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
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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.