On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 12:49:11 -0500, "D. Strang"
wrote:

"ArtKramr" wrote

I can't speak for a generation, but in 1942 my greatest fear was that the war
would end before I got there and I would miss the adventure of a lifetime.

War is attractive to youth. Americans love war. Most veterans will tell you they
were scared, wouldn't do it again, but deep down--their lives were nothing before,
or after the war.


Your reply to Art sounds like the beginning of the George C. Scott
"Patton" speech--"American's love a good fight." But, the daily
blathering seems to refute that, at least for the current crop.
American's love to stay home and watch the latest reality show while
someone else does the fighting for them. They love to forget the
reality of life and the truism that "freedom isn't free."

Few veterans will tell you they were scared. They certainly won't tell
you that before the fight and few will confess to it during the fight.
Some will admit it years after the war.

But warriors WILL do it again and then again. The numbers of warriors
that served multiple tours in combat zones, that served multiple
overseas tours and separations from families, that re-upped and made a
career out of defending an ungrateful nation certainly were more than
willing to do it again.

And, their lives after the war are much more than those of the
pathetic whimperers who think nothing is worth more than self. Those
who kept faith with their brothers in arms walk taller than those who
turned their back on them for the political gains of the moment.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8