The true cost of War

The Fallen of World War II from Neil Halloran on Vimeo.

World War II was the worst catastrophe to befall the human race. The percentage of people in the world who were wholly unaffected by this global conflict is comparatively small.  The Soviet Union, China, and Germany suffered disproportionately - although it can be said the Germans largely brought their fate upon themselves.  The British lost about one percent of their total population, including 43,000 killed in the Blitz.  The Americans lost about one-third of one percent of their population, almost exclusively military - the least in terms of percentage of any of the major powers.  Pointing this number out is not meant to denigrate the heroic conduct of our fighting men, particularly in the latter stages of the war.  But it's no exaggeration to say that the United States gained the most from the war, in terms of global and economic power, with the least blood shed.  The British wound-up bankrupt, parts of London decimated, their Empire collapsing. The Soviets lost nearly an entire generation of men.  It's no wonder they retained a buffer zone over Eastern Europe after the war.

No Purple Hearts have been manufactured since 1945, when the US military stocked up on them for the anticipated invasion of Japan.  To this day, Purple Hearts which are awarded to American military personnel derive from this old stock.  This fact belies the notion that Harry Truman's decision to use the Atomic Bombs against Japan was based on anything other than a desire the end the war as quickly as possible with the least lost of Allied personnel.

One small correction to one bit of information presented: The video refers, almost in passing, to "homosexuals" killed in the Holocaust.  In reality, it was homosexual men who were persecuted by the Nazis - who refused to acknowledge the presence of lesbians.  They felt that as long as Aryan women were available to impregnate to further the Master Race, it mattered not whether they were attracted to other women.