Today is Memorial Day in the US. Following is a typical
sentiment:
Since the inception of the United
States of America on July 4, 1776 every generation of Americans have been
called on to defend freedom and liberty. Over the years more than forty two
million American men and women have served their country in time of war. More
than a million have secured the blessings of liberty with their lives.
The site offers a list of every major and many minor
conflicts in which the US military took part, with corresponding casualties. Interestingly, it lists the deaths for both
the North and the South in the Civil War.
This got me to thinking – did both
sides fight for our freedom? Is this possible?
But I digress. Take a
look at the list. I leave it to you to
make a case in the comments section for any war on the list that fits the bill:
they died so we could be free.
I will make it easier – you are free to assume the condition
that exists in the United States is freedom.
As far as I know, the only furriners to invade the U.S. were Canadians (1812). If our boys hadn't fought for our freedoms, we'd all be speaking CANADIAN, eh?
ReplyDeleteHA!
DeleteBTW, Raimondo takes down even this war:
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2012/06/19/1812-the-war-partys-first-success/
Cap'n Mike:
DeleteAs that erstwhile, ersatz libertarian, P. J. O'Rourke once wrote, " . . . and you know what kind of weather Canada has!"
"Our" boys saved us from Canadian weather.
"'WE' think it was worth it."
~ Madeline Albright
The Congress of these uSA puts an annual document listing the uses of the armed forces. The latest document is called "Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2015"
ReplyDeleteThe document can be found here:
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/
I am tempted to remark that the only war (or skirmish) in that list for which anyone died for our liberty was that of 1776. But then the American colonists were living in the freest place on earth at that time or perhaps in any time ever. So, were political conditions in the American Colonies under British rule so insufferable that war was necessary, especially considering that Canada, New Zealand and Australia all achieved their independence from Britain without going to war? Maybe the reality is that no one in that long list of wars died for our freedom.
ReplyDeleteConsidering that at best almost no one died for our freedom, then what about the casualties inflicted on the "enemy" in all those wars? Weren't they then victims of unwarranted American aggression? Why are their numbers not worthy of being memorialized in this list?