My father was a WWII Veteran. He did not speak about the experience much until the end of his life.

[onecaliberal]

The few times he spoke about it, what he described was horrendous. The things he endured, experienced and witnessed were not beautiful. What kind of psycho describes a war as beautiful?

[dflprincess]

1. Someone who never saw a day of combat. nt

[catrose]

22. bingo

[tblue37]

2. He also describes chocolate cake as beautiful. It's one of the few words he knows. nt

[Thekaspervote]

3. Don't know...many of my uncles, and a few aunts served. They didn't talk much about it either

My former father in law went down on the USS Hornet. He never spoke of the time he and his cohorts spent in the water

[Rhiannon12866]

4. Apparently someone who has not experienced war

My grandfather served in WWI. I never met him, he died when my Dad was 12. But my grandmother said that he never talked about it, except sometimes he'd tell stories to the children. My Dad's cousins who knew him said he was the nicest uncle. He served in France, was a Cavalry officer responsible for bringing ammunition to the front. He joined up with his brother who served at the front, won the Silver Star after a battle where he was one of the only few who survived. It sounded horrific.

[onecaliberal]

40. Especially back in that era.

[OAITW r.2.0]

5. So was my dad.

An engine room guy on a pocket aircraft carrier, SS Solomon Islands. While patrolling off SA, had a Japanese submarine fire/hit a torpedo that never exploded. Such is serendipity. My mom was an Eisenhower Republican and I understand why. My dad never voiced his political affiliation, but I suspect he was a Democrat, cuz he was from Brooklyn, NY.

My dad was very involved with the M-60 machine gum and his attitude to VietNam was a whole lot different than mine. Made for rough times at the dinner table. Then he died in 1976.

[onecaliberal]

9. My dad was definitely a Democrat. He was never shy about it either.

Al of his VFW buddies were as well.

[OAITW r.2.0]

12. They were the original Antifa Warriors.

Everyone of them. And this is how our country repays them? I want Barr to stand trial and explain how anti-fascists are a bigger problem to our country than a fascist militia marinated in racism and anti-Democracy is.

[onecaliberal]

14. They absolutely were. I posted that on twitter weeks ago. That the US military was ANTIFA OG

Edit to add: Barr is a huge criminal piece of shit and should have gone to prison for the crimes he committed decades ago.

[OAITW r.2.0]

16. Have we ever seen a great country founded by fascists?

Germany and Japan didn't last that long, on a century scale. Because, no great country can survive if anti-socialism is your ideal of utopia.

[onecaliberal]

17. The people revolt soon or later. It cannot stand.

[dflprincess]

25. My dad as well & never made a secret of it

He was also a combat vet & belonged to the VFW. My mother told me he preferred the VFW to the American Legion because there were too many men at the Legion who had never seen a day of combat and were always ready to support the next war. Things were different at the VFW - or at least the branch he belonged to.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Apart from being a psycho, Trump has an extremely limited vocabulary and no imagination.

"Beautiful" is a word he uses, often inappropriately and weirdly, to describe things that he considers important, or very large, or very interesting.

[onecaliberal]

8. It is a most bizarre description to use for war.

Can you imagine him enduring bombs dropping near him? He had to run to the bunker over peaceful protestors.

[RestoreAmerica2020]

35. Dr. McWhorter, Linguist Re: #45's remedial language skills

Video at link; transcript unavailable]
[msnbc:Williams/Mcwhorter 9/7/2018 ]


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/linguist-expert-trump-sounds-like-your-beer-swilling-uncle-1315606083641&ved=2ahUKEwiig9Kkk7npAhXNuZ4KHbilACwQwqsBMAB6BAgKEAM&usg=AOvVaw0PaQ4i9BTF5KyuSko9cD56

[Tanuki]

7. 21 other unexpected things Rapist45 thinks are beautiful:

https://qz.com/1086942/21-unexpected-things-that-donald-trump-thinks-are-beautiful/amp/

[onecaliberal]

10. Geez 🤦🏼‍♀️

[Hoyt]

11. Even if you want to honor the country's sacrifices and efforts in these wars, "beautiful"

ain’t an apt description.

[onecaliberal]

13. No question.

[Hoyt]

15. I swear, part of his appeal to 35% is that he's stupid like them.

[onecaliberal]

18. They hate the same people. Those who still support this monster support fascism.

[wnylib]

33. Why not? Your input adds another perspective.

[leanforward]

36. You do belong on this thread

[onecaliberal]

43. You definitely belong here.

The entire point is, war is not “beautiful”

[demigoddess]

45. very welcome!!!

my father was at Okinawa.

[PatrickforO]

46. Yeah you do. It was a terrible war.

[Xolodno]

20. I come from a long list of pacifists.

But I know plenty of people who went to war. One who was in the Korean war, in his machine gun post on the front lines saw bodies as far as he could see. But one in particular, was a Chinese soldier who died in an assault with his eyes open...and was "staring" directly at him from his position. He couldn't take it, got out of his nest and turned him over. He became a pacifist afterwards.

[TreasonousBastard]

21. Veterans never talk about combat. You take a kid and throw him in basic training so his new life...

becomes as natural as his old one. Most kids never thought about killing, so it's a lot of work turning them into killers. And once you did that, they may do the job well, but it changes them. And they really can't talk about it to someone who hasn't been there.

I never saw combat, but did see a lot of broken men who came back from Viet Nam for their last six months until they were dumped back into society. They talked about snakes and huge cockroaches, but never about what it was like to shoot a Viet Cong.

MY father was a lawyer, so expected to be in JAG When he was drafted for WWII. He had some small irregularity (I think it was a bone spur) and officers must be perfect, so they dumped his imperfect body into Patton's Third Army to be an artillery scout. He talked about K-rations, field ear, basic training, and all sort of stuff, but never about the battles

Never about the battles. After returning to peacetime America, normal people have a tough time facing who they were for that year or two.

I've noticed cops and firemen can be the same way. Most of the time a cop's job is pretty boring but every cop has faced a life-threatening situation at least once. How do you explain to someone who hasn't been there what it felt like to have some huge guy come at you with an axe handle? You can't, so you just deal with it. How does a firefighter handle entering a room in the Bronx where there balloons hanging from the ceiling? Bronx firefighters know those balloons are full of gasoline, to make sure the arson doesn't fail. Are ER personnel dealing with the same sorts of things?

I do remember that year ago the NY Times magazine interviewed Korea vets, and one told his story. He was topping a hill, and a Chinese soldier was coming up the other side. He aimed at the
Chinese who started to put his hand inside his coat. Assuming he was going for a weapon, he shot the "enemy". Killed him. Then he went to see what the guy was reaching for and it was a picture of his wife and kid.

And he had to live with that for the rest of his life.

[onecaliberal]

30. There is a whole generation of war hero's that have been

At perpetual war for nearly 20 years. Imagine what they’ve experienced and seen.

[PatrickforO]

44. I've got a son-in-law who has been fighting in the forever war for nine years now.

We always hope he'll be OK.

[onecaliberal]

49. Oh hell... I will keep good thoughts for him.

[Skittles]

23. someone who has never been in one, like Cadet Bonespurs

my mum survived WWII bombing as a child during WWII, the horror never really goes away

[frazzled]

24. My dad, same

He flew 60 missions in the South Pacific over 4 years as a tail gunner. Amazingly, he came home. Never spoke about it until into his eighties, when the good, the bad, and the ugly spilled out. (The good consisted of a few funny incidents, like an exploding latrine.). And then, when the Iraq war happened, he didn’t want any of his five grandsons to have to go.

[onecaliberal]

31. My kids were not old enough to be in the military while he was living.

I can’t imagine what my dad would be thinking about what has become of a america if he were alive.

[Luciferous]

26. My grandfather fought in WWII and Korea and never talked about it. I always figured there

was a good reason for that so I never asked him about it.

He was the sweetest, most kind-hearted man I have ever met. When he would find bugs in the house he would scoop them up and take them outside instead of killing them and I can count on one hand the number of times I even heard him raise his voice. I pray that the things he saw and did never weighed too heavily on him.

There is nothing beautiful about war, and I wish there was a hell so Trump could go rot there.

[shanti]

55. My dad

was a Marine in Korea. He didn't discuss this with any women that I know of, but he told my brother and sons that he bayonetted a NK soldier. Dad was quite a talker, but he never mentioned war to me.

[Wounded Bear]

27. Trump has a very limited list of adjectives he uses...

most of them superlatives. He has no subtlety.

[onecaliberal]

32. He also has no conscience.

[Chipper Chat]

28. Dad never talked about encounters with the Japanese . .

he was aboard a munitions ship disguised as a garbage scow delivering to bases in the pacific. Based out of the Philippines. He did talk about the wonderful coconut cream pies the cooks made. And listening to Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorset records that would be broadcast over the loud speakers.

[dchill]

29. That describes my dad, as well.

[47of74]

34. My Grandpa was not a fan of that potted plant Bush II

He did not think we should have been over in Irahaving had a front row seat to WW II.

[SoCal Roomba]

37. You can always tell if someone served or stood around

By how they contextualize war.

Those of us that served understand that it would mean losing some of the very best friends we’ve ever had.

Those that never served, they romanticize wars.

War is hell. Even when you win, it’s hell.

Donald Trump is not capable of understanding that concept, because he’s a coward, and looks down upon those who serve.

[smirkymonkey]

47. +1000

Thank you for your post.

And welcome to DU!

[onecaliberal]

50. Thank you. It says a lot about someone who would describe that as beautiful.

[secondwind]

38. My first husband came back from Vietnam in June of 1969.

He never talked about what he saw or did, never. He took it all with him to his grave 2 years ago. That war ruined our marriage.

[wnylib]

39. My father served in the Navy

Last edited Tue Jul 21, 2020, 02:59 AM - Edit history (1)

in the Pacific during WWII. Never discussed it.

My brother was part of the Naval blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis and later served 2 years in Vietnam. Never discussed either experience, except for a few general comments about the politicization of the war. His son was in the Air Force during the Iraq invasion. I have never heard him talk about it, but my brother was outraged that "chickenshit Bush" had sent his son and other military into a useless war.

My uncle was in the Army in WWII, was captured, and spent 2 years in a German POW camp. Never mentioned it and I had strict orders from my mother to never mention it around him. He was on medication for PTSD the rest of his life.

In junior high, we had a music teacher who had a couple nervous ticks that kids used to joke about behind his back until another teacher told us that the music teacher had "shell shock" from his service in WWII. We felt guilty.

War does terrible things to military and civilians caught up in it. It separates them from people who have never been through it. My brother had a closer bond with the son who had been to war than with the one who hadn't. They understood each other in a way that noone else could.

Nothing beautiful about it.

[onecaliberal]

52. Nothing. 💔

[Jarqui]

41. No member of our family who served in either war would ever speak of it.

They all died without saying a word about it.
One of them teared up when asked about it but never spoke about it.

Bone Spur's "Beautiful wars" is about 180 degrees off the mark.

[PatrickforO]

42. My dad was in combat in the Pacific theater during WWII.

He never would talk much about it. He lost some friends, I guess. Got real sick. Spent months on a hospital ship.

There's nothing good about war. Nothing. We had to fight that one, and sixty million people died before we finally got rid of Hitler, Tojo, Mussolini and the rest of the fascists.

Trump is sick. He is a sick traitor. And a coward.

[onecaliberal]

53. Those who support him are no better.

[yellowdogintexas]

48. My dad was in the Battle of the Bulge

The only thing he ever mentioned were some of the men he served with. He told us about an Italian from New York who never peeled oranges when he ate them. Daddy said he had the whitest teeth he had ever seen. He also talked about riding into Paris when it was liberated. I have a few of the things he brought home, which I can never display in my home. One is a bright red banner with a swastika smack in the middle of it; the other is a bayonet. My sister has one of those also.

Pretty much everything I know about his time in that Battle was told to my sisters and me by our mom. I do not know if he told her, or if she got it from his Bronze Star commendation.

He was in the Signal Corp and they were stringing communication lines slugging through that horrible winter with knee deep snow. He ended up being the ranking soldier as a corporal and had to lead the rest of the unit. I have seen documentaries about the Bulge and I can only imagine what he suffered. He had severe frostbite; nearly lost his toes and had skin issues on his feet the rest of his life. At some point he ended up in England with pneumonia.

For the rest of his life he hated winter and I am certain he had Seasonal Affective Disorder and PTSD.

When the war was over, he and one of his umpteen cousins hooked up in Nashville and celebrated so much they woke up in the lobby of Baptist Hospital. The cousin told me that story at Daddy's funeral.

My uncle drove tanks in Patton's Army, and was also in the Bulge. I think he was part of the rescue force. They did not know each other until after the war.

[Straw Man]

56. Mine too, but he was wounded and evacuated before it was all over.

A shell exploded in a tree, and the shrapnel hit him, taking off his right index finger and leaving pieces in his leg and back. He had to walk several miles to the field hospital. From there, he was shipped to England, where he was evaluated and found not fit to return to active duty, being that he was now lacking a trigger finger and that the shrapnel in his back was dangerously close to his spine. He was on a ship headed home when Germany surrendered.

He had been an infantry scout, which meant that his job was to go into the woods and find out where the enemy troops were. He didn't talk about it until he was well into his 80s. He never mentioned killing anyone, but he did talk about seeing people he knew die in front of him. He was a farm boy and had seen animals die, so he knew by the sounds and body movements when his wounded comrades were dying. That was what stuck with him.

[murielm99]

51. My dad did not speak of his experience much, either.

He talked to us about his time on furlough. He spoke of visiting India and later of his time in China. He talked about the people and their customs.

He talked about his basic training, too. He told us about a guy they called Step-and-a-Half Johnson. The guy was used to walking behind a horse and plow, so his stride was unnaturally long. He could not learn to march.

Later, my youngest brother asked him some questions about his time in combat. My dad and his unit were replacement troops for Merrill's Marauders, the first Army Rangers. They became replacement troops because so many had died due to disease and combat. Later, my dad was sent to China to serve out the rest of his time in the military as an MP. We did not know about any of that until he was in his eighties. Someone who was writing a book asked him about his experiences, and he opened up a bit. We still had to ask him direct questions before he would speak of it.

My dad and his entire unit came down with hepatitis near the end of their service. He came home weighing ninety pounds.

[onecaliberal]

54. Not beautiful.