Thanks for this as usual. Wasn’t your dad from the Canadian Maritimes, or was that your Mom’s side of the family? I believe Alsace was the place where Bismark ironically set Germany on the road to ruin by actually winning the Franco-Prussian war. My dad was in, I believe, 5 WWII invasions (landings?), North Africa to Sicily to Anzio – where he was wounded, falling down a 15ft. shell crater followed by months in a Naples hospital with a skull fracture, and the fortuitous opportunity to learn pretty good Italian/Sicilian – frequently employed in postwar gatherings with his New Haven Italian-American army buddies. I can’t ever remember them reminiscing with anything but funny stories or descriptions of the places they got to see. One anecdote involved how Dad also made Private First Class – apparently 3 TIMES, but nothing specific about any demotions that might have facilitated that. So wish I had asked more questions.
Actually, Rog, my mother and grandparents were from Newfoundland. My grandfather was with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in WWI and fought at Gallipoli and the Battle of the Somme. At the Somme, he was one of 68 survivors of his regiment of 801 that morning. My mere existence appears to be a statistical anomaly of his survival.
And in true Newfoundland tragic style, after surviving two of the deadliest battles in human history, he cut his leg while cleaning a seal pelt and died of gangrene a week later at age 36.
I know it's their 1st Amendment right to be Nazis and parade around with their paraphernalia of hate but simultaneously I'm disgusted to see it, even worst to hear the right supporting them...it disrespects people like your Dad who were forever changed by the war...
Another good column. I am mind-boggled every day that I see some "patriot" proudly spewing the same venom that once trickled between the lips of Hitler, Göring and the other 3rd Reich vermin. They just don't see the irony of being the descendants of the "Greatest Generation" and yet embracing everything those men and women hated. They prove sometimes, sadly, the apple (in their case worm-infested) does indeed fall far from the tree.
Thanks, my friend. I think irony is unknown to these crazy people. My worry is that every generation is condemned to learn all these hard lessons on its own again because they've paid no attention to the past and a lot of innocent people will suffer because of it.
Well, we never talked about much, no real relationship. But we can't change our parents and I wanted to know what I could know, Mark. And since he wasn't a drinker, I think he got loose a lot faster on the Jack and was willing to let some things out; except the morning he told me that it was coffee at McDonald's. He lived his entire life as a broken, sad man, but he was strong and defiant all the way, too.
Thank you James: my dad a fighter pilot in the Pacific War over Saipan, Titian & Guam. He commended a squadron in the Korean War and died in the East China Sea on the day of the 1st Taiwan Strait Cris.
It absolutely sickens me that Trump praises the north Korean murdered and the Racist forces he leads in this country.
From a Frontline documentary on contemporary hate speech in the US: The German penal code prohibits publicly denying the Holocaust and disseminating Nazi propaganda, both off- and online. This includes sharing images such as swastikas, wearing an SS uniform and making statements in support of Hitler.
It also places strict rules on how social media companies must moderate and report hate speech and threats.
...
The First Amendment protects hate speech. But there comes a point where the First Amendment should not allow its protection of this kind of speech. I hate to be vague, but I follow Justice Potter's rule that he applied to porn, ie, I know (hate speech) when I see it.
Well, we get back to, "I may disagree with what you say but I will defend to death your right to say it." However, free speech does not protect idiots from yelling "fire" in a crowded theater, which is the overused analysis. But Germany has the right approach, and we could learn from their mistakes instead of repeating them.
Probably not. As one reader suggested, let them speak and suffer the consequences. The only security in that is that we are convinced they cannot create a real movement like in Germany.
Thanks for this as usual. Wasn’t your dad from the Canadian Maritimes, or was that your Mom’s side of the family? I believe Alsace was the place where Bismark ironically set Germany on the road to ruin by actually winning the Franco-Prussian war. My dad was in, I believe, 5 WWII invasions (landings?), North Africa to Sicily to Anzio – where he was wounded, falling down a 15ft. shell crater followed by months in a Naples hospital with a skull fracture, and the fortuitous opportunity to learn pretty good Italian/Sicilian – frequently employed in postwar gatherings with his New Haven Italian-American army buddies. I can’t ever remember them reminiscing with anything but funny stories or descriptions of the places they got to see. One anecdote involved how Dad also made Private First Class – apparently 3 TIMES, but nothing specific about any demotions that might have facilitated that. So wish I had asked more questions.
Actually, Rog, my mother and grandparents were from Newfoundland. My grandfather was with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in WWI and fought at Gallipoli and the Battle of the Somme. At the Somme, he was one of 68 survivors of his regiment of 801 that morning. My mere existence appears to be a statistical anomaly of his survival.
Epic. I remember you having shared that, but my memory is fuzzy at this age
And in true Newfoundland tragic style, after surviving two of the deadliest battles in human history, he cut his leg while cleaning a seal pelt and died of gangrene a week later at age 36.
I know it's their 1st Amendment right to be Nazis and parade around with their paraphernalia of hate but simultaneously I'm disgusted to see it, even worst to hear the right supporting them...it disrespects people like your Dad who were forever changed by the war...
Agree, Frank. And I think Trump's hateful rhetoric is what has made them feel empowered just as Hitler's transformed Germany.
Another good column. I am mind-boggled every day that I see some "patriot" proudly spewing the same venom that once trickled between the lips of Hitler, Göring and the other 3rd Reich vermin. They just don't see the irony of being the descendants of the "Greatest Generation" and yet embracing everything those men and women hated. They prove sometimes, sadly, the apple (in their case worm-infested) does indeed fall far from the tree.
Thanks, my friend. I think irony is unknown to these crazy people. My worry is that every generation is condemned to learn all these hard lessons on its own again because they've paid no attention to the past and a lot of innocent people will suffer because of it.
Oh yeah. Thanks for a great read. I'll never know your pain for your daddy.
Let the Nazis speak, so we'll know who they are. They will be free to suffer the consequences of their "free" speech.
Might be our only recourse, but maybe there are too many citizens who think they make sense, which becomes dangerous, no?
Sadly, you are right.
This is a poignant and pertinent story.
Gracias, mi amiga.
Such an awful experience for you father. Brutal. How do you talk about such things? He trusted you that morning. To your credit.
Well, we never talked about much, no real relationship. But we can't change our parents and I wanted to know what I could know, Mark. And since he wasn't a drinker, I think he got loose a lot faster on the Jack and was willing to let some things out; except the morning he told me that it was coffee at McDonald's. He lived his entire life as a broken, sad man, but he was strong and defiant all the way, too.
Thank you James: my dad a fighter pilot in the Pacific War over Saipan, Titian & Guam. He commended a squadron in the Korean War and died in the East China Sea on the day of the 1st Taiwan Strait Cris.
It absolutely sickens me that Trump praises the north Korean murdered and the Racist forces he leads in this country.
Then there is Tommy Tubberville.
This is what bothers me the most, Gary, that we are tolerating this nonsense just one generation after our parents had fought to end it.
From a Frontline documentary on contemporary hate speech in the US: The German penal code prohibits publicly denying the Holocaust and disseminating Nazi propaganda, both off- and online. This includes sharing images such as swastikas, wearing an SS uniform and making statements in support of Hitler.
It also places strict rules on how social media companies must moderate and report hate speech and threats.
...
The First Amendment protects hate speech. But there comes a point where the First Amendment should not allow its protection of this kind of speech. I hate to be vague, but I follow Justice Potter's rule that he applied to porn, ie, I know (hate speech) when I see it.
Well, we get back to, "I may disagree with what you say but I will defend to death your right to say it." However, free speech does not protect idiots from yelling "fire" in a crowded theater, which is the overused analysis. But Germany has the right approach, and we could learn from their mistakes instead of repeating them.
Probably not. As one reader suggested, let them speak and suffer the consequences. The only security in that is that we are convinced they cannot create a real movement like in Germany.