Interesting stuff that you mention.
My old man was also a part of Patton's 3rd Army, and he served in France back in World War 2.
Back in the mid 70's, I myself enlisted in the Army. Part of that process involved physical examination by Doctors, as well all sorts of other testing. I almost failed the color blind test. Everyone gets 1 wrong, I got 4 wrong.
There was one Doctor in particular who was a retired Colonel from the Army. He had a group of us (perhaps a dozen or so) He checked us all for hemmoroids (and stuff) but he had a much greater influence than that.
That Doctor was in the Military, and was a POW of the Japanese during WW2. He told us all a story about how the USA sometimes is called to fight horrible enemies. He was involved in the Baatan Death March. He was an Officer, and a Doctor, so he perhaps did not have inflicted upon him certain cruelties that others experienced. He did not say that, I assumed it.
That man changed my life during the brief interlude. How could I possibly have known about the War Crimes from a generation before I was born? They do not teach it in public school! The man was quite graphic with his detailed stories about certain events from some 40 or so years earlier. I shall never forget his words.
We future Enlistees, all eventually moved forward to the next station in our processing. The very next Doctor was quite a younger man. He said to us, "That guy tells that same story every single day."
I am glad that he did tell us. I have not forgotten, and I am certain that others have not, nor will not. We Americans, like it or not, are obliged to maintain order in this World. It is part of the price that we pay for our Blessings. We will always face some adversity, but in the end, we will prevail. It has been ordained, and that is so abundantly clear to me.
One link to a story of the Bataan Death March is here below.
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/8967/
