Remebrance Day

[Aemilius Paulus]

Most interesting post, Recoil!

My great-grandparents, all of whom fought in WWII with the Soviet Army weren't so lucky. Out of eight of them, three died at the hands of the damn Nazis. One of them was in an artillery unit, in charge of delivering ammunition. A German shell hit his truck (full of artillery ammo) and well, that was the last of him... Another was in an encircled unit in Belorussia. No record of him after that... The last was in an infantry unit, and died while fighting in Germany. Two of the survivors actually fought in the Siege of Berlin, and were lucky to survive that bloodbath. My grandparents still have the trophies that the two brought from the sack of that infernal city.

I also remember how one of my grandparents, who actually lived in Moldova at the time of WWII, was talking about how his best friend (who was Jewish) and his family was taken by the Nazis. My grandfather actually followed (secretly) the soldiers as they took his friend away and watched from a tree he climbed to hide on as his friend was being executed. The Germans did not want to dirty their hands so they made the soldiers from the Romanian units do the killing. The family of that 11 year old Jewish boy was instantly shot and killed, but the boy himself had his arm blown off and was bleeding profusely. He ran and screamed for a few minutes (odd too, since the blood loss, shock and sheer pain should have made him faint) until a German soldier finally caught him with a rifle butt in the face. My grandfather was 10 at that time.

[Recoil]

Wow, quite a few stories there Aemilius, its good to hear that some of your family managed to come out alive though.
it's amazing to think that all of this happened only in the last century and, these days, a German can freely travel to England, France, Italy and Russia without much hassle (admittedly I can't honestly say I'm sure about the Russia bit, having never been there) it really shows how much people have just wanted to live together and get on as well as possible, which, to me, is the only good thing war brings- it can ironically bring us together, but even then, its a one in a million chance. lets hope humanity's luck doesnt wear thin.

[desert]

Nothing would work better in bringing us together than a direct threat to the survival of the whole species.

And we haven't run into one of those...yet. (I'm being serious btw)

[Lovejoy]

Few war stories in my family as I am swedish. My grand-grandpa fled from Norway to Sweden during the WW2. But I dont know why. I am also half finish so maybe there are some WW2 stories I am not aware about.

IMHO:
People romanticises the lives of soldiers too much. Not that we shouldnt honour them, but far too often do people join the armies of the world looking for honour and glory. Usually they get none.

[Aemilius Paulus]

People romanticises the lives of soldiers too much. Not that we shouldnt honour them, but far too often do people join the armies of the world looking for honour and glory. Usually they get none.

How true. There is absolutely nothing glorious about today's warfare. I recently read an excellent book on warfare and how the US Armed forces work, and found out that the US Army will do just about anything to get recruits for the poor bloody infantry. The amount of propaganda they use to entice young men to join the armed forces is overwhelming, and most of the stuff they use is pretty crude, including the "romanticism"/glorification of warfare, patriotism, or how "cool" it is to be a soldier. Rubbish if you ask me. That same book also said that in a month of modern warfare, a unit will receive 90% casualties. How glorious to see your comrades ripped apart into bloody confetti. Truly a sight to behold. *voice dripping with sarcasm/sardonic*

[Celtic_Punk]

Thats a pretty sobering first picture Sarcasm... I guess supposed to be a kid on his way to falklands... most meaningless war ever... young lads died for a power hungry woman.

[johnhughthom]

Thats a pretty sobering first picture Sarcasm... I guess supposed to be a kid on his way to falklands... most meaningless war ever... young lads died for a power hungry woman.

Not really the place for that.

[Irishmafia2020]

Thats a pretty sobering first picture Sarcasm... I guess supposed to be a kid on his way to falklands... most meaningless war ever... young lads died for a power hungry woman.

The Falklands were in 1982 - ten years after that picture, and the quality of civilian leadership does not lessen a soldier's sacrifice to his or her country. The loss of men in the service of a brutal dictator or an incompetent but well meaning minister is equal to those who die serving a brilliant government that wins its wars... We are all people after all.
To any fellow American veterans - raise a toast or say a prayer for those who are gone in our GWOT, and as well to those who fought in previous generations. Ultimately, history is unkind to war (WWI, whose end we mark today was perhaps "meaningless" after the fact, although at the time...) so it is better to remember our lost friends as idyllic patriotic hero's rather than as pawns of despots - and that is what this day is for.