Comparing our generation with the WW II Generation (and we came off well)

[cameron]

I am moved to respond to a_majoor's post.  The high school I attended had a great library, which included a terrific collection of books on military history.  It was there that I first gained my respect for the Canadian military, by reading of the exploits of Canadian paratroopers in Europe, the Canadian corvettes that formed part of the Atlantic convoys which braved the Nazi Wolfpacks, the Canadian tankers who took on Rommel's formidable tanks in North Africa among others.  While many West Indians weren't even aware that Canada had a military, because I was always something of history buff, I was all too aware of Canada's proud military heritage.  A heritage that unfortunately many tried to bury during the 70's and 80's.  I think its high time that Canadians take pride again in having a world class warfighting military, without as a_majoor so rightly pointed out slipping into the type of militaristic nationalism that proved so dangerous in Germany and Japan, and more recently in the USA.  In that vein have I have nothing but respect for Canada's current generation of warfighters, [bwho remind me so much of the brave Canadians I read about in high school. [/b]

 

[paracowboy]

  I think its high time that Canadians take pride again in having a world class warfighting military, without as a_majoor so rightly pointed out slipping into the type of militaristic nationalism that proved so dangerous in Germany and Japan, and more recently in the USA. 

I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume it was unintentional, but don't ever insinuate that the USA, in any way, resembles Nazi Germany.

 

[cameron]

Re to paracowboy: I was not and would never insinuate that the USA resembles NAZI Germany or WWII Japan.  The point I was making is this, in the post 9/11 atmosphere the US media and public failed to question their leaders more closely in the run up to the invasion of Iraq, in which WMD's, which are yet to be found, were purported to be for the reason for choosing that course of action.  Americans who raised doubts about the motivations for invading Iraq were ridiculed and vilified (remember the 2003 Oscars).  As a result, US leaders, emboldened by not being held more accountable by the press and their electorate, embarked on a war that was not as well thought out as the invasion of Afghanistan.  I am 100% behind the war on terror, and i'm certainly no fan of Saddam or his thankfully now departed psychopath sons.  I am also not advocating pulling out of Iraq now, you can't turn back the clock, and to leave Iraq prematurely would be even more disasterous. 

I was simply trying to make the point from a historical perspective that militaristic nationalism can cause a nation to make some very costly errors, forgive me if I put across my point poorly in my previous post.

 

[paracowboy]

okay, cool. I was just starting to get the "Oh, crap. Another Jan Brady feeling." Glad to be wrong!

 

[Centurian1985]

Re to paracowboy: I was not and would never insinuate that the USA resembles NAZI Germany or WWII Japan.  The point I was making is this, in the post 9/11 atmosphere the US media and public failed to question their leaders more closely in the run up to the invasion of Iraq, in which WMD's, which are yet to be found, were purported to be for the reason for choosing that course of action.  Americans who raised doubts about the motivations for invading Iraq were ridiculed and vilified (remember the 2003 Oscars).  As a result, US leaders, emboldened by not being held more accountable by the press and their electorate, embarked on a war that was not as well thought out as the invasion of Afghanistan.  I am 100% behind the war on terror, and i'm certainly no fan of Saddam or his thankfully now departed psychopath sons.  I am also not advocating pulling out of Iraq now, you can't turn back the clock, and to leave Iraq prematurely would be even more disasterous.  I was simply trying to make the point from a historical perspective that militaristic nationalism can cause a nation to make some very costly errors, forgive me if I put across my point poorly in my previous post.

You may have scooted out from that one, but paracowboy has still nailed your butt to the wall.  You have no understanding of militaristic nationalism if you think you can equate Nazis and WWII Japan with the current USA.  And I'll give the benefit of the doubt and say you may not have meant to, but pal, you did imply it with that statement you made.  

So what if some celebrities got ridiculed and vilified? They're still alive, working and making a living.  This happens in all open societies, you make a statement and others will disagree.  Happens all the time right here on Army.ca.  Wow thats gotta rough being humilitated in public for saying something stupid.   In other countries around the world they would be lucky to still be alive!  Actions like theirs, open criticism of government policy, would get them jailed, tortured and /or executed.  

 

[JackD]

as an aside, do any of you old farts remember the Cuban Missile Crisis? I was in grade one at the time and we were let off to go home. My father did the same. Most i know did that. Just to stand around listen to the radio. A defining moment. Interestingly, my Polish in-laws did the same..

 

[Red 6]

I'm an Army brat and my family was in Germany when the Berlin Wall was erected. My mom told me that my dad and his unit (the 3rd Armored Division) rolled out on alert for two months and everyone back in the kaserne was convinced the balloon was going up. She was worrying at home, and my dad and his buddies were probably at the old e-club in Vilseck drinking beer and watching those German go-go dancers.  (Anybody here remember that place?)

There are so many differences between World War II and the modern era, that I don't believe a valid comparison can be made between our current generation and the Greatest Generation. Both world wars were such uniques events, I doubt we'll see their likes again. Let's hope we don't anyway. World War II was a pressure cooker and reading back on it, I'm always struck by how much happened in such a short time span. Our war on terror, in the broad sweep, just isn't the same thing.

I'll confess that I don't know much about Canadian politics and so forth. But in the US, people don't remember that prior to the start of World War II, there was a huge isolationist block that wanted to stay out of the war at all costs. Also, the American Nazi Party made its views known to a fairly large audience. It took a titanic event to shake our Nation out of its internal focus.

This is just my opinion, but I think our modern Soldiers (including the Canadian Army, Britain, and Australia and some others) are among the most professional in history. What the public doesn't see when they look at pictures of Soldiers wearing all their gear is what had to take place to get them in that spot. From the outside, it might seem pretty simple to be an infantryman, and many civilians take it for granted that "anybody could be a grunt." But the reality couldn't be more different, as many of you know.

Here's a good book by BG Daniel Bolger about the modern American infantry. It has many applicable lessons for Soldiers and is a thought-provoking book (translation= Bolger p****ed a lot of people off, including the National Guard, MI, armor, etc)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0891417206