While this is all well and good, this movie is about the Pacific Theater of which the Russians had signed a pact not to enter in 1941. It wasn't until August 8th 1945 that the Russians attacked the Japanese in Manchuria (another forgotten fact) or a little less than a week before the war was over.
As far as the European Theater and the Overlord campaign goes, we fought on the two highly contested beach fronts of Omaha and Utah Beach. Sword, Juno and Gold were lightly contested at best and that is why for the most part it is all that is covered in American cinema save movies such as the Longest Day, which is fairly broad in its scope. We fought and died to save the people of Europe as did Britain, who by the way made up a large part of the attempted defense of Norway, which had thought they could appease the Germans by remaining neutral and continuing to trade with Hitler. You should give the British credit for their attempted defense. Of course their is also the fact that the Norwegians fought on the Eastern Front that could play a part in your focus on it. Roughly 6,000, of course they fought for the Nazi's.
I do think the eastern front is widely ignored by American books, but that could be because the Russians were our enemies up until the collapse of communism in 1990. I am personally well aware of it, but I wouldn't exactly glorify it. It was a war of attrition and scorched Earth. Stalin was the greatest killer of the war and I don't think that changes as a result of his conquest of Eastern Europe. If you want to see films glorifying Stalin Sergei Eisenstein made several. I don't think that paying tribute to the worst man of the twentieth century is appropriate or necessary. If you want an American film on the topic I recommend Moscow Strikes Back, which is narrated by Edward G. Robinson (notice the American munitions and aircraft used in the defense of Moscow).
Did we fight a substantially weakened German Army, yes. Of course we did, but what does that have to do with the fight against the Japanese at Iwo Jima? We fought the Japanese with the assistance of Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. However, the majority of the those armies were fighting in Northern Africa and later on the Western Front. The fight against the Japanese is the crux of this particular film and it was a bloody one. They were a formidable force and their defeat was mostly due to their mistakes and our heroism of which this film tries to capture. The Japanese savaged Asia and were absolutely brutal to our P.O.W's. We fought them in incredibly bloody land, sea and air battles. They fought well for their country, much better than Norway fought the Nazi's. Their inability to recognize air power and over reliance on battleships was Japan's downfall. Midway is a good movie on the topic, but not entirely historically correct.
I understand there is a perception of all Americans being historically ignorant, but I think that is largely false. There are many people in the United States who are aware of all of the facts you have outlined. It just seems that people who have never been to the United States judge us too harshly based on the crap that is turned out of Hollywood. Our best work is not often seen and the diverse amount of opinions, culture and cinema is almost always overlooked. If you would like something more to your liking you could also watch Fahrenheit 911 Michael Moore doesn't like America too much either and you may find a kindred spirit.
I love my country and do not wish to make it sound like we are without fault or that we deserve too much credit for the saving of Europe. I think for the most part this movie is intended for American audiences and not for the run of the mill Stalinist such as yourself. Enjoy films glorifying the greatest butcher of our times and I will watch yet another movie about us kicking the crap out of the Nazi's.
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