I watched a show on the Battle of the Bulge yesterday. Something like 19,000 Americans died in just that one battle.
Somehow there is a perception that life was cheap only in antiquity or maybe even during Napoleonic or Civil War times but the truth is even “advanced” societies like the US and Germany as late as WWII, 80 years ago, found it acceptable to lose tens of thousands of troops over a single objective.
Much is made of the 13 American dead in this conflict, but in Vietnam we were still “comfortable” with 300 dead a week.
If the Iranians managed to sink a US warship it would be like the end of the world. In WWII, Britain lost an astonishing 313 major warships including 5 carriers, 3 battleships, 28 cruisers, 132 destroyers and 77 subs.
Germany lost over 750 submarines during the war. German soldiers dead? 5.4 million.
Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day…first decorating the graves of fallen Union soldiers in the Civil War with flowers, wreaths and flags in 1868.
But actually, the first Decoration Day was organized by Black Americans in South Carolina in 1865 whereas they exhumed the bodies of Union soldiers in a Confederate prison camp to give their liberators a proper burial and then held a parade to honor them.
My brother-in-law, who is no longer here, returned from Vietnam to arrive in San Francisco and was immediately accosted by people, most of them young. Called him a baby killer.
It was one of the most shameful periods in our country’s history.
You hear one thing again and again How the USA stands for freedom And we come to the aid of a friend But who are the ones that we call our friends— These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can’t take any more And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone.
Bill Kristol: Donald Trump is frantically looking for a face-saving way out of Iran (the Abraham Accords!). He won’t find one—so here comes Cuba. How do you say “wag the dog” in Spanish? Also, he may not be well, and defeat plus desperation makes him more dangerous.
If anyone is not well, it’s been Kristol since his warmongering ways has been discredited. Dems can’t latch him after berating him and his ilk for decades; it doesn’t work that way.
I like that WW 2 documentary did not pull any punches about how bad Stalin F’d up by killing most of the military leaders in the purge before the war or that he was a drunk p*ssy hiding out when the war started. All this was known but I wondered if they would try to diminish it.
The Hedgehog Report - Phoenix Edition 
24 responses to “Memorial day”
Never forget those who gave their all, and never forget we are always one generation away from Communist oppression
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I watched a show on the Battle of the Bulge yesterday. Something like 19,000 Americans died in just that one battle.
Somehow there is a perception that life was cheap only in antiquity or maybe even during Napoleonic or Civil War times but the truth is even “advanced” societies like the US and Germany as late as WWII, 80 years ago, found it acceptable to lose tens of thousands of troops over a single objective.
Much is made of the 13 American dead in this conflict, but in Vietnam we were still “comfortable” with 300 dead a week.
If the Iranians managed to sink a US warship it would be like the end of the world. In WWII, Britain lost an astonishing 313 major warships including 5 carriers, 3 battleships, 28 cruisers, 132 destroyers and 77 subs.
Germany lost over 750 submarines during the war. German soldiers dead? 5.4 million.
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The Russians don’t know how many of their soldiers died, but it is between 8.7 and 11.4 million. Plus another 20 million civilians.
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American losses in ALL wars are about 1.3 million, of which about half are from the Civil War.
It is estimated about 550 million Americans have lived since the Revolutionary War.
So your chances of dying in a war since then are about 0.2% or roughly 1 in 500 Americans ever born have died in wars.
An interesting statistic is that it is estimated that 50% of Americans EVER BORN are alive today.
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Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day…first decorating the graves of fallen Union soldiers in the Civil War with flowers, wreaths and flags in 1868.
But actually, the first Decoration Day was organized by Black Americans in South Carolina in 1865 whereas they exhumed the bodies of Union soldiers in a Confederate prison camp to give their liberators a proper burial and then held a parade to honor them.
My brother-in-law, who is no longer here, returned from Vietnam to arrive in San Francisco and was immediately accosted by people, most of them young. Called him a baby killer.
It was one of the most shameful periods in our country’s history.
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It hasn’t gotten better.
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Trump officially proclaims Memorial Day as a Day of Prayer for Permanent Peace
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as has been every Memorial Day since Truman started that tradition.
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Looks likes a big stock market day tomorow if the trends continue
And a big drop in oil.
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I’ll try to time my buying of oil futures before this deal collapses.
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You hear one thing again and again How the USA stands for freedom And we come to the aid of a friend But who are the ones that we call our friends— These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can’t take any more And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone.
LikeLike
Bill Kristol: Donald Trump is frantically looking for a face-saving way out of Iran (the Abraham Accords!). He won’t find one—so here comes Cuba. How do you say “wag the dog” in Spanish? Also, he may not be well, and defeat plus desperation makes him more dangerous.
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Cuba and Greenland are next up on the docket.
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If anyone is not well, it’s been Kristol since his warmongering ways has been discredited. Dems can’t latch him after berating him and his ilk for decades; it doesn’t work that way.
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Bill Krystol…..socialist who never met a war he wanted to stay out of.
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WW2 show is very good. I liked the detailed summary of how Poland fought for weeks before being overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union.
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Kristol is a Democrat now, a radical one at that.
Trump broke him.
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i missed the show, but will try to get a repeat.
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LOL
https://x.com/SethDillon/status/2058742199638995361/photo/1
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Ahh, it’s still on so watching now.
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You are only 2 hours behind. 18 to go.
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I like that WW 2 documentary did not pull any punches about how bad Stalin F’d up by killing most of the military leaders in the purge before the war or that he was a drunk p*ssy hiding out when the war started. All this was known but I wondered if they would try to diminish it.
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this year for me it was watching The Sands of Iwo Jima. One of the few films where John Wayne dies at the end
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new thread
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