Posted on 10/17/2018 10:54:48 AM PDT by C19fan
Being unable to cognitively assess the unthinkable when initially informed of it does not make one "naive".
Big Red One Movie Death Camp Scene
Terrible video copy - Lee Marvin hears a long series of slow, evenly spaced shots. When he investigates, he finds Mark Hamill clearly in shock from the horror of the ovens and the 'near death' experience when the Nazi soldier's machine gun failed to fire, twice. Marvin looks around, then quietly says into Hamill's ear, "I think you got him, kid."
A display of true wisdom by Marvin's character in bringing Hamill back from the edge of the abyss.
Rommel first used the 88mm. anti-aircraft gun against tanks in North Africa. He was dead from suicide before the Battle of the Bulge began.
One does NOT WIN the Medal of Honor, it is awarded to soldiers for actions in combat. The military does not hold competitions for soldiers to ‘win’ their awards. The military chain of command recommends specific soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor because of their actions, very often at the cost of their lives.
Gen. Patton was never recommended to receive the Medal of Honor.
One does NOT WIN the Medal of Honor, it is awarded to soldiers for actions in combat. The military does not hold competitions for soldiers to ‘win’ their awards. The military chain of command recommends specific soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor because of their actions, very often at the cost of their lives.
Gen. Patton was never recommended to receive the Medal of Honor.
OldVirginian, thank you for your excellent post about Gen Heinz Guderian.
No, I meant the first Ardennes campaign, the original blitzkrieg, the Battle of Arras.
Since we are going to be a bit prissy about the word ‘win’, which is awful close to ‘award’ and ‘earn’, I’ll point out that PART of why you might be recommended is politics, which shouldn’t matter with an award like this.
There are many who have ‘earned’ this award, who have never been recommended, and thus will never have it awarded to them.
The lie behind medals is that it is meager compensation for having to do the bulk of the dangerous work in our little experiment. The men do the lion’s share of the dying. For this, they get a worthless bit of ribbon with a piece of medal attached.
I await the day there is true equality among the sexes. It won’t be pretty.
“Yes! Lot’s of misinformation on this thread.”
Well, it IS the internet. :p)
Rommel was a very interesting soldier.
At only 5’6” he was definitely on the short side but his knowledge and daring more than made up for it.
Rommel was in charge of Hitler’s security detail during the invasion of Poland. He used his position there to get a command for the invasion of France.
During the invasion of France he sent part of his 7th Panzer division racing ahead to take strategic crossroads, instructing them to leave anti-tank guns at a crossroad.
After getting the rest of the division rolling he jumped into his staff car and arrived at the anti-tank guns just as some French tanks came into view.
He went down the line telling each gun which tank to fire at.
Those tanks blowed up real good.
While trying to cross the Meuse river Rommel jumped into the water himself to help the engineers building the pontoon bridge.
He also manned a machine gun to help beat off a counter attack.
The man loved being in the thick of the action.
When he had been given command of 7th Panzer most senior officers dismissed him as a butt kisser.
By the time he reached Dieppe no one was doubting his ability.
Given the supply situation in North Africa Rommel did much better than anyone else could have.
As for Normandy, Hitler was positive that the invasion would come at Calais.
Rommel had studied every previous allied landing and correctly predicted Normandy as the invasion point.
Hitler was so sure that he would only let the Panzer divisions move on his personal order.
By then it was too late.
Rommels biggest attraction to Hitler was rebuilding the army. When Hitler started re-arming Rommel stated that it was honorable to be a soldier again.
Though he loved the Wermacht Erwin Rommel detested the Waffen-SS.
When he was in Italy he had the SS units transferred out of his area of command and had none in North Africa.
He reportedly made Manfred promise he would never join the SS.
Manfred Rommel joined the military at age 14 and helped man an anti-aircraft gun.
FWIW could you imagine an army with Guderian, Rommel and Patton as the field commanders?
Just point them in a direction and get out of the way!
Yet, even as the Eastern Front was rife with atrocities, it was also where much of the plotting against Hitler gestated, a moral test that Rommel was spared. Although Rommel's support was desired by the July 20 plotters, even late in the game he was apparently not regarded as fully reliable and was not asked.
Rommel's contribution to the development of German Blitzkrieg was more by demonstration than doctrine. As part of the German spearhead into France in 1940 alongside Guderian's three armored divisions, Rommel commanded the Seventh Panzer and drove it fast and deep into France, so much so that it became known as the "Ghost Division" because it moved quicker than its position could be reliably mapped at headquarters.
Although an infantry officer by training and WW I combat experience, Rommel's energetic personality and eagerness to be in direct command at the decisive point of battle made him ready to embrace the new doctrine of Blitzkrieg warfare. Indeed, Rommel's talent as an infantry officer made him a natural in its combined arms aspects, which, truth be told, are more essential to its success than tanks dashing about in mutual combat.
A typical Rommel incident in France in 1940 was averting disaster from a British armored counterattack by suddenly appearing at the scene and directing a battery of 88mm anti-aircraft guns against heavily armored Matilda tanks. This innovation was later widely used in the North African desert and led to the German 88 getting a fearsome reputation against Allied armor.
Although a superb commander, there are few such incidents to Guderian's credit. His great talent was the command of large formations from headquarters and conceptual innovations like mobile warfare doctrine and the plan for gutting France in 1940 by attacking through the Ardennes. Yet I am certain that Rommel's name is more widely known than Guderian's.
Rommel always led from the front. Gotta respect a General who does that.
I think it was a shock even to many Germans: they knew something not good had happened to the Jews, but what actually happened was far worse than they could imagine.
In a scene in the documentary Shoah there's a long interview on secret camera with an SS guard from Auschwitz. He told Lanzmann that even after a year being trained in brutality at Buchenwald or some other concentration camp, when his contingent of SS got to Auschwitz they could not believe what they saw. Some of them collapsed, vomiting.
Everyone was more naive then.
“Acthung’’means ‘’attention’’. Vorschit’’ means ‘’danger’’.
He was losing it badly by 1944. His generals wanted to concentrate all of the armor and men for the Ardenne offensive in the East to blunt the Russian advance. Hitler wasn’t really hoping for a military victory in the West but hoped his attack there would split the Allied coalition and from that he hoped to negotiate at best a cease fire.
Actually 88’s were first used in Spain by the Condor Legion and then in May of 1940 in France.
“If you defeated Rommel’s plan, then you defeated Rommel.”
Nah, the Soviets were knocking on the door. Plus The minute the weather cleared over Belgium, the Germans were toast.
It would be similar to Arkansas scoring first on Alabama. We were going to win regardless.
The Japanese enjoyed about 8 months of success in the war before they started going under.
I did theater with a guy who was in the movie. It was the only movie he ever did.
yes, they did go beserk.
similar response after the assassination of heydrich in prague.....except the retribution was carried out on citizens of Lidice, the beserk part was the same..
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