March 17, 2008

You become responsible, forever, for what you have strafed. A former Luftwaffe pilot claims he may have shot down Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince.
posted by Capt. Renault 16 years ago
  • Such is the waste of war. I feel pity for all parties involved.
  • My thoughts after reading that were that at least Saint-Exupéry was able to make his contribution to the world before he died. How many other lives were ended in that war (and others) before they could create their now-unknown masterpieces? That may be the bigger tragedy.
  • The fox is my friend.
  • rocket88 said exactly what I wanted to post upon reading this.
  • Which is why I consider the greatest good fortune of my life (and being a white male born to middle-class parents in the USA in the middle of the 20th Century was pretty damn fortunate) that I have never been engaged directly in War, either being strafed or the one doing the strafing. The "Vietnam Era" draft ended three months before my 18th birthday although registration was still required and there was an "in case of emergency" birthdate lottery done for my year, in which I got a number higher than any they had called in previous years. But if War ever does find its way to the western shores of California, I am confident that all the action will be in S.F. and L.A., ignoring the little hamlets inbetween, and if I am somehow forced to take up arms against my fellow humans, I pledge to target only the highest-ranking enemy and to do better than these guys. That is all.