It has been 64 years since thousands upon thousand of American, British and Canadian soldiers stormed ashore, or jumped from aircraft to begin the liberation of Europe from Fascist domination. (Oh, where are they now, when we need them here...) Casualties for the campaign on both sides were high;
- Germany 30,000 killed, 80,000 wounded, 210,000 missing
- USA 29,000 killed, 106,000 wounded/missing
- UK 11,000 killed, 54,000 wounded/missing
- Canada 5,000 killed, 13,000 missing/wounded
Of course, Eisenhower led the whole thing, got 5 stars, headed NATO and was elected president. Not bad for a lifetime. Check out this quote...
On January 17, 1961, Eisenhower gave his final televised Address to the Nation from the Oval Office. In his farewell speech to the nation, Eisenhower raised the issue of the Cold War and role of the U.S. armed forces. He described the Cold War saying: "We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in method..." and warned about what he saw as unjustified government spending proposals and continued with a warning that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
Do you think he saw the Bush administration coming?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to leave comments, positive or negative. I am a big boy, I can handle it. Thanks for your thoughts, always much appreciated.