of Iraq thankful for the US military? Will they have celebrations for saving them from Saddam? What about Afghanistan being thankful that they were rescued from the Taliban?
Do you remember the last war where America defended itself from an imminent hostile take over?
At some point, I think, we lost our way. Or are we still helping people that need our help, ask for our help and will be grateful? Is the media really that bad?
I'm the blogger you mentioned in the post. I live in Germany and I am in the US Air Force. My feeling is that some, not all, Americans have lost the true meaning of some of our American Holidays. Memorial Day is an example; we need to ask ourselves what it truly means. I bet you would get a blank stare from a lot of Americans because they have fallen into the trap that these Holidays are days off work and a reason to barbeque. I fell into that trap also, but after visiting the Netherlands and seeing how they honor OUR war dead I will ensure that myself and my family take time to reflect on these holidays and what they truly mean. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHey Chris,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. Unfortunately, when I initially read your post, I just read the post. I didn't do any additional research.
I should have at least read your "about" page. I realize now that some of your opinions about WWII, especially with regards to the German people are similar to mine.
Keep up the good work!