OT: Afghanistan

Sylvrfalcn

Sylvrfalcn

Joined
Jun 4, 2002
Messages
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In the last twenty four hours one of our soldiers died from wounds recieved in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan. During that same time two more were wounded in separate attacks. It's still a dangerous job in a dangerous place, and thousands of our men and women in uniform will be spending this Christmas far from home. They'll be in my thoughts and prayers, and I know they'll be in yours too.

Merry Christmas to all, and all the best of wishes for the coming year. With a glad and grateful heart I am GTF for the holidays!!!!

Sarge
 
Just saw on the news five died in a chopper accident in Kabul. It's never safe even when it's supposed to be.
 
My son will be going to Afghanistan or Iraq in 2003. He is an Apache Longbow pilot.

I pray for him and all of our young service men and women every day.

Semp --
 
Have a safe trip Sarge. I remember the guys still on active duty and those that will be called up to go.

It seems that I talk to the Lord more these days and, I credit that to the HI forum. I should have been talking to him more all along. I have always believed in the Lord but, sometimes faith is a bit hard to keep hold of.
 
My thoughts are often with those who choose to serve.

I hope they remember that we the people ( back at home ) are ultimately the beneficiaries of that service - and know that many of us are grateful and honor them for their service and sacrifice.
 
I hope they remember that we the people ( back at home ) are ultimately the beneficiaries of that service - and know that many of us are grateful and honor them for their service and sacrifice.
Click to expand...

I'm very aware that I'm starting to sound like that little dog on the Warner Bros cartoon (yeah, butch okay butch whatever yousay butch!!), but Rusty again said it the way I wanted to.

Stay safe Sarge, and the same wishes for you son SEMP--tell him we're damn proud of him too!
 
Death is an unfortunate, real consequence of war.

Still, it's pretty amazing when not only is a specific casualty announced, but the progress of the body flying to the states is a major line on the news, and they guy's name makes it in, too. Before this one, no casualties since May 15th, if I heard correctly.

It's a dangerous job, but good to know our boys (and girls) are well trained and well equipped enough to do it so safely. Lets hope it stays that way.
 
Hello,
saturday seven soldiers of the German Bundeswehr were killed in the chopper-accident Bill mentioned. Germans still hesitate to send soldiers to foreign countries because the constitution allows military missions only for the defence of Germany or a NATO member - so the German troops in Afghanistan officially defend Germany at the Hindukush. A second reason are the dark chapters of German history during the reign of Hitler, when there was so much militarism and everyone was keen on military missions to create a Nazi-Greater- Germany. Now it is the other way round and I think it is good that the military is seen as an instrument that should only be used when there are no reasonable alternatives left. We have universal compulsory military service, so nearly everyone has connections to the military and the military is based within the population. This means everyone is in sorrow for our boys in Afghanistan and everyone knows that they are not very well equipped (the chopper that went down is a model the Bundeswehr uses now for 35 years). So I understand that these missions as well as a possible new Gulf-war are not too popular among Germans.
On the other hand we as Germans should feel a responsibility to fight dictatorship in the world as dictatorship was swept away in Germany only 57 years ago by the allied forces. Thank god there were nations that chose to fight and maybe sacrifice their sons to free France, the BeNeLux, Poland and the other countries - they liberated Germany too (we have some old and neo-nazis here nevertheless :barf: ) History has shown that "appeasement" a la Chamberlain was the wrong way because dictators will recognise it as a kind of weakness. The US did and does a great job in defending liberty (although in my opinion sometimes there were big economic interests linked to the fighting too) and the democratic nations should join - not to make a crusade and make all the countries of the world "western", but to make the world a better place by helping the countries to develop in their diverse own manners and in freedom.
I pray for the soldiers and civilian helpers in Afghanistan, the Gulf and whereever in the world, that they will return safe to their homes when the work will be done. They do a great job at great risk.

Merry christmas from Bavaria

Andreas
 
To add insult to injury, many enlisted fall below the poverty line. I'd read about this before, but NPR did a piece on it this morning. We can spend all kinds of dollars on weapons systems, but little on the folks who have to use them and who have to deal with the consequences of the other guy's weapon systems.

S.
 
Very astute post, Andreas, and thanks.

As a young man not so long after WWII I was sitting in a pub in Frankfurt, drinking good German beer and eating wurst. During the evening I got into a conversation with some local men and invariably the conversation turned to "the" war. Battles, favorite generals, strategies, all discussed. Near the end of the conversation one of the men said with sincere sadness, "Martino, American made only one mistake in that war. You fought on the wrong side. If you had fought with us today we would rule the world."

In some dismay I realized that although Hitler was gone and his regime defeated his Nazi philosophy was still alive and well and I think, sadly, it is even today. Take care over there, Neffe. Freedom and democracy are a fragile thing.

The first Christmas I ever spent away from home and family was aboard the USS Warrington in 1953 and it was not a very merry one. I suspect many of our men will be spending their first Christmas away from loved ones. Bless them, keep them and comfort them, Lord.
 
Hello Bill,
you are right, there is still something of this nazi-philosophy alive - but one part will be solved by biology within the next five to ten years (the old nazis), the other part (the neo nazis) is so stupid that they are not a real intellectual or political (but sometimes physical) danger. Think we are pretty aware of the right wingers here because of our history. While you would not have a problem to say you are "proud to be American" a German who said he would be "proud to be German" would be seen on the right wing - maybe a kind of "national masochism" that followed the "national socialism" in Germany. This was a good thing right after the war, now I think it is discussable because we have more than 50 years of "good" history and hundreds of years of history before Hitler that were not more cruel or evil than in other countries. I do not think a people can be "evil" - it can be kind of infected, the cure however can be very hard (see Afghanistan or the Iraq). The new nazis we have here are a thing you can find in other countries too, even in the US and Canada - however in Germany they are focussed in a special way. Now there is a personal, political and historical discontinuity if you compare the Nazi Reich to the Bundesrepublik and I hope Germany will become a "normal" country with a little bit of self-consciousness that is neccessary to act responsible in the word. This encludes to help where we can help and to fight with our allies when there are no reasonable diplomatic alternatives left.
Well, I was born 1975, my parents were born after the war, so maybe I see some things different. Most Germans living today do not have any personal guilt concerning the war and the holocaust - but we have the responsibility to never let such things happen again - anywhere.
All people who act in the sense of this responsibility and go to Afghanistan or the Gulf or the Ivory Coast have my deep respect and do need all the prayers and thank we can give.

... another very long post, sorry

Bye, Andreas
 
And a good post, too.

There was a noticeable Nazi movement in the US before the war started and today there are still a few. I'll just say never give up your guns to the government and let it stand like that.
 
Amen to that Uncle Bill. I just wanted to post and say that all of your good wishes are appreciated by those of us overseas today (It's the 25th here). I feel much more strongly for those in the Gulf and Afghanistan and other hot spots than here in Korea or in Germany. Much as I hate to be away from home, at least here I have most of the comforts of home and a little time off, plus the opportunity to go to church and lots of other things. Those guys in Afghanistan and Kuwait and Saudi aren't getting those kinds of things, unfortunately. I tend to get down on the army quite a bit sometimes, but it isn't all bad. It's a neccesary evil, but an important one none the less. This world hasn't gotten much safer recently.
 
i dont think the nazi problem will go away in europe anytime soon. most countries are accepting imigrants and it is slowly starting to irritate the local population. i see this in germany where they have turkish neighborhoods, or in sweden where the new imigrants from somalia and the middle east are keeping their national identity at the cost of the swedes. same in switzerland, and what about france? europe opened its doors and it got flooded with new cultures which many people dont want to see in their own countries. thus they turn to right wing policies and ideals, such as denmark did.
 
agreed, sometimes. Not only capitalist nations have economic interest in mind when going to war.

As for our servicemen over there, they are joined by my cousin who is a forward refueller for the USAF, and by a friend of the family who is a marine assigned to artillery. He got to do that joint trianing in Spain earlier this year, which had the participation of bad asses from a dozen countries....

Pray to gods of war for quick resolution, and pray to gods of peace for all...

Keith
 
In WW II the Germans had the best Military and if Hitler would have listened to his Generals more the world might have been different today.

With that said.

Hitler was one crazy SOB, the holocaust was and is unforgiveable. Being half Jewish himself I wonder why Hitler ever did that.

The whole Arian, master race thing doesn't make alot of sense.

No I am not German or Jewish. ;)
 
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