I cannot recall seeing that symbol before today. I guess I’m just too young. (old enough to have children in college) I don’t remember seeing the symbol in college though it’s possible I did without comprehending it. Our oldest children have each studied the Holocaust at various times in their public schooling. Did they study Nazi symbols? I don’t know. I’ll ask them. I’ll start with the one who was studying WWII before Christmas. It seems to me that Nazi symbols were by and large wiped out during my growing up years because no one I knew wanted to be associated with anything that resembled Nazism. It’s semi-understandable that a young sniper squad would have not seen the symbol before. Since there was an investigation with a conclusion that the symbol was used in ignorance, we should let it go and be happy someone noticed and took care of the ignorance.
Sorry, but I have a good education and read a lot of history - and I would not have recognized it. My WW2 reading is primarily aviation. Yes, I’ve seen the SS insignia before, but I probably wouldn’t think about it unless someone brought it up first.
Of course, I owned a horse for 3 years before I noticed she had a white spot on her forehead, so I’m not real observant about a lot of things.
No, but they know about the nasty white man killing all the Indians.