As I've said before, Band of Brothers was a very well done series, best seen without commercial interruptions.

As regards honoring the slain, I honor all those soldiers slain in wartime, not just those on the "home team", because I am a member of one Humanity on this planet.

I may sympathize with one side, certainly. I would far rather the Allies had won in WWII than the Axis.

But...it is a fact that virtually ALL soldiers who are willing to fight at all imagine that they are fighting for right and for freedom. They are fighting for THEIR side's right and freedom to do things as it wants to in the way that it thinks is best.

Examples:

A. Geronimo fought for the freedom and way of life of his people, against an unstoppable intrusion of white settlers and soldiers onto the Apache lands.

The US Army fought the Apaches for the freedom and way of life OF those white settlers, who felt they had a perfect right to settle there, own the land, and not be killed by the Apaches.

B. The Confederates fought for the freedom to live as a sovereign nation in their own fashion, by popular decision, apart from the northern states.

The Union fought for the preservation of the previous political arrangement and to free the slaves.

Both sides believed they were fighting for freedom...and they were...their version of it.

C. The Nazis fought to regain lands lost at the end of WWI, to "save the World" from Communism and an imagined Jewish conspiracy (which was a fantasy), and to defend the homes and lives of Germans against foreign attack (England and France declared war on Germany...not the other way around). What I mean is...that's how THEY (the Nazis) saw it. They felt totally justified.

The Russians fought to defend their country against a foreign invader.

The British fought for principles of freedom, justice, etc, and because it was an overall power struggle for dominance in the World.

Ditto for the French.

Ditto for the Americans.

And so on...

The fact is, Freightdawg, the soldiers on EVERY side in any war fight for what THEY perceive as "freedom", not only for themselves but also for their future generations...their children and grandchildren. In hindsight, after a war is over, the victors always imagine that they and theirs have a monopoly on the desire for "freedom". This is absolutely untrue.

Now had WWII gone the other way, and had the Axis won, there would now be some proud old German veterans saying the same kind of things you say, but about their side, and insisting that the freedom of their children and grandchildren was secured by the victory.

I guarantee it.

And they would not even be aware of most of the terrible wrongs their side committed way back then.

Remember, most ordinary soldiers in war fight for what they deem to be good and honorable purposes. That is why I honor all the fallen. They did the best they knew how at the time, given their own level of knowledge and awareness.

And yes, I'm glad the Nazis lost. They had a crazy government. (For German soldiers, they naturally believed their government was in the right, as do most fighting soldiers, and they didn't realize how crazy it was until very near the end, if at all.)

- LH