US Army WWII D-Day
(AP Photo/Bert Brandt)

By Miguel A. Faria, MD.

Europeans like to decry violence in America, calling it America’s “gun culture” while forgetting their share of political mayhem in their own house, including violence perpetrated by jihadists as well as their own left-wing terrorists.

But I enjoy reminding them that it was America’s gun culture that liberated Western Europeans from the Nazis during World War II and protected western Europe from the Red Army and Soviet tanks during the Cold War. Moreover, I also like to remind them that they, as pusillanimous Europeans, may require further protection from the much reviled U.S. gun culture again in the future.

I also like to explain to them that it has been because of the protection afforded by the American gun culture that Europeans have been able to create and peacefully sustain the social and economic safety nets of which they are so proud.

I don’t put them down to offend them. I proceed with a little history and another concept that progressive gun prohibitionists are unable to grasp about America’s “gun culture,” and that is that while it’s true that many Americans, particularly in rural areas and most of the South, grow up around guns and hunting—that salutary tradition of the outdoors reinforces Americans inherent patriotism, a patriotism and outlook that Americans inherited along with a legacy of freedom.

The story of Sergeant Alvin York is illustrative of how America’s experience in the outdoors, self-sufficiency, hunting, individualism, and cultivation of the “gun culture” can forge character. York grew up in a large, poor family in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee. Because they depended on hunting for food, York got very adept in shooting wild animals such as turkeys and squirrels with precise shots to the head so as to save the rest of the animal for eating.

This is a 1919 photo of Sgt. Alvin York of the U.S. Army in an unknown location. York received the Congressional Medal of Honor for killing 25 Germans, capturing 132 prisoners and putting 35 machine gun nests out of commission. York entered the Army as a conscientious objector. (AP Photo/Department of U.S. Army)

At age 27, to woo his sweetheart, a deeply religious girl, York joined a fundamentalist Methodist sect and made a pacifist commitment to Jesus. In 1917, as World War I raged, York was drafted and because his church was not officially pacifist, he was denied conscientious objector status.

He went through basic training but continued to object to war. Because of his obvious sincerity, the major general in command of his unit, George E. Buxton, spoke with him, cited Scripture, and pointed out that Jesus commanded his apostles to carry swords, reminding York that “earthly kingdoms do fight wars and that Christians should render to government the things that are Caesars.” Buxton also cited Ezekiel 33:1-6 in which God exhorted the Prophets to command the people to listen to the watchman’s trumpet warning of an approaching enemy.

After much soul searching and not completely convinced, York was sent to France in October 1918. His division was promptly sent to rescue a Lost Battalion (the 1st battalion of the 308 Infantry Regiment) that was surrounded by German units. Pvt. York, leading a patrol, surprised the enemy camp, killed one German, and the rest surrendered.

Another German unit opened machine gun fire from a nearby hill, killing or wounding nine Americans. With his Enfield rifle, York picked off the German gunners one by one. Before he could reload the rest of the Germans, out of ammunition, attacked with a bayonet charge. York stopped them with the lethal fire of his .45 caliber pistol, ordering them to surrender, which they did.

York, with the seven Americans still alive, rounded up several dozen German prisoners. On the way back to the American lines, he captured two other groups of Germans, who he bluffed into surrendering. In all, Alvin York had captured 132 Germans, including four officers.

In his book, The Morality of Self-Defense and Military Action: The Judeo- Christian Tradition, David B. Kopel summarized York’s additional achievements:

Almost single handed, York with his one rifle and one pistol, had killed 25 Germans, and knocked 35 German machine guns out of action. The next day, he returned to the site of the battle, to pray for the soul of the slain Germans. Pvt. York was promoted to sergeant. The French commander Marshall Foch called York’s feat the greatest accomplishment of any soldier in Europe. From the Great War, Sergeant York returned to the U.S. an American hero, “representing the simple, honest, and faithful ideas of the old America.

Many Americans in the 21st century still cling to their guns and their Bibles, and it stands to reason that the derided gun culture mentality and patriotic outlook may not be gained solely by an 8-week Army basic training boot camp. Life experience, patriotism and the attitude to fight along your fellow soldiers in a just cause—such as freedom and a country’s way of life—do not appear in a vacuum.

If that were the case, European democrats would have been a more formidable force against Hitler and Nazi Germany, and had not been so easily conquered in World War II. Belgians, Danes, Dutchmen and even Frenchmen, may have had weapons and adequate training. But the Germans in World War II had no difficulty in conquering and taming them. The Swiss with a similar outlook as Americans and with their own gun culture were left alone.

America’s gun culture gave the Allies the edge. Stalin’s “Great Patriotic War” stimulated Russians to fight for their motherland with NKVD SMERCH units (Soviet military police and counter-intelligence units) everywhere behind the front lines, stiffen Soviet fighting resolve with their own guns. Americans did not need such units to make sure they fought.

Yet progressive anti-gun zealots want to disarm Americans and turn us into vacillating pusillanimous Europeans like the French, Dutch and Belgians. The fact is Europeans need to stop criticizing our gun culture and seriously beef up their own security via NATO. Americans are getting tired of paying to protect Europe, maintaining military bases, and sending our boys there, especially when the European Union continues to globalize and socialize, while criticizing our nation and our unique culture. All the while ignoring the mess in their own backyard.

 

Miguel A. Faria, M.D., is Associate Editor in Chief in socioeconomics, politics, medicine, and world affairs of Surgical Neurology International (SNI). This article is excerpted, updated, and edited from his book, America, Guns, and Freedom: A Journey Into Politics and the Public Health & Gun Control Movements (2019)

 

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140 COMMENTS

    • Deaths caused by Europe’s birthing WW1 and WW2 >>>> American gun culture attributable deaths.

      In other words, Europe’s grousing about America is like Jeffrey Dahmer complaining about my ordering pepperonis on a pizza.

  2. Same for Japan…we helped our former enemies rebuild…
    we helped our friends rebuild…
    we have and still provide a LOT of the defense of MANY countries via various treaties and pacts..
    yes…most are self-serving in some or many ways…
    but imagine if we eliminated all the bases…all the personnel…all the equipment…brought it all back home…isolated…
    we could have very well guarded borders…would probably not need any immigrant labor…might not even need to legally immigrate 1M every year, either…

  4. the euros who deride our culture are weenies; lots o goofy ass cultures think that way. mostly the power seekers and the cattle.
    and real people all over the world get it, they just don’t have access to it.

      • You need to provide more context for this statement. Why should he take his meds? Meds for what? Were his comments too exuberant? Did he say something crazy or untrue? Please elaborate.

      • 13:00’s a bit early for my ~meds~. it’s not like i’m on vacation. and i grew up hearing, “it’s gotta be five somewhere.”

        “donny swept the playroom…”

        those days are over. but, let me rummage around some. maybe fill the jug at the local csb. that’ll go good with the smoked chops.

        • i’d have to make a phone call, fairly mild so doubtful it was hickory. i’ve got a dozen shagbarks (a lot of work to get at the sweetmeats, but every bit as good as a walnut) so i think i’d know that flavor.
          they were brought over from three rivers, mi. and finished on a grill. buffalo mozz w/ homegrown wolf peaches and basil (fawlty), all (corn, tenderloin) seasoned up a birchwood, wi. blend, “zesty with a mild afterglow.”

  5. I think many countries are quick to forget what the dirty capitalist Americas have done for them. Most of Europe would be under dictatorship if not communist control today. England and the rest of Great Britain would have been obliterated. Many countries owe a huge debt to America, yet they still bash us and blame us for everything.

    When I remind folks, when they bash us on forums, that they might not be here today if it weren’t for good old USA, they just spout BS and keep on hating.

    Maybe one day we will say, do it yourself as they’re getting their backsides kicked up and down their country. They’d deserve it. Most countries haven’t even paid the US back for the things they’ve borrowed.

    As for American men and women’s blood that’s been spilled over seas, there is nothing they can do to repay those families or hero’s. The least they could do is show a bit of appreciation.

    My tolerance for rude, unappreciative people in this country and others has reached its fill line.

  6. Oh shiiiiiiiiiit. We all know what happened when JJ’s tolerance for rude, unappreciative people in this country and others has reached its fill line. Batten down the motha fuckin hatches, JJ’s reached his ‘fill line’ and is finna to put a hurtin’ on some jabronis!

    • You should have used the “reply” button under JJ’s post. Follow up comments are going to be posted under his original comment and by the time they get to yours, your comment isn’t going to make any sense. Also, please type in English and try to use at least passable grammar when using sarcasm. I had to read your post several times to devine your intent, and it still comes across as written by an English-second-language middle-schooler.

      • “I wash born here, an I wash raished here, and dad gum it, I am gonna die here, an’ no sidewindin’ bushwackin’, hornswagglin’ cracker croaker is gonna rouin me bishen cutter!” –JJ WHAT?, TTAG/August 1, 2020.

        Now, who can argue with that? I think we’re all indebted to JJ WHAT? for stating what needed to be said. I am particularly glad that these lovely children are here today to hear that speech. Not only was it authentic frontier gibberish, it expressed the courage little seen in this day and age.

      • Mr. Smarty Grammerpants, “divine” is the word you should have used. Poor spelling really ruins a condescending troll burn.

        • Oof, Devine is a real world. Try to use google for once.

          Now who looks like a fool, fool?

  7. One of the most important facts about the 2nd amendment / gun rights. “ The Swiss with a similar outlook as Americans and with their own gun culture were left alone.” Tiny, little, surrounded Switzerland was left alone.

    • Tiny, little, surrounded Switzerland was left alone because it was the banker for the Third Reich.

      • As well as most all of the Despots around the world. To this day. Money Talks…Bullshit Squawks.

      • Like hell it was! There is a story that one of the Nazi big shots told a Swiss general that
        ” With 2 words, he could have a million soldiers across the border within 2 days.”
        The Swiss general told him ” You do that. That will just mean all my men will have to shoot twice. ”
        Switzerland was not invaded.

        • “Switzerland was not invaded.”

          That’s because every bridge and tunnel there is wired with high explosives. And in every valley there is artillery there disguised as farm buildings looking down on the valley floor. And in every home with a male in it there was an actual ‘weapon of war’ with hundreds of rounds of ammunition…

        • Also if Real History is to be remembered. Switzerland has a lot of fight, there were a lot of Templar’s who “relocated” after the Frenchie King Phillip arrested the leaders. Templar’s are descendants of Vikings, who were given Normandy. Not the Hollywierd version but the truth. They took a hill tribe country and made it what it is, they also serve the Church still as the Swiss Guard. They are pretty good at dealing with invading armies.

        • Mike, Miner, and Geoff, thanks for the great insights on the Swiss, Afghans and Americans.

      • Switzerland was the Bank of the Third Reich because Hitler felt his money would be safer there than his troops.

        • Why Invade the Swiss when 1/3 of the pop already speaks German and if they had won WW2 the other 2/3 would be by now…
          And no one wants to see the Swiss Miss sad.

      • Following that logic: there must be something special about the Swiss that they hold everyone’s money and no one messes with them to try to take other people’s money. Maybe the Swiss are really good negotiators; so good that they convinced even the Nazis to leave them alone, even tough the Nazis were not afraid of anyone when they were invading everyone even USSR.
        No. I think the Nazis knew the only thing they could do to Switzerland is destroy buildings by planes and tanks. I think they were afraid that as soon as they stepped foot on Swiss soil they’d be shot, the same way the Japanese were afraid to invade the United States. A rifle behind every blade of grass.

        There’s a reason the Swiss have been guarding the pope for centuries, before Martin Luther and the Protestant reformation.

        • Ralph, lol, ludicrous, the Nazis may not have “cowered in terror at the thought of tangling with people who invented yodeling, milk chocolate and the cuckoo clock,” but they would cause have cause them the loss of an Army, and after a Pyrrhic victory, left with no lebensraum, except mountains. Lebesraum and Slavic slaves were the reason for the war, not to irritate a porcupine.

        • Well, who wouldn’t believe that the Nazis weren’t afraid of the Russians but cowered in terror at the thought of tangling with people who invented yodeling, milk chocolate and the cuckoo clock.

    • Not anymore. They bowed to the EU’s strict gun control last year after the EU threatened them with sanctions. Even though they’re not in the EU.

      After 800 years, Switzerland finally knelt before a Hapsburg hat on a cane.

      • I wonder if the Swiss are complying with EU gun regulations and “stooping to the Hapsburgs.” Any evidence they really are?

  8. My thoughts:
    Hello France, Hello Europe, next time you call for help, leave a voice message. We’ll get back to you at our convenience.

      • I watched that ad 3 times and I still have no idea what race or ethnicity of the home invader was. But the talking head was “sure” it was a black or Hispanic? Wow, he’s got skillz.

        • Some one has proposed a bill in the Seattle City Council to completely eliminate its entire police force and close the largest jail in Seattle and the surrounding area. Although it hasn’t moved on it (because they do not know what to do), the Minneapolis City Council also voted to completely defund the police. Portland is on the cusp, having ordered the police to stand down and to stop using less lethal crowd control methods such as flash bangs, tear gas, and bear spray. Aftr the Mayor’s moves, morale at the NYPD, which was already so bad the number of suicides was called epidemic, is at a new low, and resignations and retirements are at an all time high. Hightower in Chicago is doing nothing to slow the surge of gang slayings that may result in murder statistics not seen since the ’80s and 90’s. It isn’t a poor word choice, it is a political reality in the blue states.

        • What is up with the system, here? Nobody has “reply”-ed to anything, and Mark’s post, below, does not have a “reply” button? I think TTAG might be broke!

          EDIT; Now this post does not have a reply button, and did not appear as a reply to the post I replied to. Guess I’ll move to another thread.

      • “Is Trump campaign running the TV commercial nationwide where no one answers Grandmas 911 call as the cops have been defunded? Great item.”

        If not, Trump needs a whole ‘nuther campaign team right now !

      • It’s okay to run phony political ads showing Republicans pushing grandpa over a cliff in a wheelchair but run an ad showing what the Dems actually doing right now and they call it despicable.

      • My wife’s ex is French…the one and only conversation we had was he made a negative comment about me teaching her and the kids to shoot.

        My response…’Do you speak German or Russian?”

        He said, “No”

        I replied “You are welcome.

        paraphrased from I think Alexander Haig.

  9. Perhaps European Marxist’s would have preferred America stay out of saving their @zzez,they may prefer speaking German,ingrate @zzwipes.

    • What would have happened if the US stayed out of the european side of that war is that europe would have been speaking Russian all the way to the english channel and maybe into england as well.

      That or europe would still be a 3rd world nation struggling to rebuild after it was wrecked completely.

  10. Meh…citing a war we shouldn’t have partaken in. It’s as if the Germans wanted us to defeat them. Lusitanua,unrestricted submarine warfare,the “Zimmerman affair”,the demonized Germans in America.Wilson’s war. It led directly to the Spanish(REAL) pandemic. We have no compelling interest remaining in Deutchland 75 years after we won…jihadists can have the whole continent!

    • We got involved in that war to save the bankers that loaned the Allies billions, the repayment of which would be seriously in doubt in the event of a German victory. Even Wilson could not seriously expect the presence of Americans on board a British ship would confer some kind of immunity from hostile action in a war. Conveniently left out of the “starving Britain” narrative was the effectiveness of the British blockade in starving Germans. Also, our appropriate response to the “final straw”, the Zimmerman Note, would have been ridicule, not outrage. Germany could barely keep going in Europe and was hardly in a place to be the guarantor of a Mexican takeover of 3 American states.

    • Hey, thanks for letting me know that this pandemic that has left one of my relatives dead and myself with permanent heart disease isn’t real. I’ll sleep a lot better.

      • Hey my brother-in-law died of Covid. 71,Vietnam vet in a nursing home. 50 to 100000000 died 1918-1920. Much lower worldwide population. When I was young& older we had several flu strains that killed comparable #’s. Look em up! Guess what??? The world didn’t stop. I stand by my statement Huntmaster…go back to school kids.

        • Gotcha., Until 100,000,000 die, close your eyes, cover your ears with your hands, shake your head no and just keep telling the people affected, you’re not real, you’re not real, you are all just a figment of imagination.

        • Seasonal flu kills as many as our “pandemic”…BTW I’m over 65. Susceptible too. Destroying our country isn’t “better”.

    • “Wilson’s war. It led directly to the Spanish(REAL) pandemic.”

      It can be persuasively argued Texas Rep. Charlie Wilson’s off-the-books war (arming the Bin Laden-backed Mujaheddin via the CIA with ‘Stinger’ anti-aircraft missiles) was key in getting the Russian army to abandon Afghanistan. (Leading to a power vacuum that allowed the Taliban (students) to seize control of the country). That was a substantial nail in the Russian communist party’s coffin that led to their collapse in 1991…

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1mnSjjeC2o

      • I don’t believe a few dozen missiles were enough to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan. We build the damn missiles along with all our other toys and we’ve been chasing Afghans all over their s-hole country for 19 years.

        With or without their involvement there, Russians were getting tired of the reality that life in the USSR wasn’t getting better and their leaders were both corrupt and incompetent. When an entire region has to be written off as uninhabitable because of radioactive contamination, that’s a bigger blow than some foreign intervention that’s not going to plan.

        • “I don’t believe a few dozen missiles were enough to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan.”

          Try around a thousand in total :

          “However, in 1986 the U.S. approved a shipment of 250 Stinger launchers plus 1,000 missiles to the Muslim guerilla warriors.”

          https://www.rbth.com/history/329988-why-soviets-look-for-stingers

          It denied the Russians the air supremacy they had up until that point in the mountainous regions allowing the ‘rebels’ to harass them incessantly with near-impunity.

          Killing soldier morale is a very effective strategy to make an invading army question the need to be there. And when the conscripts got home and told their people what a shit-show it was turning into, it killed public support for continuing the foreign occupation.

          Like it did for Vietnam.

          Game, set, and match…

          • “It denied the Russians the air supremacy they had up until that point in the mountainous regions allowing the ‘rebels’ to harass them incessantly with near-impunity.”

            Just as the Italians are not the Romans of old, neither was the Russian army the Russian army of Stalin. In short, the Russians of the 1980s were not prepared/willing to do what was necessary to reduce Afghanistan to the same condition as the Romans rendered Carthage.

        • Hey, you don’t think the muj used any of the weapons we gave them to shoot down American helicopters do you?

        • No. Because if youn were are smart as you thought that post was you would know the batteries and other internals in a stinger SAM don’t have that long a shelf life.

      • Actually recent evidence shows the Spanish flu came from either Chinese laborers sent to aid the allied powers, or from shipping routes from the East to Europe prior to U.S. entry into the war.

  11. Why not quit the United Nations? It would fail without out money. It works against us, promoting their Agenda 2030, which is big government and curtailment of individual rights. It reeks of corruption and does very little.

    • The UN has failed. And it will collapse without our funding it.

      President Trump will need a place for his Presidential Library. What better place than the old UN building in Turtle Bay.

        • An abandoned Titan ICBM silo as a presidential library would be easier to secure from attack by Antifa and other Leftist scum.

          And kinda fitting, when you think about it, considering Trump’s “Little rocket-man” Kim Jong Un rhetoric of “We have bigger missiles than you do, and ours actually work”… 😉

          Sometimes I just kill me! (Shamelessly stolen from the BOFH, Simon Travaglia)

      • “The UN has failed.”

        Before the UN, we were having a major war every 10 to 15 years, the UN has successfully prevented WW3 for 70 years.

    • Back when I was a nipper (1970), there were bill boards that said. Get U.S. Out of the U.N. It’s never too late.

      • i have no problem letting the Leftists have it after this nation splits…

        • This nation is not splitting. The left would starve without us. We attempt a split and there will be war. If we have to fight a war anyway we might as well go all out and MAGA.

  12. Those who will not work shall not eat.
    Those who will not fight shall not breathe free.

  13. I agree with the article. A nation with no interest in weapons, marksmanship, and hunting cannot expect to have a strong fighting force. Though I realize that there are extremely capable warriors in our military who did not grow up around firearms or hunting, my guess is that they are the exception.

  16. This is post would make any military historian cringe.

    “But I enjoy reminding them that it was America’s gun culture that liberated Western Europeans from the Nazis during World War II and protected western Europe from the Red Army and Soviet tanks during the Cold War…”

    I mean, you can ‘remind’ people of a myth all day but that doesn’t make it historically accurate. Small arms did not decide battles on the Western Front in WWII and didn’t win any decisive battles in WWI despite the heroics of individual soldiers like Sgt. York (the other powers, including the Central Powers, have similar feats of bravery reported for their heroes). A few hundred feet here, a few hundred back there did not win the war. America’s gun culture can’t be credited with its use of planes, indirect fire, naval bombardment or- crucially- TANKS which actually won. Nor did it protect Europe against the reds.You think that a US country boy with a rifle scared the USSR? Good lord. You can thank Fermi and the air force boys in missile silo bunkers and airfields for stopping the reds.

    And wait a second, how is it that America’s superior culture was so much more useful than the USSR’s for war when the Soviets conquered far more territory and Germans on its way to Berlin? And this guy thinks that rifles were why Switzerland was not invaded? Hitler invaded countries for a reason. Not always good reasons, but reasons nonetheless. Switzerland was more useful financially as an ‘independent’ country than conquered. Why tie up military resources for no reason? And the idea that France and the Dutch (!) were beaten due to some lack of gun culture completely ignores early 20th century history and the consequences of World War I.

    This is not history. This is what happens when someone tries to use history to fit their ideological view.

    • Yeah, infantry riflemen had no impact on either World War. Those wars were won by people in the rear with the gear. You know, people like you.

    • I suppose that’s why infantry has disappeared from the battlefield just like calvary. Your grasp of military theory is sooooo cute.

        • “In the end, even an old sailor knows ya gotta have boots on the ground.”

          That’s because the Navy has only two missions: drink coffee, and deploy marines.

        • As a Submarine Sailor that was involved with putting marines on the beach, I assure you, the weapons we routinely carried were far more destructive than anything ever carried by a marine. That takes nothing away from them though. Different missions.

    • Elephant man, other than the fact that America didn’t really field that many tanks in WWI, you are correct. I think we had some Renault FTs but they weren’t really a decisive part of the battles.

      The Brits were the real innovators, and they used their tanks to great tactical advantage.

    • “When someone uses history to fit their ideological view.”

      Which is exactly what you do on a range of topics.

      The Soviet Union deserves great credit for the feat they pulled on the eastern front, but there’s a number of things to take into account there:

      1. Soviet casualties. The insanely high soviet death toll was largely due to how incredibly stupid Stalin was as a leader. If you put *literally* any other possible leader in that situation, Russia performs FAR better. Stalin was an absolute moron. At everything.

      2. Lend lease was an enormous help to the Soviet Union, again, due to Stalin’s epic incompetence, Soviet manufacturing ability was abysmal at the outset of the war.

      3. Americas daylight bombing campaign on Germany was very costly, but effective.

      4. The Soviet generals like Zukov, Kruschev, ect… deserve ALL the credit in making the Soviet victory possible, as Stalin very nearly lost them the war multiple times.

    • Since you are SUCH a ahistorical genius, remind me, Hannibal – how did tanks, unsupported by (rifle-wielding) foot soldiers tend to fare when deployed “unsupported”?

      What is the totally one-sided record of militaries with “air superiority” against rifle-armed guerilla foot soldiers?

      Look, there were many historical points to criticize in many of these posts (including many of mine), but if you’re going to come all over “I’m the expert, and y’all are just dumbasses”? You might want to bring your “A” game. And if that WAS your “A” game? Maybe stay off the court.

  17. So the United States “suffers from a culture of guns?” That obsession had to come from somewhere. I wonder where that might be? Let’s take a look:
    Austria: Glock, Steyr
    Belgium: Fabrique National
    France: Manufacture d’armes de Saint-Étienne, Manurhin
    Germany: Blaser, Haenel, Heckler & Koch, Mauser, SIG Sauer, Walther
    Italy: ADC, Benelli, Beretta, Chiappa
    Switzerland: B&T

    It’s an incomplete list but you get the idea. If you consider the United States the offspring of Europe, then I think you could say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

    • They can sell more guns to (american) civilians. Than they can sell to cops or the military.

  18. Wow! All those enemy killed and captured. Fighting against belt fed Maxims, grenades and artillery. In not one, but two world wars. Holy shit! And not a single AR-15 among them. How did we ever prevail? Oh yeah. We had rifles. And skill.

  19. Mr. Faria without US military intervention in WW1, there would have been no Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, or Lenin…no 2nd World War. No Korea or Vietnam for a million US G.I.s and Marines to die in.
    But Killing Germans by the millions is something to be proud of, right?

    What’s worse than eurotrash slaughtering each other by the tens of millions? The USA going and doing their dirty work for them and getting stiffed with the bill, TWICE!

    Same ‘Greatest Generation’ voted in that commie FDR and his Dem Super Majorities. Same bunch who passed the 34′ Gun Control Act we are all still stuck with…

    • “Mr. Faria without US military intervention in WW1, there would have been no Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, or Lenin…no 2nd World War. No Korea or Vietnam for a million US G.I.s and Marines to die in.”

      You really stepped in it, there. In order for your assertion to be valid, you must have perfect knowledge of all possible outcomes, and that minus US intervention, no circumstance, or event, would have led to the wars you list. I.E. you must be able to irrefutably prove that the only possible catalyst for one or more of the listed wars was US intervention in WW1.

      • With out US military intervention in WW1 Sam, and every war after would have been other people’s problem. Can you understand that much? Such a major change would have made to outcome to radically different from how it did play out.
        And before you or any one tries the ‘we had to stop em over there, before’…that’s silly as we faced the USSR for 45 years with out WW3 needed to defend ourselves. Let the rest of the world kill each other off if they want. The only mission the USA should have is to sell them enough (not on credit) to do it all over again every 20 years.

        • “With out US military intervention in WW1 Sam, and every war after would have been other people’s problem. ”

          Once again, without perfect knowledge of the future, beginning in 1900, no one can predict what would have happened if only one thing (non-intervention in WW1) changed. Simply too many variables to accommodate. Can ,you not see that?

          Using your reasoning. if this planet had not existed. hu-persons would not have become the dominant species, and nothing “bad” attributable to hu-person behavior would have happened. (Quod Erat Demonstrandum)

  20. This arguement has always mildly amused me.

    At this point NATO is essentially obsolete. The Euro members are unlikely to come back up to meeting their obligations, ever.

    The simple fact is that the Red Menace is gone and Europe does benefit from our umbrella but not the same way it used to. Now the Euros benefit from our global naval dominance, which keeps sea lanes open and un-“taxed”, and they know it.

    They also know something that Americans don’t generally want to admit. That’s not going to change. We’re going to keep that umbrella up until we literally can’t do so any longer.

    The reason is simple. While Europe would pay a high price if we retreated from the seas we would pay a much higher one which we are not willing to do and probably won’t be willing to pay until we have no other choice.

    Isolationism is impossible at this point. It has been for hundreds of years. We just took over holding that world umbrella when the Brits stopped and they only stopped because they absolutely couldn’t hold it any more.

    • “The simple fact is that the Red Menace is gone and Europe does benefit from our umbrella but not the same way it used to.”

      The Red Menace moved to the Far East to the ‘Middle Kingdom’.

      And they are beginning to flex some real muscle, especially in the South China Sea, for control of resources like energy, fishing, and control of the shipping lanes.

      I can foresee a Pacific Rim version of NATO being created, for the same reasons it happened in Western Europe. An “All for one, and one for all” security pact to place a check Chinese increasing belligerence…

    • “the Red Menace is gone”

      There is no functional difference Between Putin and his predecessors, all the way back to Stalin.

      Putin’s greatest trick is convincing America that he is not a threat.

    • “The Red Menace” is now Western Europe and China, thankfully former Iron Curtain nations have aligned with President Trump and the USA to fight the totalitarians like Angela Merkel and the rest of the dhimmis.

  21. How many of you will surrender your arms when Bidens communist regime orders you to turn them in, or register them, under threat they will come for them ?

    Because its going to come to that

    If not next year, perhaps in 4 years

    Or maybe your state decides to take your arms, or the city you live in.

    Will you Resist or Surrender?

    • Look the hand writing is on the wall already. The U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Signs Order to Seize Guns Ahead of Hurricane Irma-gun grabs by LE after Katrina. More&Strict Gun Control has been passed at the State and local level under Trump than at any time before.

      At least the last Admin used the DoJ to sue the pants off any lower Gov that passed a law the ‘Prince of Darkness’ did not like. Trump runs on saving the #2A, yet crickets every time Commiefornia passes more Draconian Anti-gun laws… add that to all the trial runs at banning ammo&gun imports, EPA shutting down the last US lead smelter making all remaining lead mines to expensive to operate. Silly huge Fed ammo orders and just enough new wars to keep civi ammo scarce and expensive. Not to mention that there are only 2 modren smokeless powder mills left in the USA, both owned or operated my military contractors, who would shut off civi sales in a heart beat to save a trillion dollar supper carrier or stealth fighter contract.

      • VSG Trump cannot act against Commiefornia and their anti-gun . legislation, sure U.S.Atty Gen. Barr can do some but like POTUS he’s limited. The fact is we MUST rely on the courts and in doing that we must make sure only pro-2nd judges are appointed, President Trump is doing that but he’s being slowed down by Democrat Chucky Schoimer of N.Y. who is demanding THIRTY (30) hours of debate on each nominee which takes forever considering the Senate’s schedule and the fact they work only TWO (2) days a week.

  22. I must say, it is gratifying to see the acknowledgment of the heroism and skill of Sergeant Alvin York celebrated in this article.

    Like many of us hillbilly liberal pacifist Democrats, Sergeant York was a quiet man, no swaggering bad ass Rambo, always spouting off about what politician should be strung up because feelings.

    He didn’t brag, or strut around like a banty rooster, he was a spiritual man who saw the need to put aside his pacifism and come to the aid of his country.

    If, as some on this forum have suggested, trump suspends the election and becomes president for life, there will be many other liberal Democrats who will put aside their pacifism and come to the aid of their country once again.

    • …… crawl out of your crevices like the cockroaches you are and we will crush you wannabe tyrants once and for all.

      You don’t like Trump, just wait until you see what/who we give you next, in 2024. As Cassandra Fairbanks, a young “Right” journalist says, it’s time to pull out all the stops and give you what you deserve and what/who this nation requires if it’s to be saved from the Marxist/Leninist/Trotskyite rebellion.

    • ROFLMAO. Seriously your trying to co-op Sgt. York to leftist politics? As if he would even give your kind the time of day.

      • Do you doubt that Sergeant Alvin York was a pacifist Democrat who opposed war?

        Do you have the testicular fortitude and resources to back up your position with facts.

        • York opposed war? So he went to prison instead of fighting? He held back instead of over achieving?

          I’m one of those hillbilly’s you claim to be, miner. My family were liberal democrats. Union miners. Working people that handled their own lives and business.

          You’re a communist toadie, not a liberal democrat. You’re why decent folk can no longer vote democrat. You’ve never been in a real job. If it wasn’t for your welfare position at MU you’d be homeless.

        • Wow why do u lefties always fixate on other ppls reproductive organs? Trust me it takes no courage to debate the likes of you.

          But if you think a pre new deal, pre 1960s Democrat would support that party’s modern platform then miner your head is so far up your shaft you must see out your nose.

    • Ok… since my last comment went to the liberal “abyss of moderator he//…

      You are a commie and nobody is scared of commies in this country….
      Grow some balls and step to it if you think your MAN enough…. lol…. we all know you’re a gender fluid FREAK…. LOL

  23. It’s not only the “gun culture” that made our nation great but TESTOSTERONE and N.J.’s John Basilone comes to mind. In the Pacific Theater, out of ammo after the yellow bastards committed Banzai Charge after Banzai Charge, bathed in blood, with a folding shovel/trenching tool, a KABAR knife, and bayonet, Basilone emerged st sunlight, having gone “beserker” on the enemy. A true American hero he was just like Audie Murphy, Alvin York, and so many others.

  24. This is not just a historical phenomenon, western Europe is still very much in danger as Vladimir Putin’s Russia is still actively trying to control their energy supply and presumable ultimately capture them. I was involved in what is now the Atlantic Coast Pipeline disaster (now cancelled) in that I own a very small piece of property in the middle of nowhere along the route that seemed important as the right of way was modified three times before the project was abandoned. I got to know the contract landmen well and because of my background discussed their work a lot. Since these guys worked for a contractor they stood to benefit from the chaos. I was told by several that the American environmentalists were mostly funded by Russian interests. The pipeline would have served liquefaction facilities on the coast and provided direct competition to Gazprom the Russian state gas company for the European market. Putin loves the idea of threatening to shut off Europe’s gas in winter giving him almost as high a level of control as having troops stationed in Europe.

    • “I was told by several that the American environmentalists were mostly funded by Russian interests.”

      Hilarious, do you believe everything you’re told without evidence? That may explain your God delusion.

      As for the so-called windfall profits of natural gas production, you may want to talk to someone who owns land that has been ruined by fracking.

      You know, there are substitutes for oil, gas, etc. but once the ground water is polluted there is no substitute for clean drinking water.

  25. What’s up with the comments lately? It says 87 comments. I see maybe half that. Been going on all week.

  26. [quote]Almost single handed, York with his one rifle and one pistol, had killed 25 Germans, and knocked 35 German machine guns out of action. The next day, he returned to the site of the battle, to pray for the soul of the slain Germans[/quote]

    that’s right, between all 25 of them they had 1 soul

  27. Almost single handed, York with his one rifle and one pistol, had killed 25 Germans, and knocked 35 German machine guns out of action. The next day, he returned to the site of the battle, to pray for the soul of the slain Germans

    • correct. you need approximately two dozen germans to generate one soulful experience. comin’ at me from both sides (preussisch freitland/ wuppertal), there may have been some loraine in there but with dad’s marrying stepdaughters and other things that seem weird today it’s a genealogical nightmare.
      pops always said it was the harsh rear end wiping material that stole their souls.

  28. In the Eastern Front, WW II, the Battle of the Kursk Salient, the largest tank Battle in history, is instructive (Spring and early Summer 1943). In the Eastern Front, the 

German commander Field Marshall Erich von Manstein and the Russian commander,  Marshall Georgy Zhukov is informative. According to Wikipedia, the Germans had 800, 000 men; the Russians, over 2 millions.

 The Germans had 3000 tanks and big (assault) guns. The Russians threw 10,000 plus tanks and big (assault) guns.

 Casualties: Germans, slightly over 200,000 men; 
 The Russians almost a million men!

  Destroyed tanks and assault guns:
 The Germans, 720; Russians, 6000 destroyed. 

The most important thing behind the scene was that the Russians had highly placed spies (“werther, ” who play back funkspiel, and “the red orchestra”) and knew all of the German plans. We might have even helped them by sending decoded enigma codes, as well.

 And yet with our help, the Russians won only a technical military victory! Those 700 tanks lost by the Germans to land mines strategically placed in the defenses of the salient by the Russians  (accurately placed because of human intelligence) made all the difference. The Russians could afford to lose 6000 tanks but the Germans could not lose 700!). 

    
Addendum & References:

Strategy: http://www.theeasternfront.co….

Espionage: The book Hitler’s Traitor by Pulitzer Prize winner, Louis C Kilzer is recommended for espionage assistance to the Russians mentioned above. 

Assets and casualty figures: They have been rounded up (and tanks and big assault guns combined for convenience) and are based on estimates from various sources— all of which showed that the Russians had the advantage in intelligence, materials and men. And although the casualties were extremely high, the Russians were used more for “cannon fodder” than the Germans —at both Kursk and Stalingrad— than the other way around.

    
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B…

But as I stated, the Russians won at both battles, and it was the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany, which also had to defend Italy from the Allied invasion and troops had to be pulled back from Russia to Sicily! Yes tanks made a bid difference but behind the tankas, came the infantry that preserve and consolidated territory. Behind them came the NKVD SMERCH units the author wrote about. Most important, Hannibal get off your elephant, was the issue of morale and attitude in both WWI and WWII, which you completely lost in your asinine reply and missed the boat.

  30. A very naive article. American were forced to join WW2, otherwise they would enjoy their pre-war pacifism (see Neutrality Acts of the 1930s). We could conclude then that US gun culture led to lack of desire to fight at all. Gun culture has pretty much nothing to do with ability of a country to create effective infantry divisions. Most of the current guns owners in the US (probably 99%+) cannot actually shoot beyond 5m and most recruits still need to learn how to use a rifle/a pistol.

  31. The failures of European leadership created the last three world wars (WW1, WW2, Cold War). That America fought in them was a matter of our own best interests. To have attempted to maintain a neutral pacifist role was never going to work. Too many ties of family, culture, history between too many nations. Add in the economic interests, the moral imperatives that decent people feel at their core, even if they do not give those feelings voice, and you have a mix of drives that always led America to take the lead.

    America saved the world three times in the 20th Century. Sure, we had allies, we had help and those allies had us to help them. Some suffered and lost many more lives than we did (the Soviets especially). Even so, without American lives, leadership, technology and production capacity, allied nations were all doomed to eventual failure.

    The 20th Century was the American Century in so many ways it is undeniable. Much of it for the USA standing as the defense of the Natural Rights of Man. Not only that, in the sciences, in medicine, in so many fields of human endeavor.

    You can come up with specific, highly focused topics were other nations and fields saw greater contributions on this or that. But in totality and especially in matters of defending humanity fro evil, no nation stands above the USA and only a handful stand with us as allies with no need of apology to anyone.

    • Are feeling ok? Because your liberal betters would have a shit fit if they read what you wrote.

  32. Enuf, excellent summation. America thanks you. And Dude, you are a joke, pardon me while I laugh with Ron!

  33. The lesson Vietnam learned is let the US win and the US will rebuild your country. We’d be buying cars made there by now.

    • “The lesson Vietnam learned is let the US win and the US will rebuild your country. We’d be buying cars made there by now.”

      Well, it took them long enough to figure it out. They should have learned the lesson from “The Mouse That Roared”.

  34. Most american soldiers at 18 years of age had at least 5 years more experience with shooting than the Germans Italians or Japaneses soldiers did. We had a great position from the start.

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