Read other letters about this article

• Thursday, May 31, 2007 08:02 AM

  Poor Dumb Bastards, dying for their country

  When the movie "Patton" with George C. Scott came out in 1970 I was still "in country" in Vietnam. I heard it was Nixon's favorite movie and that he had played it over and over in the White House movie room, sometimes just sitting by himself.

  Eventually I saw it in re-runs at some third-rate movie house. One line from Scott's rendition of the famous Patton's Address to the 3rd Army, portrayed at the beginning of the movie stuck in my mind.

  "Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You win it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."

  Fresh back from a war, I got the meaning of those words all wrong. I thought that when he said you win a war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country, he was admitting the truth as I saw it: That in America, the people who start wars, the war merchants and their political puppets in Washington never won a war by dying for their country (America). They won wars by making the other poor dumb bastard (American G.I.s) die for THEIR country. It made perfect sense.

  I have to admit I was a little embarrassed when many years later I heard someone interpret that line to mean that Patton was saying that American G.I.s needed to make the poor dumb German bastard die for Germany. I must have got it wrong.

  But I like my interpretation better. The G.I.s are considered to be poor dumb bastards by the likes of Bush, by the likes of Lieberman who wouldn't put himself into a position to die for his country, but to make a whole bunch of people that he considers poor dumb bastards to go and die for him (and for Israel).

  —Garry Owen Read Garry Owen's other letters
  Permalink
  Flag
  Click "Submit Flag" if you feel this post is inappropriate. Explain why below if you wish.

  Cancel