bluegreen17 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bluegreen17) wrote2003-12-15 08:35 pm
bluegreen17) wrote2003-12-15 08:35 pm
c'est la guerre
i've been taking a break from my sordid internet life. heh.
well,actually,i've spent a lot of time lately watching the 'band of brothers' series. i'm a pacifist who loves war movies. for one thing,they make my life look good in comparison. secondly,i'm kind of fascinated by the strategy and the history. oh,and there's lots of men in them. : )
the more i watch that sort of thing,the more i feel for the soldiers...and hate the generals sitting in their cozy offices not dying. men and women die for what they think are good causes but things aren't always what they seem.
and that's all i'm going to say about that.
this series is really well done. it's brutal,but i'm sure it can only touch the surface of the brutality. i cried over a lot of it,and had to turn away from some really gross stuff and/or remind myself it was only a movie. the part that got me the most was when they stumbled upon a concentration camp. i don't know if it's historically accurate,but it appeared that the us troops HAD NO IDEA that the nazis were trying to exterminate the jews. it never occurred to me that they didn't know. in fact,the episode is called 'why we fight' but if they didn't know about it,that's not why they were fighting. anyway,god,that was heartwrenching. just horrible.
well,i don't want to end on that note. so here's a couple of related things. my grandfather,my mother's father,served as a motorcycle courier in belgium in world war 1. she said he brought home a blanket that had the swastika on it. it didn't mean then what it later meant. it's a really old symbol. and i imagine sometime during the second world war,my mother's family got rid of it because of what it came to represent.
my dad turned 18 a few days after we bombed hiroshima and nagasaki. i'm glad my dad didn't have to fight in world war 2. he's so naive,even now at the age of 76. he got drafted twice in the late 40's,early 50's. fortunately didn't have to go to korea either. he spent time in italy on some sort of border patrol with a 'peacekeeping' force. he claims at one point a bullet whizzed past his head. well,maybe. i'm glad it didn't hit him. when he was in italy,some folks thought he was italian because of his darker complexion. i don't think all italians are a bit darker-skinned,but i guess some are.
the second time he got drafted,he got a cushier job in some supply department because he could speak french. even though it was canadian french,i guess it was useful. anyway.he went to spain,switzerland and germany.
he brought home ashtrays that said 'karlshrue' on them,and beer steins. i think he bought hummels there too. of course he went to france too...our mother country from way back three hundred years ago!...but he probably didn't think of it that way. and he got to see paris.he claims he was in the c.i.a. that second time around,but that seems strange to me. he was just a supply guy whom they called 'beau' or 'running deer'...supposedly he was a good baserunner in their softball games,which i can't imagine because he's got a stocky build and i think of fast runners as being lanky and long-legged.
anyhow.
when i was growing up,one of mom's favorite sayings,equivalent to 'oh,well,that's the way the cookie crumbles/the ball bounces' was 'sellagare'. i thought it was a weird word but i knew what she meant by its context.
'c'est la guerre'. that's the war.
well,actually,i've spent a lot of time lately watching the 'band of brothers' series. i'm a pacifist who loves war movies. for one thing,they make my life look good in comparison. secondly,i'm kind of fascinated by the strategy and the history. oh,and there's lots of men in them. : )
the more i watch that sort of thing,the more i feel for the soldiers...and hate the generals sitting in their cozy offices not dying. men and women die for what they think are good causes but things aren't always what they seem.
and that's all i'm going to say about that.
this series is really well done. it's brutal,but i'm sure it can only touch the surface of the brutality. i cried over a lot of it,and had to turn away from some really gross stuff and/or remind myself it was only a movie. the part that got me the most was when they stumbled upon a concentration camp. i don't know if it's historically accurate,but it appeared that the us troops HAD NO IDEA that the nazis were trying to exterminate the jews. it never occurred to me that they didn't know. in fact,the episode is called 'why we fight' but if they didn't know about it,that's not why they were fighting. anyway,god,that was heartwrenching. just horrible.
well,i don't want to end on that note. so here's a couple of related things. my grandfather,my mother's father,served as a motorcycle courier in belgium in world war 1. she said he brought home a blanket that had the swastika on it. it didn't mean then what it later meant. it's a really old symbol. and i imagine sometime during the second world war,my mother's family got rid of it because of what it came to represent.
my dad turned 18 a few days after we bombed hiroshima and nagasaki. i'm glad my dad didn't have to fight in world war 2. he's so naive,even now at the age of 76. he got drafted twice in the late 40's,early 50's. fortunately didn't have to go to korea either. he spent time in italy on some sort of border patrol with a 'peacekeeping' force. he claims at one point a bullet whizzed past his head. well,maybe. i'm glad it didn't hit him. when he was in italy,some folks thought he was italian because of his darker complexion. i don't think all italians are a bit darker-skinned,but i guess some are.
the second time he got drafted,he got a cushier job in some supply department because he could speak french. even though it was canadian french,i guess it was useful. anyway.he went to spain,switzerland and germany.
he brought home ashtrays that said 'karlshrue' on them,and beer steins. i think he bought hummels there too. of course he went to france too...our mother country from way back three hundred years ago!...but he probably didn't think of it that way. and he got to see paris.he claims he was in the c.i.a. that second time around,but that seems strange to me. he was just a supply guy whom they called 'beau' or 'running deer'...supposedly he was a good baserunner in their softball games,which i can't imagine because he's got a stocky build and i think of fast runners as being lanky and long-legged.
anyhow.
when i was growing up,one of mom's favorite sayings,equivalent to 'oh,well,that's the way the cookie crumbles/the ball bounces' was 'sellagare'. i thought it was a weird word but i knew what she meant by its context.
'c'est la guerre'. that's the war.
no subject
Ha! Maybe you're related ;-)
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hey, me too. *grin*
ditto.
just general inhumane treatment of people.
no subject
c'est l'irony.
"C'est la guerre" is "That's war [for ya]." (Or rather like out "War is hell.") Like "C'est la vie" is "That's life." I'm guessing there should be a "c'est l'amour", as everyone knows there are two things in which all is fair. Which is strangely equivalent to saying that fair doesn't apply. But, hey, that's life.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2003-12-19 01:39 pm (UTC)(link)pk