Getting To Know The Enemy/ US GI's Opinions

Howdy All,
In reading 'Band Of Brothers' a while back a segment of the book stuck in my mind so I thought I would share it with you.
I mean no offense to anyone, this is straight from the book.

The opinions of the foreign people the GI's met during the course of WWII runs like this;

The Rural French were sullen, slow, and ungrateful while the Parisians were rapacious, cunning, indefferent to whether they were cheating Germans or Americans.

The Arabs were despicable, liars, thieves, dirty, awful, without a redeeming feature.

The Italians were colorful, exuberant but not to be trusted.

The Dutch were Brave, resourceful, overwhelmingly grateful, clean, hard working, honest and extremely well organized.

The Germans were the people the GI's liked the best. Clean, hardworking, disciplined, educated and as far as the GI's could tell the only people in the world who regarded a flush toilet and soft white toilet paper as a necessity of life, the GI's said "their just like us" .

Coming from a Family of GI's that were involved in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Bosnia, Gulf War, and now Afghanistan I found the opinions above extremely interesting with a few surprizes.

Once again I meant no offense in posting the opinions.

KRs,
Will T.
2/9 TH Manchu Infantry Sniper
68-70

 

Hallo again, Ox!

We are not that nice...

I think those are just general prejudices we and all the civilizations have some times and it can be certainly the opinion of some farmers and not-well-brought kids... Were there many doctors, lawyers, phylosophers and teachers in the army? No, there were not. You have to listen to the average GI's stories about war, just that. When you listen to their strategic and social oppinion you are listening a not worth opinion. Just because my Opa still doesn't like jews at all, are they that bad? No. All this issue would be trying to changes one's ideas and that is one of the impossible things on Earth...

 

If you lok at the countris that come off worst, it those that have less in common with where these guys come from. The comments about the Arads, many people would probably say that today. But they dont even know them. And seeing these cultures with such different ways would have been strange. And the world was alot bgger then. Unless you actually traveled to a place, you would have no way of fnding ut about the people there.

 

Well said, Bish! You surprise me evryday more with your special wisedom!

 

One of the advantages of getting older.

And having seen what people can do to each other just because they have a different culture or religion, i try to look at things with a more open mined. But even so, like these GIs he mentions, i have conceptions about the people of the lands i have been to. But soldiers don't live in these places, they just pass through. So they do't really get to know a people like they would if they were living amongst them for a few years.

 

Basically as stated in the top posting here--that was how my father felt--and he did know poeple from those and other countries first hand. He wasnt trying to be prejudiced against some mentioned--its just that he might have seen or had negative experiances with some of the races invloved. He also liked the russians and later on--the japanese.

 

Thank's Fella's,
Well said to all. You guy's definately have got your savvy workin.
I'm a card carrying Cherokee and had to deal with an assortment of predjudices over the years, as I've aged I've witnessed a change for the better not only with additudes towards Native Americans but with most ethnic groups as well.
Now if we can get through this latest connumdrum
we will have taken another step forward.

Thank's All,
Will

 

Hey Oxbowcowboy--I too am of Cherokee heritage. My father, Uncle and Aunt were born in Oklahoma, my Aunt raised in Euclid if im not mistaken. My Father and Uncle were raised in Kingsville, Texas--till Uncle at 16--lied about his age and joined the Army. My dad joined the Army Air Corps in 1944--when he turned 18.

 

Howdy C,
Or should I say 'O SI YO' .
Small world, I live in Tahlequah, Capital of the Cherokee Nation and you will be happy to know the Nation is doing very well, with tribal loans available the Cherokee have been buying back land and putting it in Tribal Trust which accomplishes two things, it has enabled the Tribe to expand original Tribal allotments and there are no taxes .
Kudo's to your Family and their military history!!

Wah Duh (Thank's)
Will

 

Hi Carl and Will: Will; I have read the passage you mentioned above and from the vets I have talked to that seems to be the general consensus.t I am going to assume that he never saw combat in the Pacific, if he had his opinion might not be the same. My grandfather served with the 43rd Div through Guadalcanal, Luzon N. Solomons and New Guinea and never had a nice word to say about them after the war. Up until he died he never knowingly allowed anything in his house that said "made in Japan".

 

Howdy Steve,
Yeah right you are, the opinions above were strictly about the ETO, the PTO is an entirely different matter, I have an Uncle who was on the Bataan Death March and until he passed away his sentiments were much the same as your Grandfather.
For savagery and brutality the PTO was the worst part of WWII for the Vets.
Kudo's to your Grandfather's memory.

KRs,
Will

 

Hallo!

I will tell you something perhaps I shouldn't tell, but... anyway.

My grandfather stills believing in Herr Goebbel's propaganda... not because of the propaganda itself, but for bad experiences he had back in the 1930s with a Jewish business man... I admire the man a lot even with this old prejudice.

I will tell you the complete story. Please, if anybody feels ofended, tell me. It is just the story of a single case, it doesn't proof anything for anyone.

My great grandfather, Ferdinand von Hammerstein, WWI veteran had a food-shop there in the old Dresden. He had been bothered all the time by another guy who had also a food-shop, Herr Prostowsky. In 1930, when the situation got very bad for everybody, the owner of my family's flat, just above the shop sold the flat to Herr Prostowsky, who raised the rent to my great grandather. He could not pay it and he lost the flat, the shop and owed 100.000 Reichsmarks, why? I don't know. In October 1930, at 39, he shot himself and left alone my great grandmother and my grandfather, aged 14. I do not have to ask why my grandfather was not very sad when Herr Prostowsky was sent to Buchenwald in 1937.

As I said. This story proofs nothing. Those were hard times and this is only one of many sad stories...

 

O SI YO Will, im VERY glad to see a brother here.

Kudos to you , your family and the tribe as well. I havent had any contact with anyone of Cherokee blood in about 29 years. I miss the flat bread that a tribe gave to us after we visited their village in OK, when I was 6. We had been invited to participate in a dance and to spend the day with them--to which we gladly accepted.

Steve: my Uncle served in the 80th I.D. under Gen Simon P. Bolivar Buckner. My Uncle saw his body a shrot while after he had been killed.

 

Hi Walt: How did your father aquire his view of the Japanese? Who did your uncle see after he had been killed?