BelM:
I believe that what themilum was saying was that it was the US which pulled Canada's chestnuts out of the fires of WW II and prevented those chestnuts from being consumed by a totalitarian regime (either Cummunist USSR or National Socialist Germany.) No mention was made of Japan or Italy, I noticed.
What themilum may not realize is that Canada's military losses during WW II were approximately 50 percent higher on a per capita basis than the losses by the United States.
To wit:
Canada in 1941 had a population of 11.5 million, and lost either 39,000 or 40,000 warriors during WW II, depending upon which internet source you use. The US's 1940 population was 132 million, and the dead warriors totaled 295,000. Simple division shows us a death rate of 3.4 per thousand for Canada (using the 39,000 figure for deaths) and 2.2 per thousand for the USA. 3.4 is pretty close to 50 percent higher than 2.2. Actually 54.5 percent, but I think you get the picture.
It is commonplace for USA citizens to believe that the USA won WW II, and to be completely convinced that the world would be either fascist or communist had it not been for our involvement.
With all due respect to veterans of every stripe who fought to contain and defeat the Axis powers, the 295,000 deaths incurred by US citizens are truly dwarfed by the 21.3 million people who died in the USSR and the 11.3 million who died in China.
And while it's probable (though I am too lazy to get the figures) that the US's dollar expenditures exceeded those of most other countries on a per capita basis, it's my belief that the true measure of devotion to the cause is by the number of battle deaths. And the US was far richer than most other countries to start with. In comparison to Canada, I think it's safe to say that we bought our way to victory while Canadians bled their way to victory. This is not meant to disparage all those who gave their lives, but simply to point out that themilum's post may have been out of line.
TEd
