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So far, I've only been able to get the data for VII Corps, which was only part of the American occupation of Germany, which as you recall was divided into four sectors -- American, British, French and Russian. But here are the conclusions:

1. The US had about the same number of troops in Germany after WW II as it now has in Iraq. (That makes comparisons very easy.)

2. If VII Corps (Patton's unit) was typical of the other units, the US suffered the same casualties, meaning both wounded and killed, by enemy action in Germany then, as it is in Iraq today. And the casualties continued at about the same rate for almost a year.

3. The nature of sabotage in Germany was different -- US communications depended on transmission over wires strung on poles, and those were the primary target -- but the number of acts of sabotage were about the same.

4. Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, created the "Werewolves" just before Germany fell. It used recruits as young as 12 to carry out armed attacks on Americans, and others. About half the attacks, however, were by German soldiers and some foreigners who entered the country to carry out such attacks. These were not organized centrally.

5. Most people belived until December, 1945, that Hitler might still be alive and encouraging the attacks. General Eisenhower was still under standing orders to "capture Hitler." There were rumors that Hitler was operating out of Bavaria, or Argentina, among others. Documents captured in December finally pinned down the suicide of Hitler and Eva Braun and the burning of their bodies outside the Bunker, in May, 1945.

6. Neither the New York Times nor any other major American news outlet said of Germany in 1945-46 that the US was "in a quagmire," or that the losses "were excessive," or that the American people were growing "tired of the losses," or that the war "might not have been justified." In short, the differences between 1945-46 and 2003-2004 are not in the facts on the ground, but solely in how the press is reacting to the facts on the ground.

You will, no doubt, see that every paragraph above from the history of US soldiers in Germany after WW II is a nearly identical parallel to the current situation in Iraq. If these facts are dug out and finally reported, putting the German occupation side by side with the Iraq one, it will be another battle for truth that began on the Internet, and I am the person who fired the first shot in that battle.

Congressman Billybob

P.S. I hope that satisfactorily answers your questions. If your estimate of 600 casualties then includes wounded, it is slightly high. If it is deaths only, it is way high.

If these facts are dug out and finally reported, putting the German occupation side by side with the Iraq one, it will be another battle for truth that began on the Internet, and I am the person who fired the first shot in that battle.

bump

. Most people belived until December, 1945, that Hitler might still be alive and encouraging the attacks. General Eisenhower was still under standing orders to "capture Hitler." There were rumors that Hitler was operating out of Bavaria, or Argentina, among others. Documents captured in December finally pinned down the suicide of Hitler and Eva Braun and the burning of their bodies outside the Bunker, in May, 1945.

According to Heinrich Muller, chief of Gestapo and employed by the US intelligence after the war, Hitler escaped with Eva Braun, left the burned double behind in the bunker. Muller helped with flight via Switzerland. He also provided much material about communists to CIA.

Somebody needs to write the book about this, might as well be you. I'm a candidate for buying it.

I still remember the 1963 Readers Digest article speculating that Hitler was alive and well in South America...........there is a long tail to speculation and rumors.