Posted on 09/26/2006 5:03:15 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
The remains of Pvt. Francis Lupo, arrive at Arlington National Cemetery, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006, in Washington. Lupo, of Cincinnati, was killed on July 21, 1918, during an attack on German forces near Soissons, France. It is the first time the remains of a World War I service member have been recovered and identified since the Pentagon established an office in the 1960s with the specific mission of identifying war dead from abroad. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
Welcome home soldier...you served your nation well.
Hooray! Another American hero has come home from that horrid country.
Nothing has ever compared with the sheer carnage of WWI.
We were in a tiny village in northern Scotland, literally two streets and a square with a little church on one side. Off to one side of the square was a red sandstone memorial arch -- literally covered with hundreds of names of men from that tiny village that died in WWI. Down on the bottom at one side were 5-6 names of men who died in WWII.
Some towns in Scotland were almost wiped out.
According to one of my former professors who specializes in European history, World War I killed such a huge percentage of the cream of European “breeding stock” (pardon the phrase) that in following generations, the average height of Europeans dropped by more than two inches and their IQ’s fell by an average of 10 points.
I am convinced that the downfall of the French nation dates from the slaughter of WWI. The French Army regulars (the poilus -- "hairy guys" -- ) were competent, tough, and very, very brave. But they all were killed at Verdun, Ypres, and the Marne.
My grandfather survived a mustard gas attack in WW I. He swore that his own and only son would not be sent off to the front lines in WW II. My dad served in the US Army during WWII in a medic unit.
Daddy was a soldier in WWII, and he hoped none of his children would have to fight in a war - hoped at that time that WWII was truly the war to end all wars - too much to hope for I suppose.
Nothing has compared to the sheer stupidity of WW1, either. Generals in that war kept reinforcing failure, didn't change their plans to suit changing conditions, and insisted on sticking to those same plans (the Somme comes to mind) when it was clear it wasn't working.
In addition, they threw away so many soldiers' lives by refusing to reinforce successes and playing petty politics to enrich themselves that they all should have been shot.
Ironically, most of the lessons that were learned by the Europeans in WW1 should have been learned from the American Civil War. But the Europeans "knew better" and ordered men to charge the Maxim guns of the Germans.
Such a waste.
Big Red One Ping!
Big Red One Ping!
However, when my husband and I were first married, we lived next door to a WWI vet who was gassed in the Argonne. He had continual lung trouble - emphysema and, eventually, lung cancer (didn't stop him smoking though). We used to look after his house and yard (and his goat, Leona) when he went into the VA to get his lungs cleaned up.
America was late to the fair in that war -- we saw some pretty heavy action, esp. in the Argonne, but nothing like the long slow deadly slog that the Brits and French had to endure. One of the most poignant things I read about WWI was the English teenager who wrote that he knew that all Mummy's boyfriends but Daddy had died in the war . . . and all of Auntie's . . . but he didn't comprehend what that really meant, multiplied by about a million, until he saw the acres and acres of white crosses.
Read this: Rudyard Kipling, "The Gardener"
Kipling lost his only son in the Great War. In a sense this story is his memorial, or his processing of the tragedy. He is a much greater writer than most people realize -- he "got it" on some basic, primal level.
Belle prière à faire pendant la Messe
Seigneur, faites de moi un instrument de votre paix.
Là où il y a de la haine, que je mette l'amour.
Là où il y a l'offense, que je mette le pardon.
Là où il y a la discorde, que je mette l'union.
Là où il y a l'erreur, que je mette la vérité.
Là où il y a le doute, que je mette la foi.
Là où il y a le désespoir, que je mette l'espérance.
Là où il y a les ténèbres, que je mette votre lumière.
Là où il y a la tristesse, que je mette la joie.
Ô Maître, que je ne cherche pas tant à être consolé qu'à consoler, à être compris qu'à comprendre, à être aimé qu'à aimer, car c'est en donnant qu'on reçoit, c'est en s'oubliant qu'on trouve, c'est en pardonnant qu'on est pardonné, c'est en mourant qu'on ressuscite à l'éternelle vie.
Requiescat in pace, Pvt. Francis Lupo.
St. Francis's day is close upon us.
BuHuHaHa! My standardized answer to such widespread moronic crap:
Love it or hate it - if we look on the issue from a Darwinistic point of view, those wars cleaned the male European gene-pool from those who were not able to survive such a situation like war. There are many reasons for it: Some were too aggressive, some were not careful enough, some were too dumb, some followed their orders to the last etc. etc. etc.. War is a perfect selection. I am aware that not all reasons for not dying in a war are that honourful, but they are for sure a good way not to win the "Darwin Award"*. Those who survive are usually (we do not speak about individual cases) more intelligent and more able compared to their fallen comrades (I know that this is not PC - but it is the plain truth). And guess what: Those Europeans who survived war, the Holocaust, Gestapo, Russian imprisonment, the foreign Legion, NKWD, KGB, SS, American chewing gum, Mormon missionaries, the economic wonder and Elvis Presley are my grandfathers and fathers. The by far best genetic material you can find.
Since your
professor was obviously too dumb to understand Darwinism and the principles of biological selection I recommend strongly the visit of another -more scientific- univercity. The teachers of your campus should better specialize into cleaning toilets instead of European history, since this would obviously fit much better into their intellectual potentials.
Greetings from Lake Constance - Good old Europe!
AB
I see one thing that never went away is European arrogance.
My, you are full of yourself, aren't you?
Well deserved and well done. He deserves his rightful place in Arlington.
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