It’s serious, it’s spreading, and we can fret about it, but by damn, we’re Americans and we can laugh at anything and anyone.
Don’t give me the sad sap that it’s cruel, unless you can honestly deny at least cracking an embarrassed smile from the old Shuttle jokes.
Decades ago, studying the Civil War, a professor noted an observation from foreign observers traveling with both Southern and Northern Armies: the Americans survived the horrors of war by having at it with humor that Europeans found bizarre and cruel.
In WWII, there were thousands of instances of Marines and GI’s attacking fortified Jap bunkers and installations and finding in plain English “Kilroy was here” painted on the exterior prior to the attacks and the official arrival of US forces. After the War, a radio program sponsored a contest to determine who the prankster was, and ultimately dozens were proved to have copycatted an original guy named “Kilroy,” by crawling into enemy territory, and painting the slogan on Jap installations in the wee hours. Some likely died trying, but by God, they had a little fun!
A few hours before MacArthur arrived on Japanese soil by plane immediately after the end of the war, a very tense time, a small American Naval plane flew to the landing strip MacArthur was to land at, and dropped a small bomb-shaped canister that sent the Jap dignitaries scrambling for cover. It came down soft with a chute, and had Japanese instructions asking that the banner within be hung in an area that the MacArthur delegation could see as they landed, and read “Welcome US Army . . . Signed, US Navy.”
The Japanese correctly deduced that MacAthur might be offended, and did not display the banner.
Sure, I sympathize with any victims of disease, etc., etc. and I’ll miss any of you unlucky bastards that keel-over from it, but if it shortens the line at my Wal Mart, who can say this wasn’t the hand of a higher power?
Don’t give me the sad sap that it’s cruel, unless you can honestly deny at least cracking an embarrassed smile from the old Shuttle jokes.
Decades ago, studying the Civil War, a professor noted an observation from foreign observers traveling with both Southern and Northern Armies: the Americans survived the horrors of war by having at it with humor that Europeans found bizarre and cruel.
In WWII, there were thousands of instances of Marines and GI’s attacking fortified Jap bunkers and installations and finding in plain English “Kilroy was here” painted on the exterior prior to the attacks and the official arrival of US forces. After the War, a radio program sponsored a contest to determine who the prankster was, and ultimately dozens were proved to have copycatted an original guy named “Kilroy,” by crawling into enemy territory, and painting the slogan on Jap installations in the wee hours. Some likely died trying, but by God, they had a little fun!
A few hours before MacArthur arrived on Japanese soil by plane immediately after the end of the war, a very tense time, a small American Naval plane flew to the landing strip MacArthur was to land at, and dropped a small bomb-shaped canister that sent the Jap dignitaries scrambling for cover. It came down soft with a chute, and had Japanese instructions asking that the banner within be hung in an area that the MacArthur delegation could see as they landed, and read “Welcome US Army . . . Signed, US Navy.”
The Japanese correctly deduced that MacAthur might be offended, and did not display the banner.
Sure, I sympathize with any victims of disease, etc., etc. and I’ll miss any of you unlucky bastards that keel-over from it, but if it shortens the line at my Wal Mart, who can say this wasn’t the hand of a higher power?
