MichaelR: I'll leave the last word to President Dwight D. Eisenhower: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

Many might say: "Every hour that I spend at work, signifies in the final sense, a theft from my family, from my friends, from my life." But employment sure is necessary for most people, just as protection is necessary for most nations. I can't imagine Eisenhower coming out in favour of disbanding the armed forces, so I must assume that the quote, by itself, misrepresents Eisenhower's views.

Personally, I think Michael is just fine stating his opinion but not arguing for it. It's not cowardly. The issues have more points on both sides than we are likely to possibly examine here; he doesn't have time, and I doubt he's heard anyone here whose positions might be softened.

As for cowardice, I respect that too, even though I realize the need to punish cowardice in the face of the enemy. Despite that necessity, it really IS harder for some people to face physical danger, just as it really IS harder for some people to risk social embarrassment. I've often wondered what was the primary motivator for many men going over the tops of the trenches in WWI: was it bravery, or sometimes merely fear of embarrassment? One most often hears that it's the absolute need to support one's buddies.

On topic: The second episode, the D-Day episode, was the best. One happy little technical note was when some people are sent out to capture some German 88s, they're shown as 105s? (not sure, but not 88s). Idiots! I thought. But when they get back, they report that the recon was wrong and that the guns were 105s, not 88s. Yay! -- the technical aspects were well handled.

And the combat looks terrifyingly quick. It's hard to see, the bullets are flying, you get no second chances, and even if you do everything exactly right, you can still die or fail or both. I can understand facing it once. But again and again and again, and the more you face it, the better you get, and the more you are called upon to do the most difficult tasks...

Fixed it for you, Steve