http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=KTb6qdPu8JE

While the video is American, the sentiments are universal.

Sorry to say but the sentiment in the video isn't particularly universal.

I remember being the age of the youngsters in the video, perhaps a few years younger, watching a Vietnam documentary on TV then getting confused about the war in Vietnam and World War 3 (the cold war in the mid 70s) then looking at the face of my Grandfather, he was nearly in tears. Perhaps it was the thought of him dragging out the bodies from the burning rubble of the London Blitz, only this time around with hydrogen bombs there wouldn't be anyone left to do the recovery of the dead.

I'm with Samuel Johnson on this one I'm afraid.

Maybe I just hope that each country remembers its history and honors her warriors. I feel that way, for what it's worth.

Aloha, You are not alone...

I don't quite understand, are you saying a country's survival depends on propaganda?

For dignity. For honor. For righteousness.
Yup, sounds like classic propaganda, must be universal stuff indeed


And then Am_Fear_Liath_Mor says I'm with Samuel Johnson on this one I'm afraid. I don't understand that either.
Is he talking about some 226 yo poet?


I'm so confused

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

George Santayana

Learn history. Learn the reasons why wars were started, how they were fought, and how they were ended.

Is it really propaganda to remind people that there is something greater than themselves? Things like integrity, honor, loyalty, courage, and commitment are necessary both on and off the battlefield. These virtues are purified and strengthened in the crucible of battle.

Some pay the ultimate price. Some manage to survive and return to tell the tales, but who is listening? Only those that don't want to visit unspeakable places and learn, firsthand, the horrors of war. Those that don't want to listen either can not or will not appreciate the sacrifices made.

A population that doesn't understand are condemned to repeat an unwanted history.

I'm not ashamed to say that made me a little misty-eyed. As does this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6XZDb045xU

It's hard to get kids nowadays to understand the sacrifices that have been made for them. We truly are the land of the free only because of the brave.

<sigh>

Well, I can't think of a single response that isn't grossly inflammatory and strays into politics.

How is this subject relevant to this forum?

There are certainly two forms of propaganda. The contrast is quite impressive as shown by these two songs in the following clips from from two different 1968 movies, the Green Berets and Oh what a Lovely war.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPgf32kwIE8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f95idVQEXI

Here are a few more catchy tunes;

They were only playing leap frog

and the unforgettable

The Bells of Hell go ting a ling a ling

Letting the children know about the history of conflicts shouldn't be confined to leaving out the warts as done so consummately by the Hollywood film machine. (which is where I suspect most youngsters get there information about historic events)

If children want to know about WW2 etc, etc then the best place to start is with the 1960s ITV series ' The World at War' - not the Warcraft Computer game.