Ben
Website www.517prct.org
Mail Call Ben517@aol.com
April 13-18, 2008
517TH ST. LOUIS REUNION BEGINS:THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 THRU MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2008THE BANQUET WILL BE ON SUNDAY JUNE 29, 2008.Information and Registration Forms:
formatted pdf forms simple Web Page format
Reunion schedule of Events
517th Reunion Registration FormReunion schedule of Events
517th Reunion Registration Form
Recent website additions:
Lester Gene Hyman and friends, 596th PCEC
Lots of pictures of the 596th, most unidentified soldiers
517th Victory in Europe Prop Blast - May 19 1945
Blue
Book Magazine articles - 1947-1948
George W. Cavnar, Reg. HQ
Paras en Provence: Le 517th PRCT Dans Les Alpes
Maritime
from Armes Militaria
Magazine (cover, article)
60 YEARS LATER
Sad, but true:
Everyone has a different opinion on the
war and our current President. This article is not specifically about the
war or the President. This article is about us and our times. I hope
you will read it and give it some thought.
What a difference 60 years
makes..!!!
'You ain't gonna like losing.'
Author
unknown.
President Bush did make a bad mistake in the war on terrorism.
But the mistake was not his decision to go to war in Iraq. Bush's
mistake was in his belief that this country is the same one his father
fought for in WWII. It is not.
Back then, they had just come
out of a vicious depression. The country was steeled by the hardship of
that depression but they still believed fervently in this country.
They knew that the people had elected their leaders so it was the
people's duty to back those leaders.
Therefore, when the war broke out
the people came together, rallied behind, and stuck with their leaders,
whether they had voted for them or not- whether the war was going badly or
not.
And war was just as distasteful and the anguish just as great then
as it is today. Often there were more casualties in one day in WWII
than we have had in the entire Iraq war. But that did not matter. The
people stuck with the President because it was their patriotic duty. (Remember
that concept?)
Americans put aside their differences in WWII and
worked together to win that war.
Everyone from every strata of
society, from young to old, pitched in. Small children pulled little wagons
around to gather scrap metal for the war effort. Grade school students saved
their pennies to buy stamps for war bonds to help the effort. Men who
were too old or medically 4F lied about their age or condition trying their
best to join the military. Women doubled their work to keep things going at
home. Harsh rationing of everything from gasoline to soap to butter was
imposed, yet there was very little complaining.
You never heard prominent
people on the radio belittling the President. Interestingly enough, in
those days there were no fat cat actors and entertainers who ran off to
visit and fawn over dictators of hostile countries and complain to them
about our President. Instead, they made upbeat films and entertained our
troops to help the troops' morale.
And a bunch even
enlisted!
Teachers in schools started the day off with a Pledge of
Allegiance and with prayers for our country and our troops!
Back
then, no newspaper would have dared point out certain weak spots in our
cities where bombs could be set off to cause the maximum damage.
No newspaper would have dared complain about what we were doing to
catch spies.
A newspaper would have been laughed out of existence if
it had complained that German or Japanese soldiers were being 'tortured' by
being forced to wear women's underwear, or subjected to interrogation by
a woman, or being scared by a dog.
There were a lot of things
different back then. We were not subjected to a constant bombardment of
pornography, perversion and promiscuity in movies or on radio. We did not
have legions of crackheads, dope pushers and armed gangs roaming our
streets.
No, President Bush did not make a mistake in his handling of
terrorism. He made the mistake of believing that we still had the courage
and fortitude of our fathers. He believed that this was still the country
that our fathers fought so dearly to preserve.
He was wrong. It is
not the same country. It is now a cross between Sodom and Gomorrah and the
land of Oz. We did unite for a short while after 9/11, but our attitude
changed when we found out that defending our country would require some
sacrifices.
We are in great danger. The terrorists are fanatic Muslims.
They believe that it is okay, even their duty, to kill anyone who will
not convert to Islam. It has been estimated that about one third - or
over three hundred million - of all Muslims are sympathetic to the
terrorist's cause. Hitler and Tojo combined did not have nearly that many
potential recruits.
So...we either win it - or lose it - and you ain't
gonna like losing.
America is not at war. The military is at war. America
is asleep!