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re: If you had to fight in WW2- Europe or Pacific
Posted on 4/7/20 at 3:20 pm to WillyLoman
Posted on 4/7/20 at 3:20 pm to WillyLoman
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.
On the question overall I feel like it really depended on what unit you were in more than what front you fought in. 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.
does anyone have any relatives that weren't in the US military? There was a girl in law school from Germany whose grandfather had lost a leg at Stalingrad. He always told her it was the best thing that ever happened to him, to give you an idea of the level of suffering they were going through. Obviously they weren't on our side but I always thought hearing stories from them and the others in the east were really interesting.
On the question overall I feel like it really depended on what unit you were in more than what front you fought in. 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.
does anyone have any relatives that weren't in the US military? There was a girl in law school from Germany whose grandfather had lost a leg at Stalingrad. He always told her it was the best thing that ever happened to him, to give you an idea of the level of suffering they were going through. Obviously they weren't on our side but I always thought hearing stories from them and the others in the east were really interesting.
3
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 3:32 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.
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