Made my eyes water! (1 Viewer)

[Rob]

Had a great day up at the IWM today.Took two very enjoyable tours and met some very nice tourists visiting our country.One German Gentleman approached me after i'd spoken about the first day on the Somme.He told me his great uncle had fought in that famous battle.He said that he was manning a forward trench when the British troops jumped into his trench and attacked his comrades.Has his great uncle fought for his life a British soldier smashed him in the head with his rifle butt and then as he lay dazed on the floor of the trench the British soldier stuck his Bayonet right through his thigh pinning him to the floor!.Can you imagine the pain?.He survived though.

Rob

 

[Currahee Chris]

I lived in Germany for three years as a young boy. I do remember it quite well. The funny thing is, when you talk to some of these vets, a lot of them empathize with their "enemies". I think each side rationalizes it as either "it's him or it's me" or I was doing what my country asked of me and I think we can empathize a lot with that. Especially with WW1- there were a lot of different actors involved with that one- Germany wasn't the Nazi power and hadn't gone down that road.

I believe all vets, once they return, have to live with two things and seek forgiveness/ make reconciliation for these things:

1.) They have to recover from the sheer horror of the tragedy that happened to their friends and the psychological trauma of nearly dying themselves and dealing with the intense stress of being exposed to such a stressful environment for such a length of time and

2.) They need to reconcile with the killing that they did. It is easy, I think to kill another man as a younger man. Myself, I see it so differently now being a father- no matter how cruel or twisted the other man may seem, he was a young boy like any of my children. I am sure many men have returned and had to deal with that. Killing people is not part of God's plan nor part of sane human psychology. To have to do that and then return back into a normal, civilized society must be hard.

They say my great grandfather who fought for the US in WW1 had a bullet lodged in the top of his head. It is true, he had a bump right on the top of his head. They say the bullet hit his helmet and lost a lot of its momentum but was able to penetrate the skin and went under the skin and stayed there on top of the skull but under the skin. Who knows??

Yeah, I couldn't imagine lying in a trench with a bayonet stuck through my leg. I couldn't imagine going through the horrors of WW1 and it should have been the war to end all wars but here we are, still beating ourselves to a pulp with bigger bombs and deadlier weapons. Sorry to sound like such a Peacenik- I guess I just despair when I hear stories like this, and they are in such an abundance. I just get sad thinking that if things go horribly wrong, that might be one of my sons ( or heaven forbid my daughter) lying in a trench, field, jungle, etc slowly bleeding away........

 

[Louis Badolato]

I lived in Germany for three years as a young boy. I do remember it quite well. The funny thing is, when you talk to some of these vets, a lot of them empathize with their "enemies". I think each side rationalizes it as either "it's him or it's me" or I was doing what my country asked of me and I think we can empathize a lot with that. Especially with WW1- there were a lot of different actors involved with that one- Germany wasn't the Nazi power and hadn't gone down that road.

I believe all vets, once they return, have to live with two things and seek forgiveness/ make reconciliation for these things:

1.) They have to recover from the sheer horror of the tragedy that happened to their friends and the psychological trauma of nearly dying themselves and dealing with the intense stress of being exposed to such a stressful environment for such a length of time and

2.) They need to reconcile with the killing that they did. It is easy, I think to kill another man as a younger man. Myself, I see it so differently now being a father- no matter how cruel or twisted the other man may seem, he was a young boy like any of my children. I am sure many men have returned and had to deal with that. Killing people is not part of God's plan nor part of sane human psychology. To have to do that and then return back into a normal, civilized society must be hard.

They say my great grandfather who fought for the US in WW1 had a bullet lodged in the top of his head. It is true, he had a bump right on the top of his head. They say the bullet hit his helmet and lost a lot of its momentum but was able to penetrate the skin and went under the skin and stayed there on top of the skull but under the skin. Who knows??

Yeah, I couldn't imagine lying in a trench with a bayonet stuck through my leg. I couldn't imagine going through the horrors of WW1 and it should have been the war to end all wars but here we are, still beating ourselves to a pulp with bigger bombs and deadlier weapons. Sorry to sound like such a Peacenik- I guess I just despair when I hear stories like this, and they are in such an abundance. I just get sad thinking that if things go horribly wrong, that might be one of my sons ( or heaven forbid my daughter) lying in a trench, field, jungle, etc slowly bleeding away........

Just about everyone I know who actually saw combat agrees with your sentiment. Perhaps the man who said it best was my favorite author, George MacDonald Frasier, who said (paraphrasing) that he was glad for having served his country in WWII, but that he would not like to do it again, and the idea of his children doing it was unthinkable.

 

[Rob]

I lived in Germany for three years as a young boy. I do remember it quite well. The funny thing is, when you talk to some of these vets, a lot of them empathize with their "enemies". I think each side rationalizes it as either "it's him or it's me" or I was doing what my country asked of me and I think we can empathize a lot with that. Especially with WW1- there were a lot of different actors involved with that one- Germany wasn't the Nazi power and hadn't gone down that road.

I believe all vets, once they return, have to live with two things and seek forgiveness/ make reconciliation for these things:

1.) They have to recover from the sheer horror of the tragedy that happened to their friends and the psychological trauma of nearly dying themselves and dealing with the intense stress of being exposed to such a stressful environment for such a length of time and

2.) They need to reconcile with the killing that they did. It is easy, I think to kill another man as a younger man. Myself, I see it so differently now being a father- no matter how cruel or twisted the other man may seem, he was a young boy like any of my children. I am sure many men have returned and had to deal with that. Killing people is not part of God's plan nor part of sane human psychology. To have to do that and then return back into a normal, civilized society must be hard.

They say my great grandfather who fought for the US in WW1 had a bullet lodged in the top of his head. It is true, he had a bump right on the top of his head. They say the bullet hit his helmet and lost a lot of its momentum but was able to penetrate the skin and went under the skin and stayed there on top of the skull but under the skin. Who knows??

Yeah, I couldn't imagine lying in a trench with a bayonet stuck through my leg. I couldn't imagine going through the horrors of WW1 and it should have been the war to end all wars but here we are, still beating ourselves to a pulp with bigger bombs and deadlier weapons. Sorry to sound like such a Peacenik- I guess I just despair when I hear stories like this, and they are in such an abundance. I just get sad thinking that if things go horribly wrong, that might be one of my sons ( or heaven forbid my daughter) lying in a trench, field, jungle, etc slowly bleeding away........

I don't think you sound like a peacenik at all Chris.I think you just echo what we all feel.Sometimes when i'm giving my speech at the museum about the Somme,the words seem to burn my mouth as they come out.60,000 CASUALTIES ON THE FIRST DAY ALONE!.Its hard to even comprehend.Today we lost another brave young man in Iraq,its all over the news.How did the country cope the day after the first day of the Somme.

We can only hope that never again will there be a world war.And god forbid any of our relatives will ever be involved.As Louis has said on many occaisions we are very lucky to live in the freedom we do.It was a freedom earned in blood and sacrafice,and i for one will be forever grateful.

Thats why i have no time for young trendy's that say its time to forget.Not me.

Rob