I, of course, remember nothing about that war — except that my father (on extremely rare occasions) would barely mention what he had gone through but would sometimes take me to World War II movies like “The Caine Mutiny” and “Merrill’s Marauders” at local movie theaters.In a country that has never stopped fighting wars, however, that’s certainly the last one that any American could truly be proud of, the global defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
In fact, we’re talking about a country that, between 2001 and 2024, spent an estimated US$21 trillion on its military, which, it turns out, was equal to the military spending of the next 18 — yes, 18! — countries combined (if you can even believe it). And in those years, of course, like the 55 preceding ones, the United States managed to never—no, never —actually win a significant war (or, in truth, even come close).