WWII

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  • cp3iverson
    cp3iverson Posts: 8,702
    starting in 2010 i started buying signed books/posters from the real Band of Brothers soldiers. #1 they're true legends. #2 it helped supplement their retirements. It was a nice way to say thanks and to get a really cool piece of history.

    Most of those guys died in the last five years so im really glad i did. Sad that the WW2 soldiers will all be in the past soon.
  • jnimhaoileoin
    jnimhaoileoin Baile Átha Cliath Posts: 2,682
    cp3iverson said:

    starting in 2010 i started buying signed books/posters from the real Band of Brothers soldiers. #1 they're true legends. #2 it helped supplement their retirements. It was a nice way to say thanks and to get a really cool piece of history.

    Most of those guys died in the last five years so im really glad i did. Sad that the WW2 soldiers will all be in the past soon.

    It really is sad, that's a huge chunk of our history passing away with them. At least many of them seem to have committed their recollections to record
  • chadwick
    chadwick up my ass Posts: 21,157
    years ago my boss had his father with us at a salmon hatchery where he helped out every year. this was the first time i met him. i forget his name. he wore a pearl harbor survivor hat. i was in awe of this guy as was everyone there at the hatchery. being near him felt like floating on a cloud & being numb (in a good way). he was a perfect gentleman. people just seemed to change instantly being in his presence. he liked me a lot & complimented me a few times on my tractor/trailer backing skills at this tight spot we had to back down into.

    he is a great man
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."
    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • Jason P
    Jason P Posts: 19,327
    If you are ever in the Austin / San Antonio region, it's worth making the trip to nearby (by Texas standards) Fredericksburg and go to the National Museum of the Pacific War. It is pretty amazing and I'm not huge on going to museums.

    One thing I didn't realize is that after the 2nd H-Bomb, when military leaders learned the emperor was going to surrender, they staged a failed coup.
    Be Excellent To Each Other
    Party On, Dudes!
  • Enkidu
    Enkidu So Cal Posts: 2,996
    There's an interesting book on the Bataan Death March (and what happened after) called Tears in the Darkness by Michael and Elizabeth Norman. It's pretty awful - not the book, what happened.

    The Rick Atkinson Liberation Trilogy (about the war in Europe) is also good. Very dense though.



  • dudeman
    dudeman Posts: 3,181
    The things that happened on Saipan were, IMO some of the most horrible things humans have had to endure. When I saw that on WWII in HD, I wept.
    If hope can grow from dirt like me, it can be done. - EV
  • mcgruff10
    mcgruff10 New Jersey Posts: 29,143
    dudeman said:

    The things that happened on Saipan were, IMO some of the most horrible things humans have had to endure. When I saw that on WWII in HD, I wept.

    Are you talking about when the indieginous people jumped off cliffs en masse as opposed to surrendering to the Americans?
    I'll ride the wave where it takes me......
  • dudeman
    dudeman Posts: 3,181
    mcgruff10 said:

    dudeman said:

    The things that happened on Saipan were, IMO some of the most horrible things humans have had to endure. When I saw that on WWII in HD, I wept.

    Are you talking about when the indieginous people jumped off cliffs en masse as opposed to surrendering to the Americans?
    Yeah. After being subject to the shit the Japanese put them through, they were told by the Japanese that the Americans would do horrific things to them. Rather than find out, the people were pitching their children over the cliffs, cutting their throats, drowning them and then jumping off the cliffs themselves. Just sickening..........
    If hope can grow from dirt like me, it can be done. - EV
  • jnimhaoileoin
    jnimhaoileoin Baile Átha Cliath Posts: 2,682
    dudeman said:

    mcgruff10 said:

    dudeman said:

    The things that happened on Saipan were, IMO some of the most horrible things humans have had to endure. When I saw that on WWII in HD, I wept.

    Are you talking about when the indieginous people jumped off cliffs en masse as opposed to surrendering to the Americans?
    Yeah. After being subject to the shit the Japanese put them through, they were told by the Japanese that the Americans would do horrific things to them. Rather than find out, the people were pitching their children over the cliffs, cutting their throats, drowning them and then jumping off the cliffs themselves. Just sickening..........
    Jesus there are so many aspects of WWII that I have yet to learn about. So many terrible events of which I was unaware
  • Bentleyspop
    Bentleyspop Craft Beer Brewery, Colorado Posts: 11,517
    Was on a plane today with a WWII veteran.
    Made sure to thank him for his service.
    He seemed to be very appreciative.

    I am always sure to thank veterans for their service matter which war or wars they have seved in.
  • mcgruff10
    mcgruff10 New Jersey Posts: 29,143
    dudeman said:

    mcgruff10 said:

    dudeman said:

    The things that happened on Saipan were, IMO some of the most horrible things humans have had to endure. When I saw that on WWII in HD, I wept.

    Are you talking about when the indieginous people jumped off cliffs en masse as opposed to surrendering to the Americans?
    Yeah. After being subject to the shit the Japanese put them through, they were told by the Japanese that the Americans would do horrific things to them. Rather than find out, the people were pitching their children over the cliffs, cutting their throats, drowning them and then jumping off the cliffs themselves. Just sickening..........
    yeah the japanese taught those people to fear the americans. pure craziness.
    I'll ride the wave where it takes me......
  • dudeman
    dudeman Posts: 3,181
    I thought Enemy at the Gates was a great WWII film. It was interesting for me to see how propaganda was so effective at keeping the Russians in the fight. They faced some truly horrible situations and their leadership was all about the end result, no matter the cost to be paid with soldiers lives.

    Great acting, too.
    If hope can grow from dirt like me, it can be done. - EV
  • jnimhaoileoin
    jnimhaoileoin Baile Átha Cliath Posts: 2,682
    I've been watching a lot of documentaries in the last few weeks (still continually amazed by the incredible footage), last night there was a bit about Hitler executing 200 Germans he decided were complicit in the attempt on his life. There was even footage of the trial, just mad
  • jnimhaoileoin
    jnimhaoileoin Baile Átha Cliath Posts: 2,682
    So I've been reading a brilliant book by Stephen Ambrose called 'Citizen Soldiers'. He gives fantastic accounts from frontline soldiers on both sides and there are some great stories, so I thought I might share a couple with ye that made an impression on me (however small an event)...

    Even in the bloody chaos of Falaise, a humane spirit could come over these young men so far from home. Lt. Hans-Heinrich Dibbern, of Panzer Grenadier Regiment 902, set up a roadblock outside Argenten. "From the direction of the American line came an ambulance driving towards us", he remembered. "The driver was obviously lost. When he noticed that he was behind German lines, he slammed on the brakes." Dibbern went to the ambulance. "The driver's face was completely white. He had wounded men he was responsible for. But we told him, 'back out of here and get going - we don't attack the Red Cross'. He quickly disappeared."

    An hour or so later, "here comes another Red Cross truck. It pulls up right in front of us. The driver got out, opened the back and took out a crate. He set it down on the street and drove away. We feared a bomb, but nothing happened and we were curious. We opened the box and it was filled with Chesterfield cigarettes."

    - Hans-Heinrich Dibbern interview by Hugh Ambrose

  • mcgruff10
    mcgruff10 New Jersey Posts: 29,143
    jnimhaoileoin said:

    So I've been reading a brilliant book by Stephen Ambrose called 'Citizen Soldiers'. He gives fantastic accounts from frontline soldiers on both sides and there are some great stories, so I thought I might share a couple with ye that made an impression on me (however small an event)...

    Even in the bloody chaos of Falaise, a humane spirit could come over these young men so far from home. Lt. Hans-Heinrich Dibbern, of Panzer Grenadier Regiment 902, set up a roadblock outside Argenten. "From the direction of the American line came an ambulance driving towards us", he remembered. "The driver was obviously lost. When he noticed that he was behind German lines, he slammed on the brakes." Dibbern went to the ambulance. "The driver's face was completely white. He had wounded men he was responsible for. But we told him, 'back out of here and get going - we don't attack the Red Cross'. He quickly disappeared."

    An hour or so later, "here comes another Red Cross truck. It pulls up right in front of us. The driver got out, opened the back and took out a crate. He set it down on the street and drove away. We feared a bomb, but nothing happened and we were curious. We opened the box and it was filled with Chesterfield cigarettes."

    - Hans-Heinrich Dibbern interview by Hugh Ambrose

    Ambrose is my favorite author. Read the victors next.
    I'll ride the wave where it takes me......
  • Thirty Bills Unpaid
    Thirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
    jnimhaoileoin said:

    So I've been reading a brilliant book by Stephen Ambrose called 'Citizen Soldiers'. He gives fantastic accounts from frontline soldiers on both sides and there are some great stories, so I thought I might share a couple with ye that made an impression on me (however small an event)...

    Even in the bloody chaos of Falaise, a humane spirit could come over these young men so far from home. Lt. Hans-Heinrich Dibbern, of Panzer Grenadier Regiment 902, set up a roadblock outside Argenten. "From the direction of the American line came an ambulance driving towards us", he remembered. "The driver was obviously lost. When he noticed that he was behind German lines, he slammed on the brakes." Dibbern went to the ambulance. "The driver's face was completely white. He had wounded men he was responsible for. But we told him, 'back out of here and get going - we don't attack the Red Cross'. He quickly disappeared."

    An hour or so later, "here comes another Red Cross truck. It pulls up right in front of us. The driver got out, opened the back and took out a crate. He set it down on the street and drove away. We feared a bomb, but nothing happened and we were curious. We opened the box and it was filled with Chesterfield cigarettes."

    - Hans-Heinrich Dibbern interview by Hugh Ambrose

    Take all those young men out of role, place them in a pub in a different context, and they would be laughing and drinking together.

    I'll always remember the scene in Private Ryan when the one soldier was dying- wounded trying to take out those German gun fortifications- and beginning to panic, "I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die."

    It stopped and made me think that 100,000 killed or 23,000 killed is only a statistic. Every unique and individual contribution to the total was a human life that had experienced joy and pleasure prior to dying on some f**king field or beach. Just brutal.
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • jnimhaoileoin
    jnimhaoileoin Baile Átha Cliath Posts: 2,682
    mcgruff10 said:

    jnimhaoileoin said:

    So I've been reading a brilliant book by Stephen Ambrose called 'Citizen Soldiers'. He gives fantastic accounts from frontline soldiers on both sides and there are some great stories, so I thought I might share a couple with ye that made an impression on me (however small an event)...

    Even in the bloody chaos of Falaise, a humane spirit could come over these young men so far from home. Lt. Hans-Heinrich Dibbern, of Panzer Grenadier Regiment 902, set up a roadblock outside Argenten. "From the direction of the American line came an ambulance driving towards us", he remembered. "The driver was obviously lost. When he noticed that he was behind German lines, he slammed on the brakes." Dibbern went to the ambulance. "The driver's face was completely white. He had wounded men he was responsible for. But we told him, 'back out of here and get going - we don't attack the Red Cross'. He quickly disappeared."

    An hour or so later, "here comes another Red Cross truck. It pulls up right in front of us. The driver got out, opened the back and took out a crate. He set it down on the street and drove away. We feared a bomb, but nothing happened and we were curious. We opened the box and it was filled with Chesterfield cigarettes."

    - Hans-Heinrich Dibbern interview by Hugh Ambrose

    Ambrose is my favorite author. Read the victors next.
    It's on my list :) Have Pegasus Bridge and requested D-Day from the library today. Next up for me is Eugene Sledge 'With the Old Breed' though
  • jnimhaoileoin
    jnimhaoileoin Baile Átha Cliath Posts: 2,682
    Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

    jnimhaoileoin said:

    So I've been reading a brilliant book by Stephen Ambrose called 'Citizen Soldiers'. He gives fantastic accounts from frontline soldiers on both sides and there are some great stories, so I thought I might share a couple with ye that made an impression on me (however small an event)...

    Even in the bloody chaos of Falaise, a humane spirit could come over these young men so far from home. Lt. Hans-Heinrich Dibbern, of Panzer Grenadier Regiment 902, set up a roadblock outside Argenten. "From the direction of the American line came an ambulance driving towards us", he remembered. "The driver was obviously lost. When he noticed that he was behind German lines, he slammed on the brakes." Dibbern went to the ambulance. "The driver's face was completely white. He had wounded men he was responsible for. But we told him, 'back out of here and get going - we don't attack the Red Cross'. He quickly disappeared."

    An hour or so later, "here comes another Red Cross truck. It pulls up right in front of us. The driver got out, opened the back and took out a crate. He set it down on the street and drove away. We feared a bomb, but nothing happened and we were curious. We opened the box and it was filled with Chesterfield cigarettes."

    - Hans-Heinrich Dibbern interview by Hugh Ambrose

    Take all those young men out of role, place them in a pub in a different context, and they would be laughing and drinking together.

    I'll always remember the scene in Private Ryan when the one soldier was dying- wounded trying to take out those German gun fortifications- and beginning to panic, "I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die."

    It stopped and made me think that 100,000 killed or 23,000 killed is only a statistic. Every unique and individual contribution to the total was a human life that had experienced joy and pleasure prior to dying on some f**king field or beach. Just brutal.
    Absolutely, the most awful thing is how expendable they seemed, just pieces on a chess board. The statistics Ambrose gives for replacements tells the tale
  • mrussel1
    mrussel1 Posts: 30,918
    "Satan laughing, spreads his wings"... end of War Pigs, Black Sabbath.
  • mcgruff10
    mcgruff10 New Jersey Posts: 29,143
    jnimhaoileoin said:

    mcgruff10 said:

    jnimhaoileoin said:

    So I've been reading a brilliant book by Stephen Ambrose called 'Citizen Soldiers'. He gives fantastic accounts from frontline soldiers on both sides and there are some great stories, so I thought I might share a couple with ye that made an impression on me (however small an event)...

    Even in the bloody chaos of Falaise, a humane spirit could come over these young men so far from home. Lt. Hans-Heinrich Dibbern, of Panzer Grenadier Regiment 902, set up a roadblock outside Argenten. "From the direction of the American line came an ambulance driving towards us", he remembered. "The driver was obviously lost. When he noticed that he was behind German lines, he slammed on the brakes." Dibbern went to the ambulance. "The driver's face was completely white. He had wounded men he was responsible for. But we told him, 'back out of here and get going - we don't attack the Red Cross'. He quickly disappeared."

    An hour or so later, "here comes another Red Cross truck. It pulls up right in front of us. The driver got out, opened the back and took out a crate. He set it down on the street and drove away. We feared a bomb, but nothing happened and we were curious. We opened the box and it was filled with Chesterfield cigarettes."

    - Hans-Heinrich Dibbern interview by Hugh Ambrose

    Ambrose is my favorite author. Read the victors next.
    It's on my list :) Have Pegasus Bridge and requested D-Day from the library today. Next up for me is Eugene Sledge 'With the Old Breed' though
    Dude "with the old breed
    " is amazing. You won't be able to
    Put it down. If you want a cool Vietnam read try "the things we carried".
    I'll ride the wave where it takes me......

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