My late Uncle Micky was on the other side in WW2, having been there from the first day of the invasion of Poland, until late February 1945, where he met his Waterloo on the A57 just outside Moenchen-Gladbach, thanks to a P47. He had been in Normandy, after being short-changed on a promotion course, and fought out of Normandy, into Belgium and then into the homeland. He was a signaller and had joined up in '38 to escape the orphange in Dresden where he had grown up. As he rose through the ranks, his likelihood of surviving grew smaller, he said. He earned his EK2 in Greece, and his EK1 in the Balkans, and had three close-combat and wound badges - remember that this guy was a signaller, not infantry, but was always attached to panzergrenadiers units, hence the somewhat 'lively' war.

He taught me German, but never went back to his home in Dresden - it didn't actually exist any more, but he noted that his hardest time was in the retreat from Normandy, missing the slaughter of the Falaise Gap by just one day. His abiding memories and impressions of Normandy were the seemingly endless numbers of Allied troops and airplanes at any time, only ever likely to increase, oh, and the unnerving slaughter of allied armour by the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS panzer troops. My dad was engaged in repairing them at that time, whch made for some interesting discussions - the Saxon and the almost unintelligible Irishman...

He died way too young in 1968 at only 48, but was a gentle soul.

tac

I do watch the History Channel and AHC but get my best history from good History authors like John Toland and his two volume "the Rising Sun" a history of the Pacific War mostly from the Japanese perspective. If you like to read a History of WWII from the other guys side this is it. Also another one from a German soldier viewpoint read "The Forgotten Soldier",sorry can't remember the authors name.

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Originally posted by GWbiker:

quote:

During History Channel's dying days (before reality shows), they did a segment on the attack that killed Yamamoto, and got one of the participating P-38 pilots to call it an assassination, implying it was unwarranted.

Was "payback" for Jap attack on Pearl Harbor. FDR had signed off on Yamamoto attack.

Our government/media referred to it as "payback" for morale reasons. Really, that's about as nonsensical as referring to it as an "assassination."
Availing yourself of the opportunity to destroy the enemy's commander - particularly if he happens to be a brilliant admiral - is a slam dunk sound military decision, not an assassination. Nor does it require any additional motivation like vengeance - just the desire to win the war.

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Originally posted by murphman:

quote:

Originally posted by GWbiker:

quote:

During History Channel's dying days (before reality shows), they did a segment on the attack that killed Yamamoto, and got one of the participating P-38 pilots to call it an assassination, implying it was unwarranted.

Was "payback" for Jap attack on Pearl Harbor. FDR had signed off on Yamamoto attack.

Our government/media referred to it as "payback" for morale reasons. Really, that's about as nonsensical as referring to it as an "assassination."
Availing yourself of the opportunity to destroy the enemy's commander - particularly if he happens to be a brilliant admiral - is a slam dunk sound military decision, not an assassination. Nor does it require any additional motivation like vengeance - just the desire to win the war.

Your play on words is noted.

Yamamoto designed and carried out the attack on Pearl harbor. So, yes it was payback.

And, in 1943 we were getting our asses kicked by the Japanese, so a little morale building was welcomed.

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

I think what many of the younger generation forget that if the United States had to invade Japan that many of us would not be here today. My father after having survived the Battle of the Bulge was on a troop ship headed for Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped.

Luckily for me, my Dad was never on the way to Japan. He was his battalion's S2 and a German speaker. There was plenty for him to do in Europe after May 7th. He actually spent some time in the occupied Sudetenland before being repatriated in early 1946.

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Yep. Here it is:

https://www.amazon.com/DAY-Thr..._product_top?ie=UTF8

I was looking at that just the other day. Good read I take it?

My Dad went into the Army in ‘45. Was shipped over to Germany after May of that year. Had we needed to invade Japan he would have likely been sent that way. Had he not survived I certainly wouldn’t be here.

There would have been thousands like him that would have gone and many of those would not have come home.