Beth.
My post was not meant as "US Bashing" but an observation of what is actually happening in the US. I would also like to say that my country is not perfect either. For example my own provincial government delisted SRS/GRS as a funded medical benefit to us. The newly elected Conservative Government has many right wing religious types in it's ranks and part of their platform is to undo the newly passed same Sex Marriage Laws.
If I may...
I would certainly hope that your reply is not typical and that your opinion is one of few who see the U.S. as global police, big brother, the keeper of all things right. Not only would I be thanking the US for their contribution but also I would be thanking the Russians for the sacrifices they made to help defeat the Germans, and Japanese for they over all others suffered the most monstrous casualties of the conflict. I would also thank the hero's of the RAF during the Battle of Britain where they stood alone in the face of the German Air Force. To imply that my Country did not sacrifice it's youth and innocence to protect the freedom of it's people is insulting. You obviously no nothing of Vimy Ridge, and the many other Battle Honors Canadians earned during both WW1 and 2.
One of our poorest Provinces fielded one our most famous infantry regiments - The Royal Newfoundland Regiment. It's Battle Honors include the following:
Somme 1916,
Albert 1916,
Le Transloy,
Arras 1917,
Scarpe 1917,
Ypres 1917 '18,
Langemarck 1917,
Poelcappelle, Cambrai 1917,
Lys, Bailleul, Kemmel, Courtrai, France and Flanders 1916-18,
Gallipoli 1915-16,
Egypt 1915-16
You may may observe that they have no Battle Honors after 1916 or for WW2, that's because the Regiment was wiped out in the battle of Beaumont Hamel fighting for freedom and democracy:
At 9:00 p.m. on June 30, the regiment turned out for the final time: 25 officers, 776 NCOs and other ranks. Among the young men preparing for their first experience of going over the top there was little evidence of foreboding. "It is surprising to see how happy and light-hearted everyone is," Lieutenant Owen Steele noted in his diary, "and yet this is undoubtedly the last day for a good many." Optimism prevailed. "The climax of our troubles will be reached within the next few days after which the day of peace will quickly draw near" (Steele 339–40). It was his last entry. He was killed six days later.
Promptly at 6:25 a.m. on July 1, the artillery bombardment began. At 7:20 a.m. the mines under Hawthorn Ridge exploded, warning the Germans that an attack was about to begin. The subsequent 10-minute delay in launching the offensive also allowed the Germans time to prepare for battle. Private John Ryan recalled thinking after the explosion, "That's it, we're licked" (Atwater 213).
Almost immediately, the opening phase of the 29th Division's attack began to falter under withering enemy fire. Confusion was compounded by poor communication. General de Lisle mistook German flares for a signal of success from the attacking 87th Brigade, and ordered the 88th Brigade to move, with the Essex and Newfoundland Regiments advancing "as soon as possible." But the Essex soldiers were unable to leave their trenches because of the large number of dead and wounded soldiers.
Thus it was that the Newfoundlanders moved off on their own at 9:15 a.m., their objective the first and second line of enemy trenches, some 650 to 900 metres away. In magnificent order, practiced many times before, they moved down the exposed slope towards No Man's Land, the rear sections waiting until those forward reached the required 40-metre distance ahead. No friendly artillery fire covered the advance. A murderous cross-fire cut across the advancing columns and men began to drop, at first not many but then in large numbers as they approached the first gaps in their own wire. Private Anthony Stacey, who watched the carnage from a forward trench with Lieutenant-Colonel Hadow, stated that "[m]en were mown down in waves,"" and the gaps cut the night before were "a proper trap for our boys as the enemy just set the sights of the machine guns on the gaps in the barbed wire and fired" (Stacey 17A). Doggedly, the survivors continued on towards The Danger Tree. "The only visible sign that the men knew they were under this terrific fire," wrote one observer, "was that they all instinctively tucked their chins into an advanced shoulder as they had so often done when fighting their way home against a blizzard in some little outport in far off Newfoundland" (Raley 37–40). Few advanced beyond it. Stacey recalled that from his vantage point he "could see no moving, but lots of heaps of khaki slumped on the ground" (Stacey 19). The few who did get to the German lines were horrified to discover that the week-long artillery barrage that preceded the attack had not cut the German barbed wire. This fact was known by commanders the night before, thanks to a report by a Newfoundland reconnaissance team. The news was dismissed on the grounds that it was due to the "nervousness of men who were facing battle for the first time" (Gilham). As a consequence, the majority of the soldiers who reached the enemy trenches were killed, tangled in the uncut wire.
In less than 30 minutes it was all over. At 9:45 a.m., Hadow, who had witnessed the annihilation of his regiment from a forward position, reported to Brigade Headquarters that the attack had failed. Incredibly, he was ordered to collect up any unwounded and resume the attack. Fortunately, wiser counsel prevailed and the order was countermanded. Throughout the day survivors attempted the long and dangerous journey back to their own lines, many being an easy target for enemy snipers and artillery fire. Ron Dunne lay wounded on the battlefield for several days. On the second day, convinced that he would soon die, his thoughts turned homeward to Bonavista Bay and his mother. "I said me prayers," he recalled, and then drifted off, unaware that rescue was on the way (Memorial).
That night the search began for survivors. When the roll call was taken, only 68 responded. The full cost would not be known for several days. The final figures revealed that the regiment had been virtually wiped out: 710 killed, wounded or missing. Most were struck down before they reached beyond their own front line (Middlebrook 269).
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You may also not recall that the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry received A US Presidential citation for it's heroic defence of retreating US forces in Korea in the face of overwhelming communist forces (I would like you to list other Foreign Forces who have been awarded this citation). Ever hear of the "Devils Brigade". You may not recall that it was the Canadians who saved the US hostages in Iran. You may also not know that Canadian Special Forces help train the US rescue mission of these same hostages that was aborted due to the collision of the rescue aircraft. You may also not recall that Canadians fought alongside US forces in the Gulf War, I know, I was there. I will grant that the US actively took part in both world wars after it was itself attacked and this in turn led to an earlier resolution of the conflicts but to imply that it was the US and the US alone is nonsense. I would say more but dignity and decorum of Susan's is not the place.
Steph
