On War and Peace

[SubGod22]

My grandfather served in the Pacific as well. I've never heard him talk about it and my dad has only heard him talk about it once or twice. But with that said, he's never shown, to me anyway, any sort of ill will or displeasure with Japanese people in the least. Doesn't mean he didn't have any in the 50 or so years between his time in the Pacific and me being old enough to understand any of it. But in the past 15 to 20 years I've never experienced anything negative towards them from him.

[Maggie]

My grandfather served in the Pacific as well. I've never heard him talk about it and my dad has only heard him talk about it once or twice. But with that said, he's never shown, to me anyway, any sort of ill will or displeasure with Japanese people in the least. Doesn't mean he didn't have any in the 50 or so years between his time in the Pacific and me being old enough to understand any of it. But in the past 15 to 20 years I've never experienced anything negative towards them from him.

Huh.

My grandfather rarely talked about his time in service, the same goes for my Uncles (one who was in the first wave on Normandy, Omaha, and another who flew, as a belly gunner in a B-17, over France and Germany). My other grandfather worked at Boeing during WWII due to a congenital heart defect – he built B-17s and B-29s in Wichita - later on he was moved to Washington state. (I hear the company is leaving Wichita).

The fact is the animosity didn’t last with these men. They did, at the very young ages by these days standards, what was asked of them. Did they want revenge at the time, sure…I think they did…but to their everlasting credit it never consumed them. They could draw a distinction between people and ideology - but still be snarky about it.

I think the Middle East is a bit more complicated by a third; but the same lessons apply.

[60Shock]

Here is a bit of trivia I received from an old Army buddy concerning WWII. I know not from whence it originated nor the degree of its accuracy, but it certainly sounds plausible. I know for a fact that numbers 6 and 7 are definitely true.

1. The first German serviceman killed in WW II was killed by the Japanese (China, 1937). The first American serviceman killed was killed by the Russians (Finland 1940). The highest ranking American killed was Lt Gen Lesley McNair -killed by the US Army Air Corps. So much for allies.


2. The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham, USN. He was wounded and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying about his age. His benefits were later restored by Act of Congress.


3. At the time of Pearl Harbor, the top US Navy command was called CINCUS (pronounced 'sink us'), the shoulder patch of the US Army's 45th Infantry division was the Swastika, and Hitler's private train was named 'Amerika.' All three were soon changed for PR purposes.


4. More US servicemen died in the Air Corps than the Marine Corps. While completing the required number of missions which varied from 25-30 missions. The chances of an individual being killed was 71%.


5. Generally speaking, there was no such thing as an average fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For instance, Japanese Ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.


6. It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every 5th round with a tracer round to aid in aiming. This was a mistake. Tracers had different ballistics, so (at long range) if your tracers were hitting the target 80% of your rounds were missing. Worse yet, tracers instantly told your enemy he was under fire, and from which direction. Worst of all was the practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of the belt, to tell you that you were out of ammo. This was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly double and their loss rate go down.


7. When allied armies reached the Rhine, the first thing men did was pee in it. This was pretty universal from the lowest private to Winston Churchill (who made a big show of it) and Gen. Patton (who had himself photographed in the act).


8. German ME-264 bombers were capable of bombing New York City, but they decided it wasn't worth the effort.


9. German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.


10. Among the first 'Germans' captured at Normandy were several Koreans. They had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army; until, they were captured by the Russians, and forced to fight for the Russian Army; until, they were captured by the Germans and forced to fight for the German Army- until they were captured by the US Army. Talk about recycling.



11. Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 United States and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands. 21 troops were killed in the assault on the island. It could have been worse if there had been any Japanese on the island!