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Despite the politics, I hold an admiration for the common German soldiers & sailors of the WWII era.

Two of the greatest war movies ever produced have universal themes -- I am speaking of "Das Boot" and "Stalingrad". These themes are the bonding that occurs between men who are caught up in the most extreme stress that exists in the human condition, and the abandonment of patriotic and jingoistic nationalism in favor of simple survival.

It helps that these two movies were produced by Germans, and they put a human face on what some perceive as a monolithic symbol of hatred, persecution and unlimited imperial ambition.

Perception is everything -- that is something that present-day Americans need to think about.

Had to get that Rolling Stones Title in there huh??
LOL
[:D][:D][:D]

Not to metion the greatest anti-war book & movie ever written/produced -- "All's Quiet on the Western Front"

--Gary

KG Erwin,
I find it odd that you would say that only "some perceive as a monolithic symbol of hatred, persecution and unlimited imperial ambition." Perhaps you would enlighten us to just what the goals of the Third Reich were. Certainly there was no persecution or hatred at places like Auschwitz. There couldn't have been any violations of the Geneva Convention on the Eastern Front. Do I think that the average Wehrmacht soldier was responsible? No.

I don't see any comparison with the above to the modern United States that you feel that we need to worry about the "perception". It is not the luxury of the marines, soldiers, airmen, and sailors to say that this is a just war and this one is not. Their job is to whack our enemies and hand them their just-kicked butts. Unfortunately, our leaders don't have the will to defeat our enemies, something we haven't had since the end of WW2.

Ya know, the occasional messages from Osama put a human face on just what his goals are, too......

Think on that,
Robert M. Townsend, GSM2 USN 85-94

This type of topic belongs over at Vinny and Doggie's place. Head on over there with this type of thing and discuss to your hearts content.

Locking up.