Foo - The War

I know there was another thread on this earlier, but I must say that everyone should watch the Ken Burns documentary entitled "The War." (http://www.pbs.org/thewar/)PBS has been showing all of the series for the last week or two. I am a generation X-er and I must admit that I learned a lot about the war and a lot about how evil the world can be.

The massive piles of dead bodies shown in the concentration camps were almost more than one can comprehend. The tales of suffering by many of the veterans were shocking. This film should serve as a reminder of the cost of liberty. MOst people of my generation for sure, have no idea what this means, but this documentary will give them a much better idea.

One man stated that there will always be wars because human beings are "an agressive animal." He got that right. :(

.................................

One man stated that there will always be wars because human beings are "an agressive animal." He got that right. :(Seems the human race has bought into that mindset and given up even attempting to disprove it. What a shame.

I know there was another thread on this earlier, but I must say that everyone should watch the Ken Burns documentary entitled "The War." (http://www.pbs.org/thewar/)PBS has been showing all of the series for the last week or two. I am a generation X-er and I must admit that I learned a lot about the war and a lot about how evil the world can be.

The massive piles of dead bodies shown in the concentration camps were almost more than one can comprehend. The tales of suffering by many of the veterans were shocking. This film should serve as a reminder of the cost of liberty. MOst people of my generation for sure, have no idea what this means, but this documentary will give them a much better idea.

One man stated that there will always be wars because human beings are "an agressive animal." He got that right. :(

I guess you're lucky if you "learned alot about" how evil this world can be through a TV program. No wonder why its easy for everybody to have a migher-than-thou attitude and claim their version of the facts is right.
They "learned how evil the world can be" through a TV Program. You can do it also.

:rolleyes:

Next time, try learning through real life, not TV. Hell of alot more impressionable.

............No wonder why its easy for everybody to have a migher-than-thou attitude and claim their version of the facts is right. .........................


Next time, try learning through real life, not TV. Hell of alot more impressionable.You got this from his post? Odd interpretation IMO.

I am a generation X-er and I must admit that I learned a lot about the war and a lot about how evil the world can be.


Everything else stated backed up the point.

I see.

I think the big thing that is reinforced is that war itself is evil and both sides do horrible things to win. The atrocities committed by the Axis such as the Holocaust are inconceivable. However, the allies fire bombing in Germany and Japan killed huge numbers of civilians as well. War = Death and there are really no winners.

I know there was another thread on this earlier, but I must say that everyone should watch the Ken Burns documentary entitled "The War." (http://www.pbs.org/thewar/)

Excellent nonpartisan piece for sure. It's absolutely worth a look!

... Brad

I think the big thing that is reinforced is that war itself is evil and both sides do horrible things to win. The atrocities committed by the Axis such as the Holocaust are inconceivable. However, the allies fire bombing in Germany and Japan killed huge numbers of civilians as well. War = Death and there are really no winners.

And yet its extremely ironic that War time has always been where some of the most advanced technological leaps forward are made.

I think the series is very educational. I mean I've read of the wars and of the horrors - but this has filled in some information that I did not know - besides it's a more visual aid than just reading. I also like it because it's making use of the people who were there and lived through it experiences - good and bad. Those generations who witnessed it are passing on - and so is their knowledge so this is a great too for recording it.

The local PBS station is asking people for their accounts of the war etc whether in person or a written account. My Mom's side of the family assembled a few documents and pieced together information from all the kids, etc - of my grandfather's war time experiences and gave them to me to put in a document. Pretty interesting - my grandfather's brother was on the first wave to hit Normandy, my grandfather was the second. Anyway - I sent that in to PBS for their information.

I find it an interesting treatment of WWll in that it is related through and by the folks who lived through it. No revisionist history prof and his take, but the interpretation of the war by those folks it affected most directly. I found it painful at times, knowing what Aunts, Uncles, and my father and mother had to go through what they did. Probably the most honest treatment I have seen ever. I will most likely buy it when it becomes available on DVD.

And yet its extremely ironic that War time has always been where some of the most advanced technological leaps forward are made.Awfully stiff price to pay for better widgets. But you are right. Desperate times like wars means R&D always gets a stiff kick in the rear. I guess there is always a silver lining to the cloud that hangs over every war.

I found it painful at times, knowing what Aunts, Uncles, and my father and mother had to go through what they did. Probably the most honest treatment I have seen ever. I will most likely buy it when it becomes available on DVD.

I've talked quite a bit with my family on their hardships during the war too ... for one, my grandfather reenlisted - even when he was almost too old (Mom says so he would get away from the family and the hardships they were going thru) - living in a cheap, tiny living space full of bugs. Getting one pair of shoes a year, using cardboard to fill in any holes that developed in the sole, the tiny portions of food, etc. And the deaths too. But here's where the series gives us special glimpses of the small portions of happiness that did occur - the meeting and marrying of a couple and they're still together today, etc.

I've talked quite a bit with my family on their hardships during the war too ... for one, my grandfather reenlisted - even when he was almost too old (Mom says so he would get away from the family and the hardships they were going thru) - living in a cheap, tiny living space full of bugs. Getting one pair of shoes a year, using cardboard to fill in any holes that developed in the sole, the tiny portions of food, etc. And the deaths too. But here's where the series gives us special glimpses of the small portions of happiness that did occur - the meeting and marrying of a couple and they're still together today, etc.Yes, it was well rounded. And I will admit, the tales told by my relatives were often more about the humorous things that happened. As if the nasty part was a given and needed no explanation. Some of my mom's tales of dealing with rationing were downright hilarious. She BTW lost her first husband when the ship he skippered sank. She never mentioned him much.

Yes, it was well rounded. And I will admit, the tales told by my relatives were often more about the humorous things that happened. As if the nasty part was a given and needed no explanation. Some of my mom's tales of dealing with rationing were downright hilarious. She BTW lost her first husband when the ship he skippered sank. She never mentioned him much.

I also got experience from ... the other side. My grandparents came here just before Hitler really took control leaving all their familes - which resulted in my grandmother's brothers fighting in Rommel's army (he came over here twice - drank his rather warm beer, spoke no english and showed us some giant war wounds on his legs - us little kids of course were fascinated. And I guess my grandmother's sister was one of Hitler's well liked portrait artists - so she did his portraits - and at night secretly painted religious scenes - one of which was smuggled out and hung on my grandmother's wall forever.

<-- history major

Do i still have to do the homework?

I also got experience from ... the other side. My grandparents came here just before Hitler really took control leaving all their familes - which resulted in my grandmother's brothers fighting in Rommel's army (he came over here twice - drank his rather warm beer, spoke no english and showed us some giant war wounds on his legs - us little kids of course were fascinated. And I guess my grandmother's sister was one of Hitler's well liked portrait artists - so she did his portraits - and at night secretly painted religious scenes - one of which was smuggled out and hung on my grandmother's wall forever.
Wow. It is amazing to me how much this war truly affected everyone on the planet and everything that happened afterwards. The recent movie "The Raid" brought back memories of my uncle who lived that nightmare for 3 1/2 years as a guest of the Japanese in the Phillipines.

What happened to the painting? Does someone in the family still have it?

I guess you're lucky if you "learned alot about" how evil this world can be through a TV program. No wonder why its easy for everybody to have a migher-than-thou attitude and claim their version of the facts is right.
They "learned how evil the world can be" through a TV Program. You can do it also.

:rolleyes:

Next time, try learning through real life, not TV. Hell of alot more impressionable.

Have you watched the documentary? Maybe you should. Personally I have never witnessed the horror or heard first person accounts of such horror and inhumanity. I am shure TexasGuy has seen and learned a lot more than I, but yes this film was very educational for the rest of us morons.

Personally I am grateful to get to hear the stories from some of these veterans. They will soon all be gone. I am sure they probably can't hold a candle to TexasGuy but they are all remarkable heroes in my opinion. They are the reason we are all sitting here doing whatever it is we are doing today.

An intersting tie in - The Library of Congress has been actively seeking out and recording the memories of any WWll vet they can locate for their archives. I know this has been going on now for awhile. Not sure if Burns and his film came first, but I find this to be a great way to really get to the heart of a conflict that has shaped the World in such profound ways.

<-- history major

Do i still have to do the homework?Who cares? But since you are in the field, what's your take?

Wow. It is amazing to me how much this war truly affected everyone on the planet and everything that happened afterwards. The recent movie "The Raid" brought back memories of my uncle who lived that nightmare for 3 1/2 years as a guest of the Japanese in the Phillipines.

What happened to the painting? Does someone in the family still have it?

Now for the dark side of the family. Grandmother is a 6' tall burly german woman who even at 95 strikes fear into my father. They were basically subsistence farmers - making/raising everything they had. She buried two husbands and was still going strong - till money grubbing daughter (my aunt) turned my grandmother away from my father (didn't do lawnwork, etc) and then talked her into selling house and moving to Florida - not telling anyone on my father's side of the family. Poof! No grandmother. Didn't know where she was for nearly 10 years till we hear this remarkable story.

Aunt and her SO basically have everything of my grandmothers - including painting, probably 500 plus Hummel figurines - lots of stuff. And they kept borrowing money. Last amount they wanted was the $15,000 check Grandmother got in mail (she lived with them). Grandmother said no. Next thing we find out ... they locked her in her room, putting a lock high up on the door so she couldn't reach it - said she was delusional and wandered at night ... so Grandmother was locked up for a while till one day window was open - so 85 year old Grandmother crawled out window and out to the curb where she waved down an ambulance and she was taken to a shelter - she's now in an old folks home where she is full dementia. She's had one long full life!

^^^No one can be nastier to someone than family.

I guess you're lucky if you "learned alot about" how evil this world can be through a TV program. No wonder why its easy for everybody to have a migher-than-thou attitude and claim their version of the facts is right.
They "learned how evil the world can be" through a TV Program. You can do it also.

:rolleyes:

Next time, try learning through real life, not TV. Hell of alot more impressionable.

huh????

huh????

I think he's saying we need to have WWIII

Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima" was also a good movie IMO, though a dramatization, but it did give you a sense of the view from the Japanese side. My view is you need a perspective from all sides if you ever hope to stop this madness.

An interesting part to me last night was when one of the veterans was telling about capturing a bunch of the Germans. He said there was one German prisoner who spoke perfect English and the prisoner asked him where he was from.

The American G.I. went on to tell him that he was from some town in Connecticut. The German prisoner said,"Oh yes, where the such and such river meets the such and such river. (he knew the exact names of the rivers.)

The American veteran went on to tell how remarkable that was because one of those rivers was small enough to step across. He went on to tell how scary it was that Hitler had all of these German men trained on U.S. geography for when they came to conquer the United States. The German prisoner had never stepped foot on U.S. soil but he knew the geography like the back of his hand.

^^^No one can be nastier to someone than family.

truer words were never spoken. written. whatever....

And yet its extremely ironic that War time has always been where some of the most advanced technological leaps forward are made.

Ironic, but not really surprising. No activity man has ever undertaken has ever focused the efforts and attention of a large group of people so completely and uniformly as war. Sad, but true.

As for the brutality of war, inflicted by all sides on all other sides, there isn't anything new about it. The Thirty Years War in the 1600's, to cite but one example, wiped out a huge portion of the population that would, 250 years later, become Germany.

William Tecumseh Sherman summed it up about as well as anyone ever has: "War means fighting and fighting means killing and you cannot refine it. War is all hell."

The German prisoner had never stepped foot on U.S. soil but he knew the geography like the back of his hand.

and 60 years later...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/02/geog.test/


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After more than three years of combat and nearly 2,400 U.S. military deaths in Iraq, nearly two-thirds of Americans aged 18 to 24 still cannot find Iraq on a map, a study released Tuesday showed.

And yet its extremely ironic that War time has always been where some of the most advanced technological leaps forward are made.

Technical leaps in killing people in huge numbers.

and 60 years later...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/02/geog.test/


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After more than three years of combat and nearly 2,400 U.S. military deaths in Iraq, nearly two-thirds of Americans aged 18 to 24 still cannot find Iraq on a map, a study released Tuesday showed.

Not really surprising. We have never been really good at geography. Even now, with all this going on, the only sacrifice most are asked is to put a ribbon magnet on the car.

...the only sacrifice most are asked is to put a ribbon magnet on the car.

..not just cars, huge, 8 mpg Hummers and SUVs, and no one seems to get the irony.

..not just cars, huge, 8 mpg Hummers and SUVs, and no one seems to get the irony.

Oh, sure folks get the irony. Just not the folks who are driving the 8 mpg Hummers and SUVs, that's all.

..not just cars, huge, 8 mpg Hummers and SUVs, and no one seems to get the irony.

...... and I think that is an entirely different issue.... True nonetheless.