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In Flanders Fields

John McCrae, 1872 - 1918

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead; short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high!
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

the only thing more stupid than the USA getting involved in WWI and WWII was all of Europe going to war over picayune disputes inside the A-H Empire.

A great poem to be sure. More appropriate for Memorial Day, to remember our brothers that didn’t come home. Veterans Day (by and large) is the holiday where we honor those that did...

Good point, and one to be remembered on Memorial Day.

According to history, and what I have been told by my elders, we didn't just wake up one day and decide to join the wars. They both came at us. I for one am pretty damn happy I am not speaking Japanese or German but am instead speaking good old American English.

Jim

How would you have respond to the attack on Pearl Harbor?

With hugs, not war

Written by a Canadian, so it's totally appropriate for today; it's Remembrance Day in Canada (basically our Memorial Day) today. Memorial events across the country, mostly at cenotaphs in every small town, city etc. from coast to coast .

Cheers from north of the border,

R

Here you go, no one can say your sons didn’t hump their own rucks back then...

Thanks for posting that. I think about it every year on this date. Especially around 11 a.m.. My paternal grandfather served in the 252nd Bn. Canadian Machine Gun Corps. He never spoke of it very much and never to his grandchildren. I've done lots of research on the matter, though.

The association for me is Armistice Day, the 11th day of the 11 month, to commemorate the end of hostilities in WWI.

The author served and died in France during the war. (physician who died of pneumonia I think)

I think on Veterans Day we honor all who served, the living and the dead.

And Memorial Day is for the dead; that's what we need to remember.

You need to read more deeply and broadly regarding history. And stop drinking the Kool-Aid of the self-serving narrative promulgated by the ruliung class of this country.

Before we formally joined both wars, our leaders took concrete steps to get us involved against the wishes of most Americans. We provided beau coup war material to the UK and France before both WWI and WWII, thus making our ships fair game to be stopped, seized, and destroyed by others in those conflicts before we formally entered.

In effect, the gov't of the USA was already warring on the Axis powers in both WWI and WWII before there was any formal declaration by either side. Against the will of the majority of Americans.

WWI, in particular, was wholly asinine to enter. All we had to do was NOT get involved and the war would have wound down as both sides exhausted each other. American involvement was both unnecessary and worsened the aftermath.

As for WWII, FDR deliberately provoked Japan so as to get involved in Europe. FDR was successful. Just one more example of how Americans may vote for something (staying out of damnfool wars in Europe and the Far East), but they are not allowed to get it.



Neither Germany nor Japan were ever any threat, during WWI or WWII, to the continental USA.

======================



0. Not provoked Japan in the first place. FDR had a policy of deliberate provocation designed to get Japan to declare war on us and thereby find a way into the war in Europe, too. Do note that for every soldier sent or dollar spent against Japan, America sent many into Europe against a country that was no threat to the USA or any of its territories.

1. After Pearl Harbor, I would have declared was against Japan and ignored Germany, as Germany had no means to attack the USA. And then sent the full might of the USA against Japan, instead of the mere crumbs sent by FDR (while he prepared a feast of slaughter against Europeans). One, two years tops, until Japan is pushed back to their islands and then we blockade them and let them starve by the millions until they beg for peace.

Yes, and then some forget them on election day and vote for Anti 2A, muzzy loving, high taxing, open borders dimocommies.

As I recall we fought in Europe at the demands of J. Stalin. Stalin was desperate for a second front in Europe to get some of the German heat off of Russia. We had the troops pretty much trained up to go to Africa and eventually Italy (34th infantry Div was activating troops before Pearl harbor) This was not enough for Stalin and eventually the Allies did make Landfall in France but by that time Germany had some serious defeats in the Russian Offensive. We could have stopped at the German border after France, Belgium and the Netherlands were freed and let the Russians take their revenge on Germany all by themselves. We did capture a large number of German rocket scientists by continuing on which played a huge part in the American Space Race.

kwg

A favorite of mine about one who survived and one who didn't:

The Man He Killed
Thomas Hardy - 1840-1928

"Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!

"But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.

"I shot him dead because--
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although

"He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like--just as I--
Was out of work--had sold his traps--
No other reason why.

"Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown.

I'm not all that strong on history, but didn't Japan attack us? WTF were we supposed to do just kiss off the dead and dying at Pearl and let it go? [bleep] moron!

Recited in grade school. Can still recite from memory 50 years later

Which says something because my memory sucks

Neither Germany nor Japan were ever any threat, during WWI or WWII, to the United States.




Gonna call Bullschidt on that one.
There is a channel dug across South Jersey to keep
our ships inland and away from U boats as much as possible.
They were right [bleep] here. Not in the middle of the ocean.


They were blowing up our ships so close the shore that
the heat from the fires could be felt on the beach in Jersey
and North Carolina.


Everyone is aware of the invasion of Alaskan Islands, shelling on the
West Coast, saboteurs landed on the East Coast...

Small scale incidents and isolated?
Sure.

There are reasons why they were small.
They were hard to pull off and unsuccessful.
Don't think the desire for much bigger things wasn't there.


And do you honestly think that had Hitler won,
he would have looked to us as an equal, and played nice.
He would have either came here, or isolated us.

Without us, Western Europe would have fallen (it mostly did) the Grits would have been beat.
Without our distraction and Material, the Russians would have went down (dam near did).

With them out of the way, and only us and the Candians(already hammered in their attempts to help England)
left? I think we would have been invaded.

I know, a big ocean.....

There is a bigger ocean between LA and Tokyo,
And island by Island,
we worked our way there...

The practical issues of invasion or even ability to damage CONUS before or during WWII preclude any reasonable man from thinking Japan or Germany were an existential or serious threat to CONUS. Japan did not have the capability to take Midway, let alone Hawaii. Or anywhere on CONUS. Germany, even when it had all of W Europe (less UK) in hand, did not have the capability.

Gen Yamamoto had a much clearer head in 1941 than many Americans do today:
"Should hostilities once break out between Japan and the United States, it is not enough that we take Guam and the Philippines, nor even Hawaii and San Francisco. To make victory certain, we would have to march into Washington and dictate the terms of peace in the White House. I wonder if our politicians, among whom armchair arguments about war are being glibly bandied about in the name of state politics, have confidence as to the final outcome and are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices."

"In the first six to twelve months of a war with the United States and Great Britain I will run wild and win victory upon victory. But then, if the war continues after that, I have no expectation of success."

Who to believe? Yamamoto or ???

===================

FYI, the Great Attu & Kiska Invasion!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attu_Island
"At the time, Attu's population consisted of 45 native Aleuts and two white Americans, "

What a Great Prize for Imperial Japan


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiska
"The Japanese captured the sole inhabitants of the island: a small United States Navy Weather Detachment consisting of ten men, including a lieutenant, along with their dog."
Oh, George Takei, not the dog!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a33sr9UGvo

Raise the alarm! The Japs are marching down main street USA Attu.