Emmeran wrote:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/new-book-reveals-dark-side-of-american-soldiers-in-liberated-france-a-902266.html

Not surprising considering France was officially our enemy when we landed at Normandy.  Rape and pillage is what conquerors do.

Are we forgetting that the activities of brutality in Europe paled in comparison to Asia?

fortinbras wrote:

Are we forgetting that the activities of brutality in Europe paled in comparison to Asia?

Good for every fucking one of those Japs.  Wish we could have melted a few more cities.

choad wrote:

Forgive me but this bears repeating. Anyone who's lived in a war zone will tell you two things. There are no noncombatants and war brings out the absolute worst in humans.

The combat veterans I know can assemble and disassemble small arms in their sleep and none of them own any. These old soldiers aren't latter day pacifists. "I'd use it," is usual response.

I agree, yet Vietnam era veterans got the "crazy people" shit end of a stick terminology for a very long time when the true problem lies in the conflicts in general.

Dmtdust wrote:

Baywolfe wrote:

fortinbras wrote:

Are we forgetting that the activities of brutality in Europe paled in comparison to Asia?

Good for every fucking one of those Japs.  Wish we could have melted a few more cities.

My stepfather was captured on Corregidor.  Going from 180 pounds down to 93, being beaten repeatedly when someone died under his care (he was a medic, and was denied medicine to treat the other prisoners) with his spine fused from the pummeling of rifle butts from the guards...

To his dying day thought that the kindness shown by the Japanese who were not in the army was a life saver for many.  He hated what the US did with the bomb.  And this is a man who had over 3000 men die in his care, and watched 36,000 US prisoners dwindle to 6000.  If he could be forgiving, perhaps you should let it go.

Age is finally getting the better of me, I agree with you Dusty.

honey wrote:

These old soldiers aren't latter day pacifists. "I'd use it," is usual response.

Way to plagiarize, Bee Poop.

fortinbras wrote:

choad wrote:

Forgive me but this bears repeating. Anyone who's lived in a war zone will tell you two things. There are no noncombatants and war brings out the absolute worst in humans.

The combat veterans I know can assemble and disassemble small arms in their sleep and none of them own any. These old soldiers aren't latter day pacifists. "I'd use it," is usual response.

I agree, yet Vietnam era veterans got the "crazy people" shit end of a stick terminology for a very long time when the true problem lies in the conflicts in general.

I read a study on this which contrasted the type of training that WWII GIs got vs those who went to Vietnam.  They found that, unlike the movies, many times an alarming seven out of ten soldiers during WWII skirmishes never fired their weapons.  By Vietnam, they had modified the training to insure that practically all the solders would return fire.  The unintended legacy of that training, however, was to produce a large number of people addicted to adrenaline.

Emmeran wrote:

phreddy wrote:

Emmeran wrote:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/new-book-reveals-dark-side-of-american-soldiers-in-liberated-france-a-902266.html

Not surprising considering France was officially our enemy when we landed at Normandy.  Rape and pillage is what conquerors do.

Dude can you hang those fruits of ignorance any lower??

Lighten up Em.  Apparently, I should have included the sarcasm tags for you.

Baywolfe wrote:

fortinbras wrote:

choad wrote:

Forgive me but this bears repeating. Anyone who's lived in a war zone will tell you two things. There are no noncombatants and war brings out the absolute worst in humans.

The combat veterans I know can assemble and disassemble small arms in their sleep and none of them own any. These old soldiers aren't latter day pacifists. "I'd use it," is usual response.

I agree, yet Vietnam era veterans got the "crazy people" shit end of a stick terminology for a very long time when the true problem lies in the conflicts in general.

I read a study on this which contrasted the type of training that WWII GIs got vs those who went to Vietnam.  They found that, unlike the movies, many times an alarming seven out of ten soldiers during WWII skirmishes never fired their weapons.  By Vietnam, they had modified the training to insure that practically all the solders would return fire.  The unintended legacy of that training, however, was to produce a large number of people addicted to adrenaline.

Quoted from a few history sites: The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War ll.