The first war I remember... (WITH POLL)

[Richard III]

Originally posted by Flatlander Fox
I especially remember laughing at the SNL skit "Daddy, what was Grenada" book series for no reason other than I thought it was a joke that I could get.

Yes!!! I remember that skit well! It was a frickin' hilarious sketch, on of SNL's best!!!

Count the missing 1973 Yom Kippur war as another miss on my part.

Interesting how often the scuds come up; I was working in a pizza place (there was a recession, after all...) on the night of the first strike at Israel. For us pizza order-taker/maker types, our sole news source was reports from punk kid 16 year olds driving in to pickup pies and telling us the latest thing they'd heard on their car radios.

It was pretty chilling since, as some may remember, the initial reports were that chemicals were used. Hearing some kid come in in a state of panic saying, "hey, did you hear? They're using nerve gas - and can you get me that double pepperoni for Fisgard St.?" is a little unnerving.

But what I remember most now is how busy it got. The attacks were at around 6 or 7 local (pacific) time, and so everyone suddenly decided to stay home, watch the coverage and order pizza. Our store's sales shot up to record levels that night.

R.III

 

[jiml_63]

The Vietnam War - My brother was drafted and went to 'Nam when I was 6. Didn't take long for my parents to bring the rest of my siblings and I up to speed...fortunately he made it home safe which is more than I can say for a lot of others...

 

[Padma]

Well, I had to vote the Vietnam War. Based on the criteria in the initial post, it is the first I "clearly" remember. But I *almost* remember Korea.

@ace: It is an honor to meet someone here who is demonstrably older than I am.

 

[CommiePlanner]

1991 Gulf War, I was in middle school and we discussed the war and other topics in class. We even got to watch warner brothers anti nazi propoganda cartoons from WWII, they were rather funny. I have been able to talk on length to veterans of Panama, and of Bosnia about their perspectives, and feel like I have a good but incomplete understanding of these conflicts.

 

[IceBlaZe]

I voted Gulf war, 1991, though it's not exactly "clearly remember".

I remember discussions about it, putting my (special type of) gas mask on and sitting for days in the shelter with my family and grand parents (who came to our home from Ramat Hasharon [near Tel-Aviv]).

First conflict I ever seriously discussed about/know the implications of - Second Intifada (Sept. 2000) I guess.

 

[Pillager]

Discussions of the Falklands a couple of years after the event. For actual live coverage in the media, Romania and the fall of the Berlin Wall are the first that can I remember clearly watching and reading about.

 

[G-Man]

Gulf war. I was 4 at the time (nearly 5 ) and I do remember all the alarms and being in the sealed room and wearing them annoying masks.

 

[sgrig]

The Soviet-Afghan war. I was a small child in the USSR back then and I vaguely remember TV pictures of Soviet troops in Afghanistan and stories about the "savage" mujahedeen. However I remember better the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan - those long columns of BTR's and T-72s crossing some bridge on the Afghan border.

I also remember quite clearly the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in 1990 or so. It was especially worrying because we had relatives in both Baku and Yerevan (capitals of Azerbaijan and Armenia, for those who don't know).

I don't really remember the Gulf War, because it wasn't really covered in much detail in the Soviet Union nor was it discussed much. At that time, we had our own problems.

EDIT: i just noticed that the Romanian uprising is in the poll - I remember that very well. The TV images of Ceacescu's bullet-riddled body are still vivid in my mind.

 

[Park Ranger]

I voted Afghanistan, but I am old enough to have some memories of the final days of Vietnam. I remember Jimmmy Carter getting elected, though.

Really, the first war I remember is....STAR WARS. I was eight when I saw it and nothing stirred my imagination more until I read Lord of the Rings, sometime around 1980-1981.

On the serious side, it was when I first learned about the cold war and MAD that world events came crashing in on blissful childhood, when nightmares turned from boogeymen into air raid sirens and mushroom clouds. This would have been sometime in the late 70's.

 

[bigfatron]

My 'first' war was the Israeli-Arab war of '67.

My three big 'event' memories from my childhood:
- England winning the World Cup (June 1966)
- Israel invading the Sinai (1967)
- The moon landings (1969)

edit: Should have read the intro first - the first war that I was informed about was 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict; the Vietnam war was One I was certainly aware of but there was surprisingly little rational debate, in liberal Cambridge there was a pretty universal view that it was a pretty stupid war, and it was rarely discussed.

 

[warmonger]

I can go all the way back to vietnam - I missed the draft by 2 or 3 years. We pulled out in 1972 on a change of government. I can remember all the others since then but don't remember being frightened by any of them.

This one that's coming is frightening though - mainly because I think a madman with a mad regime is in charge and I don't mean Saddam. I do hope the rest of the non-english speaking world can hold him back.

 

[Chieftess]

I remember the Iran-Iraq war. It was current events in elementary school. (I even remember President Regan talking about it on TV) I vaguely remember Panama.

I was in elementary school at the time. (around 3rd grade I think).

My greatgrandparents told tales of WWII, and the Korean War. All of the men in my mom's side (German) fought in a war. In WWII, my great-grandfather was a POW in Germany (and my grandmother's nephews where in the German army...). My great-grandfather also fought in the Korean War (my great-grandmother got to stay in Korea for a while). They didn't go into great lenghts about the war (don't wanna scare the kids I guess. ). My one Grandmother built airplanes for WWII.

Not bad for a "young urchin". But, I do remember Iran.

 

[Rhye]

Romania (I was 8)
And I remember Romanian flag with a hole in the center

 

[ellie]

The falklands

Ellie

 

[Plexus]

I guess Kosovo, I was in my own lego-fantasy world before then.

 

[nixon]

Must be the mid-90s wars in the Balkans.

 

[West German]

I remember seeing a Soviet tank in my Berlin neighborhood right before the war was over. I was about two or three years old. Horrible feeling of defeatism.

The first war I heard about was the Korean War.

 

[jack merchant]

Romania was the first I saw - though I do remember the children's news here occasionally reporting about the first Gulf war. What really made an impression on me though was the wars in former Yugoslavia, and opinions I now hold are very much influenced by them.

 

[Matrix]

I remember Romania vaguely. There was something about cutting a hole in their vlag. I remember the Gulf War more clearly. Panama...no.

 

[SKILORD]

I remember the Original Gulf War (George Bush v 1.0) Even though I was only 5 at the time. I remember my parents attempting to explain it to me.