Re: World War II
Originally Posted by
Tedc
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I think that the relevant fact, in all that's said, in this topic, should be that the war was only going to be won after all of the allied countries joined together and supported each other in the effort.
Watching the movies, reading the books, all created since, does not a lot to help with understanding that.
I'm proud that Britain got involved early.
Had we not done so, virtually all of Europe would now be Nazi!
A touch of gratitude, coming our way, would be nice!
I don't agree to the sentence highlighted.
But gratitude? Here it comes. I've always been grateful to the Allied Forces that rid us from evil. What can I do to substantiate that? Two things, basically. I can counter those political forces and people in Germany (and elsewhere) who, for instance, publicly state that Hitler and the Nazis were just "a speck of bird poop" in German history. And I can pay tribute to allied soldiers by reading books they have written and trace their fates.
The last book I have just finished reading is "The Liberator. One WWII Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau" (concentration camp) by Alex Kershaw (not to be mixed up with the historian Ian Kershaw who was mentioned earlier in this thread). Another very impressive book about the time and events written in the form of a diary but also including the views of the enemy as well as those of SHAPE. As an infantryman from the Thunderbirds (157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division) based at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, Felix Sparks miraculously survived the war combating in more than ten major battles. He was the only officer with the rank of Colonel who risked his life often fighting directly in the line of fire. He commanded the unit that arrived at the gates of Dachau, saw freight cars full of bodies, and freed the camp from the SS. But as the commanding officer he prevented some member of his unit from shooting them on the spot.