The sacrifices that any soldier makes in any war deserve the highest of honors. You cant be MORE dead in one war than another. But nothing in living memory compares to the casualty rates of WWII. The peak period, from June of 1944 to February of 1945 in the ETO was so mercifully brief, that it didn’t imprint in the national concsiousness as the far lower rate in Vietnam did. But consider that nearly a third of the 65 divisions in the Pacific and European theaters suffered 100% or more casualties. Their regimental staffs saw front line units obliterated three to six times over. To deal with this problem there were never enough infantrymen coming from the states. Replacement centers continually reassigned artillerymen, machine gunners, cooks, and clerks to infantry duties. The situation in Europe became so severe that rear area units in France and Great Britain were tasked to supply soldiers for retraining as infantrymen. The problem was so acute that even the rigid racial segregation policy of the US Army was challenged. The Army even semi-integrated white rifle companies with black volunteer rifle platoons to alleviate the shortages. Those soldiers suffering battle fatigue came off the line for a few days for clean uniforms, bathing, hot food, and sleep. However, scarcity compelled their repeated return until crippling wounds, mental breakage, death, or victory brought final relief.
For example the 4th and 29th Infantry landed on D-Day and suffered about 500% battle casualties in their rifle platoons during the eleven months until VE-Day. Added to these numbers were half again as many non-battle human wrecks debilitated by trench foot, frost bite, pneumonia, hernia, heart disease, arthritis, etc. Many never returned to duty. In the jungles of the Pacific, non-combat losses often exacted a greater price. But somehow the infantry crossed Europe and the Pacific and always remained in the forefront of attacks.
The reason today’s heroic and dedicated guys can pull all these multiple tours of duty in the Middle East is that the odds of survival are so much greater than WWII. NO ONE in the front line infantry of WW II would have survived two or three full tours of fighting in the conditions of the Normandy hedgerows, the Huertegen Forest, the Liri Valley and Monte Cassino in Italy, the Ardennes campaign or Anzio
Much has been made of the fact that grunts in Nam and the Middle East often face more front line firefights than their counterparts in WW II. That’s because so many of the latter did not survive long enough to amass a combat record. They were killed, wounded or POW’s before too long. I am a grunt who saw hard fighting on the DMZ against the very tough NVA often dug into bunker lines. While we were hard hit from time to time, it was NOTHING like those grunts in WW II faced.
But again ALL RESPECT and gratitude to any soldier who serves honorably at the sharp end in any war. We can never honor them enough, and nothing I have said here is meant to denigrate that truth. I am merely trying for a bit of context and perspective.