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July 01, 2006
Learning from History
by Jack Lee
"We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience." George Washington
When the war began, most of the British felt it would be over within 6 months, but this was obviously not the case and over 2,367,000 British causalities would be suffered on European battlefields by wars end. 44% of all their soldiers were either wounded or killed. What was seen as an easy victory in short order became a war of stalemate and attrition, where both sides suffered in human misery almost beyond our ability to comprehend.
"I have absolutely no doubt, that had today's ill-liberal mentality been present when the Battle of Somme turned into a disastrous and costly failure, England would have sued for surrender."
The Allies trusted little would survive such heavy shelling and they could charge headlong across the battlefield even though the area was denuded of any cover. They were so confident of their victory that most of the soldiers carried heavy 70 pound packs for the long march ahead as the Germans retreated. Then at 7:30 in the morning of July 1st, whistles blew and over 100,000 British soldiers leapt from the safety of their deep trenches and charged into no-man's-land assured by their leaders that the massive artillery barrage had taken it's toll. What the war planners had failed to comprehend was that the prolonged artillery bombardment had signaled to the Germans exactly where they Allies would launch their attack. They also didn't realize how resistant the German fortifications were to the shelling. This intel blunder allowed the Germans to either move their forces just out of reach of the bombardment or to retreat into the safety of deep fortifications.
(Shown to the left is a British Lewis Machine gun team, circa 1916.)
When the shelling finally stopped, the Germans poured out of their revetments, into the new shell holes and their old trenches. They quickly setup their heavy machine guns and made ready to mow down any advancing infantry on the open ground. The British intel had failed notice how little damage their shelling had done to the extremely well dug-in German defenders.
The allied infantry was massacred in that long stretch of open ground between the two opposing sides and by days end approximately 20,000 British soldiers were dead and 40,000 severely wounded, the worst casualties ever suffered in a single day in the British Army's long history of combat. The Battle of the Somme was to continue on for another four months, which saw barely 5 miles of ground taken, but ended with over 650,000 casualties.
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The disfigured and psychologically tormented soldiers returned to Britain with horrific stories of death and destruction that had been their life in the trenches. The magnitude of losses stunned and shocked the British citizens, however they realized the consequences of defeat would be an even greater national catastrophe, from which they might never recover. Their strong sense of patriotism and indominatable spirit kept them in the fight, despite all the losses and the totally unexpected long conflict... which demanded a great sacrifice of every citizen in the UK.
Although Britain's General Haig was severely criticized for the costly battle of the Somme, his willingness to commit massive amounts of men and resources to the stalemate along the Western Front did eventually contribute to the collapse of an exhausted Germany in 1918. Fortunately, for Britain and for the modern world, the people of the UK were made of sterner stuff than what now passes for the great American left. I have absolutely no doubt, that had today's ill-liberal mentality been present when the Battle of Somme turned into a disastrous and costly failure, England would have sued for surrender. Surely, the liberal press would have had a field day too, ruining the moral of British people as they detailed the Army's mistakes on the front page. They could not win under the conditions that we are forced to fight today, with ACLU lawyers for the enemy and unpatriotic, predatory reporters and politically correct lawyers on the battlefield, all looking for mistakes made in the heat of battle committed by some 18 or 19 year old solider, as the rest of the media is only too eager to air Osama bin Laden's hate speeches, give up our military secrets or air our military's dirty laundry on the evening news.
Can you even begin to imagine what the liberal media and the American left would make of 40,000 dead US soldiers in a single day of fighting our enemy, never mind little annoyances like Gitmo or Abu Graib? We could not have prevailed in WWI with todays leftist mentality undermining us! Think about that and then think about our history. Think how we have survived and flourished against all odd and against all enemies up till now.
Clearly, you must see that the greatest threat America now faces is not from Al Qeada terrorists, but from their "useful fools" and lackeys in the new radical American left. This includes the biased leftwing media giants like the New York Times and all the leftist allies that make up this combined front. These combined leftwing forces are more destructive than any attack Al Qeada could mount on their best day! The new left ignores and undermines what our forefathers have built with their idealism, vision and sacrifice and try to replace it with revisionist history. Thereby assaulting our traditions and compromising the notions that have served us so well in the past. Think about this as we approach the 4th of July and remember.... we either learn from our history or we are doomed...period.
Posted by Post Scripts at July 1, 2006 09:35 AM
Comments
Jack, I wonder if learning from history is enough in today's world. Sometimes it seems that Americans have lost the ability to experience things deeply. Our society is emotion driven, but not heartfelt. Too many of us seek emotional gratification and at the same time lack even the most basic abilities to feel and care deeply about things, especially important things. In this regard there is much we here at home can learn from our history as well. It's important not to shy away from explicit expressions of loyalty, patriotism, and support for the troops and their families, the war and our guiding principles, and the president and his administration.
The WWII generation was a generation that said yes. They took whatever skills they had and directed them toward the effort. No one needed to call them to the task, they just did it. Writers wrote and Hollywood produced suppoertive pieces that gave America hope, moms went to work in hospitals, factories and the USO. Even the kids collected cans and metal for the effort.
This war is different. There is no need to ration food and other commodities or even buy war bonds. We need to find other ways to do our part. Speaking out against leftist anti-war, anti-Bush activists is one way. Talking back to the media is another. Being proud to look like a PATRIOT is still another and speaking proudly of our men and women in uniform is paramount. I'm sure there are many other ways just waiting to be explored and put to action.
"A house divided...will not stand" If you can't do it for right reasons, good and true...do it for selfish ones.
Posted by: Tina at July 2, 2006 06:43 PM
Jack this is an outstanding post. You have used a somewhat unlikely example to demonstrate how resolve on the part of a people, especially the people of a democracy, is essential to the conduct of a war.
Such reslove is needed today, yet our people seem unwilling to deal with the horror of war. Perhaps the US military has done to fine a job in the conduct of war. The American people have a sort of national ADD where they demand that wars are now won with no sacrifice. Sice the US military has come as close to achieving that as any military in history, aI think there are some that believe it is a goal that can be achieved.
It can not. War like everythig else is fluid. It changes with teh times. We should rejoice when wars are won with so little a comparative cost as conflicts like Gulf War one. But we shoudl never forget that war is a necessary evil, and that there is no substitute for victory. When a nation, especially a democratic one has made the decisiion to go to war, the first thought should be victory. If our concern for any thing else, including the lives of our soldiers super cedes that of our desire to be victorious, then we should not embark on it.
Either a war is worth winning or it isnt worth fighting.
In America we do not send boys and girls to die, we send men and women to fight. They except the fact that some of them may die. But never are we taught in te military that the lives of the soldeirs takes precedence over the mission. To do so would destroy an army. In the army the mission is first. To ensure that we all come back alive, we train harder, but we never place ourselves above the accomplishment of the mission.
I wonder, if the American people know that?
Posted by: Nick Freitas at July 4, 2006 12:29 AM
Nick, I think a lot of Americans don't know that, and they should! We should be teaching it in school. We should be honoring the soldier and his sacrifice every day of our lives.
I also think we Americans experienced a powerful awakening following 911. It involved basic truths that have been bubbling under the surface of our consciousness for some time. The military is necessary and valuable and the spirit of those who are willing to step up is very special. The lies that have undermined this truth include: the deplorable way Viet Nam vets were thought about and treated, the absolute CR*Pola the hard feminists spew about men, and the absolute madness the social engineering crowd has forced down our throats. The world will not tolerate a lie for too long without righting it. We are in the process of moving back to balance now. This is one of my "things"...can you tell?
Posted by: Tina at July 5, 2006 09:47 PM