Protestor Damages Enola Gay

From: "Gunnar"
Date: 12/17/2003 1:53 AM Central Standard Time
Message-id:


Why not simply include the wanted information in the exhibit ? It seams like
a small request to me.
It is after all true that 100+ thousand humans died because of this
plane/bomb.

Is history now politically uncorrect in the US ?


And then another group wants a sign saying the bombing ended the war, another
group wants a sign saying the bombing wasn't needed, another group will want a
sign saying there are still people suffering from radiation related
injuries...etc..etc..etc...

The best bet is to keep the the placard to specs and notable events for any
aircraft.

There will always be people who object to anything. Damaging the display was
the wrong way to go.

An interesting parallel, this is all from memory so the details are absent, was
a group of people in Massachusetts(?) who wanted to destroy a slave ship
because of what it represented instead of displaying it in a museum.

Another parallel was the Taliban destroying some ancient Buddahs because of
their own religious beliefs.

History is replete with such examples. We don't need to be politically correct
about artifacts, but we do need to save them.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

B2431 wrote:
History is replete with such examples. We don't need to be
politically correct
about artifacts, but we do need to save them.

Benjamin Franklin once said that for a civilised nation to prosper, it
must study its history impartially and learn from that knowledge. When a
nation ignores part of its history, no matter how unpalatable it is, it
ceases to be civilised. [If anybody has the exact quote, please let me
know.]

Winston Churchill put it is another way: "A nation that forgets its past
has no future."

Cheers
David

Subject: Protestor Damages Enola Gay
From: (B2431)
Date: 12/17/03 12:16 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

History is replete with such examples. We don't need to be politically
correct
about artifacts, but we do need to save them.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired


I think all that need to be said is that, "This is the plane that ended WW II"

Regards,

Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

The bombing was the better of two painful alternatives. The Cold War
continued to make the episode painful.

What gets me big-time ****ed-off is not even arguments to the contrary.
After all, in a free society, you are entitled to an opinion, however
idiotic it may or may not be. What gets me is the fact that there are people
out there willing to break things and raise hell against those who don't
think like them. Nothing but spoiled brats in need of a spanking.... (still
fuming)
_____________
José Herculano

(B2431) wrote:


History is replete with such examples. We don't need to be politically correct
about artifacts, but we do need to save them.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Well said Dan...

-Gord.

"I'm trying to get as old as I can,
and it must be working 'cause I'm
the oldest now that I've ever been"

From: "Gunnar"
Date: 12/17/2003 1:53 AM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

Why not simply include the wanted information in the exhibit ? It seams like
a small request to me.
It is after all true that 100+ thousand humans died because of this
plane/bomb.

Is history now politically uncorrect in the US ?


And then another group wants a sign saying the bombing ended the war, another
group wants a sign saying the bombing wasn't needed, another group will want a
sign saying there are still people suffering from radiation related
injuries...etc..etc..etc...

--------------------

So, go ahead and expand the exhibit statistics with the sign stating that
108,000 died at Hiroshima as a result of the Enola Gay arriving with the
bomb.

As long as in Japan they put up an exhibit with a Zero, a rising sun flag
and a Samurai sword with an sign showing:

China: 12,000,000 dead
Pearl Harbor: 2,400 dead
The Philippines: 100,000 dead (civilian)
The Philippines: 44,000 dead (U.S. and Filipino combat dead & POWs)
Burma, Malaya, Korea, Viet Nam, Thailand: hundreds of thousands
Melanesia: hundreds

Had it not been for those deaths at the hands of the Japanese, there would
have been no Hiroshima.

"Bjørnar" wrote in message
...
"Gunnar" wrote in :

Why not simply include the wanted information in the exhibit ? It
seams like a small request to me.
It is after all true that 100+ thousand humans died because of this
plane/bomb.

Is history now politically uncorrect in the US ?

?
G

Civilian casualities is always a touchy subject for the winning
team. Just look at Irak and Afghanistan, somewhere between 10-20.000
civilians have died as a consequense of the US and allied bombings,
but it's hardly mentioned.

As a reminder, 3,000 died in the WTC attack.

And 5,000 Iraqi children died every year for ten years, for old Europe's
status quo.

What is your point? To do nothing was unacceptable.

Gunnar wrote:
Why not simply include the wanted information in the exhibit ? It seams like
a small request to me.
It is after all true that 100+ thousand humans died because of this
plane/bomb.

Is history now politically uncorrect in the US ?

How many people did the B-17, or B-24, or Lancaster kill in WWII?

How about the Yak 9 or Ki-43 "Oscar"?

And let's not limit ourselves to WWII, or American aircraft?
There is history to document!

And why limit the "kill count" to nuclear deaths? Is someone
more tragically dead from radiation than from fire/metal/shock?

[Just out of curiosity, how many combat aircraft in Norwegian
museums have the numbers of people they killed as part of the
display?]


SMH

José Herculano wrote:

What gets me big-time ****ed-off is not even arguments to the contrary.
After all, in a free society, you are entitled to an opinion, however
idiotic it may or may not be. What gets me is the fact that there are people
out there willing to break things and raise hell against those who don't
think like them. Nothing but spoiled brats in need of a spanking.... (still
fuming)

So true!

This is nothing more than a form of book burning, or shouting down
someone speaking from a different POV.

They ought to put on their jack boots and brown shirts when they
pull this crap, and at least look the part!


SMH

José Herculano wrote:

The bombing was the better of two painful alternatives. The Cold War
continued to make the episode painful.

What gets me big-time ****ed-off is not even arguments to the contrary.
After all, in a free society, you are entitled to an opinion, however
idiotic it may or may not be. What gets me is the fact that there are people
out there willing to break things and raise hell against those who don't
think like them. Nothing but spoiled brats in need of a spanking.... (still
fuming)
_____________
José Herculano

Well, that's because they know the penalty is, at worst, five years'
probation from a U.S. District Court.