MovieChat Forums > The War (2007) Discussion > Second time around

Second time around

posted 13 years ago by OnlyRocknRoll
7 replies | jump to latest

I think this is a great series. Burns is LUCKY AND BLESSED to get to do this along with his other docs.

However, reading and watching fact and fiction about WWII I wonder this: we have been told about the German, Russian, and Japanese atrocities. So, the US GI's made it through 5 years of War without committing any of their own? US soldiers were so pure and perfect that they never raped, plundered, and pillaged? Only Band of Brothers came even close to addressing this topic but did not go far enough.

My father died so long ago that I never got to ask "What did you do in the War, Daddy?" He was 21 when he enlisted. He'd be 92 if still alive.

Some day I think we will finally know about the USA atrocities.

_______________________________________
"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED??!!"

Maximus Decimus Meridius

[–] naturboy99 12 years ago

Name one army in history that did not have a certain number of soldiers that did and did not commit atrocities.

You fail to grasp the difference between armies that practiced atrocities on a widespread basis that was tolerated if not encouraged by upper command or government, as the Germans, Japanese and Russians did, and sporadic atrocities committed by American, British and other troops that was not encouraged or tolerated as part of a general policy and was generally punished as serious infractions by courts martial if they could be proved.

No army of hundreds of thousands of combat soldiers isn't going to have individuals that commit atrocities, nor is any army full of dastards and villainous torturers devoid of decent human beings, as numerous (although a vast minority) of stories of the decent Japanese guards have been told. To think otherwise is childish.

The terrorists won a battle with America on 4/21/10 thanks to the cowards at Comedy Central

[–] moneil28 12 years ago

Re-read the OP. You just agreed with him/her.

Without imagination there is no reality.

[–] naturboy99 12 years ago

No I did not. He/she is insinuating that the US allowed their soldiers to commit atrocities without punishing them, or that the number of atrocities committed by US soldiers was on a scale worth mentioning in a documentary, and that is patently false.

I'll reiterate this again: Anyone with any sense whatsoever will know that no group of millions of people is perfect, including the British or US armed forces in WW2 or today, and that a certain number of these individuals are going to be criminals of one sort or another just because of the law of averages. The reason that British and American atrocities are glossed over is because they were aberrations. The Germans, Russians and Japanese committed atrocities as a general practice over and over and over again hence these acts could hardly be called aberrations. I have never read a figure that indicates that even 1/100th of 1% of American troops participated in such acts, but it is a certified fact that a large number of the troops of the other nations mentioned did commit such acts.

If an American raped a civilian and this was reported to an officer they would face a court martial and go to prison. The other nations mentioned at the least didn't care or at worse endorsed such actions.

If you cannot understand the difference there is nothing else I can or will say.

The terrorists won a battle with America on 4/21/10 thanks to the cowards at Comedy Central

[–] Dropkickmeelmo 12 years ago

You need to re-read Eugene Sledge's book he wrote. It's.... incredibly moving especially with the graphic way he describes it

[–] hamiltondl 9 years ago

Sure, we did our own evil deeds. My father faught in the Pacific, 25th Infantry Division. He was at Schofield Barracks in Dec 7th. He saw mutilated remains of U.S. soldiers who had been captured by the Japs many times during his tour. He, and his fell9w soldiers had a festering hatred fir Japanese brutality and ultimately repaid it in kind. Bot a proudful or pretty thing, but understandable. By the tone of your post I sense you are a left wing liberal appologist who enjoys dragging the U.S. military establishment through the mud. Yes we did have our atrocities. Did they come anywhere close to German or Japanese? Read Rape of Nanking or Seige of Stalingrad. Tgere is your answer.

[–] retro2classy 9 years ago

You must have missed the part where the veteran was talking about a fellow American soldier who was using his bayonet to pry out a wounded Japanese soldiers gold teeth.
Also the part where another veteran was talking about shooting 25 German prisoners during the battle of the bulge.
I think everyone can agree there were sadists on all sides during the war. The difference being that the mistreatment dished out by the japanese army was condoned and encouraged from the top down.

[–] angelofvic 9 years ago

.
Killing 200,000 innocent civilians (not even in militarily strategic areas) more or less instantly, and condemning hundreds of thousands more to ill health and pain, by dropping two atomic bombs.
.