THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 21, 1995 TAG: 9511210009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
I take the greatest possible exception to the remarks of William D. Kimball (``A bunch of ingrates,'' letter, Nov. 9) who complained about British and French criticism of the U.S. failure to pay its United Nations bills.
Mr. Kimball should recall that the sacrifices of both those nations in World War I were enormous, as a visit to the battlefields and war cemeteries of France and Belgium would show. In World War II, the main factor in the U.S. recovery from the Great Depression was the manufacture of weapons and war material for export to the European countries while the United States was still at peace. These items were paid for with gold and hard cash, totally draining the national fortune before lend-lease was invented.
Mr. Kimball should also bear in mind that until the second half of 1944, the British empire had more land forces in fighting contact with the enemy, including Japan, than did the United States. The actual numbers, measured in division equivalents, were, in the West, Britain 12, U.S.A. 7, and in the East, Britain 12, U.S.A. 9, making the total Britain 24, U.S.A. 16.
These numbers do not include ground forces, or civilians, in Britain who had been subject to air attack, with devastation of homes, cities and workplaces for four years by then. Similar figures can be produced for air and sea forces. As examples, up to the end of 1943, the British discharge of bombs upon Germany exceeded by eight tons to one of those dropped by U.S. aircraft, and of the 996 enemy submarines sunk during the war, 603 were destroyed by the British against 290 by the United States.
Finally, casualties. British dead amounted to 303,240 military (plus another 109,000 from the British Empire, Commonwealth and Dominions overseas), 30,000 merchant seamen and fishermen and 60,500 civilians killed in air raids, for a grand total of 502,740. The equivalent U.S. figure was 322,188.
``Human and financial sacrifices'' were not confined to the American people. Those of us among Mr. Kimball's ``ingrates'' are not ungrateful to America; indeed, we thank you for helping us to win World War II. It would have taken us a bit longer without you.
JACK A. PALMER
Virginia Beach, Nov. 9, 1995 by CNB