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RE: crew of U-470 abandoned -Dave
Posted by: Tom Iwanski ()
Date: June 06, 2001 07:59PM

<HTML>John,

Very well put, in my opinion. I have to qualify my response by saying that I\'ve never served in the military, thus never been in an armed conflict. Yet, it seems that cold logic and mechanical efficiency serve the cause of victory much more than human compassion.

I admit that my current objectivity might be clouded if I\'d learned that one of the war dead in my family suffered a fate similar to the crew of U-470. That\'s why I marvel at the ability of the commanders who could keep their logical perspective in those difficult situations. Yet, there are times when use of this logic seems to push the envelope. A case in point from the American side would be Cmdr. Morton of the USS Wahoo who fired on Japanese troops in the water after sinking their transport. Morton\'s logic was to prevent these soldiers from surviving to combat Allied troops. Kplt. Wilhelm Eck took similar action (although for a different reason) when he ordered that the crowded lifeboats from his victim, the Peleus, be sunk. (This is well documented on uboat.net.) Since Morton made it back to his base, he was decorated. Unfortunately for Eck, he was captured and ultimately shot for war crimes.

All in all, I think it\'s interesting to watch the struggle to impose rules of morality and human decency on something as inherently dehumanizing as war.

Regards,

Tom


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Subject Written By Posted
crew of U-470 abandoned Dave McQueen 06/05/2001 08:12PM
RE: crew of U-470 abandoned Brian Corijn 06/05/2001 09:03PM
RE: crew of U-470 abandoned Dave McQueen 06/06/2001 07:04AM
RE: crew of U-470 abandoned Steve Cooper 06/06/2001 12:27PM
RE: USS Juneau Rainer Bruns 06/06/2001 01:03PM
RE: crew of U-470 abandoned becorijn@zeelandnet.nl 06/06/2001 01:14PM
USS Juneau Michael Lowrey 06/06/2001 02:41PM
RE: USS Juneau Michael Lowrey 06/06/2001 03:22PM
RE: crew of U-470 abandoned Rainer Bruns 06/06/2001 01:11PM
RE: crew of U-470 abandoned Steve 06/06/2001 01:29PM
RE: crew of U-470 abandoned -Dave John Griffiths 06/06/2001 05:18PM
RE: crew of U-470 abandoned -Dave Ted Agar 06/06/2001 07:29PM
RE: crew of U-470 abandoned -Dave Tom Iwanski 06/06/2001 07:59PM
in defense of Mush kurt 06/06/2001 08:55PM
RE: in defense of Mush Steve Cooper 06/07/2001 01:27PM
Mushs first wahoos third kurt 06/07/2001 03:21PM
RE: in defense of Eck Tim 06/08/2001 01:44AM
Eck knew he was killing survivors kurt 06/08/2001 05:05PM
With all due respect John Dave McQueen 06/07/2001 06:44AM
RE: With all due respect John John Griffiths 06/07/2001 04:10PM
RE: crew of U-470 abandoned Steve 06/06/2001 12:19AM
RE: crew of U-470 abandoned Joe Brennan 06/06/2001 06:00AM
RE: other example Rainer Bruns 06/06/2001 01:06PM
realities of war kurt 06/06/2001 03:41PM
RE: realities of war Walt 06/06/2001 10:08PM
RE: realities of war Steve 06/07/2001 10:02AM
RE: wrong spot, defending Mush Rainer Bruns 06/06/2001 11:31PM
Mush and Eck kurt 06/07/2001 04:01AM
RE: Mush and Eck Rainer Bruns 06/07/2001 11:32AM
RE: Mush and Eck Walt 06/07/2001 12:04PM
RE: Mush and Eck Steve Cooper 06/07/2001 01:21PM
RE: Mush and Eck Walt 06/07/2001 04:59PM
RE: Mush and Eck Tim 06/08/2001 02:06AM
RE: Mush and Eck Rainer Bruns 06/07/2001 03:43PM
RE: Mush and Eck Walt 06/07/2001 04:57PM
different opinions kurt 06/07/2001 03:56PM
RE: different opinions Rich Mickle 06/07/2001 11:03PM
RE: different opinions Siri Lawson 06/08/2001 03:56AM
RE: different opinions Rich Mickle 06/08/2001 08:51AM


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