Stolen!

[alexpgp]

...from LJ friend bandicoot(though I caught sight of it earlier :^):

In November 1998, Stephen Ambrose wrote American Heritage's cover story, "I Learn a Lot from the Veterans." He quoted an unnamed World War II veteran:

Imagine this. In the spring of 1945, around the world, the sight of a twelve-man squad of teenage boys, armed and in uniform, brought terror to people's hearts.

Whether it was a Red Army squad in Berlin, Leipzig, or Warsaw, or a German squad in Holland, or a Japanese squad in Manila or Seoul or China, that squad meant rape, pillage, looting, wanton destruction, senseless killing.

But there was an exception: a squad of GIs, a sight that brought the biggest smile you ever saw to people's lips, and joy to their hearts.

Around the world this was true, even in Germany, even - after September 1945 - in Japan. This was because GIs meant candy, cigarettes, C-rations, and freedom. America had sent the best of her young men around the world, not to conquer but to liberate, not to terrorize but to help. This was a great moment in our history.

And it's still true.

Cheers...