General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Criticism
Posted by:
John Howard
()
Date: January 19, 2001 07:13PM
<HTML>
Totally agree with you on that one. There\'s no point at all in talking to people like that (they, BTW, include both the older and the younger generation of Americans). These fine folks could not possibly conceive of the idea that German servicemen of WWII simply did their duty and fought for their country when called upon to do so like young men in any other armed forces in the world. Hollywood, their basic source of information on WWII, plus TV (remember that \'epic\' series, \'Combat\', the show that told you what it was \'really like\'?) , has done its job all too well in consistently depicting the German soldier as a mindless and murderous robot who had nothing whatever in common with good-hearted and decent American GIs (like most recently in \'Saving Private Ryan\') who loathed killing anyone and were independent thinkers who talked back to, and even swore at, their officers (Stephen Ambrose, the consultant of SPR, takes pains to confirm that view in his book, \'Citizen Soldiers\', raising of course the basic question, What kind of soldiers were the Germans?) Old stereotypes die hard, some never. In showing an unbiased interest in the other side, you leave yourself open to the suspicion you must be un-American and a secret Nazi sympathizer. It\'s a darn shame that people would think that way, but there you are.
John </HTML>
Totally agree with you on that one. There\'s no point at all in talking to people like that (they, BTW, include both the older and the younger generation of Americans). These fine folks could not possibly conceive of the idea that German servicemen of WWII simply did their duty and fought for their country when called upon to do so like young men in any other armed forces in the world. Hollywood, their basic source of information on WWII, plus TV (remember that \'epic\' series, \'Combat\', the show that told you what it was \'really like\'?) , has done its job all too well in consistently depicting the German soldier as a mindless and murderous robot who had nothing whatever in common with good-hearted and decent American GIs (like most recently in \'Saving Private Ryan\') who loathed killing anyone and were independent thinkers who talked back to, and even swore at, their officers (Stephen Ambrose, the consultant of SPR, takes pains to confirm that view in his book, \'Citizen Soldiers\', raising of course the basic question, What kind of soldiers were the Germans?) Old stereotypes die hard, some never. In showing an unbiased interest in the other side, you leave yourself open to the suspicion you must be un-American and a secret Nazi sympathizer. It\'s a darn shame that people would think that way, but there you are.
John </HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Criticism
|
Will King | 01/19/2001 04:11PM |
|
RE: Criticism
|
Rainer Bruns | 01/19/2001 04:58PM |
|
RE: Criticism
|
John Howard | 01/19/2001 07:13PM |
|
RE: Criticism
|
Rainer Bruns | 01/19/2001 08:47PM |
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RE: RB :-))
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MPC | 01/20/2001 10:00PM |
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RE: Criticism
|
MPC | 01/19/2001 07:42PM |
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RE: Criticism
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Ricky.S | 01/20/2001 09:50PM |
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RE: Criticism
|
George Roumbos | 01/21/2001 11:00AM |