Barack Obama, our next President

Judged:

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carol wrote:

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I know this is going to get a little too personal, but my dad was thrown in a hole in a POW camp in the Phillipines during WWII without knowing how long he would be there or if he would ever eat again. He commented to the military doctors after his liberation when he was back in the states that the fear of starving to death was the most powerful fear than anything. He had been beaten on numerous occasions and was near starvation anyway when the POWs were liberated just from having been there in the camps for three years.
The sacrifices made by those who came to rescue him and the other POWs is a selfless testament to what we stand for as Americans. It's something that is deeply engrained in me.
But the atomic bombs dropped on innocent civilians to stop that war is something I will never be able to reconcile - even if it meant my dad not being rescued or my not even being born - for as long as I live.
The sacrifices he and so many made comes from a kind of spirit that I hope we all still have somewhere deep down.
But we seem to have somehow forgotten from where that source comes or it has faded in the harsh light of political greed and power struggles. That spirit doesn't come from the government or from any political party. It doesn't even come from within ourselves. It comes from somewhere or from something that is even greater than ourselves.
It's sometimes hard for me to reconcile the blotches on our history that have not been addressed or reconciled properly and the heroics of self-sacrifice for a greater cause in light of these glaring blotches.
We only have the cause of freedom. It's the only thing that is worth fighting for and the only thing that defines us. Anything other than that, and we become nothing more than another country trying to save itself from itself.
Sorry to be so Emo. Don't know what's gotten into me today.

MisterTibbs wrote:

Carol, STFU, the atomic bomb was what ended the war.., STOP your whining.
What would you have prefered that American troops set foot on Japan.?
did you ever watch the batan march on the history chanel?
**** those Japs and bombs away.
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carol wrote:

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My father was in the Bataan March.

carol wrote:

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I know this is going to get a little too personal, but my dad was thrown in a hole in a POW camp in the Phillipines during WWII without knowing how long he would be there or if he would ever eat again. He commented to the military doctors after his liberation when he was back in the states that the fear of starving to death was the most powerful fear than anything. He had been beaten on numerous occasions and was near starvation anyway when the POWs were liberated just from having been there in the camps for three years.
The sacrifices made by those who came to rescue him and the other POWs is a selfless testament to what we stand for as Americans. It's something that is deeply engrained in me.
But the atomic bombs dropped on innocent civilians to stop that war is something I will never be able to reconcile - even if it meant my dad not being rescued or my not even being born - for as long as I live.
The sacrifices he and so many made comes from a kind of spirit that I hope we all still have somewhere deep down.
But we seem to have somehow forgotten from where that source comes or it has faded in the harsh light of political greed and power struggles. That spirit doesn't come from the government or from any political party. It doesn't even come from within ourselves. It comes from somewhere or from something that is even greater than ourselves.
It's sometimes hard for me to reconcile the blotches on our history that have not been addressed or reconciled properly and the heroics of self-sacrifice for a greater cause in light of these glaring blotches.
We only have the cause of freedom. It's the only thing that is worth fighting for and the only thing that defines us. Anything other than that, and we become nothing more than another country trying to save itself from itself.
Sorry to be so Emo. Don't know what's gotten into me today.

Rick wrote:

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He survived???? I would love to interview him seriously........
My Dad was a Seebee in WW II....

Realtime wrote:

<quoted text>Nothing like Mothers or Fathers Day to remind us where we came from eh Carol?
For what it's worth, if your buddy Frankie R. has read any of your posts today, he's smiling. That guy can talk about Native Americans and slaves in a way that brings tears to your eyes.
Are you turning the corner towards moderate politics? Hah, I'll wait until tomorrow LOL.

carol wrote:

I'll probably snap out of it eventually and realize what I've always known which is we can't go back and change history. All we can do is look to the future and hope to make it better. But the fact that I didn't know Andrew Jackson had such a significant role in the massacre of the Indians followed by such cruel and heartless treatment makes me wonder why this fact is so conveniently overlooked in history classes. I'm somewhat of a history buff and even though I don't scour every piece of information written about every president, I never knew this about him. Yet, we give him a high place of honor on our money.
We fought the civil war to right the wrong of slavery much too late. We attempted to right that wrong with much blood and sacrifice but it was much too late, nevertheless.
And as far as the bombs on Japan, I've had to accept it even though I will never be able to reconcile it.
However, it's the deception that bothers me the most about one of our more prominent presidents. It should be taught in every history class that he failed tremendously as a president because of this criminal act as far as I'm concerned and he should be marked as one of our most tarnished presidents - not one of our greater presidents no matter what else he did. We haven't been judging ourselves accurately, I'm afraid. And I'm still not sure we deserve to be blessed as a country because of it.

carol wrote:

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My father was in the Bataan March.

The Last Templar wrote:

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You are not wrong, Carol. Anyone who has ever studied the issue of dropping the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs understands the truth... Truman's own top Admiral wrote him a clear, unequivocal letter imploring him not to deploy this weapon, stating, categorically, that Japan was about to capitulate.
It remains the darkest moment in American history, in terms of the vast number of innocent men, women, and children killed. It violated every principle of the American fighting man and woman to maintain their battle for freedom nobly between enemy combatants only.
As for the truth about the way this country treated the Native Americans, read the book "Bury My Heart At Wounded **** "... not the photographic essay, but the paperback. It opened my eyes.

Captain Like wrote:

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My dad sold real estate.

carol wrote:

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I know this is going to get a little too personal, but my dad was thrown in a hole in a POW camp in the Phillipines during WWII without knowing how long he would be there or if he would ever eat again. He commented to the military doctors after his liberation when he was back in the states that the fear of starving to death was the most powerful fear than anything. He had been beaten on numerous occasions and was near starvation anyway when the POWs were liberated just from having been there in the camps for three years.
The sacrifices made by those who came to rescue him and the other POWs is a selfless testament to what we stand for as Americans. It's something that is deeply engrained in me.
But the atomic bombs dropped on innocent civilians to stop that war is something I will never be able to reconcile - even if it meant my dad not being rescued or my not even being born - for as long as I live.
The sacrifices he and so many made comes from a kind of spirit that I hope we all still have somewhere deep down.
But we seem to have somehow forgotten from where that source comes or it has faded in the harsh light of political greed and power struggles. That spirit doesn't come from the government or from any political party. It doesn't even come from within ourselves. It comes from somewhere or from something that is even greater than ourselves.
It's sometimes hard for me to reconcile the blotches on our history that have not been addressed or reconciled properly and the heroics of self-sacrifice for a greater cause in light of these glaring blotches.
We only have the cause of freedom. It's the only thing that is worth fighting for and the only thing that defines us. Anything other than that, and we become nothing more than another country trying to save itself from itself.
Sorry to be so Emo. Don't know what's gotten into me today.

carol wrote:

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That's wonderful. However, I was confronted about not having knowledge of the cruelty of the Japanese or the Bataan Death March and my dad having been a part of it is a fact and was necessary to report under the circumstances.
Do you happen to know anything about the 40 Mile Death March? I'm assuming no or you would be ashamed to be so flippant.

Captain Like wrote:

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I remember he had a nosebleed one time and we had to take him to the hospital. So I empathize.

carol wrote:

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Because of your ignorance, I forgive you. Can't speak for anyone else though.

Lynn wrote:

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It is so weird that you brought this up today. I was just talking to my husband today about WWII. He reads and watches anything to do with WWII and the atomic bombs have always bothered me and I asked him if it was really necessary to use such horrific weapons to end the war. He doesn't like that we did, but he thought so. But I didn't really understand his explanation. Something like we were using gel fire bombs that were actually killing more civilians than an atomic bomb would. But that really doesn't make any sense to me.
Governments start war and it makes me sick that the innocent civilians are the ones that pay for the war with their lives while the ones who start the war are safe somewhere in a bunker. I just can't imagine if we were in a huge war and another country just decided to drop a nuclear weapon over Orlando...how horrific is that? And we did that to Japan, twice.

Lynn wrote:

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Carol, I am sorry for how some of these posters are so flippant. Thanks for sharing your story about your dad. He sounded like a great man.

carol wrote:

Back to reality and/or the consequences, whichever:
"I find it unfathomable that people are not horrified about what is going to happen," said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute. "I regard all this talk about how the recession is maybe going to end, all the talk about deficits and inflation, to be the equivalent of telling Americans,'You are just going to have to tough it out.' But we're looking at persistent unemployment that is going to be extraordinarily damaging to many communities. There is a ton of pain in the pipeline."
Even the MSM is beginning to shed some doubt on the fact that no jobs are being created. Now that's news.