[PRCo] Re: Pgh Railways Street Car Operators Wanted Ad

[Schneider Fred]

The Wikipedia link is now dead ...


On Oct 25, 2009, at 5:05 PM, Ken and Tracie wrote:

> As you know, Fred, I am fascinated by how quickly the WW II era  
> military
> cantonments were built and how well they were built once the  
> contractors and
> military architects "found their groove." Many of those "temporary"
> buildings continued (and continue, in the case of Fort McCoy for  
> example) to
> serve decades beyond anybody's expectations.
>
> By the late 1930s, FDR and military leaders were already ramping up  
> for war.
> Like Tom noted, there was a (strong) movement to keep our noses out of
> Europe's and Asia's affairs.
>
> Military camps were already under construction and plans to draft  
> tens of
> thousands of men were already in the works over a year before Pearl  
> Harbor.
>
> The prewar advancements in aircraft and weapon design were amazing.  
> How much
> of this the general public knew about, could know about or cared to  
> know
> about is beyond the scope of my knowledge.
>
> Look at this:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Reuben_James_(DD-245)
>
> Whether the Germans knew the Reuben James was an American ship when  
> they
> sank it, or if they really believed it was a British manned lend-lease
> destroyer of American origin is unknown to me. But we let the  
> British have
> fifty of those WW I era four-stack destroyers and we had hundreds  
> of our
> own, so maybe it was torpedoed with full knowledge it was an American
> flagged vessel to warn the U.S. to mind its own business. Or maybe  
> it was an
> error. My point is there were as many Americans said that was an  
> example of
> why we should keep to ourselves as there were Americans who saw it  
> as an act
> of war against our country and wanted us to enter into the  
> hostilities.
>
> K.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Schneider Fred" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> Sent: Sunday, October 25, 2009 12:44 PM
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Pgh Railways Street Car Operators Wanted Ad
>
>
>> Except that we were pretending that it wasn't happening.
>>
>> Ask John Swindler about his father.    When the United States finally
>> got around to attempting to draft John's dad, the Canadian armed
>> forces sent a polite note to his draft board saying "sorry, he
>> already enlisted in our service and he's in England."    That's where
>> John's mom came from.   I remember quite well her funeral at the
>> Episcopal church in Mount Lebanon ... it was very British complete to
>> the cucumber sandwiches.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Oct 25, 2009, at 2:43 PM, Ken and Tracie wrote:
>>
>>> Phillip is correct.
>>>
>>> Mobilization and military build-up in the United States was in full
>>> force by
>>> 1940. The United States knew war was inevitable. Our country was
>>> already
>>> providing indirect aid to both Great Britain and China. Stateside
>>> military
>>> bases were already under construction and the draft was being  
>>> enacted.
>>>
>>> K.
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Phillip Clark Campbell" <pcc_sr at yahoo.com>
>>> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
>>> Sent: Sunday, October 25, 2009 10:25 AM
>>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Pgh Railways Street Car Operators Wanted Ad
>>>
>>>> 1: War is war regardless of involvement;  yes, we engaged
>>>> late that year as the war was already in progress wasn't it.
>>>> The operator ad was early in 1941, March I believe.
>>>> I don't doubt at all that regardless of 'official' statements, the
>>>> U.S.A was 'preparing' for war even when the ad for operators
>>>> was placed.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>