3393 have died
They died fighting a
dictator who [I admit it] considered himself at war with the US, but had never
actually attacked the United States. Of course, when that dictator sits on 40%
of the world's oil...then aristocratic families in the White House are bound to
come up with any reason to go to war; as long as it gets them their blood money!
3393 Americans will never become doctors and save
lives, will never run businesses and feed families that build a nation. They'll
never teach subsequent generations, create and share unique art, and they'll
never add to American literature or culture again.
They died under a
false pretense that they were fighting to free others and open the door to
Democracy for those 'oppressed'-I mean really, you canNOT
force someone to vote, and if they really wanted Democracy they could have risen
up and fought for it like Americans did in the Revolution
3393 Americans are dead because our President needed a war to pull
this nation out of the economic toilet! They fought for each other, they hoped
to survive, and everything else...the mom, apple pie, and politics of Saturday
night is just BS!
3393 Americans
are dead because this nation was attacked by suicidal wackos who got the
nation's blood pressure up, and happened to have a 'relationship' with another
'Axis of Evil' power. COME ON! A relationship? There's NO evidence at all of a
"COOPERATIONAL RELATIONSHIP" BETWEEN THE TWO!! We now know from British
documents that intelligence before the war was being focused and manipulated to
make the case for war almost a year before it started.
3393 Americans are dead! They died on June 6th 1944 Invading
France to impose democracy on a people who should have risen up for it
themselves, to fight a dictator who never attacked the US but considered himself
at war with the US, and who had no operational ties to Japan-the nation that DID
attack the US.
3393 Americans are dead now
Written by Scott Malensek
Labels: military, Normandy, War on Terror, World War II
posted by The WordSmith from Nantucket at 9/27/2007 11:23:00 AM
9 Comments:
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Wilfred Owen
1917
Dulce Et Decorum Est
On D-day the fighting on shore was only part of the story. Just a 1000 yards off the shoreline, US Navy Destroyers battled it out with the vaunted mobile German 88mm artillery units keeping the Germans at bay while the flotillas of boats drop their loading doors to let there weather exposed and seasick soldiers into the chilly waters of the Normandy coast.
Not only where there 3000-4000 casualties on the beaches but there were thousands more that had been lost in the treacherous sea on the way to the battle. German submarines and E-boats attacked the flotilla on their way to the beaches of Omaha, Utah, Sword and Gold. It was the efforts of the Gallant US Navy destroyers that fought the fierce 88m artillery units to a standstill saving the invasion forces from being pushed back into the sea on that first day.
The night before the invasion US Navy destroyers and Royal Canadian Minesweeps battled German guns while they swept the invasion landing areas clear of mines and sent Navy frogman demolition teams into the shallows to clear obstacles so the boats could get close enough to land the invasion forces.
A list of Ships lost or damaged during the D-Day Invasion on June 6, 1944
Word, my Father was a motor machinist on a APA-92 USS Alpine. He was the motorman on a landing craft like those you see in this You Tube clip. He had to ride the boat in and keep the motor running while the troops disembarked under heavy enemy fire at Guadalcanal, Leyte Gulf, and then Okinawa. His ship caried 1800 troops and was hit twice by Kamakaze planes while he was aboard. You wonder where I get my fight from, it was from my Father. He taught me that war was the most horrifying experience a human can possibly live through except when he saw how the defeated and enslaved Phillipinos were treated by the Japanese.
My Father told me when he had to go over with one of the boats to bring back some wounded Marines after the Battle at Leyte he saw some things that the Japanese had done and got down on his knees and cried. After all he had been through up to that point he could not get over the sight of some the atrocities that the Japanese had committed.
War is a terrible thing and it should not be entered unless it is for a just cause and you go to win. The cause in Iraq and Afghanistan is just but until General Patreaus was appointed Commander in Iraq I had questions whether we were there to win. Let's give the extra effort it's going to take to bring our troops home in Victory. Lets do it for the honor and memory for all those we have seen and discussed here today.
The battle cry:
Victory for the troops today!
US Navy motto:
Non sibi sed patriae
That was beautiful Word.
That Video made me cry.
What a powerful video! I've seen your comments on a few of my friends so I thought I would hop on over and say Hi! Great blog!
marty,
Thanks for visiting, and leaving the poem.
j_g,
You continue to overwhelm me with the quality of your comments. Very moving, and worthy of being read. Thank you.
Also the breadth and depth of your knowledge of history is very impressive.
I hope you checked out the link to the Hugh Hewitt-Robert Kaplan interview I left in a previous post. Or check out the book. The importance of the role of the Navy is covered in it.
marie,
The commentary and the video both belong to Scott Malensek. I just reprinted it all here.
jennifer,
Welcome to my blog. Sorry for the mess, but make yourself at home and feel free to poke around.
Yes, I've seen you around as well. Consider yourself linked, from here on out.
Bravo...frakking BRAVO!
This past Fathers Day, for some reason made me think of my Fathers time in the Navy. Like many, he never spoke much about it. I know he must have had post PTSD chose to deal with with it using alcohol. :( He was a good man, with so much emotional pain, I wish he would have sought therapy, but he was of the generation that stood brave and proud and didn't want to seem weak. He died before he was 60, holding much in. If anyone had a father of war, and he seemed distant, let's not blame them. Lets salute them with compassion and understanding. God Bless America
Hello Jennifer Gallagher, I am John Knobelsdorf. I was a MoMM 1/c on board the Alpine from Guam thru Okinawa. I should have known your Dad but apologize I don't remember the Gallagher name. There are not many of us older guys left. I hope your Dad is one of us. Please let me hear from you.
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