THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

I thought I would "pen a reminder" on this fading forum and then I discovered Anthony's post which I will answer after this one.
But first:-
WHERE HAVE ALL THE POPPIES GONE in the USA?????

November the 11th is around the corner so its Remberance Day in the UK/Canada/Australia/NZ, Veterans Day in the USA (must remind our local pastor at "The happy clappy church" nearby our house who has a habit of forgetting this important date !!!) and also linked to Anzac Day for those who were lost & fought from the lands down under.

You folks might not know this but the tradition of wearing a red poppy was inspired by an American woman, a secretary in the YMCA called Moina Belle Michael from Georgia. She was inspired to make cloth poppies after reading the famous poem "In Flanders Fields". Penned in 1915 by a Canadian officer LT McCrae who sat on a wagon step and wrote it in 20 minutes. Unfortunately the poor fellow died several years later in France of pneumonia.
So I trust we will wear our poppies with pride after seeing all that blood guts & glory on PBS, I will.
Dennis

It is very good to see that people actually remember about the 11 th hour, of the 11 th day. It is especially good to read that it is remembered by some in Europe where, given the media reports, we as a nation are scorned to say the least.

I think, like much else, Veteran's Day and Memorial Day are no longer politically correct here, except for a few die hards in the hinterlands, and the sooner those who push that insidious doctrine can erase all vestiges of any sort of patriotism the further along they will be in their quest to weaken us as a nation.

The sad part, from where I'm sitting, is that most are to complacent or too cowed, to at a minimum, at least rebuke those people. To them, it is a bother, because the bank is closed or the mailmen doesn't come that day.

Just my probably backward opinion.

Andy

Gents.
I was forwarded this the other day sung by one Terry Kelly a blind singer from Eastern Canada.
You can find others with the same title "Pittance of Time" on YouTube but I chose to post this to commemorate not only US and British Vets but those north of the border and those "Down Under" that don't often get a mention these days but their efforts are appreciated none the less on this site I am sure.
A touching clip, I trust you get the same warm appreciation.
Dennis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yps7MnZB9Ak

Gents.
A bit more moving since there's a human face attached to the ballad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF_m-W2MIsc
Dennis

Perhaps we should have a swaray? ( sorry can not spell it) Can I choose one now is this a request show?

Sunday morning music with Dennis

Talking of WWII, over 70 million poeple lost their lives due to this conflict and absolutely staggering and incomprehesible total. There were evidently 100 million military personnel involved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II

Some other figures.

20 million solders died total world wide
40 million civilians died
72,609,600 Total deaths WWII

27 million Soviets died
10,700,000 Soviet Military
11,900,000 Soviet Civilian deaths
23,600,000 Soviet Total Deaths

407,300 US military deaths
11,200 US Civilian deaths
418,500 US Total Deaths

382,600 GB military deaths
67,800 GB civilian deaths
450,400 GB Total deaths

5,533,000 German Military Deaths
1,810,000 German Civilian Deaths
7,503,000 German Total

For more a more detailed list of casualties for WWII country by country it is a phenomenal list with many surprises

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties

The Soviet Unions lists are absolutely staggering. There is no question about the American Effort in WWII but it is acknowledged by many historians that WWII would have been lost without the Soviet Union who ultimately paid the highest price by far. As Euro Pinz implied there are no winners only losers in war. The aftermath isbe also traumatic and costly.

I did threee tours on the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk in an air squadron supporting the ground troups. It amazed me the lack of respect and the actual loathing of many people here when I would come back after each tour.
I have seen Marines and Army service people, wearing their uniforms, in restaurants and on the street and I always go to them and say 'Thank you for what you are doing'
It is in some small way thanks to my era for what we all did.
As I get older I am so very thankful for this country and the vets we give honor to. They all make me proud.

Cheers to you all,
Morris[/list]

I can't keep a dry eye in Arlington National Cemetary,the Graveyards in Europe would surely bring me to my knees.................

We Americans have allowed our values to be changed mightily since WW I and WW II. There is no longer anything even remotely resembling civics taught in the elementary or high schools. Patriotism is pretty much a word that is not politically correct, but it can be and is used by the politicians in perverted ways.

The figures Anthony posted even I was not totally aware of and they pretty much come from an open source. How many of our young people in school do you suppose have been exposed to those figures? How many could even find Austrailia on the map, let alone know what they did for the war effort in the Pacific?

Nope, these days, American is not at war. Our military is at war and America is at the mall or holding on to an X Box.

Andy
By and large I agree with you, as I see it, it's just politically incorrect these days to recognize Nov 11th as Rembrance Day. (this coming Sunday by the way folks.)
Several years ago the pastor of the nearby happy clappy church where sometimes go with my wife & kids didn't even mention it! Suffice to say he didn't forget it in the following years since and won't forget it this bloody year either!!!
The same over the pond in my native Gloucestershire, one villager got all "poed" because my brother disturbed his football match on the "tele" when canvassing/"banging on doors" for the Poppy Appeal.
I suppose it's what you grew up with, as a kid we got visits from old soldiers and there was always the 11th church service to honour the fallen, even the engraved plaques on the wall of fallen "old boys" going back more than 100 years were bedecked with poppies in the assembly hall. Besides my parents were Vets, so were my grandparents, uncles, neighbours etc. Basically hard to ignore.
Of course the combatants of the Second World War are now dying like flies, and I think the Remembrance will diminish with them to a certain extent.
This brings me to an encounter I had last week in a restaurant in Park City Utah. Having driven a 712K to the customer I went into a local eatery for a bite.
Across the aisle were a family group of about four generations. Immediatly to my right was a spry old gent in his mid to late eighties.
I struck up a conversation with him since he told me he had lived in Salt Lake since 1945. I said "you an old soldier"? Yes came the reply, American Field Artilliery in Italy. I said "Ah the Anzio/Foggia campaign" Gen Mark Clark's Army who walked into Rome. Yes! You know of us came the comment! The old eyes lit up like lanterns. Oh you are a Britisher I fought with those guys over there. Yes you did, they crossed from Scilily the Monty and Patten went the conversation.
We needed those guys they were battle seasoned troops fighting Rommel in Africa we were new, but we had all the gear! yes that's right. So we needed them and they needed us. Well I did get to Rome in the back of a Jeep wounded. I got a purple heart thanks to one of those Brits.
He reminded me of my late Dad great bloke to talk to. Just an ordinary American lad who served his country, hats off and a big salute to them all.
Dennis

I can remember when it used to be called Armistice Day and when people actually thought of Memorial Day as something other than a day the banks were closed and mail didn't get delivered.

When I was a kid I used to go to the military cemetary in Lansing, KS and put American flags next to the headstones on Memorial Day. I was actually proud to do it and it was one of the few altruistic things I did in my youth. That hardly gets done anymore.

I remember the early 70's when I was in uniform. I was in the Navy riding a fast attack submarine. I wanted to join the Marines, but watching those poor guys get pasted, day in day out by the North Vietnamese at Khe Sanh, on the 6 o'clock news, and not be able to fight back, cured me of that. I digress.

We ended up in Nice, France shortly after the truce or whatever it was, and were reviled by almost everyone because we were Americans in uniform. Naples wasn't much better. It was similar at home too, because even in civies the haircuts gave us away.

Many of my Dad's friends and associates served in WWII and he and all the rest of them have passed on. I don't think I ever heard them whine or complain about how they were cheated out of their youth or anything like that. There was a threat to their country and they stepped up and did the job. I am greatful that there are some who still will step up and risk all so that those of lesser intestinal fortitude can whine about how evil we are. God bless and protect them all, wherever they are.

Just thought that this is topical and might interest Dennis. Gordon Brown Prime Minister of GB & Former Chancellor of the Exchequer has just written his latest book

"The book, to be serialised in The Daily Telegraph from tomorrow, is effectively volume two of a series which began earlier this year with the publication of Courage – Eight Portraits, Mr Brown's study of the bravery shown by figures such as Nelson Mandela, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Aung San Suu Kyi.

The new volume, however, focuses specifically on World War II and the sacrifices made by what the Prime Minister calls Britain's "greatest generation" — those who sacrificed their youth and freedom so that those who came after them would not have to."



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... own104.xml

Anthony
Many thanks for posting the link to the Telegraph article. I enjoyed reading it and it very much sums up the way I feel and perceive it all today. Indeed I think many over here and forum members will see it in the same light. What do you think Andy?
Cheers
Dennis

Dennis, I found the article very interesting, now that I've had a few moments to read it. My thoughts while reading it centered around the idea that in the military it usually isn't any extraordinary amount of courage or intestinal fortitude that causes great acts of what we see as bravery. In the military bravery comes usually from not wanting to let down your buddies, buds, or as you all might say, mates. Extraordinary acts of bravery are done routinely by extraordinaily ordinary people.

It was refreshing to read about the baggage handler who was just doing his "duty." I feel that the idea of duty, as expressed in the article, here in the USA, has been pushed into the undesireable activity category by the politically correct crowd. That type of sense of duty implies some love of country and your fellow man and love of country is not what the PC folks are noted for. Duty is now used as a euphenism, by those who do things like print ways the US is trying to thwart terrorists, to cover their treachery.

There are still a few around who have a sense of duty to country here, but thanks to our ever more socialist/left leaning school system the number is diminishing more and more with each generation. One would be hard pressed to find it in the quantities that abounded amoung the Western Allies during our parents generation anymore. I'm pretty hardcore "old school" and I am fighting a constant battle trying to instill it in my kids.

With the way things are shaping up in the Mid East and the new friendships and alliances forming between Russia and China we should all hope that the sense of duty to country still exists in numbers large enough to make a difference, because we will probably all be praying for it.

So ends my sermon for today.

Cheers....Andy