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re: If you had to fight in WW2- Europe or Pacific

Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:47 pm to
Posted by ItTakesAThief
Scottsdale, Arizona
Member since Dec 2009
9200 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:47 pm to
Europe. They had women and booze around.
Posted by islandtiger
Baton Rouge
Member since Sep 2012
1787 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:47 pm to
Father-in-law was give a choice of piloting bombers in Europe or dive bombers in the Pacific. He opted for the Pacific because he had more control over the mission. Shot up a few times, but never shot down. He was actually GHW Bush's flight commander and always noted that "George was shot down twice, but I managed to avoid even once." One of the best men I have ever known. We do have a great photo of him piloting his plane after a successful bombing raid with burning oil tanks in the background (taken from another plane in his group). Too lazy to figure out how to post a photo.
Posted by TigerstuckinMS
Member since Nov 2005
33687 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:47 pm to
quote:

depends on which beach you hit. Sounds like your granddad landed on Omaha which was a slaughter at first. But Utah was not nearly as rough. Comparatively speaking, of course

Also on which wave you were in. First wave at Omaha was horrific. Last wave not nearly as bad. Don't get me wrong. Bad, but not as bad.
This post was edited on 4/4/20 at 8:49 pm
Posted by TigerFanInSouthland
Louisiana
Member since Aug 2012
28065 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:55 pm to
quote:

I’m a big history buff about WW2.


Obviously not if you start a thread like this.
Posted by MileHigh_Tiger
The penalty box
Member since Mar 2020
179 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 9:01 pm to
quote:

Fight for US against Japan

Or

Fight for Soviets against Germany
That's actually a really tough question, but I would have to go with US against Japan.

The US (comparatively) had better tactics and would find the best way to win. The Russians just had bodies they could throw at a war of attrition. They (Russian high command) couldn't give less of a shite about their front-line troops.
Posted by tide06
Member since Oct 2011
11186 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 9:03 pm to
Infantry, submarines, fighters and bomber command were all in a world of shite regardless of theater.

Look up casualty rates for those segments and you will find your odds of walking away unscathed physically were low.

To answer your question I would say it’s more about role than theater, but comparing infantry alone I guess I would rather go Europe due to associated disease and conditions.
Posted by AUstar
Member since Dec 2012
17034 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 9:09 pm to
quote:

Sounds like your granddad landed on Omaha which was a slaughter at first


I never asked which beach. I know he was 2nd wave, so he probably didn't have it as rough as 1st wave. Most of the stories I heard were from my dad anyway (Granddad wasn't real sociable, and when he was, he didn't usually talk about the war).

I have his bronze medal citations. He got 2. One for killing a German sniper that had his squad pinned down. And another for running into line of fire and carrying a wounded soldier out.
Posted by Volvagia
Fort Worth
Member since Mar 2006
51907 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 9:15 pm to
quote:

The Wermacht adhered to the Geneva Convention when it came to the treatment of POWs, administration of medical help, and the fact that the troops themselves were civilized.


You’d think with that time machine they could have easily won the war
Posted by Jim Rockford
Member since May 2011
98188 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 9:15 pm to
1 Do well on the WWII version of the ASVAB
2 Be assigned some specialist job with a long period of stateside training
3 Wait for war to be over
This post was edited on 4/4/20 at 9:16 pm
Posted by FightinTigersDammit
Louisiana North
Member since Mar 2006
34673 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 9:29 pm to
quote:

1 Do well on the WWII version of the ASVAB
2 Be assigned some specialist job with a long period of stateside training
3 Wait for war to be over

If you could type, you'd probably a clerk and avoid anything resembling combat.
Posted by HeadSlash
TEAM LIVE BADASS - St. GEORGE
Member since Aug 2006
49671 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 10:06 pm to
European theatre. Specifically Sicily and Italy. Famiglia
Posted by cable
Member since Oct 2018
9646 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 10:07 pm to
Europe - how is this even a question?
Posted by red sox fan 13
Valley Park
Member since Aug 2018
15350 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 10:13 pm to
As an American? Europe all day everyday. The Western European Front was far more civilized compared to the Eastern and Pacific fronts minus the carpet bombing. Hitler saw white Americans, British and French only a little under the Aryan race, so they didn’t treat us harshly by German standards.

My grandfather fought the Japs in the pacific. He survived the Bataan Death March and was a POW for a while after that. He never forgave the Japs, when he was in the hospital late in his life an Asian nurse came in and he lost his shite. That’s effed up. I had another one who chocked a German soldier to death and I thought that was badass.
This post was edited on 4/4/20 at 10:17 pm
Posted by Reservoir dawg
Member since Oct 2013
14104 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 10:21 pm to
In the air - Pacific

On the land - Europe

On the sea - Mediterranean
Posted by ZULU
Member since Sep 2009
1003 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 10:25 pm to
Pacific!!!!
Japs eat those bats too!!!!
Posted by White Roach
Member since Apr 2009
9457 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 10:31 pm to
I remember him and miss him. He hasn't posted in a couple of years and I have to assume he has passed away.

Not to split hairs, because one was in February and the other in April, but wasn't it Okinawa? I seem to remember him being involved with the Okinawa invasion because of the waves of kamikazes, but could be wrong.
Posted by MileHigh_Tiger
The penalty box
Member since Mar 2020
179 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 10:40 pm to
quote:

Not to split hairs, because one was in February and the other in April, but wasn't it Okinawa? I seem to remember him being involved with the Okinawa invasion because of the waves of kamikazes, but could be wrong.

Although kamikaze attacks occurred in both operations against support vessels, it was much more prominent at Okinawa.

Iwo Jima had 318 casualties attributed to Kamikaze, while Okinawa was staggering. 36 ships sunk, almost 5,000 men killed as a direct result of Kamikaze attacks.
This post was edited on 4/4/20 at 10:41 pm
Posted by PrimeTime Money
Houston, Texas, USA
Member since Nov 2012
27305 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 10:58 pm to
Obviously Europe. It would have been preferable to be in Western Europe liberating Western Europeans from Nazi occupation than the brutal island-hopping campaign fighting crazy Japanese in hot and humid jungles in the Pacific.
Posted by gthog61
Irving, TX
Member since Nov 2009
71001 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 11:09 pm to
Europe

Submarine would be my dead last choice. I don't know how everybody didn't go nuts getting depths charged or how they ever went through it more than once.

You can't see or hear it coming. You get hit and your entire world collapses on you.
Posted by Saint Cuz
Dunham Springs
Member since Aug 2019
25 posts
Posted on 4/4/20 at 11:09 pm to
My grandfather, rest his awesome soul, fought in the Pacific as a Frogman. One of the very few in his division to survive the land mines. He never talked much about it, but we knew he went through hell. So give me Europe all day.
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