We watched Band of Brothers when it appeared in 2001 and a time or two in the years following. We haven’t seen it, however, in 8 or 10 years - i.e. since before the successful maumauization of the formerly united States. Watching this series over the past few days added a significant new dimension to the magnificence of what these men did. Their valor in defense of a still mostly decent and improving civilization preceded the puerile references to “dead white men”, which became so fashionable - before all white men (at least heterosexual ones) were demoted to subhuman status even as they were elevated to universally “privileged” and simultaneous “oppressor” status. If this sounds incoherent and irrational, fear not; it really is both. But no matter.
What was readily apparent in watching this time around was that it was the efforts of these most decent and humble dead white males and a few million like them - including, significantly, millions of Russian ones, who saved civilization from real fascists (today, fascist means anyone who is not rabidly woke), like the Nazis and the Japanese cult of militarism. Had the latter real racists prevailed, had these now-denigrated men not fought and won, just what would be the condition of all of today’s self-righteously indignant “victim” groups?? The only intersectionality would have been between them (and their endless whining) and enslavement, concentration camps, gas chambers and firing squads. A most cursory knowledge of this history - as revealed in this excellent series - reveals that today’s “oppressed”, who uniformly despise white males - both the living and the dead - owe their existence (and ability to denigrate most everything decent) to the very group they so despise with such arrogant certainty.
Such actual history is dismissed by our zealous betters, of course, as “hate facts”. They ought to be required to view this series as re-education for their ingratitude.
Unfortunately the true question is why we sent the youth of America to fight an European land war. While there may be some argument about the format of England and France, much of the rest of Western Europe was - and remains - stridently fascist. But their biggest enemy - the Soviet Union - was no better, and arguably worse. Yet we inserted ourselves into the midst of that nasty war, lost many fine men - and to what purpose. We now have the same fascist government we fought against then, and Germany accomplished its WWII goals - with the Deutschmark mark.
Those were fabulous young men who fought a fabulous war - that they really had no dog in the hunt.
We could take it back a step and ask why an earlier US Administration chose to intervene in the prior WWI land war in Europe between the would-be colonists of Germany and the actual colonists of England & France?
There are some books out that put the major effort FDR expended on getting the US into WWII into context – and not it a very favorable light. Thomas Fleming’s “The New Dealers’ War”; Sean McMeekin’s “Stalin’s War”; Herbert Hoover’s “Freedom Betrayed”. It is difficult to avoid the view that FDR’s interest in WWII was making the world safe for Communism.
None of that takes away from the individual bravery of ordinary Americans sent to kill and be killed for their rulers’ passions.
But it does mean we should take a harder look at our current leaders’ expenditures of wealth, lives, and honor in their proxy war against Russia in the Ukraine. It is for “Democracy!” … even though the Zelensky regime has banned opposition political parties, jailed opposition political leaders, seized control over all media, interfered with the free practice of religion, and now cancelled elections. That apparently is the kind of “Democracy!” for which our leaders are prepared to see us all die.
There was a reason the Founders were so afraid of a standing army, and we have seen its results since the beginning of the 20th century (actually beginning with Teddy and the Spanish-American war). Had we actually behaved in our national interest like the Founders expected us to, we wouldn’t have nearly the extensive battlefield graveyards all over the world. Those young boys would have had a chance to grow up great young men and we would have been the greatest country on earth.
American soldiers are awesome soldiers, but so were the Hessians. ?How long should we expect our current “volunteer” military to remain different than the Hessians of the 1700’s. The Swiss, who normally consider themselves “neutral” and “stay-at-home’ers” guard the Vatican. Looks like mercenaries to me, so now it’s no longer a question of what are they but where they would consider being “used”.
Mercenaries were traditionally one of Switzerland’s principal exports. At the Congress of Vienna in 1814–1815, which sorted out the mess Napoleon had made of Europe, one of the declarations was a guarantee of the neutrality of the 22 Swiss cantons, some of which were expanded by territory transferred from adjacent areas. The flip side of this neutrality was a ban on mercenaries from the Swiss cantons participating in conflicts elsewhere in Europe. The Vatican Swiss Guard, which was re-established in 1814, along with the return of the Pope from exile in Fontainebleau, was an explicit exemption from this ban.