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WWII Monument Rewrites History

Discussion in 'History Forum' started by Dr. Bob, Sep 28, 2004.

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  1. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    Omission From the New WWII Memorial [copied]

    I don't care if you are an unbeliever, one should not change the
    words of history.

    Today I went to visit the new World War II Memorial in Washington,
    DC. I got an unexpected history lesson. Since I'm a baby boomer,
    I was one of the youngest in the crowd. Most were the age of my
    parents, veterans of "the greatest war" with their families. It
    was a beautiful day, and people were smiling and happy to be there.
    Hundreds of us milled around the memorial, reading the inspiring
    words of Ike and Truman that are engraved there.

    On the Pacific side of the memorial, a group of us gathered to read
    the words President Roosevelt used to announce the attack on Pearl
    Harbor: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941-- a date which will live in
    infamy-- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately
    attacked."

    One woman read the words aloud: " With confidence in our armed
    forces, with the un bounding determination of our people, we will
    gain the inevitable triumph." But as she read, she was suddenly
    angry. "Wait a minute," she said.
    "They left out the end of the quote. They left out the most
    important part. Roosevelt said "so help us God."

    "You're probably right," her husband said. "We're not supposed to
    say things like that now."

    "I know I'm right," she insisted. "I remember the speech." The two
    shook their heads sadly and walked away.

    Listening to their conversation, I thought to myself, "Well, it has
    been 50 years. She's probably forgotten."

    But she was right.

    I went home and pulled out the book my book club is reading. It's
    "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley. It's all about Iwo Jima.
    I haven't gotten too far in the book. It's tough to read because
    it's a graphic description of the battles in the Pacific.

    But right there it was on page 58. Roosevelt's speech to the
    nation. It ends "so help us God."

    The people who edited out that part of the speech when they
    engraved it on the memorial could have fooled me. I was born after
    the war. But they couldn't fool the people who were there.
    Roosevelt's words are engraved on their hearts.

    WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE WORDS OF HISTORY?????????
     
    #1 Dr. Bob, Sep 28, 2004
  2. rsr

    rsr <b> 7,000 posts club</b>
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    "But right there it was on page 58. Roosevelt's speech to the nation. It ends 'so help us God.'"

    Not quite. It ends this way:

    "I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December seventh, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire."

    The monument, of course, contains only short excerpts from the speech (an abridged paragraph and one full paragraph.)

    ""PEARL HARBOR
    DECEMBER 7, 1941, A DATE
    WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY...
    NO MATTER HOW LONG IT
    MAY TAKE US TO OVERCOME
    THIS PREMEDITATED INVASION,
    THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, IN
    THEIR RIGHTEOUS MIGHT,
    WILL WIN THROUGH
    TO ABSOLUTE VICTORY."

    The original speech was 12 paragraphs.
     
    #2 rsr, Sep 28, 2004
  3. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    #3 Dr. Bob, Sep 29, 2004
  4. rsr

    rsr <b> 7,000 posts club</b>
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    My point is not that the monument leaves out the words in question; it leaves out the vast majority of the message. Now, you or I might have excerpted the speech a bit differently, but the present excerpt is not necessarily a deliberate attempt to remove God from the discussion.

    Also notice that the letter gets the inscription wrong because it insists that the words "the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked" are a part of the monument. They're not.

    http://www.ulrp2.com/politics/graphics/speech.jpg

    There are enough sincere attacks on Christianity in modern culture without going out of our way to find spurious examples.
     
    #4 rsr, Sep 29, 2004
  5. Stratiotes

    Stratiotes New Member

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    #5 Stratiotes, Sep 29, 2004
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