WW2 vets and political correctness?

Question

At my church for Veterans Day, we honoured veterans. The veterans from Vietnam and WW2 just lacked the whole politically wcorrect attitude and it was refreshing. Even this current war in Iraq, just puzzles me becuase my husband gets briefed(he's in the army)on how to adapt to the iraqi's culture and religion. They give them manuals on how they act over there, so we do not offend them. But these WW2 and Vietnam vets when they stood up and said their little say about their experience, they said things like: I joined the day the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor,or.. I was about to be deployed to Japan when we got news that they nuked the japs and we all got to go home..now, it is not very popular to act like that,oh and to people who will say we killed lots of innocent people that day, well, if we would have went into Japan on foot, thousands more of American lives would have been lost, as well as Japanese, ..i guess i just wonder what happened to that America??

if we are going to another country to help them, why do we have to kiss butt??

Answer 1

Whoa, hold the beans... who said there was a difference in the soldiers then vs today? Unless everyone in the middle east suddenly changed their names to Akmhed, then there's plenty of smokin and jokin about that situation.

Where cultural training comes in is a whole new aspect... in WWII, if you told a girl she had pretty hair, it was a compliment. In Vietnam, a compliment. In a middle eastern nation, however, to ask to see a girl's hair is a grave offense and just might cause a person to get attacked. In other words, we don't learn cultural training to be overly sensitive, but rather because it is a protective issue for our troops and foreign civilians alike.

Much the same way you're trained not to be a holocaust denier in germany where, despite your ignorance of their laws, you can still go to jail for it.

Answer 2

I think part of it, in addition to many of the things other posters said, is the media. In WWI, II, Korea, the media supported our troops and government. Starting with the Vietnam era, war was literally delivered to peoples' living rooms, and people got to see first hand what had previously only been witnessed by the military. It made some squeamish, and negative toward armed conflict. A lot of people became soft and passivist. I'm not condoning or disagreeing, just my observations.

Answer 3

Military members still use a vernacular when referring to people in other nations. But they use common sense in not insult the people face-to-face.

Where as veterans of the Second World War used phrases like "Nip", "Jap", or "Kraut" and American troops in Vietnam used a variety of racial slurs, many American service members do have a word for the people in the Middle East.

When deployed to Kuwait, we were told not to use the term "Hadji", but it was still in use. We just never call anybody by that name to their face, out of respect.

Answer 4

That America seemed to have disappeared during the late '60s to the '90s, now In the 21th Century, Political Incorrectness might be coming back, because people are starting to see that
political correctness is not all that is cracked up to be.

Answer 5

Remember how when ya were a kid ya used to mouth off to yer parents and say bad things? Well ya grew up and ya learned that some things are just not polite...just not nice....just not the way to behave.
Sure ya hear some of the older guys speak a bit 'raw' about their military experiences.
National fervor at that particular time in history allowed it, encouraged it even. Doesn't make it wrong, doesn't make it right.
Name calling is never a 'nice' behavior.
The point I guess is when it comes to VN vets, the WWII vets, anyone who has ever served. They saw and lived thru crap we who didn't, can't even begin to imagine....and I will not condemn them for their language.
We have taken being 'PC' way too far....and I for one am tired of it.
JFK said,
"Liberty without learning is always in peril. Learning without Liberty is always in vain."

Answer 6

It really depends on the circumstances. Most of the Iraqis I met were very nice people. We, (Tennessee Army Guard) were based in a mostly Kurdish farming community, and most of the people in my Guard unit were from farming communities too, so it was basically an international exchange of red-necks!
However, there were some people that were obviously hostile toward Americans, they ignored us, turned their backs on us, and made "gang signs" as we passed. The terms we used for them were definitely not politically correct, and strangely enough, we learned them from our Iraqi interpreter!

Answer 7

WWII was a differnt kind of war. The US and its allies demonized the axis, and rightfully so, to build nationalism and most of all the armed forces. In Iraq, we are "helping" them and are tech not at war with them as a country. So that type of speech would not be apt nor help what we are trying to do over there.

Answer 8

That type of America is long gone. Everybody is so concerned about insulting somebody and everybody is so sue happy that its rediculas. We now believe in winning the hearts and minds of the people of Iraq and are willing to go to great lengths to do that. Not only that, but it is just polite that if you go to anothers country then you sould atleast learn their culter as not to offend them. Thats the last thing you want to do when you are trying to impress somebody is to offend them.

Answer 9

That America died in the late 60's. It was no longer enough to kick *** for God and country.No longer was it enough to provide for your family and their future. Now we were forced into self-examination, group therapy, and psycho-analysis. All motives had to be examined on a "personal level". We all had to be concerned w other peoples "feelings". Even at our own expense. We no longer had enemies. We now had people we hadn't "talked to long enough to understand them." This was the birth of p.c. garbage. Even as the Soviet Union was sliding the knife under our ribs every chance it got; even as Iran held 400 of us hostage; we wanted to talk over our "differences." I blame Phil Donohue, Oprah, and Montel type people for this feminizing of our national identity.

Answer 10

At least in WW2 everyone knew we were fighting for freedom and the right,But in saying that we honour them all so we may be able to say what we think.
P.s. Peace and good wishes to all for Christmas and a Happy Peaceful New Year.