by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
The Battle of Belleau Wood took place in the French countryside over a couple of weeks during June of 1918. It was some of the bloodiest fighting of World War I, but in the end Allied Forces were victorious. The United States suffered almost ten thousand casualties in the prolonged encounter with German forces, including the deaths of 1,811 American fighting men - many of whom were Marines. Over the ensuing century, the Battle of Belleau Wood has gone on to become an important component of the lore of the U.S. Marine Corps.
A century ago there were no large cargo planes to bring bodies home for burial, and a common practice was to establish cemeteries at the sites of the battles. A cemetery was created at Belleau, France, which contains the remains of many who died in that famous battle - and lots of young Americans are now at rest there, far from their loved ones back in the United States.
Yesterday Donald Trump, who is on a visit to France, was scheduled to visit the cemetery at Belleau and to lay a wreath honoring America's war dead - but he cancelled that trip at the last minute. What, one might wonder, could come between a country's leader and the opportunity to pay homage to hundreds of his fellow countrymen who fought and died to maintain our basic freedoms? In this case, it was rain.
The lives and heroism of all of those brave young soldiers and marines who witnessed the dawn of modern warfare through the horrors of poison gases, bombs dropping from planes, and living and fighting in trenches dug into the mud of France - all had to be officially ignored so that Donald John Trump could keep his trophy hair dry.
Trump Chief of Staff (Marine) General John Kelly and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo braved the rain in his place to lay the wreath.
It's a sad day for America when our leader can't even walk through a bit of rain to say a heartfelt "thank you" to those who gave everything to maintain our freedoms. Donald Trump may not have the good sense to be ashamed of his neglect of our war dead, but I, for one, am damned sure ashamed for him!
(For anyone who would like to explore the awfulness of World War I, may I recommend the novel "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo. It is a reading adventure that you will be unlikely to ever forget.)
Citizen Journalist
The Battle of Belleau Wood took place in the French countryside over a couple of weeks during June of 1918. It was some of the bloodiest fighting of World War I, but in the end Allied Forces were victorious. The United States suffered almost ten thousand casualties in the prolonged encounter with German forces, including the deaths of 1,811 American fighting men - many of whom were Marines. Over the ensuing century, the Battle of Belleau Wood has gone on to become an important component of the lore of the U.S. Marine Corps.
A century ago there were no large cargo planes to bring bodies home for burial, and a common practice was to establish cemeteries at the sites of the battles. A cemetery was created at Belleau, France, which contains the remains of many who died in that famous battle - and lots of young Americans are now at rest there, far from their loved ones back in the United States.
Yesterday Donald Trump, who is on a visit to France, was scheduled to visit the cemetery at Belleau and to lay a wreath honoring America's war dead - but he cancelled that trip at the last minute. What, one might wonder, could come between a country's leader and the opportunity to pay homage to hundreds of his fellow countrymen who fought and died to maintain our basic freedoms? In this case, it was rain.
The lives and heroism of all of those brave young soldiers and marines who witnessed the dawn of modern warfare through the horrors of poison gases, bombs dropping from planes, and living and fighting in trenches dug into the mud of France - all had to be officially ignored so that Donald John Trump could keep his trophy hair dry.
Trump Chief of Staff (Marine) General John Kelly and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo braved the rain in his place to lay the wreath.
It's a sad day for America when our leader can't even walk through a bit of rain to say a heartfelt "thank you" to those who gave everything to maintain our freedoms. Donald Trump may not have the good sense to be ashamed of his neglect of our war dead, but I, for one, am damned sure ashamed for him!
(For anyone who would like to explore the awfulness of World War I, may I recommend the novel "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo. It is a reading adventure that you will be unlikely to ever forget.)
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