Did the majority of world war II vets oppose the invasion of Iraq By GWII?

Answer 1

My grandfather raised me like a son, and his first sight of France was from Omaha beach in Normandy.

My grandfather is a typical American: His father was a car mechanic, son of a train mechanic, who was in turn the son of Italian immigrants.

My grandfather hates Fascists and Communists. He hates racism and unfairness and brutality. He thinks that the architects of 9-1-1 and all Muslim terrorists and sick cowardly depraved people who have no business breathing our air.

My grandfather also despises George W. Bush. He can barely stand to watch him make speeches on the news. My grandfather thinks that Saddam Hussein was a psychotic sadist holding an entire country hostage, but he still thinks that the invasion of Iraq was a calculated move designed to benefit only a certain small group of Americans, while costing the blood of thousands of other Americans.

My grandfather hates genocidal dictators more than anyone else: He witnessed the aftermath of Hitler first-hand. He didn't liberate any of the primarily Jewish death camps, but he saw hospitals where Nazi prisoners were shot in their hospital beds just before the Allies arrived to liberate them. He saw another prison camp where the fleeing S.S. had shot a horse and dumped its body in the only available water source within the gates, so that the starving inmates were forced to drink from a pool of water infested with the rot of a bloated horse carcass.

But, my grandfather still thinks there were ulterior motives for the invasion of Iraq.

One more thing: Yes, Vietnam colors my grandfather's lenses -- so to speak. The bitter lessons of Vietnam made him more cynical. Where was he during the Vietnam War? Why, he was repairing jet engines for the US Navy to keep operation Rolling Thunder on track. He did this from the day Rolling Thunder started until long after it ended. He retired in 1979, just before Reagan cut his pension benefits.

My grandfather broke his back to serve this country during both WWII and Vietnam. He still does not trust George W. Bush and he still opposes the invasion of Iraq.

And I dare you to call him unpatriotic, or that he doesn't support our troops. He IS one of our troops -- he's just almost 90 years old now. Otherwise, he'd still be working for our armed forces: That's all he did his entire life and he didn't do it to go to college and he didn't do it because that's the only job he could find.

Answer 2

Im a combat vet as well. Marine Corps.
The newer breed.

I support our people, but not this Administration and I followed the run up to "Shock and Awe" with disgust and disbelief, right up to the State of The Union primer.

I narrated to my Girlfriend at the time everything that would happen, starting with the spinning of 9-11 into Saddam Bin laden.
She didnt believe me when I told her the Bush Adminstration would twist it into an invasion of Iraq. She thought no President would do something so silly and obvious.

When it happened, and Colin Powell went before the U.N. with smoke and mirrors (even after telling Mr. Bush in no uncertain terms that the case was B.S.), when the U.N. rejected the authorization to attack based on flimsy WMD hype, she couldn't believe everything I said would happen, happened.

Im still in disbelief. However I do want our guys home safely and soon.

Answer 3

I really couldn't say about WWII vets. The ones I've heard from are generally in favor of finishing the mission as it's defined now. They tend to be all over the board on varrious military actions though, and I respect that. Vietnam vet on the other hand do seem jaded almost to a man. I understand after they were betrayed by their country & leaders, but we can't be gun shy in changing the world. It's unfortunate we're in this war now. I would have thought other things were higher priorities, but what we've done is a very good thing & winning there will serve the cause of defeating Islamic extremism by planting democracy in the heart of the middle east & liberalizing thier culture to the point that the views & agenda of our enemy will be rejected in future generations, but that takes a very long time to see. In any case, you can't un-pull a trigger. We're there & we have to stay & win whatever the cost. As it is, a mere .0025% of the people we've sent over there have been killed, about 5 times as many wounded. Some of those have been friends of mine, and I still say it's a small price to pay if it achieves all we hope it will down the road. If we pull out eary, if we run away, then I say one life was too many & it'll cost ten times as many when they come back at us next time & know we'll run away if they can just bleed us long enough. I'm a combat veteran, and I appreciate the views of all vetrans on this subject, I respect & revere their service & hope they feel comfortable discussing these kinds of things in way of putting to rest the issues of their lives.

Answer 4

well.i came here just to read because i'm not a wwII vet but i have a question and a couple of comments on a few replies youve received here.
first of all djack2867 exactly what did you mean when you said vietnam vets were 'to a man jaded"? If you are implying that they are against the war in Iraq I can tell you that I am a vietnam vet and I support our reasons for going into Iraq and our continued stay and I support our troops 100%.

only the truth take you vile filth and peddle it somewhere else you pathetic chickshit bastard.

Answer 5

Vincent, did your grandfather see Abu Ghraib jail torture? If not get him to contact me, I got some videos for him.

Answer 6

I think it would be impossible to measure.

Answer 7

I think you already have your answer.