- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: If you had to fight in WW2- Europe or Pacific
Posted on 4/7/20 at 3:21 pm to Spaceman Spiff
Posted on 4/7/20 at 3:21 pm to Spaceman Spiff
quote:
Give me the pacific theater any day over the ETO
You'd get the Aleutians baw
Posted on 4/7/20 at 3:25 pm to mattfromnj
quote:
There were instances of Germans killing POWs too. The most notorious being the Canadians in Normandy and then a US unit in the Ardennes during Battle of the Bulge.
From my reading the act of surrendering/being captured was extremely dangerous, and you weren't guaranteed to survive it. Obviously worse in the Pacific, but that went for any side, anywhere. Once you got away from the front line, even if by just a few hundred yards, and into the custody of troops that hadn't been in close combat minutes before, your chances of living through captivity went up immensely.
Posted on 4/7/20 at 3:29 pm to MileHigh_Tiger
quote:
ate NY was cold that went deep i
Note imaging that 24/7 and getting shot at. Logistics in the PTO were a hell of a lot better, too
Posted on 4/7/20 at 3:30 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
u'd get the Aleutians baw
That’s my luck lol
Posted on 4/7/20 at 3:31 pm to bott18240
Europe because of the mosquitos
Posted on 4/7/20 at 3:32 pm to mattfromnj
quote:
On the question overall I feel like it really depended on what unit you were in more than what front you fought in.
I already mentioned my one grandad who ended up a prisoner in the Pacific, but this was so true for my other grandad who was also in the Pacific. His unit was stationed on some island off the coast of New Zealand, and their only job was to protect a radio tower. He said most of his experience in the Pacific was shooting wild pigs and cooking them on the beach
Posted on 4/7/20 at 3:34 pm to mattfromnj
quote:
The idea that a guy who was an infantryman at the Hurtgen Forest was somehow better off than a guy in the Pacific makes no sense. The fronts were both terrible it was just a matter of what unit you were in and what your job was.
I think every Grunt that gets to see combat whether it is present day deployments to Vietnam to Korea/WW II can attest that combat fricking sucks. However, seeing what the Marines had to endure in the Pacific theater gives a completely new meaning to the word terrible.
Posted on 4/7/20 at 4:21 pm to MWP
Most people know combat from what they’ve read and the videos they’ve seen. That’s a given. They learn about it from multiple viewpoints and hindsight.
But combat — no matter how many hundreds or thousands are engaged — is a very personal thing. There is only your viewpoint when you are engaged and you only know what you are seeing, hearing and feeling.
Kind of like a first-person shooter game but without the pain, fear, exhaustion or real consequences.
Thus combat is combat. The main variables are intensity, length of engagement, weather and terrain.
It is such a personal horror. I know — wounded twice in Vietnam as a Marine.
But combat — no matter how many hundreds or thousands are engaged — is a very personal thing. There is only your viewpoint when you are engaged and you only know what you are seeing, hearing and feeling.
Kind of like a first-person shooter game but without the pain, fear, exhaustion or real consequences.
Thus combat is combat. The main variables are intensity, length of engagement, weather and terrain.
It is such a personal horror. I know — wounded twice in Vietnam as a Marine.
Posted on 4/7/20 at 4:38 pm to MDB
My post above relates to combat as the actual act of fighting in the moment — the shooting, toil of maneuvering, worries about death, tactical decisions, etc.
Many of you are referring to combat environment and the act of living day-to-day and the stresses of the unknown and the demeanor of the enemy.
Vietnam was a horrible jungle environment, hot, wet, bugs, disease ridden, stressful with no front per se and always in harm’s way.
But the frigidity of Korea, the Russian Front, the Ardennes, etc. where surviving the elements alone was paramount, were just as horrendous.
And I would think a nice, warm summer’s day in picturesque Gettysburg would be just as nasty to the combatants.
Many of you are referring to combat environment and the act of living day-to-day and the stresses of the unknown and the demeanor of the enemy.
Vietnam was a horrible jungle environment, hot, wet, bugs, disease ridden, stressful with no front per se and always in harm’s way.
But the frigidity of Korea, the Russian Front, the Ardennes, etc. where surviving the elements alone was paramount, were just as horrendous.
And I would think a nice, warm summer’s day in picturesque Gettysburg would be just as nasty to the combatants.
Posted on 4/7/20 at 5:13 pm to MDB
quote:
wounded twice in Vietnam as a Marine.
Thank you for your service, sir. My uncle was a FO in the Army in Vietnam. Wounded at Dak To in ‘67 and was also awarded the Bronze Star and Medal of Valor.
Posted on 4/7/20 at 8:24 pm to Spaceman Spiff
Europe any day.
My father was a Marine in the Pacific Theater. The only information I was ever able to get out of him involving the war was that he once saw a shark while at New Caledonia. Pretty much the only subject he would refuse to talk about.
More reasons why I would choose Europe.
1. You had underground resistance movements in Europe. No one in the history of Hollywood was ever cast in a role as a member of the Guadalcanal Resistance.
2. No typhoons you had to ride out stuck on a giant boat with nothing but 500 miles of water around you in Europe.
3. To the best of my knowledge no one fighting in Europe was ever eaten by a shark.
4. I was an average swimmer in my youth when the only thing strapped to me were my swim trunks. I'm not really interested in anything that results in me being surrounded by water that is over my head.
My father was a Marine in the Pacific Theater. The only information I was ever able to get out of him involving the war was that he once saw a shark while at New Caledonia. Pretty much the only subject he would refuse to talk about.
More reasons why I would choose Europe.
1. You had underground resistance movements in Europe. No one in the history of Hollywood was ever cast in a role as a member of the Guadalcanal Resistance.
2. No typhoons you had to ride out stuck on a giant boat with nothing but 500 miles of water around you in Europe.
3. To the best of my knowledge no one fighting in Europe was ever eaten by a shark.
4. I was an average swimmer in my youth when the only thing strapped to me were my swim trunks. I'm not really interested in anything that results in me being surrounded by water that is over my head.
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News