General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: German veterans of WWII.
Posted by:
Ken Dunn
()
Date: January 26, 2001 08:34PM
<HTML>Hi Captain Duffy,
I also regret, that you felt it necessary to post above explanation. You are an asset to this forum. You have helped a number of people on this forum by answering their questions and sharing your experiences with them and you are in a unique position to do so. You have more than paid your dues.
I only saw the beginning to the discussion that got this started but as far as I can see you didn’t give your opinion on anything, you just reported your observations. There is a great deal of difference between the two. You can argue with an opinion and have some chance of being right. You can’t argue with an observation. At best you can try to qualify the circumstances but you can’t say it didn’t happen the way it happened. Someone would have to be pretty far off base to tell a person who burned his hand on a hot stove that it didn’t hurt. I can understand your frustration at being flamed.
The flamers motives were probably honorable though. There is far too much bashing in the world and we all do it sometimes. Standing up for someone you think is being bashed is a commendable thing to do, however, the methods used in this case weren’t and on top of that, the assumptions they were based on were wrong.
That you and the German veterans that sank your ship and delivered you into the hands of the Japanese have become friends is very admirable and we can all learn a lot from it. It takes a big man to do something like that. What the Japanese did to those unfortunate enough to fall into their hands is well known. In my opinion what the Japanese did should not be forgiven. There was no excuse for it. Your relationship with your former German enemy is also a two-edged sword. The German veterans also become friends with you and invite you to their reunions even though you, like my father, were part of the system that delivered the fuel, ammunition, weapons and bombs that killed and maimed their families and friends. There was great suffering in that war on all sides. It takes big men to see through that to the humanity on the other side. It is one thing to say we are all far more alike than we are different; it is another thing to do something about it as you have.
There is considerable irony in what has happened here. You could be the poster boy for the way they want things to be, yet in their ignorance, they picked you to flame. It is so sad, it is almost funny.
Whatever you do, please stay on this forum. We need you and others like you and we appreciate your contributions. You and your German friends have accomplished something that lesser men couldn’t and that is something we all can learn from, especially the younger ones. Someday they will have the power to do great evil or great good. Which they choose may depend on how much they understand about what happened before them.
My opinion.
Regards,
Ken Dunn
</HTML>
I also regret, that you felt it necessary to post above explanation. You are an asset to this forum. You have helped a number of people on this forum by answering their questions and sharing your experiences with them and you are in a unique position to do so. You have more than paid your dues.
I only saw the beginning to the discussion that got this started but as far as I can see you didn’t give your opinion on anything, you just reported your observations. There is a great deal of difference between the two. You can argue with an opinion and have some chance of being right. You can’t argue with an observation. At best you can try to qualify the circumstances but you can’t say it didn’t happen the way it happened. Someone would have to be pretty far off base to tell a person who burned his hand on a hot stove that it didn’t hurt. I can understand your frustration at being flamed.
The flamers motives were probably honorable though. There is far too much bashing in the world and we all do it sometimes. Standing up for someone you think is being bashed is a commendable thing to do, however, the methods used in this case weren’t and on top of that, the assumptions they were based on were wrong.
That you and the German veterans that sank your ship and delivered you into the hands of the Japanese have become friends is very admirable and we can all learn a lot from it. It takes a big man to do something like that. What the Japanese did to those unfortunate enough to fall into their hands is well known. In my opinion what the Japanese did should not be forgiven. There was no excuse for it. Your relationship with your former German enemy is also a two-edged sword. The German veterans also become friends with you and invite you to their reunions even though you, like my father, were part of the system that delivered the fuel, ammunition, weapons and bombs that killed and maimed their families and friends. There was great suffering in that war on all sides. It takes big men to see through that to the humanity on the other side. It is one thing to say we are all far more alike than we are different; it is another thing to do something about it as you have.
There is considerable irony in what has happened here. You could be the poster boy for the way they want things to be, yet in their ignorance, they picked you to flame. It is so sad, it is almost funny.
Whatever you do, please stay on this forum. We need you and others like you and we appreciate your contributions. You and your German friends have accomplished something that lesser men couldn’t and that is something we all can learn from, especially the younger ones. Someday they will have the power to do great evil or great good. Which they choose may depend on how much they understand about what happened before them.
My opinion.
Regards,
Ken Dunn
</HTML>
Subject | Written By | Posted |
---|---|---|
German veterans of WWII. | Capt. George W. Duffy | 01/25/2001 12:29AM |
RE: German veterans of WWII. | Rainer Bruns | 01/25/2001 03:29AM |
RE: German veterans of WWII.?? | Joe Brennan | 01/25/2001 10:40AM |
RE: German veterans of WWII.????? | Bill | 01/25/2001 11:18AM |
My only message w.r.t. this all | MCE | 01/25/2001 05:05PM |
RE: My only message w.r.t. this all | Fin Bonset | 01/25/2001 09:36PM |
RE: German veterans of WWII. | Ken Dunn | 01/26/2001 08:34PM |
RE: German veterans of WWII. | Fin Bonset | 01/26/2001 09:01PM |
RE: German veterans of WWII. | MPC | 01/26/2001 10:40PM |
Capt. George W. Duffy | Scott Parkinson | 01/27/2001 03:33AM |
RE: Capt. George W. Duffy | Pat | 01/29/2001 12:07PM |
RE: Capt. George W. Duffy | Rainer Bruns | 01/29/2001 01:04PM |
RE: Capt. George W. Duffy | Pat | 01/29/2001 03:40PM |
RE: Capt. George W. Duffy | Tesnobnif | 01/29/2001 07:29PM |
RE: Capt. George W. Duffy | Ken Dunn | 01/29/2001 07:43PM |
Re: German veterans of WWII. | Ian Coombs | 05/19/2016 01:01AM |