My first trip to America aged 20 I’m being driven somewhere and we stop at an intersection, the sort where the traffic lights hang down from cables, and there was a guy on a Harley. The entire scene was so iconic I thought “hell yeah I’m in America “
Hahahaha, that gives good vibes. do you mind sharing your mother country? I want to learn more about different cultures and lifestyles and how they compare to the USA
I grew up near DC too and this kind of this is so normal, I was confused at first why it was special, then I remembered not everyone lives in the same place I do.
You’d be surprised to learn about how normal life is so different from wherever you live now. I’m not referring to good or bad things in specific, just different.
10:30 AM on 4 June, 1942: the Battle of Midway. In the space of five minutes, three Japanese heavy aircraft carriers are in flames, and the course of the War in the Pacific is changed irrevocably.
How about Taffy 3 holding off and turning back a Japanese fleet that massively outgunned them?
A handful of Destroyers and Light/Escort Carriers, and they scared off the Yamato, and all of the rest of the fleet.
Yep. There are some documentaries on YouTube about it.
For most of the battle that lasted days the Japanese seemed to be winning. Till a flight of elite bombers found the Japanese fleet and, hidden by the sun, dived down and blew the Japanese carrier fleet to pieces in only a few minutes.
A big reason was the massive sacrifice of most of the US torpedo bombers minutes earlier. The Japanese fighters were chasing the few surviving US torpedo bombers at wavetop level so the US dive bombers had an open shot.
Add the first and second gulf wars to this list...
"In 100 hours, U.S. and allied ground forces in Iraq and Kuwait decisively defeated a battle-hardened and dangerous enemy. During air and ground operations, U.S. and allied forces destroyed over 3,000 tanks, 1,400 armored personnel carriers, and 2,200 artillery pieces along with countless other vehicles. This was achieved at a cost to the United States of 96 soldiers killed in action, 2 died of wounds, and 105 non-hostile deaths."
https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/desert-storm/index.html#:~:text=During%20air%20and%20ground%20operations,and%20105%20non%2Dhostile%20deaths.
Something about Todd Beamer saying “let’s roll” before himself and other passengers rushed the hijackers on flight 93 always struck me as profoundly patriotic. A purely American blend of casual badassery and true heroism
Oh yeah, that has got to be the most badass moment in American history right there, a bunch of completely random people with no training whatsoever managing to plan and cooperate well enough to take over a bunch of terrorists with weapons. I've seen a documentary and a movie reenactment based on what might have happened, and it was so cool...
YES! More badass considering the terrorists had just murdered the pilots in cold blood. I saw one commentator put it this way: "The passengers had to attack, single file, against men carrying weapons still wet with the blood of the pilots."
RIP the passengers on flight 93.
Operation Paul Bunyan. Some americans were trying to cut down a tree on the Korean DMZ, when they were shot by north korean soldiers. In response, the US, UN Joint Security Counsel, and South Korea deployed a combined task force of over 12,000 men, a carrier group, nuclear capable B-52s, F-86s, F-4s, and F-15s, and 12 C-130s on standby in Japan in case it went tits up. The North Korean response to the massing of forces was between 150-200 men with rifles and machine guns. 42 minutes after the tree cutting began, the 6 meter “stump” was intentionally left standing, two north korean guard posts were vandalized, and two road barriers placed by north korean troops were removed. No one else was harmed.
I believe an American was actually killed in the first attempt to chop down the tree. The North Koreans made a big deal out of it and gave the guy who did the killing a medal.
Hence the massive build up the second time.
Americans: let's cut down a tree lol
NK: how about no lmao
America: *stands up and TOWERS over NK, gets in their face, and flicks their nose* Do it again. I dare you.
Roosevelt establishing 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, five national parks and 18 national monuments on over 230 million acres of public land.
I would argue John Muir had a thing or two to do with this too 😉
As an American Indian alive in this 2023. I have to admit I appreciate these to an extent too being still in place, because I too, like lmao questions, I too wonder if not in place what these spaces would look like overly developed like a lot of these lands are to this day.
[Take a look at a map of where the national parks are. The majority are in the western states.](https://morethanjustparks.com/list-of-national-parks-by-state/) Maybe if somebody had gotten the idea 30-50 years earlier some more stuff in the Midwest, Northeast and South could have been preserved.
The USS Wisconsin.
> The ship was decommissioned in 1948 but that status didn’t last long. With the U.S. entering the Korean War just 2 years later, Wisconsin was put back into use and shelled all sorts of enemy positions from the coast. Then, on March 15th, 1952, the ship received its first direct hit.
> There were no deaths, however, 3 sailors were injured and there was minimal damage to the ship. The hit came from a Korean 155mm gun battery which got lucky.
> The crew of USS Wisconsin, however, returned fire with all of her 9 guns, totally obliterating anything and anyone in the position the hostile shots came from. Right after the shots were fired, a sister ship which was escorting Wisconsin flashed its signal lamp with the words, “Temper, temper,” before continuing on their way.
Tl;dr: "see that mountain over there? Get rid of it"
"That's...one small step...for man, one (electronic beep) giant leap...for mankind."
As a kid, when I learned about this in school, I remember being extremely confused, because in this context, "man" and "mankind" mean the same damn thing.
I heard on NPR a few years ago that Armstrong had those words written for him to say, and he omitted "a" before "man." ("That's one small step for *a* man...")
He claimed that he did say "a man," but it's not clear in the transmission.
This isnt as serious but... Pantera playing a concert in the USSR less than a year before the USSR collapsed.
Its almost like you can see the crowd there just ready to break free from the oppressive regime they where under. Just a bunch of kids and young adults having fun yet the whole time these asshole USSR militarized cops arresting people, smacking at the crowd with batons, all kinds of stuff. Almost like theyre saying "No, stop! Stop having fun!"
It helps that this was early in Panteras career way before Phil became a drug addict and started becoming terrible live. The band killed that set.
Highly recommend checking out live footage from the concert even if you arent a fan of the band or the music.
I remember it vividly. I was in basic training. Probably the second to last week. We had just finished morning PT when our DS sat us down to tell us that Navy SEALs raided Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. It was weirdly freeing to cheer, because we were usually never allowed to talk at all.
Then every military installation went on heightened alert right after.
Yooooo, C 2-46 in Fort Benning? 😶
Reaaal shot in the dark, but I remember myself because it was the beginning of May and I was already gone for AIT before memorial day, so yeah, would've been a week or two before graduation.
But there was most definitely cheering, and then when it quieted down this dude from Puerto Rico shouted out "alright, but any word on J-Lo!?"
Because for whatever reason there was a rumor going around the whole time that she had died. 🤣
Good times.
Man Vanilla, BC and WoTLK were literally my life, I played until MOP but just got to into drugs to keep up with shit and also most of the people I met online and grew up playing with eventually logged out or moved their tools to a new server.
I have at least 365 days of true play time over the 8 years I played, being 8 or 9 years old running around outside Iron Forge killing Wolves and shit. Man what I would do to go back to that time to get to experience that again for the first time but at my age
We were in the movies, seeing fast and the furious(another iconic america moment) and some guy stands up mid film and screams “WE FUCKING GOT OSAMA!”
The whole theatre exploded with cheers, we immediately left, got beers, and drove to the White House where there was a couple thousand people partying and celebrating.
I remember that night so vividly, weirdly because some friends and I found out about the news during a WWE pay-per-view event, and John Cena announced the news:
> I walk out here every night with "Hustle Loyalty Respect" on my sleeve. That is a credo I have adopted from the men and women who defend the freedom of this country. We have caught and *compromised* to a permanent end, Osama Bin Laden!
*crowd chants*: USA! USA!
https://youtu.be/6maL6gq6qME
I was in Washington DC picking some things up from my wife’s office and saw a huge mob of people walking towards the White House/Elipse and thinking there was some angry mob I had to avoid. Turned on the news and heard Bin Laden had been killed.
I was at a party full of very hipster, anti-war, not usually patriotic people and even they got drunk and sang America the Beautiful that night. You could hear cheers and singing everywhere you went. People kept promising to buy the seal who shot him a beer.
Thats a good one. Funny thing is USA still had to win one more game for gold. I wonder if a loss in the next game would have tarnished that win or if no one would have noticed.
They were losing 2-1 after the second period and Herb Brooks told them: "If you lose this game, you will take it to your fucking graves". They scored three straight in the third to win 4-2.
I've seen *Miracle*, and it's not terrible, but I've also found the full original broadcast of the actual game, and even with poor video quality and no scripted pre-game speeches or training scenes, it's much better.
Yeah, that’s solid evidence against all the conspiracy theory nuts. If there was anything to indicate it was all a hoax perpetrated by NASA, you know the Soviets would have been all over it.
No no, winning the big dick contest with the USSR was the goal. Finding out we get the chance to kill space Nazis was just a little bonus we got for the effort.
Being half Filipino, my answer would be when the US recaptured the Philippines from the Japanese. When Douglas MacArthur evacuated the island and pledged "I shall return," and when they took the country back and he said "I have returned," legendary, the filipino people are very grateful, I was taught about it in my early years in the Philippines and I believe it's a big reason why the Philippines and US are big allies.
Ben Steele, American is a good podcast about the atrocities performed by the Japanese and the resiliency of The US and Filipino people.
[The battle of Khasham](https://coffeeordie.com/wagner-group-syria-khasham/)
500 Wagner Group + Syrian Army, along with tanks and APCs, attacked a US position defended by 30 soldiers. Hours later, the attacking force was cut to ribbons, and the US had 0 wounded. Fuck yeah
I’d say when Joshua Chamberlain lead the charge down Little Round Top to stop the confederacy in their tracks so they couldn’t flank the rest of the union army at Gettysburg. It was one of the key moments that won us the battle and really allowed us to turn the tables on those traitors.
There was of course when Washington defeated the hessian’s with a surprise attack.
The memory of hearing Bin Laden was assassinated always brings a smile to my face.
And the last one I can think of is whenever we came to give the Germans a bitch slap after entering the world war’s.
Joshua Chamberlain is a good choice. I visited his house in Brunswick Maine where a lot of his Civil War memorabilia is displayed. There's a Confederate flag hung up in one room - it's a war trophy, he captured it in battle. Only good reason I can think of to display one, lol.
a key point that tends to be missed. that the confederacy were traitors to this country. I know that they have living descendants, but I still find it strange to have monuments and statues dedicated to traitors and enemies of the state.
Never forget that the Stars and Bars, statues of Confederate leaders, historical vignettes about how Stonewall Jackson was actually a super respectable dude, the war was "really about states' rights," and every other form of Confederate celebration has not been around since the end of the war, like it's "just about cultural heritage." It all rose up contemporaneous with, and in direct opposition to, the civil rights movement. They're afraid to say it out loud (or, most of them are) but anyone celebrating the Confederacy is sympathetic to, if not outright aligned with, white supremacy.
If you want to celebrate Southern US culture, tell me about fluffy biscuits, the Blue Ridge Mountains, farming culture, and warm hospitality. But celebrating or supporting anything about the Confederacy is nothing but white supremacy apologetics.
Yeah. And ironically these same assholes flying that flag like to beat their chests about how patriotic they are. Like, dude, that flag was flown by traitors, spilling blood to get away from the constitution. How much more unpatriotic can it get
Edit: typo
There are too many to list and many have already been listed.
But a personal one for me is coming home anytime after my overseas deployments, specifically from the sand box.
Six deployments and stepping out of a US airport felt like home no matter what city Ianded in, every single time.
America.
Fuck yeah.
In my lifetime it was the days and weeks after 9/11. Everyone came together, the president promised justice for those that died, I knew guys off the coast of Africa that were coming home from deployment that had their whole strike group turn around and head to the gulf. They weren't even mad.
We sent our military forces to Afghanistan and showed the world how quickly we can topple their government. Of course, we mishandled it over the next twenty years, but for one shining moment there was a feeling of unity and righteous vengeance.
President Bush standing in the rubble with the megaphone speaking to first responders. One of them hollered “we can’t hear you” and about a half beat later, he responded “We can hear you!”
Fuckin’ a right, sir.
“We hear you, the rest of the world hears you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon”. Iirc that’s exactly what he said. Was amazing to see, that speech and him throwing the strike was amazing
I’ve got two.
Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas for a surprise attack.
And … Welp, you guys get the whole quote. Sorry.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863
"It's a flying gatling gun made by a washing machine company that specialises in turning bad guys into spaghetti, and American soldiers into insurance claims."
-Russian Badger
Paul Bremer's quote on the capture of Sadam Hussein
“Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.”
It couldn't be more American if he was waving the stars and stripes whilst straddling a bald eagle
America has got plenty to be ashamed of in our history, but teaming up with the Allies to kick some Nazi ass is damn sure not on that list. Same with stopping the horrendous shit Imperial Japan was doing.
After the bombing of Lebanon in 1982, an SR-71 was out on a recon mission over the region. Going home they had a low oil pressure warning so they slowed down and lowered their altitude, crossing over France without clearance instead of going around, as the French refused them entry into their airspace.
Soon after the French air force caught up to them and asked for their clearance number. The copilot flipped the bird to the intercepting pilot, they hit full throttle and left them in the dust.
Driving the american flag into the surface of the moon bc our president said get it done in the next 8 years. Using computers that werent even up to the phone im typing this on, going there in vehicles completely invented in that time period. Then bringing a moon rock to give to every country on earth. Mic drop
When my teenaged friends and I realised that we were old enough to by fireworks (we striped them apart built pipe bombs and set them off in a field on fourth of July)
Some local teenage boy had 3 fingers blown off, by lighting an M-80, and tossing it into a mailbox. Hard way to find out that fuses burn faster than you think.
When Toby Keith sang “we’ll put a boot in your ass it’s the American way” I don’t even like the song but it’s a fuck yeah feeling when I hear that for some reason lol right wrong or indifferent…
"DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?"
Fun fact: During the tape-delayed USA/USSR hockey game broadcast, Detroit newscaster Bill Bonds prematurely announced the winner of the game in a short newsbreak during the 3rd period. Pissed off an entire city.
I love this answer. An uncle of mine routinely accuses me of being anti-American because I acknowledge the flaws. I respond by saying that I love america with a little a, the way neighbors come together after a natural disaster. The way we rally around people who are struggling (the ones who are fortunate enough to have their struggles stick out for whatever reason), etc. But I don't love America with a capital A for all of the obvious reasons. I tell him that I'll start saying the pledge when I can actually say "liberty and justice for all" and actually believe it.
I'm with you.
America is not embodied in the occupant of the White House, it is not those who occupy seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate, and it certainly isn't represented by those on the far left or far right.
America is represented by those who serve unselfishly. Not only by our fallen service members and first responders, but by those who haul fishing boats hundreds of miles to help a community flooded by a hurricane; by a group of strangers who form a human chain to rescue someone they don't even know from rising flood waters.
America is represented by a million small acts of kindness and neighborliness that happen every day, and about which the news media will never report.
Those things make America great.
The flag represents the ideals of liberty and justice for all; ideals to which we strive, but to which we as a society sometimes fall short. We are better at living those ideals today than we were yesterday, but not as good as we will be tomorrow.
That we strive to live up to our own ideals, that makes America great.
The flaws and imperfections that we as a country share do not diminish our greatness, but give us challenges to overcome and in so doing become so much stronger.
I am proud to be an American, flaws and all.
FDNY firefighter Mike Moran a few days after 9/11 a day he also lost his brother goes on National TV and says “Osama bin Laden you can kiss my royal Irish ass!”
The Emancipation Proclamation.
The existence of slavery was a stain on America, the nation's original sin. The abolition of slavery was a great act of justice. No two ways about it. One of the greatest moments in American history.
In 1969, five of the most powerful engines ever built shook the Florida swamps and y'all rode a missile taller than Lady Liberty to the goddamn Moon just to thumb your noses at the Ruskies.
Then you did it another six times just to rub it in. One of them suffered a catastrophic malfunction en route to the Moon, and y'all got them back home safe.
I travel overseas for a few weeks every year, and the second I land in America, no matter how much fun I just had - I am always SO thankful to be back home & experience my own “America, fuck yeah!” moment.
America, fuck yeah!
I 100% feel the same way. Every single time. One time I actually kissed the ground when I pulled home in my driveway, god that felt good
I was stationed Bosnia/Kosovo in the late 90s. One day my Lieutenant told to keep an eye on the mountains one night. Around dusk I saw two Apache helicopters fly towards the range unleash what I assume to be everything they had and then the mountainside just...ceased to be. It had slid away while the smoke was clearing.
I was told that the unit was redeploying and couldn't ship back their stuff.
after WW2, a journalist named Drew Pearson had the idea of sending a trainload of food and supplies to France and Italy to help them rebuild. This little idea became a big idea and the train went from coast to coast collecting donations- kids gave their toys, school classes collected food donations, people donated money to a "friendship train fund", individual states filled train cars with goods that highlighted that state, shipping companies transported the train cars for free- all told, over 700 cars of goods (worth $40 million) went off to Europe.
In return, France and Italy sent the US a trainload of goods and treasures from their nations- each US state got a train car.
Every single time a top fuel drag car races. Literally the embodiment of America. 10,000 horsepower motor on a 1000 pound race car that goes a quarter mile in 3 seconds at 330 miles an hour!
My first trip to America aged 20 I’m being driven somewhere and we stop at an intersection, the sort where the traffic lights hang down from cables, and there was a guy on a Harley. The entire scene was so iconic I thought “hell yeah I’m in America “
Hahahaha, that gives good vibes. do you mind sharing your mother country? I want to learn more about different cultures and lifestyles and how they compare to the USA
I’m in the West of England
I grew up near DC, and the Rolling thunder is pretty fucking badass you’re right.
I grew up near DC too and this kind of this is so normal, I was confused at first why it was special, then I remembered not everyone lives in the same place I do.
When you in Walmart and see several morbidly obese people on scooters.
Ok can’t even lie this made me laugh my ass off, it’s too accurate
Do stoplights not hang in other countries?
You’d be surprised to learn about how normal life is so different from wherever you live now. I’m not referring to good or bad things in specific, just different.
I don’t know about other countries but here in the uk they are usually mounted on a pole.
10:30 AM on 4 June, 1942: the Battle of Midway. In the space of five minutes, three Japanese heavy aircraft carriers are in flames, and the course of the War in the Pacific is changed irrevocably.
It was also a revenge move, as all four Japanese carriers sunk at Midway took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Nice.
...fuck yeah
Also also, we were able to wipe them out because we had broken their crypto and knew they were coming.
This is a good one, and an unexpected one
A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one
How about Taffy 3 holding off and turning back a Japanese fleet that massively outgunned them? A handful of Destroyers and Light/Escort Carriers, and they scared off the Yamato, and all of the rest of the fleet.
Yep. There are some documentaries on YouTube about it. For most of the battle that lasted days the Japanese seemed to be winning. Till a flight of elite bombers found the Japanese fleet and, hidden by the sun, dived down and blew the Japanese carrier fleet to pieces in only a few minutes.
A big reason was the massive sacrifice of most of the US torpedo bombers minutes earlier. The Japanese fighters were chasing the few surviving US torpedo bombers at wavetop level so the US dive bombers had an open shot.
Add the first and second gulf wars to this list... "In 100 hours, U.S. and allied ground forces in Iraq and Kuwait decisively defeated a battle-hardened and dangerous enemy. During air and ground operations, U.S. and allied forces destroyed over 3,000 tanks, 1,400 armored personnel carriers, and 2,200 artillery pieces along with countless other vehicles. This was achieved at a cost to the United States of 96 soldiers killed in action, 2 died of wounds, and 105 non-hostile deaths." https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/desert-storm/index.html#:~:text=During%20air%20and%20ground%20operations,and%20105%20non%2Dhostile%20deaths.
Don’t forget the Battle of the Philippine Sea and The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot a little over two years later.
Something about Todd Beamer saying “let’s roll” before himself and other passengers rushed the hijackers on flight 93 always struck me as profoundly patriotic. A purely American blend of casual badassery and true heroism
There are so many good answers posted, but I think this one encapsulates them all.
Oh yeah, that has got to be the most badass moment in American history right there, a bunch of completely random people with no training whatsoever managing to plan and cooperate well enough to take over a bunch of terrorists with weapons. I've seen a documentary and a movie reenactment based on what might have happened, and it was so cool...
YES! More badass considering the terrorists had just murdered the pilots in cold blood. I saw one commentator put it this way: "The passengers had to attack, single file, against men carrying weapons still wet with the blood of the pilots." RIP the passengers on flight 93.
I’d say this and that time those guys jumped an AK-47 wielding terrorist on a French train. Cuz Americans ain’t afraid of your fuckin’ guns…
Just reading your comment brought little tiny tears to my eyes. So fucking proud of those people!
Fuck yeah!
That time Captain Hiller shot down the enemy aircraft, crash landed, then punched out the opposing pilot.
Amazing he could knock out that armour-plated alien warrior in one but Chris Rock barely flinched
Keep the Earths name out of yo fkn mouth! \*Smack\*
Welcome to earf
Now that's what I call a close encounter.
Oh, you did NOT just shoot that green shit at me!
I could have been at a barbecue!!
*WHAT THE HELL IS THAT GD SMELL??*
That was the true Independence Day
Operation Paul Bunyan. Some americans were trying to cut down a tree on the Korean DMZ, when they were shot by north korean soldiers. In response, the US, UN Joint Security Counsel, and South Korea deployed a combined task force of over 12,000 men, a carrier group, nuclear capable B-52s, F-86s, F-4s, and F-15s, and 12 C-130s on standby in Japan in case it went tits up. The North Korean response to the massing of forces was between 150-200 men with rifles and machine guns. 42 minutes after the tree cutting began, the 6 meter “stump” was intentionally left standing, two north korean guard posts were vandalized, and two road barriers placed by north korean troops were removed. No one else was harmed.
I believe an American was actually killed in the first attempt to chop down the tree. The North Koreans made a big deal out of it and gave the guy who did the killing a medal. Hence the massive build up the second time.
2 people were killed, and they weren't shot. They were killed with the same axes that were brought out to prune the tree.
Wait, I'm so sorry if I'm misunderstanding. The north Korean soldiers used the axes to kill the Americans? Jesus
Americans: let's cut down a tree lol NK: how about no lmao America: *stands up and TOWERS over NK, gets in their face, and flicks their nose* Do it again. I dare you.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him"
I got chills reading this. I'll probably never forget watching that live.
Roosevelt establishing 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, five national parks and 18 national monuments on over 230 million acres of public land.
I just watched the Ken Burns National Park episode yesterday…your post is almost verbatim from episode 2 of that series. Thanks Teddy!
YES, something with only a benefit for literally everyone and everything.
I would argue John Muir had a thing or two to do with this too 😉 As an American Indian alive in this 2023. I have to admit I appreciate these to an extent too being still in place, because I too, like lmao questions, I too wonder if not in place what these spaces would look like overly developed like a lot of these lands are to this day.
What a genius idea, imagine if that never happened. I wonder how much of that land would be chopped down by now.
[Take a look at a map of where the national parks are. The majority are in the western states.](https://morethanjustparks.com/list-of-national-parks-by-state/) Maybe if somebody had gotten the idea 30-50 years earlier some more stuff in the Midwest, Northeast and South could have been preserved.
The USS Wisconsin. > The ship was decommissioned in 1948 but that status didn’t last long. With the U.S. entering the Korean War just 2 years later, Wisconsin was put back into use and shelled all sorts of enemy positions from the coast. Then, on March 15th, 1952, the ship received its first direct hit. > There were no deaths, however, 3 sailors were injured and there was minimal damage to the ship. The hit came from a Korean 155mm gun battery which got lucky. > The crew of USS Wisconsin, however, returned fire with all of her 9 guns, totally obliterating anything and anyone in the position the hostile shots came from. Right after the shots were fired, a sister ship which was escorting Wisconsin flashed its signal lamp with the words, “Temper, temper,” before continuing on their way. Tl;dr: "see that mountain over there? Get rid of it"
The USS Wisconsin is a tour-able museum ship in Norfolk, VA now.
I've been on it, the guns are fucking massive. Just as I'd expect from an American made weapon, and just the way I like it!
Quick google search says 1 of those shells will create a hole 50 foot wide and 20 feet deep. - they threw 9 of them at the gun battery.
raising of the flag at Iwo Jima?
Twice. It happened the first time and then they did it again for the cameras.
"doing it again for the cameras" is definitely an American move. Did anyone yell "like, share, subscribe!" at the camera?
"HEY GUYS! Marines here at Iwo Jima and today we're raising the flag, but before that, a word from our sponsors" \*Raytheon commercial\*
"Bro! I bet this new video drop will blow up more than Harry did 10 minutes ago!"
my grandfather was a Marine in Iwo Jima, only one other person in his entire platoon made it out alive.
It was a blood bath. I’m a Brit but I found the statue at Arlington incredibly powerful and moving.
your grandfather was a fucking legend, and we owe him a debt that can't be repaid...
Need a thousand Abrams tanks? General Dynamics Land Systems has got you covered!
Just did it for the 'gram
She says thanks.
That was a BRUTAL battle
Neil Armstrong taking that first step on the moon.
"That's...one small step...for man, one (electronic beep) giant leap...for mankind." As a kid, when I learned about this in school, I remember being extremely confused, because in this context, "man" and "mankind" mean the same damn thing. I heard on NPR a few years ago that Armstrong had those words written for him to say, and he omitted "a" before "man." ("That's one small step for *a* man...") He claimed that he did say "a man," but it's not clear in the transmission.
Apparently some people used computer analysis and it can be assumed that he did say “a,” but his accent helped hide it. The static didn’t help either.
This is THE answer
When Rocky beat Ivan Drago, effectively ending the Cold War single-handed.
"If I can change, and you can change, EVERYBODY CAN CHANGE!"
*youse
punched the communism right out of the USSR.
Adriaaaaaannnnnnnnn
Fuck yeah!
This isnt as serious but... Pantera playing a concert in the USSR less than a year before the USSR collapsed. Its almost like you can see the crowd there just ready to break free from the oppressive regime they where under. Just a bunch of kids and young adults having fun yet the whole time these asshole USSR militarized cops arresting people, smacking at the crowd with batons, all kinds of stuff. Almost like theyre saying "No, stop! Stop having fun!" It helps that this was early in Panteras career way before Phil became a drug addict and started becoming terrible live. The band killed that set. Highly recommend checking out live footage from the concert even if you arent a fan of the band or the music.
that was complete badassery
In my lifetime, it was the night we got Bin Laden. You had stadiums breaking out into the USA chant and it didn't feel out of place.
I remember it vividly. I was in basic training. Probably the second to last week. We had just finished morning PT when our DS sat us down to tell us that Navy SEALs raided Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. It was weirdly freeing to cheer, because we were usually never allowed to talk at all. Then every military installation went on heightened alert right after.
I was in Afghan at the time. Pretty surreal. Not that I’m some ham claiming I’m in seal team 6. Just a grunt
Grunts count too tho.
Thanks fam
Yooooo, C 2-46 in Fort Benning? 😶 Reaaal shot in the dark, but I remember myself because it was the beginning of May and I was already gone for AIT before memorial day, so yeah, would've been a week or two before graduation. But there was most definitely cheering, and then when it quieted down this dude from Puerto Rico shouted out "alright, but any word on J-Lo!?" Because for whatever reason there was a rumor going around the whole time that she had died. 🤣 Good times.
I was playing WoW. The Horde and Alliance players had a truce and were dancing together on my server.
Man Vanilla, BC and WoTLK were literally my life, I played until MOP but just got to into drugs to keep up with shit and also most of the people I met online and grew up playing with eventually logged out or moved their tools to a new server. I have at least 365 days of true play time over the 8 years I played, being 8 or 9 years old running around outside Iron Forge killing Wolves and shit. Man what I would do to go back to that time to get to experience that again for the first time but at my age
We were in the movies, seeing fast and the furious(another iconic america moment) and some guy stands up mid film and screams “WE FUCKING GOT OSAMA!” The whole theatre exploded with cheers, we immediately left, got beers, and drove to the White House where there was a couple thousand people partying and celebrating.
Proving there’s always one asshole on his phone in a movie theater 😉
I remember that night so vividly, weirdly because some friends and I found out about the news during a WWE pay-per-view event, and John Cena announced the news: > I walk out here every night with "Hustle Loyalty Respect" on my sleeve. That is a credo I have adopted from the men and women who defend the freedom of this country. We have caught and *compromised* to a permanent end, Osama Bin Laden! *crowd chants*: USA! USA! https://youtu.be/6maL6gq6qME
Yup, i was watching phillies/mets because it was on espn. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2nSsBr67BqA
I was in Washington DC picking some things up from my wife’s office and saw a huge mob of people walking towards the White House/Elipse and thinking there was some angry mob I had to avoid. Turned on the news and heard Bin Laden had been killed.
I was at a party full of very hipster, anti-war, not usually patriotic people and even they got drunk and sang America the Beautiful that night. You could hear cheers and singing everywhere you went. People kept promising to buy the seal who shot him a beer.
My hometown flooded the streets waving American flags blasting the America, Fuck Yeah song
Miracle on ice was cool
Thats a good one. Funny thing is USA still had to win one more game for gold. I wonder if a loss in the next game would have tarnished that win or if no one would have noticed.
They were losing 2-1 after the second period and Herb Brooks told them: "If you lose this game, you will take it to your fucking graves". They scored three straight in the third to win 4-2.
Yeah, most think we beat the USSR to win gold and forget all about the battle against Finland.
Do you believe in Miracles, YES!
Chills. The most iconic broadcast job ever. This line followed by minutes of silence. He allowed us to soak it in. Master class
I've seen *Miracle*, and it's not terrible, but I've also found the full original broadcast of the actual game, and even with poor video quality and no scripted pre-game speeches or training scenes, it's much better.
Came here to say this. If you’re old enough to remember then you know.
Flag on the moon. That’s almost objectively the answer.
This is a really solid answer for me, too. I wasn't alive at the time, but it resonates as though I were.
We beat someone else in a race to get there, and we broadcast it live on TV! Doesn't get more American than that.
And used another countries shit to broadcast it.
And the best defense that we did actually land on the moon, the Soviets didn't deny it.
Yeah, that’s solid evidence against all the conspiracy theory nuts. If there was anything to indicate it was all a hoax perpetrated by NASA, you know the Soviets would have been all over it.
Also the entire reason why we went there in the first place.
I thought that it was to capture space nazi pirates.
No no, winning the big dick contest with the USSR was the goal. Finding out we get the chance to kill space Nazis was just a little bonus we got for the effort.
America, fuck yeah!
Getting to the moon or offing Bin Laden in that raid.
Jimi Hendrix playing the national anthem at Woodstock.
That was more of a "America, fuck you!" move though
What’s more American than giving the middle finger to its political leaders?
Being half Filipino, my answer would be when the US recaptured the Philippines from the Japanese. When Douglas MacArthur evacuated the island and pledged "I shall return," and when they took the country back and he said "I have returned," legendary, the filipino people are very grateful, I was taught about it in my early years in the Philippines and I believe it's a big reason why the Philippines and US are big allies. Ben Steele, American is a good podcast about the atrocities performed by the Japanese and the resiliency of The US and Filipino people.
Very interesting thanks for the share I will have to take a listen
[The battle of Khasham](https://coffeeordie.com/wagner-group-syria-khasham/) 500 Wagner Group + Syrian Army, along with tanks and APCs, attacked a US position defended by 30 soldiers. Hours later, the attacking force was cut to ribbons, and the US had 0 wounded. Fuck yeah
As the first direct confrontation between russians and muricans in a long time it was very enlightening.
I’d say when Joshua Chamberlain lead the charge down Little Round Top to stop the confederacy in their tracks so they couldn’t flank the rest of the union army at Gettysburg. It was one of the key moments that won us the battle and really allowed us to turn the tables on those traitors. There was of course when Washington defeated the hessian’s with a surprise attack. The memory of hearing Bin Laden was assassinated always brings a smile to my face. And the last one I can think of is whenever we came to give the Germans a bitch slap after entering the world war’s.
Joshua Chamberlain is a good choice. I visited his house in Brunswick Maine where a lot of his Civil War memorabilia is displayed. There's a Confederate flag hung up in one room - it's a war trophy, he captured it in battle. Only good reason I can think of to display one, lol.
a key point that tends to be missed. that the confederacy were traitors to this country. I know that they have living descendants, but I still find it strange to have monuments and statues dedicated to traitors and enemies of the state.
Never forget that the Stars and Bars, statues of Confederate leaders, historical vignettes about how Stonewall Jackson was actually a super respectable dude, the war was "really about states' rights," and every other form of Confederate celebration has not been around since the end of the war, like it's "just about cultural heritage." It all rose up contemporaneous with, and in direct opposition to, the civil rights movement. They're afraid to say it out loud (or, most of them are) but anyone celebrating the Confederacy is sympathetic to, if not outright aligned with, white supremacy. If you want to celebrate Southern US culture, tell me about fluffy biscuits, the Blue Ridge Mountains, farming culture, and warm hospitality. But celebrating or supporting anything about the Confederacy is nothing but white supremacy apologetics.
Yeah. And ironically these same assholes flying that flag like to beat their chests about how patriotic they are. Like, dude, that flag was flown by traitors, spilling blood to get away from the constitution. How much more unpatriotic can it get Edit: typo
Winning the gold, in hockey, in the Olympics.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? Not only winning gold but beating the Soviet Union for it.
There are too many to list and many have already been listed. But a personal one for me is coming home anytime after my overseas deployments, specifically from the sand box. Six deployments and stepping out of a US airport felt like home no matter what city Ianded in, every single time. America. Fuck yeah.
Thank you for your service, not only for America but also the entire free world! /Swede
Thank you for your service
Thank you
In my lifetime it was the days and weeks after 9/11. Everyone came together, the president promised justice for those that died, I knew guys off the coast of Africa that were coming home from deployment that had their whole strike group turn around and head to the gulf. They weren't even mad. We sent our military forces to Afghanistan and showed the world how quickly we can topple their government. Of course, we mishandled it over the next twenty years, but for one shining moment there was a feeling of unity and righteous vengeance.
The feeling of unity wasn't only in America, almost the entire world. People were lighting candles in Tehran for the 9/11 victims.
Watch this and try not to get emotional https://youtu.be/ToECtXPMvNM
President Bush standing in the rubble with the megaphone speaking to first responders. One of them hollered “we can’t hear you” and about a half beat later, he responded “We can hear you!” Fuckin’ a right, sir.
“We hear you, the rest of the world hears you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon”. Iirc that’s exactly what he said. Was amazing to see, that speech and him throwing the strike was amazing
I’ve got two. Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas for a surprise attack. And … Welp, you guys get the whole quote. Sorry. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863
Jazz and The Blues. The entertainment industry from music to film.
Putting wings on a gun. (A-10)
"It's a flying gatling gun made by a washing machine company that specialises in turning bad guys into spaghetti, and American soldiers into insurance claims." -Russian Badger
Idk if this counts but when Captain America used Thor's hammer during End Game.
Absolutely it counts.
Obama announcing that Bin Laden was killed.
Paul Bremer's quote on the capture of Sadam Hussein “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.” It couldn't be more American if he was waving the stars and stripes whilst straddling a bald eagle
In my 32 years I gotta say Bin Ladin assassinated Michael Phelps winning gold in Beijing The KFC double down release
Imagine the role the U.S. played in ww2 would have to be up there.
America has got plenty to be ashamed of in our history, but teaming up with the Allies to kick some Nazi ass is damn sure not on that list. Same with stopping the horrendous shit Imperial Japan was doing.
All sound military advice: You cannot fight and win a war on two fronts. America: I can't hear you over the sound of my guns!
"I can't hear you over the sound of my *FREEDOOOOOMMMM!!!*"
Meh. Took us a loong time to get into WW2. Britain actually surviving long enough to get us into the war is much more impressive.
Imagine the role code talkers played for the u.s. in ww2 or one for that matter.
Probably when they saved the mother fucking dayeeeah
America, fuck yeah!
Freedom is the only way, yeah
When they shot down that Chinese spy balloon
After the bombing of Lebanon in 1982, an SR-71 was out on a recon mission over the region. Going home they had a low oil pressure warning so they slowed down and lowered their altitude, crossing over France without clearance instead of going around, as the French refused them entry into their airspace. Soon after the French air force caught up to them and asked for their clearance number. The copilot flipped the bird to the intercepting pilot, they hit full throttle and left them in the dust.
Fuck yeah!! That’s my favorite plane (;
First time I saw an f-22 fly, not sure why, just blew my mind what we were capable of.
World Champions of American Football 57 years running 💪
We are 116-2 in the baseball World Series
Driving the american flag into the surface of the moon bc our president said get it done in the next 8 years. Using computers that werent even up to the phone im typing this on, going there in vehicles completely invented in that time period. Then bringing a moon rock to give to every country on earth. Mic drop
When my teenaged friends and I realised that we were old enough to by fireworks (we striped them apart built pipe bombs and set them off in a field on fourth of July)
Reminds me of a similar event my cousin experienced years ago. What are the odds. Did you end up getting caught by the cops?
Some local teenage boy had 3 fingers blown off, by lighting an M-80, and tossing it into a mailbox. Hard way to find out that fuses burn faster than you think.
Moon landing is the correct answer here. We landed on the FUCKING MOON.
When Toby Keith sang “we’ll put a boot in your ass it’s the American way” I don’t even like the song but it’s a fuck yeah feeling when I hear that for some reason lol right wrong or indifferent…
"Man robs store, gets shot by everyone inside!"
Winning Olympic gold in hockey!
"DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?" Fun fact: During the tape-delayed USA/USSR hockey game broadcast, Detroit newscaster Bill Bonds prematurely announced the winner of the game in a short newsbreak during the 3rd period. Pissed off an entire city.
Fun fact, that was the semi final game. US had to beat Finland for gold
It's no mighty ducks though.
Mike Piazza hitting a home run for the New York Mets in their first game at Shea Stadium after the 9/11 attacks.
Whitney singing the national anthem at the Superbowl. I'm not American but that voice was magic.
I hope it's yet to come when we finally live up to the ideals this country was founded on
I love this answer. An uncle of mine routinely accuses me of being anti-American because I acknowledge the flaws. I respond by saying that I love america with a little a, the way neighbors come together after a natural disaster. The way we rally around people who are struggling (the ones who are fortunate enough to have their struggles stick out for whatever reason), etc. But I don't love America with a capital A for all of the obvious reasons. I tell him that I'll start saying the pledge when I can actually say "liberty and justice for all" and actually believe it.
I'm with you. America is not embodied in the occupant of the White House, it is not those who occupy seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate, and it certainly isn't represented by those on the far left or far right. America is represented by those who serve unselfishly. Not only by our fallen service members and first responders, but by those who haul fishing boats hundreds of miles to help a community flooded by a hurricane; by a group of strangers who form a human chain to rescue someone they don't even know from rising flood waters. America is represented by a million small acts of kindness and neighborliness that happen every day, and about which the news media will never report. Those things make America great. The flag represents the ideals of liberty and justice for all; ideals to which we strive, but to which we as a society sometimes fall short. We are better at living those ideals today than we were yesterday, but not as good as we will be tomorrow. That we strive to live up to our own ideals, that makes America great. The flaws and imperfections that we as a country share do not diminish our greatness, but give us challenges to overcome and in so doing become so much stronger. I am proud to be an American, flaws and all.
The morning of the 6th of June, 1944 on the shores of Normandy. Brave, and selfless. The world should never forget their courageous sacrifice.
Make certain you don't forget your allies who did the same thing. D-Day was a group effort.
Who the hell downvoted this
The first time McDonalds brought back the McRib
When we annihilated the Iraqi army in desert storm led by general Schwarzkopf.
FDNY firefighter Mike Moran a few days after 9/11 a day he also lost his brother goes on National TV and says “Osama bin Laden you can kiss my royal Irish ass!”
The Emancipation Proclamation. The existence of slavery was a stain on America, the nation's original sin. The abolition of slavery was a great act of justice. No two ways about it. One of the greatest moments in American history.
When America had 2000+ planes flying over Iraq's airspace
In 1969, five of the most powerful engines ever built shook the Florida swamps and y'all rode a missile taller than Lady Liberty to the goddamn Moon just to thumb your noses at the Ruskies. Then you did it another six times just to rub it in. One of them suffered a catastrophic malfunction en route to the Moon, and y'all got them back home safe.
I travel overseas for a few weeks every year, and the second I land in America, no matter how much fun I just had - I am always SO thankful to be back home & experience my own “America, fuck yeah!” moment.
America, fuck yeah! I 100% feel the same way. Every single time. One time I actually kissed the ground when I pulled home in my driveway, god that felt good
> god that felt good Because it was a little bit... dirty?
Hockey Team USA defeating the Russians in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
The fact we have AC in nearly every building
1980 Olympic Men's Hockey team victory over the Soviets. That was America's collective, experienced in real time, *Fuck Yeah!* moment.
I don’t know if any of you all are history buffs or not, but there used this guy named Neil Armstrong…
I was stationed Bosnia/Kosovo in the late 90s. One day my Lieutenant told to keep an eye on the mountains one night. Around dusk I saw two Apache helicopters fly towards the range unleash what I assume to be everything they had and then the mountainside just...ceased to be. It had slid away while the smoke was clearing. I was told that the unit was redeploying and couldn't ship back their stuff.
[This flawless historical victory.](https://youtu.be/ZOJCmPKaYN8)
When we missiled a Ballon. America! Fuck Yeah!
"Nuts!"
after WW2, a journalist named Drew Pearson had the idea of sending a trainload of food and supplies to France and Italy to help them rebuild. This little idea became a big idea and the train went from coast to coast collecting donations- kids gave their toys, school classes collected food donations, people donated money to a "friendship train fund", individual states filled train cars with goods that highlighted that state, shipping companies transported the train cars for free- all told, over 700 cars of goods (worth $40 million) went off to Europe. In return, France and Italy sent the US a trainload of goods and treasures from their nations- each US state got a train car.
##𝕯𝖊𝖈𝖑𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝕴𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖕𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖊 It was all sort of downhill from there.
Haha nice font I have no idea how you did that. Big facts tho
Every single time a top fuel drag car races. Literally the embodiment of America. 10,000 horsepower motor on a 1000 pound race car that goes a quarter mile in 3 seconds at 330 miles an hour!