Non-Basketball Topic - UnBelievable Bravery

Today is the 70th anniversary of the Allies' 1943 raid on "Hitler's Gas Station", the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania in WWII.  Waves of B-24 bombers flew from their bases in North Africa.  They came in, according to surviving veterans, at "corn-high levels" against fierce Nazi resistance.  Flying at high speed at "nap of the earth" levels was extremely dangerous in those days.

One-third of the planes didn't come back, 53 aircraft and 660 airmen.  5 Medals of Honor were awarded.

Because there was no overall drop in petroleum production, the raid was considered a failure.

I've traveled a bit, it's safe to say.  This is STILL, overall, the greatest country on Earth despite all our faults, which would include our stubborn resistance to consider we could learn to do a few things differently.  I come back to this country and I hear people whining about how tough they have it and I try not to laugh in their faces.  Then, I read stories like this, of uncomplaining and unregretted sacrifice for the greater good, and I get angry, not amused, with them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tidal_Wave

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ploesti.htm




I lost half my family in Auschwitz.  God Bless everybody, both in uniform and the Rosie the Riveters who supported them, that fought together against that ancient evil.

Sorry, but I did warn you it was a non-basketball related thread.

I will leave this up for 24 hours, in honor of their bravery, and will then delete it from this basketball board.

bob


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Bob,

Keep it, there are too many kids out there who consider lebron James their "hero"

It's important to remember what others have done in order for us to simply enjoy the sport of basketball- or life for that matter.

While I could never be described as patriotic and am against wars in general, I'm all for the wiping out from this earth anything and everything nazi.

Incredible story.

Thanks BobH.

KJ

Thanks Bob for sharing. Never apologize for anything you feel important. My Dad was in the Navy during WW Ii, a prouder man you couldn,t find. I appreciate that someone is still keeping the memories alive of aall of these wonderful, brave Americans. My husband.,s Dad was in the battle of the Bulge. His memories died with him at 48, never talking of those days. Heroes, all of them!

Rosalie

Bob H,

Please keep it up, remberance of the real important issues in life is always appropriate in my view. Ros, my Dad, who according to Uncle Gene was related to your husband, also was in the Bulge and was captured just outside of Bastonge. A couple of West Newton boys, wonder how many others from the neighborhood were there?

Bob, you know you're preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned. Please don't delete the thread. I actually wish there were more of that ilk, and I wouldn't be at all averse to starting an "Acts of Patriotism" forum.

Thanks.

Sam

sam wrote:Bob, you know you're preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned.  Please don't delete the thread.  I actually wish there were more of that ilk, and I wouldn't be at all averse to starting an "Acts of Patriotism" forum.

Thanks.

Sam

sam,

Since the comments, as they have been posted so far, have been uniformly positive (NON-scientific, of course, the people who are opposed might just not choose to post) I'll leave it up until someone objects.  I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND if someone objects.  This is a basketball board and this type of thread is NOT part of the advertised charter.  One could object to this thread without objecting to the acts described.  Everything has its place and everyplace has its thing, and this might not be the place for threads about topics like this.

If other people want to post other such rememberances, they can revive this thread and move it to the top of the chart by adding it to this one or start their own and we go through this again.  If not, it will slip down until it is off the first page and disappear from our easy view like every other topic that has its day in the sun and then fades to black.


bob


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BobH,

Actually, this is a basketball board that is not necessarily just about basketball. In fact, by early agreement of the administrators, we have "sticky" threads entitled "Moments to Remember," "Member News," and "Reviews and Recommendations" that are not necessarily restricted to basketball. If someone used the "Member News" to mention a new venture, odds are that I'd be the first to congratulate him/her. On the other hand, we've had instances of thinly veiled, blatant advertising that we've deleted. Anything in between those two poles might be cause for some off-board moderator involvement.

Obviously, there's always a need for common sense. For example, opinions about the wisdom of a current conflict such as the one in Afghanistan might have a proselytizing, political overtones, and we do try to discourage posts of a blatant political nature.

But, to comment on something that happened more than seven decades ago, and to do so simply to honor bravery is a radically different story. Although we try to discourage messages promoting a certain religious belief, I consider wishing those of various faiths all the best on religious holidays to be a sincere message within the scope of good brotherhood. Personally, I would prefer to do a Van Gogh on my auditory system than to censor such messages.

The tone of this forum has always been a bit different from others, and I like to think that the "common sense" rule, within a basic context of reasonable flexibility, can be almost universally appealing. And, if there is a disagreement with this policy, it may be registered via Private Message, and the disagreement will be addressed as fairly as possible.

Sam