Good Morning, Sue:

You have made some very good points. So good, in fact, I don't need to reply... but, being the creature I am... I will. LOL!

The only different point I would make would be your comment about the U.S. after WWII and our unscathed industrial capacity. Please don't forget the Marshal Plan where we provided much needed assistance in the rebuilding of war torn Europe. We did use that industrial capacity in some of that effort, not to mention the fact that we grew even stronger as a nation and many of our citizens benefited in the wealth of goods that came streaming out of our factories... plus the plentiful jobs these factories created.

The subsequent wars (or police actions as some call them) of Korea and Vietnam were probably a waste of our time and resources... not to mention lives lost in the process. We had agreements with our allies, S. Korea and S. Vietnam and would have looked very weak if we had not supported them. My gripe is that we did not fight these wars to win them. We gave our enemies "safe haven" above imaginary lines and allowed them to re-group, re-arm and generally wear us down.

You are obviously a student of history and I admire your perspective. I hope you do not take my responses as personal. I merely want to present all sides of the equation for our younger participants to absorb.

The greatest squandering of American wealth was to allow our factories to begin having much of the manufacturing of our products to be done in third world countries... to the detriment of our citizenry and economy... while fattening the purses of our government officials and politicians.

If we were to suddenly face a crisis of the magnitude of WWII, we would have to respond in a very different manner because much of our industrial might has been decimated. Our schools churn out kids bound for college... even though there are no jobs for college grads. We completely ignore the need for skilled machinists and toolmakers, plus the myriad of other trades we so badly need. Plumbers, carpenters and bricklayers, programmers, technicians, etc.

Our misguided educators are hell-bent to follow the example of the politicians and feather their own nests at the expense of the public.

Sorry for the rant. I know I can't solve all the world's problems in one reply but I have certainly enjoyed our conversation.

The plot continues to "thicken" in the Ukraine. I hope Alek is okay.

Regards,

Dave