Veterans Day In Major General Worth's Fort Waiting For Rain & Thinking About American Wars

As you can sort of see, looking out at my empty pool, we are under a cloud cover, this November 11 Veterans Day, in the Fort of Major General Worth.

Incoming rain expected. With Thunderstorm action tomorrow.

What is the total number of American veterans living today, I am wondering?

I'm guessing America has the world's highest per capita number of war veterans, due to the fact that America seems to get involved in more wars than any other country.

American kids, in the 10 year old age range, have never known an America that is not off in some foreign land, with soldiers dying. Those kids are growing up thinking war is some sort of perpetual reality.

That is sort of disturbing.

I wonder what percentage of the years, between 1776 and 2010, America has been at war? I could figure that out if I wanted to take the time to do so.

Some of the American wars have been of very short duration, like the Spanish-American War. American victory came in only 4 months. And out of that we ended up with Puerto Rico, among other lands, now returned to their natives, like the Philippines.

The Mexican-American War was also a short one, 1846 -1846. Out of that war America gained a lot of land from Mexico. Places like California, among others. President James K. Polk was determined to expand America all across the continent. Texas was annexed a day or two before Polk's inauguration. The Mexicans were not happy about that. The Mexican unhappiness set in motion events that would give Polk the excuse to make war on Mexico, with a full on invasion that made it all the way to Mexico City.

Polk considered taking all of Mexico for the United States, but settled for just taking California and most of what is now known as the American Southwest. Years later Adolf Hitler was to use America's aggressive expansionist technique, of the Polk era, as one of his excuses for his bad expansionist behaviors, like the takeover of Poland.

Had California not been taken from the Mexicans would there be no Hollywood? No Disneyland? I can't imagine a world without Hollywood and Disneyland.

Another of America's short wars was the War of 1812. This was to be the only American war, other than the War of Independence and the War on Terror, that saw America attacked on its homeland. In the War of 1812 the British invaded, eventually running President Madison and wife Dolley out of Washington, D.C., burning the White House, which was not white at the time. The White House become white during the refurbishment after the British burning, and then became known by the name we know it today.

The biggest victory, in the War of 1812, came after the war was over. Due to the slow communications of the day, Andrew Jackson and the British did not know the war was over when the Battle of New Orleans took place, with a future President Jackson led rout over the British.

American involvement in the worst war of all time was less than 4 years, that being World War II. In that war America used all its power to get the thing over with as quickly as possible, with a positive outcome.

In the American wars since WWII America has not used its power to the max to get the wars over quickly, with a positive outcome.

Well, that is enough American war talk for this 2010 Veterans Day.