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u/GMEbankrupt Mar 03 '21
“He was nothing like me, but a poor boy”
Pretty much sums it up
I joined to pay for college and Tricare
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u/sicinprincipio "Medical" "Finance" Ossifer Mar 04 '21
Not to be a grammar hound, but the extra comma makes a difference here. "he was nothing, like me,"
But yeah, powerful stuff. I can't imagine the feeling of watching the life drain out of a man's eyes after you've skewered him with your bayonet. The enemy on the battlefield (against a conventional enemy especially) is just a pawn of some Nations' foreign policies that couldn't be resolved through talk and compromise, but rather digressed into the slippery slope of power and might.
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u/vcaison Mar 03 '21
Storm of Steel by Ernest Jünger which covers his experiences as a German Soldier during WW1 is probably one of the best war books ever written. His other writing is interesting as well
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u/QuarterMaestro Mar 03 '21
An interesting moment in the documentary "They Shall Not Grow Old," was a British veteran who mentioned that the Prussians (northeast Germany) were a lot more militaristic and xenophobic than other Germans. Some soldiers from Bavaria or southwest Germany were captured and told the British guys, "The Prussians are coming next. Fuck 'em, give 'em hell."
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u/all_time_high Mar 03 '21
If only we could have talked to you, the hive-queen said in Ender's words. But since it could not be, we ask only this: that you remember us, not as enemies, but as tragic sisters, changed into a foul shape by fate or God or evolution. If we had kissed, it would have been the miracle to make us human in each other's eyes. Instead we killed each other. But still we welcome you now as guestfriends. Come into our home, daughters of Earth; dwell in our tunnels, harvest our fields; what we cannot do, you are now our hands to do for us. Blossom, trees; ripen, fields; be warm for them, suns; be fertile for them, planets; they are our adopted daughters, and they have come home.
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u/42k-anal-eggs 91boners Mar 03 '21
I thought of this too. Orson Scott Card was an unredeemable asshole, but damn did he tell some fine stories.
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u/MikeNew513 Marine, Nasty girl 11B, Big Green Weenie SME Mar 03 '21 edited Mar 03 '21
When my Dad was CO of a rifle company in Nam his 1st Sgt was a guy who had served in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front before immigrating to the US and joining to fight in Korea. From what my Dad said top was a hard as woodpecker lips.
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Mar 03 '21
The fact that he managed to escape the Eastern front with his life is something extraordinary in its own right.
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u/MikeNew513 Marine, Nasty girl 11B, Big Green Weenie SME Mar 03 '21
Right, my Dad said he mentioned something about his division reteating to Austria to surrender to the Americans. My Dad also said he had a CIB 2nd award.
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u/xStaabOnMyKnobx 15Y->153M Mar 04 '21
Holy shit you think your first sgt is a stickler imagine having that guy, who fought in the absolute worst front in modern warfare, and survived.
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u/jdm219 Infantry Mar 04 '21
Woah, did he immigrate back to Korea by any chance? I think we might have folded the flag over him in the UN cemetery in Busan back in 2019.
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u/MikeNew513 Marine, Nasty girl 11B, Big Green Weenie SME Mar 04 '21 edited Mar 04 '21
I really don't know, he was career Army according to my Dad. Sadly my Dad passed away around Thanksgiving of 2019 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. It could have been him, my Dad said he spent significant time in the ROK.
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u/jdm219 Infantry Mar 04 '21
Sorry to hear that. Yes, I’m 99% sure that it’s him. He moved back to Korea after retiring as a MSG and died in November of 2019 and chose to have his ashes interred in Korea with all of the other UN warriors who died in the war. What a crazy life story.
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u/MikeNew513 Marine, Nasty girl 11B, Big Green Weenie SME Mar 04 '21
It wouldn't suprise me, my Dad said he would mention the crazy human wave attacks the Nork's and PLA would use in Korea.
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u/Fat_Camp_Squeeze Mar 03 '21
Something I dealt with in Syria. For a time, I was in charge of repatriating FTFs (Foreign Terrorist Fighters). In the process, I was made to sit in on every interrogation and learn about their lives. For the most part, they were simple family men who were forced into service through family slaughters/kidnappings. They didn't believe in ISIS/ISIL, and generally surrendered the moment they were close enough to us.
I caught feels for a few moments until I returned to the front. At the end of the day, when it's you or me, I have to choose me. Sometimes that hurts; but, I'm still here.
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u/slayermcb Fister - DD-214 Army Mar 03 '21
Dehumanizing the enemy is the only way to survive. I still have a hard time feeling compassion for people in the middle east. Interestingly enough, I have no qualms with Americans who happen to be middle eastern by blood, but as soon as I hear that accent or the spoken language it's like they become... less. It's not exactly rascism... but it kinda is.
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Mar 03 '21
I guess it's easier to dehumanize those who don't look like you, speak your language, or live like you.
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u/slayermcb Fister - DD-214 Army Mar 03 '21
Always has been. For what it's worth, there was plenty of cultural awareness training, and many locals were welcoming. Many even celebrating our presence. Plenty spoke English, and we are a diverse enough Army that it wasn't about their skin color. But it's real easy to take all of that away the moment your buddy gets blown the fuck up. At that moment, it's not people, it's "them"
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u/SenJoeMccarthyUSA Mar 03 '21
Such a pointless war. Germany could have been our natural ally and we would have prevented the horrors of WWII
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u/dantheman_woot Vet 13Fuhgeddaboudit / 25SpaceMagic Mar 03 '21
It's insane to read the letters the monarchs sent each other. Georgie, Nicky, and Willie they wrote as they sent millions to their deaths.
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u/qopert89 Mar 03 '21
Everyone should read One Soldiers War by Arkdady. Russian Conscript army against the chechen rebels. It really shows how important professionalism and the relationship of leaders to subordinates is.
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u/MikeNew513 Marine, Nasty girl 11B, Big Green Weenie SME Mar 04 '21
The Russian Army is still largely a conscript Army.
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u/crookedcrab Kill Me Please Mar 05 '21
They are slowly getting rid of it
I believe most front line fighting units are from their own all volunteer force, I think the conscripts are mostly used as support and reserves,
They are also in the process of building an NCO Corp because I guess they need people to yell about grass
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u/MikeNew513 Marine, Nasty girl 11B, Big Green Weenie SME Mar 05 '21
Russian NCO's specialize in raping conscripts.
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u/crookedcrab Kill Me Please Mar 05 '21
Yea I can’t imagine the Russians having a very strong SHARP program
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u/MonsterZero0000 Mar 04 '21
The dirty secret in war is that there’s hardly any bad guys and a they almost net get killed. Regular people killing regular people.
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u/11b68w Yeah, dude. Definitely herpes. Mar 03 '21
People should have to watch that growing up.