On this day 81 years ago, Allied forces wiped out 25,000 in Dresden.

Nearly every time I see US jets fly over football stadiums, and hear the people cheer, I think the public is being bamboozled into what such machinery is for. Such regrettable necessities should not be softened. War is hell.

https://www.trumanlibraryinstitute.org/wwii-80-the-bombing-of-dresden/

A terrible tragedy of war that gave us maybe my favorite book ever:



And new meaning to the phrase "so it goes"

Cal88 said:

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More like 250,000 killed than 25,000. The city was packed with over half a million refugees, a total of 1.2 million civilians were packed into a city center that was 90% destroyed and where temperatures from the firestorm created by the bombing pattern were hot enough to liquify the streets asphalt and degrade the sandstone blocks from the main cathedral.

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Thank you.

I strongly believe that the memory of such horrors was solidified in people's minds by film, television, print media for a long time.
But that awareness is fading. The people who lived through the horrors are mostly all gone and the media coverage of Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Israel is tepid - IMO.

This is a dangerous thing, because the next generations will simply have to learn the horrors of war for themselves.

Glamorize military strength to your own peril. History has taught us that again and again and again.
I'm not saying to not be strong in defense. But when it is cheered rather than solemnly saluted… trouble.

Somber tones are required.
The dead demand it.

concordtom said:

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Nearly every time I see US jets fly over football stadiums, and hear the people cheer, I think the public is being bamboozled into what such machinery is for. Such regrettable necessities should not be softened. War is hell.

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The sons of the deplorables have volunteered to serve their country at the mercy of the politicians and policy makers for years. The liberal elite have the luxury to debate where the line is between honoring our veterans and history and glorifying war.

I often see military veterans from other countries express envy at how the U.S. treats their own war-time veterans and dead despite the many flaws and imperfections.

PAC-10-BEAR said:

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concordtom said:

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Nearly every time I see US jets fly over football stadiums, and hear the people cheer, I think the public is being bamboozled into what such machinery is for. Such regrettable necessities should not be softened. War is hell.

---

The sons of the deplorables have volunteered to serve their country at the mercy of the politicians and policy makers for years. The liberal elite have the luxury to debate where the line is between honoring our veterans and history and glorifying war.

I often see military veterans from other countries express envy at how the U.S. treats their own war-time veterans and dead despite the many flaws and imperfections.

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Someone on social media tells you all this?

another combative post

Cal88 said:

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More like 250,000 killed than 25,000. The city was packed with over half a million refugees, a total of 1.2 million civilians were packed into a city center that was 90% destroyed and where temperatures from the firestorm created by the bombing pattern were hot enough to liquify the streets asphalt and degrade the sandstone blocks from the main cathedral.

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I was in Dresden in 1975 visiting relatives.

There was City block after City block that were completely barren and vacant.

It was eery.