[niteowl77]

There was steep learning curve for the GI which wasn't helped by much of the US military machine, and the Germans were very quick to pick up on what we were doing wrong. The vets I have been able to really talk with echoed what what Bill Mauldin wrote (and I apologize if I am a bit off on the quote... it has been a long time): "(the GI) may think Jerry is a skunk, but he won't say he isn't good." Sure, the Germans were running out of ideal replacements as time went on, but they still had a remarkable pool of tested, effective men who were trained to almost seamlessly take over the duties of their immediate superiors in a crisis.

Books from the German viewpoint like "Hold the Westwall" by Timm Haasler, and Doug Nash's "Victory Was Beyond Their Grasp" gave me a better idea of exactly what my own Uncle B faced while he was still trudging up that learning curve. He was lucky to survive long enough to become proficient at his task.

Mr. niteowl77

[LS]

Our replacement policies didn’t work well. Germans were befter able to keep vet units together.

[kearnyirish2]

American commanders complained that too often they were using the same hardened troops over and over again because the average soldier just wasn’t very aggressive/motivated.