In 1970 I studied Russian History at Tulane. I became fascinated with Josef Stalin. I was especially interested in The Great Patriotic War. (This was the war between the Nazis and Soviets that ran from 1941 to 1945.) Over the last 42 years I have read hundreds, if not thousands, of books on the battle in Russia during World War II.
Some 27 million Russians died in this awful fight. I could not begin to guess the number of wounded. It was suffering on a scale that most of us could not imagine. I will always have the profoundest respect for the courage, tenacity, and ability to survive of the Russian people during this awful time. Every now and then someone mistakes me for a Russian. I'm always flattered.
Some of you out there may still have grievances against Russia due to the old Soviet Union. Those of you who served in Vietnam often got attacked with Russian arms, etc. Today many of you may have grievances against Putin over what is happening in the Ukraine.
Please spend a moment to contemplate on what the world would have been like today had the Russian people not fought so valiantly and made such incredible sacrifices. Had Hitler won in Russia, he could have devoted massive resources to fighting off US,British, and Canadian forces invading Western Europe. The D-Day invasion might have failed. We might have agreed to let Hitler stay in power. In fear of the loss of millions of soldiers, the US and Britain might have made a deal to avoid all of these deaths. If the US and Britain had elected to fight such a massive German war machine, the war would have lasted well past 1945. Germany could have seen numerous atomic bombs detonated on its cities with ten of millions of casualties.
Saturday night I was looking for something to watch on Nefflix. I stumbled onto a documentary on the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943. I came upon the premier western expert on The Great Patriotic War. His name is David Glantz. He's a professor of military history at the Citadel University in South Carolina. Now I have a rich resource and a lot of new information to learn and explore.
Some 27 million Russians died in this awful fight. I could not begin to guess the number of wounded. It was suffering on a scale that most of us could not imagine. I will always have the profoundest respect for the courage, tenacity, and ability to survive of the Russian people during this awful time. Every now and then someone mistakes me for a Russian. I'm always flattered.
Some of you out there may still have grievances against Russia due to the old Soviet Union. Those of you who served in Vietnam often got attacked with Russian arms, etc. Today many of you may have grievances against Putin over what is happening in the Ukraine.
Please spend a moment to contemplate on what the world would have been like today had the Russian people not fought so valiantly and made such incredible sacrifices. Had Hitler won in Russia, he could have devoted massive resources to fighting off US,British, and Canadian forces invading Western Europe. The D-Day invasion might have failed. We might have agreed to let Hitler stay in power. In fear of the loss of millions of soldiers, the US and Britain might have made a deal to avoid all of these deaths. If the US and Britain had elected to fight such a massive German war machine, the war would have lasted well past 1945. Germany could have seen numerous atomic bombs detonated on its cities with ten of millions of casualties.
Saturday night I was looking for something to watch on Nefflix. I stumbled onto a documentary on the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943. I came upon the premier western expert on The Great Patriotic War. His name is David Glantz. He's a professor of military history at the Citadel University in South Carolina. Now I have a rich resource and a lot of new information to learn and explore.
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