The Hedgehog Report – Phoenix Edition

6 responses to “Memorial day”

1. 

   DW

   May 25, 2026 at 9:18 am

   Never forget those who gave their all, and never forget we are always one generation away from Communist oppression

   LikeLike

2. 

   jason yupanqui

   May 25, 2026 at 9:35 am

   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.

   LikeLike

3. 

   jason yupanqui

   May 25, 2026 at 11:11 am

   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.

   LikeLike

4. 

   jason yupanqui

   May 25, 2026 at 11:22 am

   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.

   LikeLike

5. 

   John Goggin

   May 25, 2026 at 11:57 am

   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.

   LikeLike

6. 

   jason yupanqui

   May 25, 2026 at 12:54 pm

   It hasn’t gotten better.

   LikeLike