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@ Kip Ashlynn
2025-06-13 17:09:54
It was really interesting living abroad because I got that impression myself. I was raised in military culture and the rah-rah we've got the biggest bombs and we won the biggest war we spreading freedom.
In Estonia I really learned how much the Soviets did to really win WWII. I learned how we had already been destroying cities in Japan with carpet bombing and it was likely the possibility of a Soviet invasion on Japan that was the true deterrent. It was really interesting, because the folks who were telling me all this super hated the Soviets for many reasons but they still wanted to vindicate them in my eyes because the death toll was so much for them and then we took all the credit.
It's very interesting to think the nuke might be a hoax. I'm still not 100% sold on the moon landing being a hoax though, so the nukes being a hoax is hard to swallow. But your points are valid and make a lot of sense.
October Sky was one of my favorite movies and it came at a time when we started doing rocket studies in class and I just loved the idea that someone from the Appalachian hills could knuckle down and do such amazing cool work. I felt proud of us landing on the moon, or having excellent rocketry, and it was a big part of why I studied so hard and have done as much as I've done. If the myths I set my aspirations around were hoaxes, I would feel very sad and cheated.
Often when we talk about hoaxes of any kind I have to just accept that I won't know, will likely never know. I just have to think of what story to tell myself to keep a positive mindset and to keep being productive and helpful to my community.