Sobering

[ssstewart]

I am very proud of my country, Canada, for our contributions to WW2. over 1m Canadians answered the call, very early in the war ( almost 10% of our total population at that time) 3 of my relatives gave their lives in that war. 2 were pilots in the Royal Canadian Air Force and one was in the Canadian Army. 1 was laid to rest in England, one in France and the 3rd in Holland. My Grandfather was the highest ranking Cape Bretoner to serve and helped lead to protect Halifax Harbour during the war.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by FLRon

Seeing this is a stark reminder of the selflessness of the generations that understood how costly freedom is. I shudder to think of what would happen should this generation be called upon to do the same.

I'm not sure where that comes from or would make it sound. Gen Z has a lot of strong aspects including an uptick in ROTC which means educated leadership that is all important. It is also a generation with a whole lot of skill and wisdom easily overlooked.

Characteristic of that, some friends of our oldest are now young Air Force officers. Outstanding beyond two young fighter pilots is D___a a woman, minority, engineer, and so outstanding she's now started her F-35 training. Her fiancé is already deployed doing that.

Where I work we hire teens and quite a few are choosing military service or ROTC with their college choices. In that I also see a niche same spirit as my family elders who were escapee/survivor that served.

A lot of my boomer cohort are really daft to how good a lot of gen z is. Much of my boomer cohort are quite pathetic against prior generations so it is really hard for me to accept the young as not good.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

I think the issue is rather whether our nation would have the vision and strength call on that generation to make such a sacrifice. It's not the kids or the soldiers who concern me.

80 years on and the question is -have we the people (or humans in general) actually learned anything ?

Or maybe humanity truly is doomed and insane, given one definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result"

Maybe we should - Let that sink in..

[Mr. Jelly]

You could say there are two wars going on today. I can't say that I see humans ever becoming enlightened.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by KevWind

80 years on and the question is -have we the people (or humans in general) actually learned anything ?

Or maybe humanity truly is doomed and insane, given one definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result"

Maybe we should - Let that sink in..

My proximity to gen z is encouraging. Way beyond our 3 doing well is working where there are a few hundred of them, and doing volunteer work with youth and young adults. I sure hope they don't become the too many of my boomer cohort and my wife's x cohort not living as we all should. Sedentary and dropping off on being competitive is bad for the mind as well as body.

[birdsong]

This all reminds me of a song I greatly admire for its melody and story - sad as it is. John McCutcheon - Christmas In The Trenches.

I am compelled to listen to this song once in a while. Once in a while is all I can handle.

[KenL]

I'll be in Normandy for a day in a couple of months.

I expect I'll be choked up the entire time like I was at Pearl Harbor a few years ago.

The weight of history can be overpowering when you're standing where it occurred.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by KenL

I'll be in Normandy for a day in a couple of months.

I expect I'll be choked up the entire time like I was at Pearl Harbor a few years ago.

The weight of history can be overpowering when you're standing where it occurred.

You may be hard pressed to take enough in over just one day!

[TomB'sox]

We just came back from Scotland ironically, but last year spent 3 1/2 days in Brittany and visited all but one of the beaches.

The day we went to the American cemetery, the wind was blowing off the channel at 30 mph and the rain was coming down sideways. My wife and I did not say a word to each other about the weather and walked the cemetery together. I got on my hands and knees, kissed the ground, said a prayer for the buried and got up soaking wet and continued on. For what they did for us, we certainly could handle the weather.

It was shocked looking at the dates of the deaths as to how many died a month or 2 months etc. from the landing as they marched across France to liberate Paris. It was a hard fought and deadly campaign. The cemetery is a very moving experience as was visiting the small towns along the coast that we liberated. Those people act like it was yesterday. They have not forgotten.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by FLRon

Seeing this is a stark reminder of the selflessness of the generations that understood how costly freedom is. I shudder to think of what would happen should this generation be called upon to do the same.

I prefer to believe that if we were attacked (as with Pearl Harbor or 9/11) that folks would step up. I don't believe that is necessarily a generational thing. There is a difference between being called to fight somebody else's war (though there can certainly be strategic reasons for doing so) and defending your own country against imminent attack.

Also, when I was working part time contract engineering (the first 6 years of my retirement up until COVID), I met quite a few college engineering interns and to a person, they were all very fine people. Such people don't garner media coverage because frankly, they aren't as exciting as those who choose to be disruptive rather than productive.

Tony