A WW2 Veteran speaks

I've been emailing a USAAF 95th Bomb Group B17 crew Veteran, discussing life and the universe. Our talk turned to US politics and the wars past and present. Here is his email in response to me sending him this link:

http://www.counterthink.org/018716.html

Very interesting comments, especially from the mouth of a living WW2 veteran
=====================================

Yes and no, but mostly no. I hear Mr. Slick talking, but I do not detect any real answers.

He seems to be on a kick that WWII was one of those good wars in which America set out to save English and European clowns for whom war was often a way of life. In fact, their war to end wars---WWI---did not prove to be meritorious on that premise.

I did not volunteer for WWII, not that may did, to bury the Axis. On the other hand, Japan was in our gun sights right from the start. No, we were just coming out of a depression with the war's assist. My chances, and millions of others, of finding work was nil. Add to this, too, the utter remote possibility of attending college. History is replete with examples of engaging in war to get peoples' minds off prevailing problems like depressions. Getting youth off the streets is another advantage of a good conflict. And, as we know, war certainly can get industry humming once again. WWII did all these things.

Roosevelt purposely put Japan is precarious positions economically and geographically to eventually defeat the ongoing, US sentiment for isolation. That is, he needed an excuse to back up his buddy-pal Churchill. You might say, in retrospect, both enjoyed a good war as adulated leaders.

By the way, I was not overly concerned with killing the so-called enemy, no, my objective was to save my own ass and return home. If the truth be known, maybe I only killed a few soldiers with most of my dastardly deeds against civilians.

Where is my Hyde Parks soap box when I need it? Hear!

Electioneering has been going on in this country ever since the Democrats lost. Their clarion call has been "We hate Bush" with all of its ramification. The hysterical left is completely out of control as is the media. Has Bush made mistakes. Of course, and I cannot think of any leader who has not. Where were those righteous people when Clinton was in office? If you do not recall, Willy-Billy Boy did not run his Bosnian conflict by Congress, but most Clinton-agreeable politicians are singing a different tune today.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, this country was ready for action with the deaths of only around 2,000, and the scuffle was thousands of miles away. Now, 9/11, with over 3,000 killed in our own backyard, it generates a big yarn especially with Democrats and many liberals.

The blatant negativity of power has always been with us, and I make no exceptions.

Cycle helmets rock

Yep I give a hearty thumbs up to the old Melon Helmets that us cyclists wear, and I encourage you ALL to wear one when you cycle - cos if I'd not had mine on last night I swear my skull would have been seriously split open and this morning I'd have been in hospital.

Big thanks to the ignorant blind TWAT who firstly blocked the cycle path lounging on his bike while chatting to a fluffy blonde, then even more Brownie points to him for deciding to cycle off without looking as I passed him. BANG and down I went. Swearing like a fishwife at him I got up, and he was awfully nice and apologetic and suitably sorry, but as I'd had the worst day of the year at work so far, I just got up, said I was OK then cycled off before he could see that I was blubbing like a pansy. Darn it I didn't even see his face to check whether he was fit or not.

I got home and sat and howled for half an hour, such was the crappiness of my day. Then this morning I witness a dad step out into the road holding the hand of his young son, right into the path of a car, which slammed on the brakes and narrowly missed them both. Dad didn't seem to notice or even look round, and neither did son. Way to go with the Highway Code guys.

Further along my journey I witness Stupid Student cycling along while texting. She wobbled dangerously as I passed her and by now I was so jumpy I nearly fell off again. I really wanted to just stick out my leg and kick her off her f*cking bike into the hedge.

So remember kiddies, you may look stupid with a huge plastic melon on your head but I'd rather look stupid than have a fractured skull or worse ....

Is It Just Me or Is Everything Shit?: The Encyclopedia of Modern Life

Yes this is the title of a new book now out, that gives a commentary on Modern Life. I've not ready it yet but I will probably peruse it very soon.

I heartily agree with the title. I made the mistake of buying the Sunday Times at the weekend (free Donnie Darko DVD) and for the first time in months, sat and read the paper. How f*cking depressed was I when I'd finished. Every page was crammed with stories on corruption, cheating, murder, shady Govts, America and it's dirty dealings, money being spent on the silliest of things, compensation cases and sue sue sue stories, Iraq, more Iraq, the ice caps melting and disrupting the Gulf Stream (next ice age is coming within my lifetime ARGH), stories of layred bureacracy within the BBC costing us upwards of £70k per day, of their paid-for trips to the World Cup for staff, commentators and all their hangers-on, that 27 year old who gunned down his family in the US then decided to fly home to see his mum "to ask what he should do" (FFS!), then of course, bird flu BIRD FLU BIRD FLU IS COMING WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE MASS HYSTERIA PANIC OH NO MEDIA GLORIFICATION! FFS if we just treated our animals PROPERLY then these diseases would not manifest themselves. If this wipes us all out (which I don't believe it will at all) then we thoroughly deserve it.

I spent the rest of the day trying to concentrate on positive things about our world - the (unspoiled) breathtaking countryside, rivers and scenery throughout the world (that has yet to be logged, farmed, polluted, stolen, fought over, or built on), the stillness of a misty morning lake as the sun rises, the beauty of music that can reduce the most hardened person to tears, the wonder of art (not the modern crap), an act of kindness to a stranger (that isn't followed by abuse or criticism or suspicion of being mugged), the feeling of being in the company of good friends, the fantastic buzz of driving a car around the a racetrack, the wonderful fizzy feeling inside you when you first kiss someone you are crazy about, scuba diving and seeing the beauty of the fragile world under our seas (again, before it is farmed, polluted, overfished and over-dived).

After all those thoughts had gone through my head I still found myself feeling very depressed about the way the world I live in is going. Because beautiful countryside, first kisses, good friends, and morning misty lakes will never change the rampant greed, corruption and consumerism that is devouring our sick and dying world. What hope have we got??? I'm rapidly rapidly losing faith. I also don't want to read a newspaper again for quite a while.

Romance

Well I got no cards. I didn't expect any. I never normally get them anyways! But looking at Valentines Day now makes me realise it's just the same as Christmas - another crass excuse to sell overpriced tat and cards to gullible idiots who think that only on one day of the year should they buy their sweetheart a present and tell them they love them.

Crap! You shouldn't need a dictum to tell you when to do that. Do it whenever you feel like it, any day of the year, every day if that's what you want. The time you spend with your loved one could be the very last time you see them - anything could happen - not to sound negative but it could ... so always tell them how you feel, not just on one ruddy day of the year!