Quote
Originally posted by: forkushV
And the president also said:
"All these children of God, under bleak and lifeless mounds, the plainness of which does not even hint at the unspeakable acts that created them. Here they lie, never to hope, never to pray, never to live, never to heal, never to laugh, never to cry.... And then, rising above all this cruelty, out of this tragic and nightmarish time, beyond the anguish, the pain and suffering, and for all time, we can and must pledge: never again."
Reagan made a mistake in agreeing to place a wreath at a Bitburg cemetery containing SS Soldiers graves after the German Government had assured the Americans that nothing would "embarrass" the Americans.
However, when the knowledge that SS troops were buried there caused a controversy the Americans changed the travel plans to include a trip with German Chancellor Kohl to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
On Sunday 5 May 1985, Reagan and Kohl appeared at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The U.S. President's speech there, according to Time, was a "skillful exercise in both the art of eulogy and political damage control." Reagan said:
"All these children of God, under bleak and lifeless mounds, the plainness of which does not even hint at the unspeakable acts that created them. Here they lie, never to hope, never to pray, never to live, never to heal, never to laugh, never to cry.... And then, rising above all this cruelty, out of this tragic and nightmarish time, beyond the anguish, the pain and suffering, and for all time, we can and must pledge: never again."
Clearly "the president " was referring to the nightmarish evils of Naziism against the Jews of Europe.
Shame on forkushV for suggesting the same speech should be applied to the dead of Hiroshima and the "unspeakable act" of dropping the nuclear bomb on an enemy sworn to defend the Home Island to the Death. "Little Boy" probably saved tens-of-thousands of American lives. Some estimates suggest a million dead had the Allies needed to invade Japan.
For the record, DonDiego opines the Germans and the Japanese were the bad guys in WWII; the US owes no apology for what the Country did to win the War.
