Steven Spielberg said that most Americans know little about D-Day

[lebkuchen]

Spielberg said America's youth in particular are not familiar with who was fighting whom where and for what reason. He said he could digress into a lengthy discussion about the US educational system, but he would save that for another day.

Having been born 17 years after D-Day, a child of the Vietnam War generation, I've always felt that America glorified war and viewed its scars as things of beauty rather than of horror and human tragedy in its failure to solve problems without the need for supreme sacrifice. The America I know uses the "glory" of past wars as an excuse to make more war, a macabre tradition of "honoring" our veterans in order to keep the war drums banging.

If I do not know as much about D-Day and WWII as I should, it's because America's penchant for war is blurring the boundaries between conflicts. Bush, Rumsfeld and all the other neo-cons have commemorated D-Day by saying we're at the beginning of the fight rather than the end. If true, don't expect the next generation of kids to be any more educated about their generation of American-fought wars than those fought 60 years ago. War is simply a part of US culture that Americans have come to accept as a "necessity." Asking "why" is where the education should begin.

[hlthe2b]

1. gotta link?

[lebkuchen]

5. It was on CNNI (I'm in Germany)

I wrote my post immediately thereafter.

Try searching for a link over at CNN International.

[leftyandproud]

2. Until today, I honestly didn't know...

just how many people were sacrificed...9000 Americans in ONE INVASION alone...they showed a helicopter view of those fields of crosses in normandy and I was shocked...I didn't know we lost THAT MANY boys in a single event...it really jolted me to see it

[mrfrapp]

3. Sigh

"9000 Americans in ONE INVASION alone."

The estimated figure is 9000 allies. It wasn't just American soldiers
who took part in D-Day.

[leftyandproud]

4. ah ok..

still a large number...
the anchor said 9000 "Americans"

[ljm2002]

12. From a recent article by Gwynn Dyer

"17,769 British and 5,002 Canadian soldiers (and 650 Free Poles) died in the Normandy battle, compared to 9,386 Americans."

His article is about the decline of the West (although by "the West" he seems to mean NATO). You can find it here:

http://www.gwynnedyer.net/articles/Gwynne%20Dyer%20article_%20%20D-Day.txt

I recommend it, it's short. I'd read anything by Mr. Dyer.

[lebkuchen]

6. How many Americans died fighting each other in the Civil War?

640,000 over four years

The Battle of Gettysburg had over 50,000 casualties in three days, the Battle of Chickamauga around 35,000 over two days.

If Americans can't appreciate the lunacy in willing to do battle at THAT price (and against each other, no less), they'll be willing to pay any price for whatever whimsical itch future US war demagogues feel needs to be scratched.

[hlthe2b]

11. If you haven't seen it yet, rent "Band of Brothers...."

read the book as well. EXCELLENT starting place and the multi-part televised series that Spielberg and Hanks produced is just captivating. PLEASE DO! IT is well worth the time.

[KharmaTrain]

7. We Don't Understand The Times As Well

I was just going through my father's letters. He was in the Army Medical Corps and went through Normandy days after the invasion. While he embellished what it was like later, his letter refelcted a certain fascination and confusion as to where he was and what was about to happen.

He was part of the "Depression Generation" that had lived most of their lives in near poverty and for now had been transplanted thousands of miles away in a war many of them didn't understand any more than the propaganda newsreels of the time. Most didn't know of the consentration camps or the ruthless occupation going on inside France and across Europe, but believed that this was another "obligation" they had, just as they were conditioned during the depression.

I can't imagine the horrors in the eyes of those soldiers upon those landing crafts and no Hollywood epic will do justice to the madness of the moment. But I think we can all agree that the cause of that war is far different than any other this country has fought since. It would have been akin to seeing the Soviet Union invade during our lifetimes.

9/11 showed this nation unites when we feel there's a direct attack on this country, and that's how many felt in 1944. Remember, German subs had sunk ships off the coast of New Jersey (in plain sight of Coney Island) and black-outs were still common on the west coast. It was a far different world.

The same can be said of the Civil War...and sadly that generation passed with scant personal histories like we have of D-Day and the horrors they faced in that gruesome war.

[lebkuchen]

8. You're fortunate to have a personal written history at your disposal

I had attended the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa with Marine vets who'd returned to pay their respects. They had tears in their eyes remembering those who had died under their command while fighting the Japanese (the Okinawans had been conscripted into the war). One marine, limping from the schrapnel still imbedded in his leg and sightless in one eye, looked at the view of a thriving Naha city, the capital of Okinawa. He said that even though he had personally experienced the war, he really had no idea what was going on as far as the battle's bigger picture. He was just trying to stay alive and do his job in protecting those around him.

The vets said that 50 years ago (now 60) there was nothing growing on the island. All was gray because of the bombs that had been dropped on the island. One vet was impressed that the cosmopolitan city had been so incredibly rebuilt, to include an expressway. He said, "The Japanese are now kicking our asses economically. It makes me wonder whether it was all worth it."

[KharmaTrain]

9. This Seperates The Soldiers From The Armchair Quarterbacks

I've met several men who faced fire and warefare, they all show/showed a compassion for life and others, one that surely had to be a consequence of seeing how fragile life can be in the fog of war

On the other hand, there are those (and message boards are litered with 'em) who claimed to be "patriots" and "served", but when pressed never got any closer to battle than John Wayne night at the local PX.

Take a look at the Veterans "divide" about Kerry. There are the real battle vets...Silver Stars and Purple Hearts...who back this guy and consider him a brother, compared to the goons, like that hack who served 3 months AFTER Kerry and never earned a distinguished medal nor has done a fraction in his afterlife as Senator Kerry has.

But today, it's a bit of reflection on what was an incredible day. As a student of media, this was as big a day in the lives of my parents as the day JFK/MLK/RFK were assasinated in my life and 9/11 is in my children.

Cheers from Chicago!

[lebkuchen]

10. I find it incredible that conservatives criticize Kerry's war medals

rather than Bush spending his time during the Vietnam War experiencing events from a Lazy-Boy in front of the TV.

In terms of the fragility of life, I won't forget the Marine vets trying to get me to envision an Okinawan landscape without one blade of grass, not one patch of green anywhere on the island. I couldn't. Today the coral island has a natural green beauty, the waters a beautiful turquoise, the culture a purely peaceful one. But even today, unexploded ordinance is found, on land and in the water. And "bone-digs" take place each year.

Greetings from Wuerzburg, Home of the deployed 1ID!

[lebkuchen]

13. Self-correction

The Battle of Okinawa was 59 years ago, 1945.