I have told this story before but...
In 1941 my grandmother's brother Michael was 16 years old. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor he lied about his age (and even as a 16 year old at 6 foot 3 he was a big dude) and entered what was then The Army Air Corps. He was assigned as a gunner to a B-17 bomber and flew multiple missions over occupied France. On one occasion he and his crew weren't so lucky and were shot down in enemy held territory. My grandmother still remembers when they sent the telegram to her house and her mother's screams as she knew it meant her son was now dead.
As it happened, he was NOT. He managed to survive the crash, and was able to avoid capture due to the help that he received from the local French and that as a Hispanic American, he spoke fluen Spanish and could pass himself off as a Spaniard. Eventually after 2 and a half months he was able to make his way to the American lines. He could have went back home but decided to stay and continue flying missions. My grandmother remembers getting the news that her brother was safe with the American forces. It was as if he had come back to life.
These stories are in MANY American families, often without the happy ending of my great uncle who was able to come home in 1946 after surviving many missions. There is no skepticism that is warranted. Americans, British, Canadian, Australian... And quite a few other nations sent men, and women, to fight and die from battlefields ranging from North Africa to the South Pacific. To deny that is silly and obtuse. Sorry, it just is.
Now, there is a debate to be had as to what affect the Allied West had in terms of the War's outcome. In recent years the seems to have been a bit of a correctin (and there is some debat as to it being quite the OVER-correction) as to the way the War has been presented in the popular imagination. The instruments way that Soviet Russia played in defeating Hitler's forces is very important to note and was likely downplayed to a degree given the Cold War standoff between the West and Russia. Without a doubt Germany was fighting a two front battle and Stalin's Soviet Union sacrificed more soldiers and civilians than just about any other nation. The way that the Russians were able to sap the German's resources and manpower on the Eastern front was a very big part in the eventual downfall of the Third Reich. Still, that shouldn't diminish the importance of the Western powers men and women who fought and died to defeat Hitler and drive Nazi forces from all the territory they had accumulated.
This is historical FACT that is not up for debate. I respect your right to have all manner of opinions, and indeed it's understandable that Aziz might hold a viewpoint that might not be popular among most Americans, as he has seen American involvement in the Middle East as a first hand observer. So, I get that, really... But you have a right to opinion, but not to your own facts which are counter to easily verifiable historical truths.
Saying you don't know if it's true that America and England and Canada sent massive amounts of men to fight in WWII around the world is obtuse. It is to imbibe a conspiracy theory that has no basis and is easily proven to be false. What's worse to me is that I know that Aziz is a very smart, educated person. It should be a simple matter for him to cleave such obvious truth from such obvious falsehoods. Maybe it's that Aziz comes from an area of the world where there is so much direct control of the media by governments that he just assumes that such is how it is in the States. Any cursory view of the history of the U.S. for the last fifty years should disabuse anyone of that notion.
In short, talk of the U.S. or Canada or the U.K. NOT having sent troops, airmen and sailors to shed blood all over the world during WWII is a lie. Plain and simple. There is nothing to be skeptical about. To even entertain that notion is to entertain a lie, one easily refuted by the family history of many Americans as millions of her sons and daughters were sent to fight and many died on the soil of countries not their own.
