Veteran speaks on Hurtgen Forest and the Bulge

[Gezoes]

Hey guys, first-hand vet report on Hurtgen Forest. Lest we forget.

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTE9BPmiZNo&feature=player_embedded

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=680AlBjvB2s&feature=player_embedded

[Lightning]

Very interesting, but I'm really shocked how casually he talks about shooting wounded and captured Germans.

[THeTA0123]

Some where like this back then, on all sides. 4% of US combat troops effectivly desired to kill a soldier in combat

[VonMudra]

I'm honestly not shocked.  The american army, and indeed all the allies, never really had to fess up to or worry about the shooting of German POWs.  So, after 60 years of knowing you shot POWs, and being told that it doesn't matter, he prob just feels that it doesn't matter.  His feeling isn't the same as all though.  I remember one american who told a story about dropping off some POWs with a patrol, and he nearly shot them when he, while relaxing outside the house they were at, heard them shoot the POWs in the backyard.  Tempers only cooled when an officer showed up and separated the 3 of them.

And then there was the great story I heard Don Malarkey tell at a reenactment a couple years ago.  He pushed through a hedge in normandy to find a German was on the other side of the hedge.  They both raised their SMGs and fired, and both magazines were empty.  So they nodded to each other and went their separate ways

[PanzerKnacker]

Some where like this back then, on all sides. 4% of US combat troops effectivly desired to kill a soldier in combat

the fuck you get all those percentages from, and actually believe them?

[VonMudra]

IIRC, it's from the greatly discredited SLA Marshall.  His figures have long been held as bogus in the historical community.

[VonMudra]

One thing I don't like so far though, is that the interviewer hasn't confronted him at all about the killing of POWs for things like "having american souvenirs" whilst they take souvenirs from the Germans |:

[Ts4EVER]

One thing I don't like so far though, is that the interviewer hasn't confronted him at all about the killing of POWs for things like "having american souvenirs" whilst they take souvenirs from the Germans |:

Would not do that either. You want information in an interview like that, not a moral discussion. You need to give him the feeling that he can tell you everything freely.

[VonMudra]

<nods>  Good point.

[THeTA0123]

Some where like this back then, on all sides. 4% of US combat troops effectivly desired to kill a soldier in combat

the fuck you get all those percentages from, and actually believe them?

This was from an official post war US enquete done to soldiers coming back from the front

It was notable however, that the percentage lied higher from people who where sended to the pacific. Well ofcourse, desire is a word

How many % of the troops want to fight and kill for there country?
Many US troops hoped the enemy they hitted survived, or even that the bullet missed. This was a concern to the army

No seriously....this is for real...

[VonMudra]

Marshall's statistics have actually been greatly denounced and are now treated as garbage.  They are still thrown around on the internet as "factual", but the consensus of the historical community is that they are utterly bogus and false.

[Ts4EVER]

Was that the one who said that most soldiers did not really aim at the enemy? I heard that was bollocks too.

[VonMudra]

Was that the one who said that most soldiers did not really aim at the enemy? I heard that was bollocks too.

Yep.  The one that has rather specific percentages of how many troops actually fired in combat, how many aimed to miss, how many actually aimed to kill, etc etc.

[Slayer]

The one that has rather specific percentages of how many troops actually fired in combat, how many aimed to miss, how many actually aimed to kill, etc etc.

With questions like that you just ask for unreliable answers...

[Dukat]

Some where like this back then, on all sides. 4% of US combat troops effectivly desired to kill a soldier in combat

At first, the number appears to be very low. If you volunteer for your army in a war, you probably desire to kill the enemy. On the other hand, there might be a difference between the will to fight for your country and the will to kill your enemy.

However, it would be interesting to evaluate what percentage of the people on earth are blood thirsty and desire to kill somebody, no matter whom. Maybe 4% is a realistic value then.

Still have to watch it, but it is almost 2 hours of footage, give me some time.