May I please ask you to remember that I was one of many that did what they were told to do,when they were told to do it and the way they had been taught to do it. Much of it was like a conditioned reflex in that you responded - then thought about why you reacted that way!
Having said that here's a story that is about WW II that I hope you will find entertaining and uplifting at the same time.
I had a soldier in my Company from Brooklyn,NY who was a 4.0 grunt in every respect. He took a lot of kidding because he was Jewish and sounded almost like a movie character with his Brooklynese accent.
In England prior to leaving for France, the unit had a Church Parade for all who wanted to attend. Very few refused this opportunity I might add. Two lines of 6x6s were lined up to transport the men to their choice. Protestant/Catholic
Unfortunately,Harry's name had been left off either list because there was no Jewish Chaplain available to conduct a service for them.
When the trucks were about fully loaded Harry came to me and asked to be taken to the Catholic Service. I explained to him that he wasn't on the list and there was no Officers available to add him to it but that did not sit well with him because he was Orthodox and felt he should attend a Service.
Discussion followed but time was running short for departure so just as straight faced as a statue he yelled at me "You Christians forget Jesus Christ was a Jew - so I'm going" and he jumped on the truck. I didn't know the Captain had overheard all so he said "Sarge forget it let him go!! You can't argue with that kind of logic and determination!!".
I never got a chance to tell Harry how much I respected his determination and for this I'm sorry.
Some more WW II facts many people aren't aware of:- (Hope they are of interest to you???)
Operation Fortitude was the collective codename for a number of the deception operations used by the Allied forces during World War II prior to and following the Normandy landings. It was part of the overall deception plan for 1944, Operation Bodyguard. Fortitude had two forms:
Fortitude North, which was to instill in Hitler and his generals fear of an amphibious landing in Norway, and Fortitude South, which was to trick the German high command into believing that the landings would take place in the Pas de Calais rather than on the Normandy beaches.
In Operation Quicksilver the Allies created an entire fake army. FUSAG, the First United States Army Group, was largely fake except for its leader, General George Patton, some token units and a complete signals outfit sending made up traffic. Patton was unpopular with the Allied high command, but he was regarded by leaders on both sides as one of the Allies' best mechanized warfare experts.
At no point were the Germans fed false documents describing the invasion plans. Instead they were allowed to construct a misleading order of battle for the allied forces. To mount a massive invasion of Europe from England, military planners had little choice but to stage units around the country with those that would land first nearest to the embarkation point. By placing FUSAG in the south-east, German intelligence would (and did) deduce that the center of gravity of the invasion force was opposite Calais, the point on the French coast closest to England and therefore a likely landing point.
The Allies were able to easily judge the effectiveness of these strategies. ULTRA intelligence — that gained from the breaking of German codes and ciphers, such as the Enigma machine — was able to provide an indication of the German high command's responses to their actions. They maintained the pretense of FUSAG and other forces threatening Pas de Calais for some considerable time after D-Day, possibly even as late as September 1944. This was vital to the success of the Allied plan since it forced the Germans to keep most of their reserves bottled up waiting for an attack on Calais which never came, thereby allowing the Allies to maintain and build upon their marginal foothold in Normandy
Quotes
"So how successful was (Operation) Fortitude? It couldn't have been more successfulStephen Ambrose
There were times I wished I were in that paper army instead of where I actually was as they were usung REAL bullets and I might have been hurt (LOL)
On this day in 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact, stunning the world, given their diametrically opposed ideologies. But the dictators were, despite appearances, both playing to their own political needs.
After Nazi Germany's invasion of Czechoslovakia, Britain had to decide to what extent it would intervene should Hitler continue German expansion. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, at first indifferent to Hitler's capture of the Sudetenland, the German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia, suddenly snapped to life when Poland became threatened. He made it plain that Britain would be obliged to come to the aid of Poland in the event of German invasion. But he wanted, and needed, an ally. The only power large enough to stop Hitler, and with a vested interest in doing so, was the Soviet Union. But Stalin was cool to Britain after its effort to create a political alliance with Britain and France against Germany had been rebuffed a year earlier. Plus, Poland's leaders were less than thrilled with the prospect of Russia becoming its guardian; to them, it was simply occupation by another monstrous regime.
Hitler believed that Britain would never take him on alone, so he decided to swallow his fear and loathing of communism and cozy up to the Soviet dictator, thereby pulling the rug out from the British initiative. Both sides were extremely suspicious of the other, trying to discern ulterior motives. But Hitler was in a hurry; he knew if he was to invade Poland it had to be done quickly, before the West could create a unified front. Agreeing basically to carve up parts of Eastern Europe-and leave each other alone in the process-Hitler's foreign minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, flew to Moscow and signed the non-aggression pact with his Soviet counterpart, V.M. Molotov (which is why the pact is often referred to as the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact). Supporters of bolshevism around the world had their heretofore romantic view of "international socialism" ruined; they were outraged that Stalin would enter into any kind of league with the fascist dictator.
But once Poland was German-occupied territory, the alliance would not last for long.
I'm sure you know that at times there is a sort of perverse or almost sadistic humor among the troops but it was used at times as a safety valve and here's one such incident.
In Normandy,near either Rennes or Laval(senior moment-I forget which),we decided to spend the night in a nearby farm house that was virtually intact. With us was a "so-called" Plt.Sgt. that had reached that rank in the National Guard through POLITICAL INFLUENCE back home. Most of the guys requested that they be allowed to be behind him when advancing because he would fire at anything he was so scared. Believe me he wasn't a leader!! I tried several times to unload him to no avail. Even considered shooting him myself!!(LOL)
A couple of my "real NCOs" came to me with a proposal they wanted to put in effect but to protect me they asked that I not get into any details of said proposal. Knowing these men, I knew it would be much better if I truthfully could say after the fact that I had no knowledge of the "prank". Never could lie!!
Naturally, since this was a farm the house had no indoor plumbing so a "slit trench" was dug in a sort of a grove of trees for all to use and it was out of sight and dark here.(Have to properly set the stage)!!
In the barn we found a Kraut bicycle,weapons and camouflage capes etc. left behind when we moved up and into the farm. The "real NCOs" fashioned a figure in the shadows with a statue that from a distance was a work of artful deception that appeared to be a Kraut sniper who did travel on bicycles for obvious reasons and some did travel alone. The bike,rifle,camo jacket etc. were all there.
After eating and before bedding down, the "real NCOs" suggested a check of the perimeter and the slit trench area with the "Plt. Sgt." as the leader but this was was after suggestive stories about hearing noises in the barn,across the road in the Hedgerow field etc which scared the living you know what out of our friend. Off they went and in a few moments I heard ungodly screaming about a sniper in the grove so everybody went down ASAP. Not knowing any better,the Plt. Sgt. threw a few grenades and shot the daylights out of the make-believe sniper with a Thompson while the rest of the patrol was rolling on the ground with laughter.
From that day on until he managed,and I don't know how,to be transferred back to England accompanied by his nickname "Sniper".
The Company Co. was not amused but did admit he was glad he was gone.
Wanted to share this with you folks, as there are a few things about it that make it out of the ordinary and (I believe) interesting! It is a passport/ID booklet issued by the Deutsches Konsulat to Yokohama Japan. The two-Axis connection itself makes it unique, but the date on which it was issued is also interesting: December 9, 1941......Just 2 days after Pearl Harbor was attacked! Do you think maybe the staff of the German Consulate had a clue that things might be getting busy soon? The Waffenampt stamps are very crisp & clear, the first being dated in '41. Another interesting thing is that big purple stamp from the "Tokyo International Business & Trade Bureau", which is stamped "June 27,1950." Okay.....the girl is not bad looking either .
Now I must confess: I don't read German or Japanese, so when I first saw this was issued by the German "Konsulat" I thought perhaps the woman might be some high-ranking SS or Gestapo person, and started thinking "$$$$ B " for Jim, but when I showed it to a German speaking friend, she told me there was a word there that indicated she was probably just some kind of domestic helper, like a Nanny or something ..............
The Waffenampt stamps are very crisp & clear, the first being dated in '41. Another interesting thing is that big purple stamp from the "Tokyo International Business & Trade Bureau", which is stamped "June 27,1950." Okay.....the girl is not bad looking either 
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Dogdaddy
