American GI's and German Soldiers
93Part I of III
Considering that America was engaged in a war against Germany, American soldiers, with few exceptions, entertained fairly positive, even sympathetic feelings for German soldiers and civilians. After the war veterans were asked to name their favorite European country. It is illustrative that four out of five GIs named Germany as their favorite, meanwhile making negative and critical comments about the French and the British.[i]
American military personnel were impressed with the cleanliness and orderliness of the German countryside. What disposed them favorably to the Germans were picturesque villages, reminiscent of many of their hometowns in America, peopled with "polite citizens."[ii] American soldiers felt at ease with and had respect for Germans, for they were cheerful, co-operative, diligent, and hardworking. They were in fact declared to be "a fine race."[iii]
Sergeant Hanson assigned to the 42nd Infantry Division upon entering the Dachau concentration camp was moved to say, "We couldn't figure what kind of people they were. We couldn't believe it. The German people that we had come in contact with were very normal people. Exactly like us!"[iv]
Both during the war and afterwards Americans struggled to correlate their knowledge of atrocities committed on such an overwhelming scale during the war, with their perceptions and assumptions about German culture and civilization. Many regions of the United States had been heavily settled by good, industrious German immigrants who were committed to home, church, and nation. Beyond that Germany was believed to be an advanced society; Germans shared many "racial, religious, and ethnic attitudes" with American and the West.[v]
After the war well-documented atrocity films and newsreels were shown by the United States government and the full scope of the concentration camp system became widely known. Never-the-less, the positive associations that many Americans had with the German culture and people were so strongly entrenched that James Agee writing in The Nation, May 19, 1945, could argue that Americans should take care not "to confuse the German people with a few criminals who perpetrated these crimes."[vi]
Agee chose to entertain this argument despite extensive and multiple proofs of the abuse, false imprisonment, torture, starvation, and death of millions of innocent civilians. The need to believe that they are like us, and we like them, and that we could never commit such crimes, produced unrealistic assumptions and conclusions as to the participation or guilt of the average German.
This attitude clearly extended to the Wehrmacht, to the ordinary German soldiers. GIs claimed they remained on friendly terms with German soldiers in North Africa and Italy. Captured German soldiers were generally treated very well.[vii]
During the initial fighting in Germany, it was common for GIs to offer medical care to wounded enemy soldiers and to transport them to local German homes where they could recuperate.[viii] Many foot soldiers sent to the European theater in World War II did not at the outset have any particular hatred or antipathy for their German counterparts. American soldiers knew that they were not responsible for starting wars; they simply did their expected patriotic duty after the politicians and generals decided to go to war.
Consequently, they tended to regard enemy soldiers in a similar and forgiving light. So much so that John Manning, with the U.S. 7th Army, expressed sympathy for his enemy, stating that he felt sorry for German soldiers blown up by French forces.[ix] This generous attitude toward the enemy changed abruptly when GIs first came face to face with the Nazi concentration camps.
What is immediately apparent in the oral and written testimony of American soldiers who went inside the camps is the difficulty they encountered in expressing the affect this experience had upon them. One of the most frequent and striking comments made is in regard to the absolute indescribability of concentration camp conditions.[x]
This theme of the "indescribable" is echoed by many GIs. "Terrible--I cannot describe it adequately." "Well, it was unbelievable--I don't know how to describe it...." "The scenes witnessed there are beyond the normal mind to believe." "...no written word can properly convey the atmosphere of such a charnel house...." "Like nothing a sane person could believe--it was horrendous--unbelievable and sickening." "I will never, never forget that gruesome scene that is indelibly engraved upon my heart and mind. There simply are no words in the human vocabulary."[xi]
As if to emphasize how truly dreadful conditions inside the camps were, some GIs pointed out that they were experienced, battle-hardened veterans long before they approached the camps.[xii]
The testimony of American soldiers is replete with statements concerning their changing feelings and attitudes toward their German counterparts. One of the most common reactions was intense anger coupled with hatred of the perpetrators.[xiii]
GIs struggled with a variety of reactions. Corporal Laughlin expressed an "outright horror, distaste for anything German." Henry Birnbrey had "hostile feelings" which intensified when he was instructed to interrogate German prisoners.[xiv]
Corporal Paul noted the demeanor of U.S. soldiers guarding captured members of the Wehrmacht and was "struck by the absolute menace and hostility emanating from these U.S. infantrymen. They seemed to be wanting an excuse for wreaking out some sort of vengeance...."[xv] In fact, an overpowering desire for revenge or vengeance was an often repeated theme.[xvi]
The second feeling most frequently expressed was a desire and a willingness to kill the enemy soldiers responsible for the atrocities and conditions inside the concentration camps.[xvii] Robert Gravlin recalled that, "after seeing the atrocities at Nordhausen, we were mad and determined to wipe out the Krauts."
Lieutenant Seed noted that "It was a very sickening sight and made you want to wipe out the enemy completely." Captain Campbell firmly believed that "had they caught the perpetrators...they would have killed them outright."[xviii]
These GIs do not claim that they personally executed or murdered captive German soldiers. They do, however, describe the general inclinations of many Americans inclinations that a substantial number did act upon.[xix] To Be Continued
[i]. Richard Joseph and Wavery Root, "Why so many GIs Like the Germans Best," Reader's Digest, March 1946, pp. 5, 6.
[ii]. Robert H. Abzug, Inside the Vicious Heart: Americans and the Liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985), pp. 153-154, (hereafter cited as Abzug, Inside).
[iii]. Lee B. Kennett, GI: The American Soldier in World War II, (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1987), pp. 210, 215; John Gagnon, interview with Theresa Ast, Statesboro, Georgia, 1993; Corporal Phillip Trout, Witness Project Mailing--1993, Theresa Ast (hereafter cited as Q-Ast); Abzug, Inside, p. 154.
[iv]. Hanson, p. 8, interview, JCRC-ADL of Minnesota and the Dakotas (hereafter cited as JCRC).
[v]. Abzug, Inside, pp. 134, 18.
[vi]. Ibid, p. 136.
[vii]. Lewis Greene, p. 19, Emory University Liberator's Transcript Collection, Fred R. Crawford Witness to the Holocaust Project, Atlanta, Georgia (hereafter cited as Emory); Colonel Floyd Gibson (89th Infantry Division), World War II History Survey, United States Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania (hereafter cited as Survey, MHI).
[viii]. Lieutenant William Walsh in James Kent Strong, film documentary, The Liberation of KZ Dachau, (Cary, North Carolina: Strong Communications, 1990).
[ix]. John Manning, audiotape interview, Dallas Memorial Center for Holocaust Studies (hereafter cited as DMC).
[x]. Henry Plitt, Record Group 50, Oral History Interviews, 1990-1992, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Research Institute, Washington, DC, (hereafter cited as USHMM); PFC William Juksch p. 2, Chaplain Albert Wildman, p. 3, and Congressman Eduard Izak, p. 10, Emory; Tech Sergeant Donald Buteyn (97th Infantry Division), Corporal Ralph Dalton (89th Infantry Division), Survey, MHI.
[xi]. Sergeant Harold Brandt (11th Armored Division), Survey, MHI; Corporal Bernard Hansen, p. 2, Emory; Hobart Gay, Diary contained in the Hobart Gay Papers, World War II Collection, MHI; Soderberg, The Third Armored Division History, 1945, p. 148; Staff Sergeant Monroe Nachman (103rd Infantry Division), Survey, MHI; Chaplain/Rabbi Herschel Schacter, cited in Brewster Chamberlin and Marcia K. Feldman, eds., The Liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps, 1945, (Washington, DC: United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 1987), p. 36 (hereafter cited as Liberation).
[xii]. Thomas Rourke, DMC; PFC Robert Perelman, p. 4, Emory; Captain John B. Coulston, audiotape interview, Holocaust Oral History Project of Gratz College, Pennsylvania (hereafter cited as Gratz).
[xiii]. Tom Mansfield, Headquarters Battery, 609th Field Artillery, 71st Infantry Division, cited in Gerald McMahon, The Siegfried and Beyond, (Woodbridge, Virginia: 71st Infantry Division Association, 1993), p. 467 (hereafter cited as Siegfried); Monroe Nachman, videotape interview in Record Group 50, Oral History Documentation Project, 1982-1984, Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois, (hereafter cited as HMFI); Ray Dodd, p. 3, Staff Sergeant Howard WIseburg, p. 5, Emory; PFC Olvis Day, p. 1, PFC Morris Schwartz, p. 1, Q-Ast; T/5 Robert Calhoun (42nd Infantry Division), PFC Lucas Martin (103rd Infantry Division), Sergeant Arthur Owings (6th Armored Division), Staff Sergeant Leroy Straw (89th Infantry Division), and Sergeant Robert Leslie (103rd Infantry Division), Survey, MHI.
[xiv]. Corporal Martin Laughlin (80th Infantry Division), Survey, MHI; Henry Birnbrey, p. 6, Emory.
[xv]. Corporal Calvin Paul, p. 8, Emory.
[xvi]. PFC Milton Long, p. 1, Q-Ast; Staff Sergeant Charles Froelicher (6th Armored Division), Survey, MHI; Warrant Officer Dwight Pearce, p. 4, Emory.
[xvii]. PFC Milton Long, p. 1, Q-Ast; Dr. Samuel Glasshow, p. 12, Emory; Sergeant Grant Grimm, HMFI; Private Redding (97th Infantry Division), Staff Sergeant Edward Fry (103rd Infantry Division), PFC Theodore Daunhauer (89th Infantry Division), Survey, MHI.
[xviii]. Robert Gravlin, memoir, "World War II as a Combat Surgeon with the Third Armored Division," p. 42, (hereafter cited as Gravlin, Third Armored); Lieutenant Robert Seed (97th Infantry Division), Survey, MHI; Captain David Campbell, p. 9, Emory.
[xix]. Major Henry Meyer (80th Infantry Division), Staff Sergeant Clifford Phillips (89th Infantry Division), Survey, MHI.
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Thanks for the thoughtful and encouraging comments. And you are absolutely right it was a terrible shock for the GI's. Even during the war, they liked the Germans as people way better than the French and even better that the British, our staunch allies. I just posted Part II and I hope to get Part III up next weekend.
phdast7, GREAT read. Very thorough and precise. This comes through in your writing. I voted up, and all but funny. YOU are a natural talent in writing. Love your style. I had an uncle who saw action in Germany. He brought back several photos of POWs that made me cry each time I would look at them. I am so glad that I met you on hubs. And I am now a fan and an HONORED FOLLOWER. Thanks for sharing your talent. Sincerely, Kenneth Avery.
Thanks for your comments on this Hub and for your welcoming email. As for being through and precise, I have to give a lot of credit to my professors at Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia). They were difficult taskmasters, but they insisted on thorough research and precise writing and in the long run their tutelage benefited me greatly. I really appreciate your comments and encouragement.
I spent a couple of summers doing research in the National Archives in DC and I saw a lot of photographs like the ones your uncle brought back. So sad and so tragic - very hard to deal with. Did your uncle ever write about his experiences? I ask because we have discovered that a lot of GI's came home after WW II and didn't really talk about their experiences...but as they approached their mid-sixties or seventies they began to share both verbally and in writing...often with their grandchildren and then later with their children. The psychologists call it an approaching end of life phenomenon.
Its funny about the cute or catchy name thing. The friend that introduced me to HubPages had one, so I assumed we were supposed to use one. Only later did I realize that some people went by their real names. :) So, Kenneth, I look forward to reading some of your Hubs in the near future (I would read them right now, but I teach college history and there is a huge pile of ungraded papers waiting for me in the other room). All the best, Theresa
Excellent account of the American GIs and their initial
feelings toward the German people and the rank and file
military members. I'm off to read the next part. Robert
10-31-2011/9:34 p.m./cst
phdast7..."You are most-welcome. I am sincere with you. I LOVE your work. Makes me wish now that in 1972, my family could have sent me to college..instead of going to work to help with the bills." "I dont know if my uncle EVER told anyone about his time in the war. I do know that he had a German knife with a Swastika on it..genuine Nazi stuff too. He never told us where or how he got these items. And for the years I knew him...he loved to drink homebrew. In all honesty, my uncle has a big heart, helped everyone, but was very sinical about judgement after life. He died a very-wealthy man. Never had any kids. His wife could have had the BEST home in our town..and it paid for, but they SAVED every penny. And for whom? Two nephews that drank all of their share up. And all that work. Gone. I loved my uncle though. I am not implying where he is now, or what his reward was. And I admire you for your talent, phdast7! My hubs are what they are--not fanciful, just "me." YOUR FRIEND FOR LIFE....KENNETH
Thank you for your comments Robert. Encouraging words are always appreciated. I have six or seven more sections on various aspects of the American Liberation of the concentration camps. However, I am a college professor and the grading of exams and papers never seems to end, so my goal is to post several more sections before the end of the year.....now if I could find a teaching job that was really "only" teaching, that would be heaven. :) Theresa
Thank you for the kind and oh so encouraging comments, Kenneth. It would not be surprising at all if your uncle never talked to anyone about his experiences...a lot of the veterans didn't. That was after all the forties and fifties when few people got counseling or made their inner demons public, especially not men. We live in a changed culture now and everyone is encouraged to share everything and quickly seek help when life is stressful or traumatic situations occur. Not so back then, of course. A lot of the veterans I talked to also mentioned having German artifacts and war memorabilia, just like your uncle did.
Sad about how he dealt with money. Too bad that they couldn't have enjoyed life a little more before it was too late. I guess we are all different and it takes all kinds. My grandfather was very tight with money and didn't seem to enjoy life much, but I loved him like you loved your uncle. Take care friend.
Hello, Dear Phdast7, you are very welcome for my truthful comments about your work and what you do, which is a vitally-important service that you are doing and probably without any gratification. Or a thank you. So I am "thanking YOU," personally, for all of the work you have done for our brave vets. I couldnt handle your job. I am not an emotional superman. I am still a piece of broken pottery in the process of being fixed on a dialy basis. Please keep in touch with me. Thanks. KENNETH
Not to say "I told you so" but even I am moved by the response to you posting some of your work. I'm glad those of us outside of academia are getting a chanch to enjoy the work you have so deligently done!
...great writer you are with a pedigree for world class reseach and a first class presentation - my dad would have loved this three part series - he was a Canadian soldier in World War II for six years and landed on the Omaha beach with Tom Hanks .....
....just kidding - lol - about the beach name - actually my dad landed on Juno beach ....and in civilian life he wrote 69 novels as a hobby - none were ever published - but his first book were memoirs of his experiences in the war - In civilian life he was quite a history buff.
lake erie time ontario canada 9:32pm
p.s. - Our 'Remembrance Day' here in Canada is on Nov. 11
Thank you for your encouraging words. It is time consuming work and it is wonderful to be appreciated. So your father was army and landed on Juno Beach. Mine was career US Air Force, he was born in 34 in Poland, lived through WW II, and then participated in the Vietnam War as a loadmaster for C-130's.
Novels for a hobby? And 69 of them, wow. He puts the rest of us dabblers to shame. Did he, or have you, ever donated a copy of hiis memoir to a library or history archive. I couldn't have done my research without the generosity of so many veterans.
Thank you for mentioning Rememberance Day. I did not know it was tomorrow, November 11th. Hopefully, I will be posting a few more WW II Hubs during November and December. Thanks again for the comments
Wow, you sure did your research! My husband's dad was a fighter pilot in Germany. Great info and interesting. Voted up and awesome.
Thank you SusieQ42 - I had to do this kind of research in graduate school whether I wanted to or not. :) Not all of my Hubs will be based on this kind of research, but whenever I focus on the Holocaust or Nazi Germany I return to my earlier training. Thanks for visiting and for the encouraging comments. :)
Great series on the soldiers of WWII! Many accolates for this. We have a very good and interesting Holocaust Museum here in Naples, FL, begun by middle school students as a classroom project. If you are ever here in Naples, do not miss it. It also has on its staff, some survivors from Germany who survived the work camps in Germany. I have spoken with them and their stories are chilling.
You have contributed a great piece of work and research in this series on WWII and its soldiers. This is necessary for a true discourse of this time in history. It is so good to know you here on hub pages and read such interesting hubs.
Thank you very much, for taking the time to read and for making detailed and encouraging comments. If I am ever in Naples I will certainly visit the Holocaust Museum.
I hope to continue with this series for awhile and it is good to know there are people interested in knowing more about that period in history and in reading what I write.
Fascinating look at the psychology of American soldiers at various stages of this horrific war. Your writing is first class. Thank you very much for publishing this illuminating piece of work.
The psychological changes are fascinating and tell us a great deal about the level of atrocities they witnessed. Only Part IV left to finish on this topic.
I try to make sure my writing is first class and my research high quality (which means my Hubs are few and far between, but that's OK)...thank you for for your comments. Compliments mean a great deal coming from you as you are among the better writers. Theresa
What are those numbers at the end of the article? Footnotes? Are we supposed to use footnotes? No one told me about footnotes. Wait a minute . . . I just remembered . . . scholars . . . scholars use footnotes.
What's a nice scholar like you doing in a place like this? I will be back to read more and, maybe, learn how to write in English.
You have a great sense of humor. I laughed out loud when I read this...and thank you for the positive and generous comments in the fan mail. Crashing now, I will manage a better response soon.
WD- A nice scholar like me is here because I was enticed by one of tour fellow Hubbers, Kathleen Cochran, to come check it out. I did check it our, but I stay pretty busy teaching full-time, doing faculty governance stuff at the university...and then there are three grown sons (with wives and children) and four cats who vy for my time and attention.
I so do not have time for Facebook or any other "social" networking site. Kathleen convinced me this was not a FB clone and that some seriously good writing and commentary could be found her (and it can). She persuaded me to put a couple of Hubs out and selectively stroll through some Hubs myself. So I have and its been good.
I will never write hundreds of Hubs and I cannot give it the kind of time that many others do, but my limited participation so far has been encouraging to me, and I hope for a few others as well.
Anyway thanks for the comments above and for your generous and encouraging fan mail comments. Speaking of English...you obviously write quite well (Level VI) and wasn't one of your degrees in English? Looking forward to good exchanges with you.
phdast7 This is a scholarly work. To try to relate to your written account in my own words, I went through West Germany during the late 1970's as part of militaryleave.I found the Germans to be the friendliest nation on my 9 western European nation tour, They are clean, organized and meticulous so much different from what i found in much of France and Belgium. The were gracious hosts, no one else would be able to tolerate so many troublsome GI's that wouldnot learn the language and culture on their soil for so long a time. i was quite embarrassed, not wanting to be around them, the GI's.
My interests were in the area of German prisoners of war on American soil and how they were treated relatively well. I will see what else you have going..... Cred2
I look forward to reading the next articles in the series. I think you've set the stage well for some even more interesting reading. Sem
Thanks for commenting. I hope the following parts do not disappoint. I have a houseful of family tonight, but I will try and respond to your other comments tomorrow.
Have a good evening.
Theresa, to start off my uncle was in the 42nd and was the only survivor in his squad after they were shot down by snipers on the Rhine. He was captured, shot through both legs and barely survived near starvation in the stalag. Its really not a surprise that the GIs often looked favorably on the civilians, since like you wrote, they were an orderly and clean people when circumstances allowed. Probably didn't hurt that a lot of them had Germanic surnames either. As far as soldiers go, they DID generally differentiate between the Wehrmacht and SS soldiers. The revulsion many GIs experienced by the horrors of the concentration camps caused many to feel a keen sense of revenge well up and on occasion was acted upon. You've got a good series here Theresa and I'll be reading the rest of the series.
Theresa I want to leave you some fan mail but forgotten how to go back to post it after your already following someone. Help please!
Your uncle was in the 42nd? It amazes me how interconnected the world is. If he hadn't been shot and interned in the stalag, he might well have been one of the Dachau liberators I wrote about. Amazing.
They were orderly and clean and I think the German surnames did help. After all industrious, likable German people had settled through out the Midwest and Northeast in the 75 years prior to WW II.
My research found that generally our GI's made clear distinctions between the Wehrmacht and the SS. And the revulsion and anger that went with viewing the atrocities comes up in one of the next sections.
Thanks for reading and thanks so much for commenting.
Alastar- Talk about a question that makes me want to be helpful. :)
I had noticed that sometimes I could find a "leave Fan Mail" box and other times I couldn't. Did a little digging and discovered that if I am already following someone I can go to their profile page and the Fan Mail Box is right below the list of Hubs. But if I click on the Profile page of someone I am not following, then their is no little box. Hope that helps. And thanks. Theresa
Theresa thank you a mil for the congrats, very thoughtful and very appreciated. Yea, noticed that with the fan mail too except the box isn't always there on someone I follow. Will try again!:)
Oh, there was something else: One evening not long after returning home he came up on his baby sister peeling potatoes on the thick side. He stared at the pile a bit and when she looked up at him he told there was a time when there wasn't much he wouldn't have done for those scraps, and then he walked off into the field to by himself for awhile. That baby sister was my mother and since that day she's never, ever, peeled her potatoes thick again.:)
It is amazing what hunger and deprivation will do. It changes you forever. And for his comment to impact your mother like that?
Did he leave any letters or diaries behind? Did he talk much to his family? Have you organized his papers, maybe written about his experiences?
I will have to check your Hubs list for starters. Thanks.
His son is the family archivist and has any correspondence and such. He did leave a final testament I think you would like to read though, its not very long but is quite powerful. Just let me know Theresa.
Alastar- I am glad there is a family archivist. Sometimes there isn't one. Absolutely, I would love to read it. Thanks. Theresa
First of all, a huge "Thank you" to Kathleen Chochran. Next, thank you phdast7 for posting your writing.
Your picture of the reaction of American GIs to the horrors they saw is their cry for justice. What an impossible conflict of emotions it stirred to have enjoyed the Germans as well as their way of life and then to see those camps.
You've given a lot to chew on in sharing, "The need to believe that they are like us, and we like them, and that we could never commit such crimes, produced unrealistic assumptions and conclusions as to the participation or guilt of the average German."
Voted up.
My Dad was in the 89th, On 4 April 1945, the 89th overran Ohrdruf, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Ohrdruf was the first Nazi concentration camp liberated by U.S. troops in Germany. He said that the US troops stood by, while the healthiest of the prisoners did gruesome things to a camp officer and some guards that were still there. It took him over 50 years before he could even talk about what he saw.
Thank you for your comments R- And Kathleen Cochran does deserve a huge thank you. Without her encouragement I wouldn't be on HP at all.
It was indeed a terrible conflict...to have liked the Germans better than all other Europeans...and then to stumble upon the camps. It was very hard to reconcile. That conflict was one of the most interesting things I discovered in my research. Thanks again.
Wayne- I don't doubt that it took your father over 50 years to talk about his experiences Most GI liberators said very little until near the end of their lives.
A few wrote letters, a few had mental breakdowns (of course that was unacceptable back them, there was no understanding of PTSD, "MEN" didn't get emotional or need counseling)most kept it to themselves so as not to shock and burden their families.
I did find reports and even interviewed a couple of veterans who mentioned handing over weapons to camp inmates and then turning their backs, so-to-speak, for the duration.
I hope you will continue reading and let me know if my compilation and interpretation of the GI's testimony rings true. Thank you.
I like this historical account of the GIs. Voting this Up and Interesting.
Thank you for your votes. Its part of the longest, most extensive research project I ever tackled. I have posted 7 Hubs and I am envisioning another 6 or 7 in the next few months. Thanks again.
A very interesting and thought provoking read. The GIs in WWII on the whole were honourable warriors who had the self discipline to remain true to a code of conduct that exemplified the soldier of that time. More and more US soldiers in subsequent conflicts did not have the same self discipline and uphold the same code of honour I think that may have been one of the reasons why Vietnam veterans were all tarred with the same brush by the American people and shunned on their return. People of a defeated army tend to feel guilt more acutely especially when atrocities are brought to light. Though US soldiers in the Afghanistan conflict committed atrocities by torturing and abusing prisoners the US people did not abandon them and the main reason for this being , in my opinion, is that they are not a vanquished army. Thank you.
Thank you for your thoughtful and detailed comment. I appreciate the time you take to respond to what you have read.
They were on the whole quite honorable warriors. Interesting comments and analysis. Not sure I entirely agree. I find your analysis of how the US has responded to atrocity reports from the war in Afghanistan quite intriguing.
However, it may be true that in subsequent conflicts, more and more soldiers did not uphold the code or act according to the standards of the Geneva Convention and American civilian response to their army's defeat, to a failed war may play a role...
But I would suggest (part III of this series) that part of what changed is not the behavior of the GI's, but our "knowledge of their behavior." Media's access to the front-lines of a war improved even during the Korean conflict, but Vietnam was splashed across the nightly news and with Desert Storm we had "embedded journalists" (book and film series - Generation Kill).
So not only did journalists have far greater access to events that might have gone unreported in previous conflicts and generation, I also think "the standards, the code" of journalism changed. Everything is fair game now, nothing needs to be protected or concealed.
We know this shift occurred...we have only to look at how the media and journalists handled John Kennedy's and Bill Clinton's extra-marital encounters. Our country and our values have changed. And it may be that the ability or desire of our soldiers to be honorable have changed.
But do we honestly think that no WW II GI ever urinated on the bodies of dead SS officers. And if they did, who would have been there to report it or leak it? In other words, how would we know?
Thanks for your comments, as always.
Very few warriors are honorable, in my opinion.
I can think perhaps of the Samurai Warrior and the Warriors of the Light or Paladines.
It is nearly impossible to remain honorable when one fights for profit or when one is paid to fight.
An honorable soldier goes to battle because it is the right thing to do and does not ask for money and wealth in return. He/she fights in the honor of the Warriors of the Light and are guided by Wakan Tanka/The Great Spirit.
There is no honor in the wars fought nowadays. Honor placed in them is misplaced, in my opinion.
Great article. Very well written.
Cheers!
Interesting commentary about warriors and honor. We think far too little about the nature and meaning and practice of honow in modern western society.
Thank you for the compliments. I try to write well whether it is academic research based topics, or art, science, nature related topics. I don't want to seem a snob or an anti-technogy Luddite, but with all the benefits that computers and the internet have given us, they have also contributed to a deluge of poor and substadar quality writing.
Somehow I think we are diminished when we sink to and accept the lowest common denominator as the norm.... I think these tools should be used to enrich, enlighten, and invigorate us. My hope and my wish.
"My honor is my life" - I like that motto.
I am of the opinion that I can lose many things in life: wealth, health, even limbs or what not but honor cannot be lost unless it is given-up.
Regarding the internet and the vast material which can be considered as substandard quality writing, I would like to say that knowing how to do research is important.
Knowing what a scholarly source is and how to find one, is critical. Critical thinking is also critical ... lol
I think university can help in learning how to think and then, one's work remains to sift through the endless material on the web, in order to find something worth ... something ...
I can also look at the internet from the perspective of the pro-guns clubs: "it's what you do with it". One can use the internet to gamble online or to read great articles like yours. (That just fit lol)
Thank you for the conversation.
@ Mr. Spirit Whisperer: One day maybe I'll watch that movie - I enjoyed the clip though. Thank You - cheers!
White Wolf - (Sorry, but Mr. Happy reminds me of hours of Sesmae Street and other such shows from when my children were little.)
I am enjoying the conversation. I like the motto as well and after I do a little reading about the Dacians, perhaps we can have a conversation about that as well.
I do agree with you, the internet has such vast potential and we must choose how we use it and to what extent and in what ways we let it affect our lives; the same could be said of television, film, or even literature.
“Critical thinking is critical….lol” OK, clever, I laughed too. :)
I am glad you find merit in what I write. Thank you for your time and comments. The conversation continues…
Great hsitorical perspective here. I am reminded of Hannah Arendt's book about "the banality of evil" in your descriptions of the GI opinions of the German troops and people before liberating the death camps.
Hi xstatic - Glad you stopped by to read and and thank you for the comment. Your comment about the banality of evil is right on the mark. Several of us have already discussed the the similarities of attitude on the part of the Germans, that the GIs discovered. It was a terrible time.
ThoughtSandwiches Level 7 Commenter 7 months ago
Hi phdast7...
Excellent look at this question. The majority of Americans did have a favorable notion of Germans in the United States and they were the first successful hyphenated American...German-Americans. Although the community took an identity hit in the xenophobia of World War One...they survived and continued o be held in wide esteem. It must have been a shock to those GI's to reconcile these two realities. I look forward to more of your work!