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The Greatest Generation

3175375

3175375

Well-Known Member
i went into the grocery store this AM and spent about 30 minutes talking to a 95 year old gent whom I am sure went to hell and back.

He was part of the team who stood up Flying Tigers Cargo lines.

The stories of these people who have kept us free has to be captured
 
I spent this weekend in Germany (and many others prior to this one). I spoke with a German Army vet who served in the 1990's. He says the German's have a very different view on the military than the US. They are told not to wear the uniforms in public. This came up as I mentioned to him that I found a very old cemetery and walked thru it on Saturday. Many tomb stones were damaged or vandalized. he said those are typically WWII vets that get tombs kicked over or damaged. I guess I can understand it a little. The younger "right wing" as he called them have no respect for the military even though the nazi regime is no longer in power and the military serves to protect the country and not to take over the world. WWII history is quite different over here. We American's can appreciate the war veterans and other than Peal Harbor we don't have reminders of the tragedy of war (particularly Hitler) on our soil. Last time I was here I visited Dresden (Bombed by the allies as revenge rather than a strategic attack) and I saw Auschwitz (now part of Oświęcim, Poland), it was a hunting reminder of some very sick minded people. Towns clearly have buildings that date back hundreds, almost a thousand years in some cases and right next to them are buildings quickly put up after WWII with no style or character. They simply needed structures rebuilt. It is a constant reminder of the war. Even the though reunification started back in the 90's, East Germany is still very much different than West Germany and it is still fresh on the people's mind that are my age as many had family trapped on the other side of the wall. Much of what was Germany has been taken away after the first world war and again more land after WWII. One of my colleagues is a younger engineer born in East Germany. It is interesting to hear the stories from him and the many colleagues I have from West Germany. Much like in the US, there are not many alive who were in the war but many who are alive still who were touched by the war.
 
That is a shame they do not wear their uniforms. I understand the horrors they brought, but that has nothing to do with the Men and Women who thought they were doing the right thing
 
I don't think the guys on the team rounding up millions of people for slaughter really thought they were doing the "right thing". I get what you are trying to say but you've missed the mark considerably. Germans have a very legitimate reason for not wanting to be reminded of that portion of their history.
 
As a neigbor of the german people , I can tell you that WWI and WWII is a very sensetive topic in Germany.
Most german feel ashame of what happen in those WW especially in WWII.
 
it is a crying shame that people have vandalized the graves of german soldiers that fought in world war two. my feeling is that anyone that put on their countries uniform and fought for their country, winner or loser it doesnt matter, are part of the honored dead and should be treated as such.

its not their fault that their government and their leadership was corrupt and rotten to the core.
 
I went to Dachau some years ago and saw the horror.

By a man working in a ball bearing factory had no clue
 
The past is indeed a sensitive subject in Germany and understandably so. The part I thought was sad is the military vets from since the nazi stuff have nothing to do with all that and still get treated poorly.
I'm sure a nazi war vet might deserve to get disrespected but the German people I meet and work with so far anyway, show no prejudice toward Jewish or any other people. Not openly anyway. Most appear quite embarrassed by that part of history.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
rbohm said:
it is a crying shame that people have vandalized the graves of german soldiers that fought in world war two. my feeling is that anyone that put on their countries uniform and fought for their country, winner or loser it doesnt matter, are part of the honored dead and should be treated as such.

its not their fault that their government and their leadership was corrupt and rotten to the core.
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the folks in New Orleans need to stop erasing history . . .
 
Mach1Mark said:
the folks in New Orleans need to stop erasing history . . .
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yes, in Auschwitz, the total destruction of the facility was stopped to preserve the horror that occurred. It serves as a painful reminder but the key is that it is a reminder of what happened. I think if I was told correctly, the nazi's tried to destroy it to hide what they did but the allied forces stopped them from its complete destruction. Anyway, yeah, history is what it is. You can't change it.
 
You really have to separate the soldier from the politics. Not every German soldier was an SS Officer or card carrying Nazi. Germany had some fine, noble soldiers. Heck, there were even members of the SS and Nazi party that wanted to kill Hitler, they were fighting for Germany but not for Hitler. There are even at least two documented cases of German soldiers defending allied soldiers from being executed by the SS, in one instance actually joining Allied soldiers in battle to hold off SS that had been sent to exterminate prisoners.
Same way in the Civil War, there were a lot of soldiers on both sides of the conflict who didn't necessarily believe in the politics but felt obliged to fight for their home state or country. I live in Kentucky, one of those states that was divided, and I had relatives that fought and on both sides of the conflict. I have to accept that some weren't in the right but I won't deny they were my ancestors. And believe me, being on the side fighting slavery didn't mean someone was automatically a good guy. In one case in particular, my ggg uncle was illegally executed by the Union general known variously as "Butcher Burbride" or "The Butcher of Burbridge".
 
yeah, my son is a big WWII buff. he has told me of such cases where German solders and even German pilots helped the allied forces. One case he showed me was a German ace escorted a wounded US bomber back to safety in UK at he risk of being shot down and even at the risk of other German pilots seeing him do it. Years later the German pilot and the American pilot were reunited and became best of friends. Anyway, I'm sure a lot of young boys went to war with no understanding of the politics. I guess what I am seeing here is the same as the US. The younger generation tend to be more liberal minded, influenced by professors or media maybe. So they just make up their mind the military is bad. I see to a degree some of this in the US but it's much worse in Germany.
By the way, where are you in KY? I think I might have already asked you once but I can't remember. (You know they say the memory is one of the first things to go when you get old, I can't recall what the others are...)
 
tarafied1 said:
yeah, my son is a big WWII buff. he has told me of such cases where German solders and even German pilots helped the allied forces. One case he showed me was a German ace escorted a wounded US bomber back to safety in UK at he risk of being shot down and even at the risk of other German pilots seeing him do it. Years later the German pilot and the American pilot were reunited and became best of friends. Anyway, I'm sure a lot of young boys went to war with no understanding of the politics. I guess what I am seeing here is the same as the US. The younger generation tend to be more liberal minded, influenced by professors or media maybe. So they just make up their mind the military is bad. I see to a degree some of this in the US but it's much worse in Germany.
By the way, where are you in KY? I think I might have already asked you once but I can't remember. (You know they say the memory is one of the first things to go when you get old, I can't recall what the others are...)
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You may have asked, and I may have forgotten if I replied...ha ha! I am in LaRue County, live about 15 minutes south of Elizabethtown.
 
HuntingKy said:
You may have asked, and I may have forgotten if I replied...ha ha! I am in LaRue County, live about 15 minutes south of Elizabethtown.
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cool. I am in Russellville about 30 minutes West of Bowing Green. Maybe about two hours from you. I had an Aunt and Uncle in Hodgenville near Abe Lincoln's birthplace. I used to go up there for visits and it was around two hours I guess.
 
I used to drive through Russellville some on business, haven't been there in years. I used to live in Hodgenville after highschool, did a lot of running around that area. My farm where I live is about 10 minutes from there now.
 
cool, nice to know another Mustanger from the area. My Uncle retired from Caterpillar but he worked at a small shop in Hodgenville called the Skunk Works. The owner had some pretty cool toys.
 
Many younglings do not understand. I had the blessing a few years ago to fly in a COD to the USS Nimitz. TCAS went off and due to the evasive (as much as a COD can do) couple of people lost their lunch. I thought it was all cool.

Once on board the boat, I quickly realized 80% of the people making this machine go were under 25.

Awesome!
 
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