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hi all murray wrote, in part: > Mornin' janet and All, > janet, your post stirred my memories... > my grandfather served in the British Army > in the Great War... > i never heard him speak of war... > my father went to England in the early stages > of WWII and returned home in 1943... > he also never spoke of the war... > > not trying to be morbid or grisly... > just some 4AM thoughts on 55,000,000.... > (let us not even think about debating exact > numbers - ONE person not coming home is > someones tragedy) > 'For today's Western societies, which are > relatively unfamiliar with death, and even > with the idea of death in war, it is > extremely difficult to begin even to > imagine the meaning of such numbers...' > > When I was a kid, almost everyone I knew > was missing an uncle ... a father ... a > brother ... someone ... > ... > World War II Fatalities - 61 Million > http://www.secondworldwar.co.uk/casualty.html > In May 1945 Germany signed articles of > unconditional surrender. In August, after > the deaths of 200,000 civilians when atomic > bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, > the Japanese, too, surrendered, and the long > war was over. The total number of casualties > will never be known, but it is calculated that > more than 50 million people lost their lives. > http://www.mgtrust.org/ww2.htm > ... > In a one room school in 1951 I first memorized > and recited the following poem... > In Flander's Fields > > In Flanders fields, the poppies blow > Between the crosses, row on row > That mark our place; and in the sky > The larks still bravely singing, fly > Scarce heard amid the guns below. > > We are the Dead. Short days ago > We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow. > Loved, and were loved, and now we lie > In Flanders fields. > > Take up our quarrel with the foe; > To you from failing hands we throw > The torch, be yours to hold it high. > If ye break faith with us who die > We shall not sleep, though poppies grow > In Flanders fields. > > Poetry Analysis of John MCCrae's "In Flander's Field's" > http://www.geocities.com/sir_john_eh/flanders.html > > I stand proud today, proud of my father, > proud of my grandfather, and their legacy ... > Canada as it exists today > > let us never forget > > murray > > World War II (1939-1945) > This global conflict, which affected > virtually every part of the world, was > in many ways simply a continuation of > the unresolved issues resulting from > World War I. Principal adversaries in > this war were the Axis powers - Germany, > Italy, and Japan - and the Allies - France, > Great Britain, the United States, the > Soviet Union, and China. The war began > in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland > and ended with the total defeat of the > Axis powers in 1945. World War II is > easily the largest, and bloodiest, war > in recorded history. Estimates of the > total death toll range between 40 and > 50 million people and because of the > systematic extermination of the Jewish > people by the Nazis, 'genocide' is now > a recognized crime against humanity. World > War II also introduced the human race to > the nightmarish possibility of extinction > through nuclear war. > http://ahc.uwyo.edu/exhibits/veterans/ww2.htm hey murray in re the numbers and your last quote my oxford dictionary gives a similar description of the second world war that's where i saw the number fifty-five million i have spent the last few days looking at and polishing dad's war medals which he had never unpacked never polished never hung on their ribbons on their bar learning about them what they each meant wondering why i was doing what i was doing he hated any glorification of war after purusing some lists of numbers of casualties by nationality by alliance by armed force by any 'qualification' by 'service' or 'non-service' i suddenly knew one soldier is not worth more than one civilian one german is not worth less than one canadian one death was too many the errors belong to all of us and they still need correcting when we forget we repeat our errors when we remember we learn from them janet -- janet paterson an akinetic rigid subtype, albeit primarily perky, parky pd: 56-41-37 cd: 56-44-43 tel: 613-256-8340 http://www.janetpaterson.net/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn