Russia Remembers, The United States Forgets
9 May 2024 by Larry Johnson
Today, May 9, marks the 79th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany aka Victory in Europe day and the Russian people held massive marches and commemorations — not just in Russia — but in countries around the world where Russian ex-pats live. But in the United States, where the mythology persists that the United States defeated the Nazis, there were crickets. Nothing. Why the difference?
It is a simple matter of numbers.
The Soviet Union is estimated to have suffered the highest number of WWII casualties. As many as 27 million Soviets lost their lives, with as many as 11.4 million military deaths joined by up to 10 million civilian deaths due to military activity and an additional 8 million to 9 million deaths due to famine and disease. Those totals do not include the more than 14 million Soviet soldiers who were wounded during the war. Among the Soviet Union’s 15 republics, Russia withstood the highest number of casualties, with 6,750,000 military deaths and 7,200,000 civilian deaths. Ukraine tallied the second-highest casualties, with 1,650,000 military deaths and 5,200,000 civilian deaths.
The estimated population of the Soviet Union in 1940 was 170 million. In other words, 16% of Soviet citizens (which included Russia and Ukraine) died as a consequence of the Great Patriotic War. That does not begin to take into account the number of wounded, which probably represented an additional 20 million people.
Compare that with the United States. There are conflicting estimates, ranging from 183,500 up to 276,655 US Army KIA in Europe/North Africa. Let’s go with the higher number. According to the 1940 Census, there were 132,164,569 Americans. That ratio of U.S. KIA in the European/North African theater compared to total population is 0.2%. In other words, far less than 1% of the U.S. populations died at the hands of the Nazis.
I will put this bluntly — the United States paid almost nothing in the way of blood and treasure in the campaign to defeat Hitler compared to what the Russian people endured. Consider the following:
- 750,000 Soviets died in the Battle of Stalingrad.
- At least 670,000 Soviet soldiers and citizens died in the siege of Leningrad.
- An estimated 421,000 Soviet died in the battle of Operation Citadel/Kursk.
The staggering scale of Soviet losses is beyond the comprehension of most Americans. The Soviets tripled all American losses in the European theater in just one battle — Stalingrad. Yet, Hollywood has propagated the myth that the United States carried the burden of the battles that led to the destruction of the Third Reich. Not just Hollywood. In the immediate aftermath the capture of Berlin, the United States and the United Kingdom behaved as if they were the ones who save the world.
Well, if that is true, why are the Americans and Brits silent on VE day? Because they did not endure the catastrophic human loss that the peoples of the Soviet Union endured, especially the Russians. That is why millions of Russians marched today carrying photographs of their grandfathers, grandmothers, great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers who served and died in the colossal fight to destroy the Nazis. The legacy of the sacrifice of those who fought 80 years ago still burns bright in the souls of the Russian people.
Not so in America. A significant portion of the American population is ignorant:
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni today released a survey finding that Americans have a serious case of historical amnesia when it comes to knowledge of D-Day. On the 70th anniversary of that crucial day, even college graduates fail to know important historical information.
The multiple choice survey found that only 54% of Americans know that Dwight Eisenhower was the supreme commander of the Allied forces. Even among college graduates, 28% could not correctly identify General Eisenhower. Less than half of Americans surveyed knew that Roosevelt was the president at the time. And 15% said the D-Day invasion happened at Pearl Harbor—including one in 10 college graduates.
This survey was taken 10 years ago. I am certain the numbers are worse today. I believe that his failure to correctly and accurately remember history helps explain America’s proclivity to pursue endless wars overseas. But there is another consideration. America has never paid a serious price in terms of blood since the Civil War. War is cheap and a great way to make money. The American men and women who have served in combat are a tiny and diminishing number. Ninety-nine point nine percent of Americans have not stood beside the grave of a fallen warrior.
Profiteering off of war? That is a different matter. Americans are real good at that grift. Major General Smedley Butler, who wrote War Is a Racket in 1935, nailed it:
War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small ‘inside’ group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes. . . .
I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
Today’s America is the Alzheimers Generation when it comes to history. We are on a trajectory to pursue wars against Russia, Iran and China without the tiniest bit of appreciation of the potential loss of human life and capital that may be inflicted on the United States if it consummates its rapacious, foolish desire.
I salute those Americans who served in World War II and all of the succeeding foreign expeditionary boondoggles. The names of 58,000 Americans decorate a black wall in Washington, DC. The vast majority served honorably and died in part because they believed the lies fed them by corrupt Presidents and a compliant media. Many of those who followed in their footsteps and served honorably in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria are victims of a big lie. They were not fighting to defeat Islamic extremism. They were duped into fighting to fatten the stock portfolios of General Dynamics, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and scores of other Beltway Bandits. War is good business as long as only a small, insignificant (and despised) class of Americans pay the price in blood.
The failure of the vast majority of Americans to commemorate May 9 will, I fear, come back to haunt us. If we do not find a way to live in peace with Russia, China or Iran, Americans are not likely to have the good fortune to avoid massive casualties. I hope I am wrong.