Warbird Information Exchange

Tom,

I share your opinion

Willy

good strategy & philosophy locobuster. my 2 teenage boys know more about ww 2 than most middle aged adults!! why?? because i planted the seed early in their years & it gives us good kid / parent interaction other than dumb video games

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Firstly it was Harry not William and while I accept that this was not prehaps the brightest of moves, wasn't it a private function (?) and I would certainly question the photographer's motives more than PH.

Personally, I feel that the whole issue was blown out of all proportion.

Further, I have never heard anybody complain about John Cleese, goose-stepping in Fawlty Towers (or should that be Farty Towels) or when Freddie Starr (UK Comedian) appears on stage in his Hitlerite outfit!

Perhaps as this is humour then it is OK?

As for the Swastika, will there be a similar backlash if/when, the Finnish Buffalo, BW-372, is displayed with its hakaristi, which resembles the German swastika?

However, I can appreciate that certain groups will be understandably agrieved but at the end of the day, the Swastika is part of history and should be allowed to be displayed in its proper context, so that such events do not happen again.

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...and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in Space cos there's bugger all down here on Earth!

A couple thoughts:

First, it appears that many people I've met (not at the airport) want to forget the war. You ask anyone at work about the war, and they don't know. It's almost like many people consider it a major setback, and try to erase it. They'll even think it's a little nutty to mention it.

Next, in Sweden, the general populace still regrets their WW2 involvement. Supposedly they shipped steel to Germany, and most people want to forget it as well.

I think it's interesting however.

Chris

SKF ball bearings as well.

Cees

I'm a WWII reenactor, so please don't make the assumption i'm trying to 'sanatize' history by any means. I wouldn't do what I do as a hobby if I didn't believe in perserving our history. Most people are uneducated about history, plain and simple. During a living history close to after the 9/11 attacks, our group had a woman coming over to us crying and telling us how much she appreciated what we are doing for our country and good luck 'over there'!! It's kind of sad really. Although I'm a physics teacher, every year I put on a class lesson for all the history classes where I bring in my GI gear and show the students what the WWII GI looked like, etc. I've even fought administration to an extent to let me bring in some rifles (garand) that were instrumental to our victory.

I do understand that there were different units of the SS as I consider myself above average when it comes to WWII history just in regards to what I do as a hobby. My comment comes from having dealt with some SS reenactors, which for a lot of reasons I don't get along with and have a hard time giving them a thumbs up for their unit choice. It's not that it's SS, it's the way they act and portray it. It's a shame a small group of people make me have a 'tainted' view.

A lot of people say that reenactors glorify war. Same could be said in a sense about warbirds. This is furthest from the truth, since everyone is just trying to preserve history in a living sense. You can always look at a picture of a WWII GI or a B-17, but to see it in person and hear it and smell it, etc...is completely different.

Please do not lump me in a group that wants to see Nazi symbols banned from aircraft, models, displays, uniforms, etc. That is the furthest from the truth. Yes, I may have some different opinions on certain things like the SS and so on, but that's me. It's the way I feel. And there is no way that I feel that even SS history should not be retold or completely forgotten about. That is absurd. My only comment was do we really need SS action figures, which in my opinion as I stated, I can see a reason not to. Can I see a reason to have them too...yes! That's my only comment, which some of you have taken out to make me a 'historical cleanser' which I am not.

And yes, this is something that has been blown out of porportion, only once again brought to the forefront due to Prince Harry (sorry for the mistake) debacle. It's rediculous what happened. It's rediculous to build a model airplane and not be able to put a swastika decal on the tail. Or for a German Wehrmarcht uniform display to not have a swastika on his uniform. Guys, I want to see plenty of German, Japanese, etc fighters up in the air too! This is way too important of a part of our history to ever forget!
Thanks for reading. Long live history.

Brian

yes, good point indeed!! the tough part is getting kids motivated to get away from the idiot box tv, & brain softening video games!! anybody remember books?? the square things with printed paper in between?? guy's i'm no ward cleaver, & my kids aren't wally & beav!! they do video games, mtv, etc, but in moderation!! i had an employee in my business last year that didn't know how to shovel snow!! pretty sad, & a testimonial for the most part in regard to the future of our youth!! regards, tom

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!