--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], MDixon6569@ wrote: > > In a message dated 6/11/06 9:55:17 P.M. Central Daylight Time, > > WLeed3@ writes: > > > >> I was sent the following and thought you would enjoy it. > >> On Speaking English > >> > >> A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a Naval conference that > >> included admirals from the US, British, Canadian, Australian > >> and French Navies. At a cocktail reception! , he found himself > >> standing with a group of half dozen or so officers that > >> included personnel from most of the countries. > >> Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their > >> drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas > >> Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. > >> He then asked: "Why is it that we always have to speak English > >> in these conferences, rather than speaking French?" > >> Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied: "Maybe it's > >> because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged > >> it so you wouldn't have to speak German." > >> It got so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. > > > > Beautiful!!!!!!!!!! > > And, like so many glib lines, completely untrue: > > Country WWII deaths/100 population > ------- -------------------------- > France 13.5 > > Canada 4.0 > Australia 5.8 > United Kingdom 9.4 > United States 3.2 > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_casualties_by_count ry > > Basically, the real truth in the situation is that a bunch > of old farts are standing around drinking, taking credit > for what other people did. There's hardly ever been an > admiral in human history who got his *own* hands dirty > in time of war. > > Plus, it's the same situation we see today. Look at the > chart and see the *real* statistics for who paid with > their lives for World War II and who just claims to have. > As usual, the Americans stand around taking all the credit > for what other people did... >
I don't understand: are you suggesting that the number of military deaths is correlated with how well or how hard a particular country's army fought or contributed? Certain army strategists -- such as General MacArthur -- devised their battle plans to MINIMIZE the number of troop deaths. For example, he drove the Japanese army crazy by SKIPPING Islands in the South Pacific to invade because -- thinking outside the box as he did -- he realized they weren't necessary to take out to win...thus saving both American and Japanese lives. Or how about the atomic bombs that ended the war in the Pacific. Certainly several hundred thousand CIVILIANS were killed but, if many historians are correct in their estimations, had the bombs NOT been dropped it would have cost many hundreds of thousands of American lives to go on to the island of Japan to wage war. As for the incredibly high casualties amongst the Soviet Union: well, Stalin, the fucker, held so little regard for human lives -- his own people as well as his enemies -- that he basically fought a war of attrition; that is, throw as many of his troops against the Germans in as haphazard a way as possible (Stalin was NOT a military man, was horrible at it and often overruled his own generals) that it is fair to say that HE himself was responsible for many of his troops death (and, of course, don't get me started on how many of his own people he killed during peacetime...and I mention that just to demonstrate how little regard he had for human life). But your point is well taken: thanks to Hollywood and the chest- thumping of Americans, people often get the impression that they won the war all by themselves. As a Canadian I would remind people that Canada didn't wait until December of 1941 to go to war but did in 1939 (my Dad was drafted in '40 and left Julliard School to go to war; my Mother served in the women's Canadian army...my parents met and married in the army in '45). The invasion of Dieppe -- in which thousands of Canadians died -- was the "trial run" for D-Day and was, I believe, the single most highest casualty day for Canadians in history. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get to your groups with one click. Know instantly when new email arrives http://us.click.yahoo.com/.7bhrC/MGxNAA/yQLSAA/UlWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
