WWII Vertrans

Please view before Memorial Day (if possible)


They are trying to get 50000 views before Memorial Day. It is
pretty poignant and is one of Seth's projects. Kindly forward so
more can view it. You need to view the whole thing to be counted,
it's only 2 min long.

http://media.causes.com/1060527?p_id=175378540

good watch and a good cause. got ya covered pun

I did not see how many had already viewed it. It is still a great thing.

Pause just a few seconds and ask yourself, where would our Country be today without these "old boys" who gave so much ? (some gave all)

I am grateful to men such as these. What they have done, makes all our lives a better one to live, no question about it.

SALUTE fellows.

Thanks for viewing..

Not enough is put forward to remind us what our elders have done for us. In 1995, my grandfather, who was reserve in Canada's campaign in Holland, was part of the 50th anniversary ceremonials in our community. Even if he didnt see action, he did lose friends who got called to the frontlines. I always cherish the stories he told me and wonder if he took some secrets to the grave.

When he passed away, I inherited his badges and a number of items collected during is service. I'm hoping I'll be able to get his Lee-Enfield from my uncle who's not doing anything with it. I want to put up a shrine in my house so my son grows up knowing who he's from.

This trip initiative is very good. Time is ticking. Everytime a WWII vet passes, we lose the most important witness of that time period. When they're gone it'll be too late to honour them.


Thank you Pun.

Good video thanks for the post

Great video. I would like to add something, just seeing signs talking about freedom bugged me a little. First off, I would like to say this is just my opinion and that I completely support the people of the US and the troops. However, the US government is really stupid. I believe that the US should not have fought WWI and II. In WWI, the whole war was started because of one assassination. A tiny war started but then because of alliances between countries, all of Europe and Russia came into a big war. The only reason the people were fighting was because their governments told them too. However, the Christmas right before the US joined the war, both sides joined in celebration. This shows how the troops were starting to realize that the opposite side was composed of living, breathing humans just like themselves. Then the US entered. The USG (US government) wanted to become a world power. In WWII, The US actualy hired frank capra to make a movie!!! It was called "Why we fight" and it was full of lies. However people bought it. In WWI, Germany wasn't evil. Both sides were not "good". Both sides killed many people including innocents. But when the US joined the war, it revived the war which would have died out. Then came the worst part of the war: the reparation acts which made the central powers pay for the war. Because of this, Hitler was able to rise to power in Germany. Without this, he never would've. These acts caused severe depression in Germany. Ironically, the treaty was actually broken by our side. Because it was broken, Germany was able to build weapons now, so thats what they did. Bingo, WWII, right off the American factory. So even thought we started WWII, we needed to stop Hitler right? The fact is, while Germany killed around ~28 million, our allies, the USSR alone, killed ~42 million. Our other allies weren't clean either. The truth is, WWI and WWII was just like any other war fought in Europe. This area, 6% of the world, has had most of the wars in history. The history of Europe is one big power struggle, and this was no different. 2 things made WWI and WWII different. 1) technology allowed for mass murder. 2) the US entered the war.

In conclusion I support the troops, not the government. WWI/II is made up of lies. Think of it, even today many for no reason (I know I did) think that the Germans were "evil". However, the Germans themselves were not a giant group of psychopaths. Each German was a living person just like you and me. The governments on both sides lied to their people in order to get them to fight for their own power. So what bugs me is in this video people holding signs thanking the WWII vets for their freedom. WHAT!!! Not once on either war did anyone invade the US!!! We invaded them. We never fought on our soil. We fought on theirs. This wasn't about our freedom. It was about the USG making a power play. It was about power hungry, greedy politicians. It happened on both sides and millions died because of it.

I disagree with some of your arguments Fid.

In WWI, most of the fighting on the western front occured in Belgium and France. The Germans, when they invaded, made a point of assassinating civilians and children, thinking that the psychological effect would discourage the Allies. It didnt work. The Allies fought back. The Germans used chlorine and mustard gas, tha Allies answered with underground super mines. From the moment the war started, every step was an excuse for a build up in aggression and military technology followed. The reparation act was imposed on Germany because the fighting had affected mostly France and Belgium while Germany's soil remaned practicly intact. For that reason, on the western front at least, the Allies didnt exact the same toll on Germany's civilian population. France was furious and demanded compensation.

Now, the rise of Hitler cant be blamed on the Treaty of Versailles because the Allied governments, at the time, couldnt predict that a twisted mind would build a system of mass endoctrination like it has never been seen before or since. What you're implying is called second guessing. Its easy to reproch the Treaty today because we have hindsight. Unfortunately, the governments of the time didnt have foresight and I dont think anyone could foresee what came to be with Hitler. I do agree that not all Germans were "evil". Hitler took power with about 33% of the votes. Hitler survived or avoided 17 assassination attempts by fellow Germans. I do agree with you about Staline. I actually believe that, had we not fought Hitler, we would have fought Staline. Churchill actually wanted to land in Yougoslavia so to cut Staline from western and central Europe, but Roosevelt chose France to please de Gaulle and Staline. We ended up supporting Staline because he seemed the lesser of two evils at the time.

Finally, the freedom thing. Most of the soldiers who saw action in WWII were volounteers, in Canada at least. When they witnessed the cruelties the German SS or Japanese troups had imposed on civilians, they were pretty motivated by themselves. The difference between our countries' governments and the Axis governments of the time was free press and freedom of speech. Of course there was propaganda and censorship on both sides but before and after the WWII, people could and still can express what they think in different media formats in the western countries. The fact that you felt the liberty to write your arguments freely is a proof of the legacy our veterans gave us. You could never have expressed your opinion against your government in a state ruled under a Nazi regime where people would feel stressed just to have a thought that opposed the regime. I, as a high school teacher, would not be allowed to comment daily news in my class without the consent of a political superviser. That's what freedom is about. You can criticize your government all you want, and so do I on occasion. But the fact that you can criticize is proof that freedom still means something in today's world. You can read what you want, watch what you want, listen to whoever you want, therefore write what you want. That's freedom in democracy.

Now, if you feel the system works against that freedom in the US... Feel at ease to know I'm starting to feel the same in Canada!!

I believe the game changer to US involvement was Hitler's plan for the expansion of the German empire and the mass extermination of everyone he didn't like. And I think you will remember that Russia was allied with Germany at the beginning of the war. They had their sights on expansion also. They wanted their piece of Poland.

Fid, you should also check out what Japan was doing in China during the mid to late 1930's. So for the US to sit on the sidelines and allow the atrocities to continue was something that the American people would not agree with.

I don't believe the German people are hated by a vast majority of people in this country or around the world for that matter. They have been an ally of the US. since WWII. And as far as fighting on American soil, yes it did happen. The Aleutian Islands come to mind in that regard. To think that Japan, Germany and Italy and Russia included, would have stopped their desire for domination and not invaded the US at some point in their conquest is a bit naive I think. Had they been able to have invaded the English isles with success, I think they would have continued to the western hemisphere. Me personally, I am glad we took the fight to them. It is much like the wars we fight now against terrorists. I prefer to dust them in the mountains of Afghanistan then rooting them out in the streets of the US.

Japan murdered 5 million people. China murdered 10 million. Both were bad. Also Pearl Harbor. There is a Roosevelt quote (I can't remember it exactly but I could spend the time to look it up) where he says that he was willing to lose half the navy. Roosevelt parked the navy there away from the mainland exposed so that Japan could attack so that the US could get into the war.

Overall I just want to make two points. 1) Nobody in the wars were good - While the Germans and the Russians killed millions, mostly the atrocities committed by Allies are left out. For example, the British used area bombing which killed many innocents.
2) The US wasn't fighting for freedom, though thats what our leaders told us we were fighting for. If we were, we would've become like Switzerland. Located in the heart of Europe, it remained neutral throughout both world wars! How? It had no standing army, it was small geographically, and it contained a comparatively small population. However, it had the greatest defense ever: a militia. They didn't try to invade other countries because they couldn't without an army, but they would defend with everything they had. This is what our founding fathers designed our country to be. The greatest generals of history have said that to fight against guerrilla tactics such as a militia you need anywhere from 20 to 1 or even 100 to 1 advantages. While we can "take the fight to them" I think that this is deception. If we left them alone, they would leave us alone. If they are stupid enough to attack us, we will destroy what they send our way. In the war on the middle east today, several things go against the US. 1) most of the time we don't even know who we're fighting. They just hide, pop out snipe someone, and go back. 2) a $600 RPG can destroy a million dollar tank and a 1.5 million dollar cruise missile destroys a small hideout with a few people. 3) they out number us by 1 billion. We call them terrorists. However, we're the ones invading their land. If our positions were reversed and one of ours took out 3,000 people in a suicide mission, would we call him a terrorist or a hero?

I think Peasoup has some valid points, especially that the leaders at the time could not see into the future. Its difficult to say "this is what they should've done" because one different thing could change history for the worse instead of the better. However, I still think that we should not fight unless its on our soil, because if we are fighting on their soil, we are the invaders, we are the ones causing the war. The best war is the war we don't fight in.