Tail End Charlie

Want or Wish? Not the same…  

Text: Richard Plos

Aviation enthusiasts are currently watching the Masters of the Air series, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. This monumental work is a celebration of human courage in its many forms. And a reminder that without effort, bravery and self-sacrifice, there is no freedom. Thousands upon thousands of young men left their homes and families living in peace to fight for others who were not so fortunate.

Of course, even in the USA at that time there were people who opposed any involvement of their country in the war in Europe, and the American “I-wanna-peace” fools of the time even marched in New York on July 7, 1941, with signs saying: “Why not Peace with Hitler?” or “Arm Britain and prolong the War”, when the fate of the United Kingdom hung in the balance. Does that remind you of anything? We hear and read similar arguments today from the mouths of those contemporary and domestic "I-wanna-peace” fools. Fortunately, back then, no one took them very seriously, whereas today this extremely dangerous attitude resonates with many politicians.

Personally, the phrase “I want peace” strikes me as the cry of a small child who also cries out without thinking “Mommy, I want...” One day it’s a car toy, the next it’s an ice cream, he just wants it. He doesn’t understand, but he wants. A more mentally mature individual would rather use the expression “I wish for peace”. Because that’s the way it is, of course - nobody sane wants war. I've experienced it myself to some extent, and I wish for peace all the more. But there is a difference between real peace and a humiliating slaughter that has the “advantage” of not being fired upon you, because you calmly let the target country being eliminated instead of help and assist it ... And "wanting peace" at the cost of suffering and enslavement of another nation is extremely immoral and selfish.

I am, of course, talking about the most terrible conflict in Europe since the Second World War. The war in Ukraine. The Russians have been massaged for decades by what Timothy Snyder called the politics of eternity in his book The Way to Unfreedom. It is a practice in which the Russians constantly look to the past, in particular to their victory over Nazi Germany. They have no scruples about appropriating the whole of it and intend to immortalize it as their greatest achievement. They tactfully gloss over the enormous material aid from the USA, which included practically everything from butter to gunpowder to trucks or fighter and bomber aircraft. These supplies cost the lives of many people who transported the aid to the then Soviet Union. Nor does the Russian mind take much notice of their merits.

And then there are those “Masters of the Air” and their devastating effect on German war production and morale. Not to mention the number of German forces tied up in operations in Western Europe after the landings. Lately, a portion of the population has forgotten or is unwilling to admit it. I remember in 1990 when we were preparing the first tribute to American soldiers in Pilsen and a communist propaganda confused flight engineer (I was then flying as a pilot) asked me angrily, “How many of them died here in Europe, huh?” As if perhaps the number of casualties was a measure of merit... He didn’t understand that the Americans, unlike the Russians, have always valued human life and therefore always try to fight to minimize casualties. To this day it is evident on the Ukrainian battlefield that even the life of a Russian does not mean much to a Russian. Let alone the life of a person of another nationality...

I haven’t seen a minute of the new series yet. As with many others, I’ll wait until it’s all out, so I don’t have to wait a whole week for a new episode. Then I think I’ll have a little marathon. And in doing so, I’ll mentally praise the human courage that gives us the strength to stand up to evil, straighten our backs, and not allow our own destruction. Even at the cost of effort and sacrifice. Because peace and the prosperity that goes with it has never been, is not and will not be for free.