A Soldier Strips the Romance Out of Life at War

Just got a break from my Care Taker Duties and after reading
this thread I recalled this:-

We had a man that for some unexplained reason whenever we
advanced he would start yelling real bad stuff at the Krauts.

I have to add this for emphasis - McGauley was a very good
looking Irish man proud of his looks.

One day as we were advancing we knew there were Krauts in
the area so we asked him to keep quiet to no avail.

He had advanced about 20-30 yards and started to yell like a
banshee. He was shot in the face while his mouth was open so
that the shell pierced his right cheek and exited the left cheek.
The Medic(God love them) that treated him said that if he had
kept his mouth shut he would have without a doubt lost his
entire set of teeth and probably his jaw. Saw him later and the
facial damage was minimal. Strange things happen in a war.

Sgtleo

 

Thanks. Every addition is apreciated.

 

Another thing I find interesting to point out is that in all the years that I have known and talked to Vets, whether Friends, Teachers ,Co-workers,Family members or others,is that I have yet to hear one call being in war or combat "Awesome" ,"Cool"."Glorious" or any of the other terms people who have never known war or served in one like to think it was like or was. And that was from people who served in WWII,Korea,Vietnam and present conflicts. I have talked to sailors,Airmen,Soldiers and Marines. 4 people I knew were B-17 pilots over Eruope and 3 of them were my teachers. My JRAFROTC teacher was one. And one of my friends years ago was even a 17 yr old Falshirmjaeger late in the war. His memories were not of "Glory" or "wonder". But of death and destruction and the crushing shame of what his country did. I wished I had talked to him more. But that was over 20 years ago. Now I have mentioned this site to a few of my Military friends with the comments made here and the most they do is just shake thier heads and chuckle. Most don't want to talk that much about thier experiences or dredge up old memories. Most usually say that they did what was needed of them and are glad its over. My father being one of them. He served two tours in Vietnam and was a career soldier in the Army. A volunteer. I asked him one time what he got out of being over there and his response was at least he was promoted 4 times and got some pretty colored cloth to wear on his chest LOL. He treasured the 30 odd years he spent in the Army but other then that not much else besides the friends and comrades he made in it. And not once did he say anything positive about being in combat. He mentioned the fear and hardships he and others had to go through.And that living with the knowledge that at any second in the field you could be wounded or killed or maimed was heavy on his mind. Their comments and stories are what took away some of my ignorance and romance about war that I had as a younger man and made me realize what it was and can be. And I can tell you right now I have more respect for those individuals then all the books,games and movies ever made. To hear it first hand and to see in thier eyes the pain and memories and emotions they feel and have. One of the reasons I encourage people to talk to our Vets before its too late.

 

See? None of your "Friends, Teachers ,Co-workers,Family members or others" ever rode a Panzer on the Russian steppes, fighting the Asiatic Hoards* on their ride in defence of Western Civilization, otherwise...

* I know, I know

 

JC, I only served in what is commonly called a police action if you like or the troubles to others, never had to fire a shot in anger, but the fear and what I can only call loathing for a better word was always with me. And I went back to bed every night. Yes there were adrenelin times and things happen with adrenalin pumping round, but I couldnt possibly imagine what a real battle field is like when your in it. I have nothing but respect for those that have seen it first hand. Would I ever want to serve in a real battle....Ask me as I drive past you in a taxi on the way back home.

 

LOL You forgot " riding erect in the tank cupola of his armored steed. Blonde hair flowing in the wind"

 

Thank you for that urqh. I appreciate your service also.

 

Reality was not exactly like the recruiting posters huh? Especially the ones for the Germans.

 

JCFalkenberg III

I haven't admittedly read this entire thread essentially due to it's length but I wonder if those that think War/Combat is a good experience to be lived in any way shape or manner ever thought of what follows!!

If this post is out of order or too indelicate PLEASE delete it as I don't have that much pride in my authorship on the subject but I just wanted to show others another aspect of the field conditions experienced in combat areas.

This AM I was discussing WW II with another BTDT and we both agreed that little has been said or written about body functions perhaps because it is not usually factored in when men are reminiscing - even by the Vets themselves. We had out first trace of snow here with some very raw temperatures and as part of our discussion this came up but this could also apply to warm areas where men fought.

Picture if you will the conditions e.g. snow depth, cold, lack of shelter for starters and try to visualize how the average GI had to answer nature's call. In our area, the ground was so frozen that we couldn't dig latrines making it even more difficult to answer that call. The truly hated action was to adjust(lower) your clothing to accomplish the necessary without soiling said clothing and accomplishing the necessary ASAP due to the cold.

We had men that had dysentery and their underwear actually froze solid against their bodies making any movement a real chore and in some cases extremely painful. Many of these men soldiered on with great difficulty. I actually remember one man that told me after a bout of dysentery "That is the first warmth I have felt in about a week" and although true this was incredulous.

Just some more random thoughts on stripping away the glamor of war!!

Sgtleo

 

No Prob. Totally appropriate for this thread. And you are right. No one really thinks about bodily functions. Especially when in the field and suffering from disease. Dysentery,Malaria and other types of disease. One of the other side effects of war. Short term and long term.

 

I do remember reading quite a few reports and stories of Marines and Soldiers in the Pacific and CBI with Dysentery so bad that they cut out the seats of thier pants to save time.

 

Unfortunately very necessary and embarrassing but certainly not "Glorious".

 

JCFalkenberg III

While we are on the presonal hygene aspect of combat, I recalled the Portable Shower Units the Army had which I believe were a part of the QM Corps. The moved around from unit to unit.

Twice we were pulled back a short way to get our shot at the shower units and when you got through the Tent (that's what it was) you exited the other end with a "clean uniform" that wasn't always a perfect fit but the clothes were clean(recycled). The mechanized dandruff (lice) and their brothers(cooties) that lived in your clothes were gone but some of us continued to scratch almost like a coditioned reflex we had been doing it so long.

The first unit was A-OK but the second unit had a NCO in charge that decided to read us our do's and don'ts ad nauseum. The major gripe we had was that he set a 2 minute time limit that each man was allowed to get wet, wash the crud off, dry yourself etc get dressed and exit the tent. I don't know if he was joking but he said he was going to actually time each man. Unfortunately for him he chose to put his hand on the shoulder of a Plt. Sgt. who actually should have been sent back for R&R - big mistake - when he pushed said Plt. Sgt and told him that if he wasn't out in two(2) minutes he'd not get his "new" uniforms etc at the exit. The Plt. Sgt. lost it completely.

Before any of us could intervene the Plt. Sgt. grabbed an M-1 and shoved it into the face of the Shower NCO and I honestly felt that had we not stopped him he would have at least beat the daylights out of him with the rifle. For one of the couple of times I was forced to do so, I asked the Plt. Lt. to order the man away at least from the immediate area I doubt that he would have listened to a "Top" at that point he was so livid.The guy had been too good a soldier to screw up his life after what he had been through.

The Officer in Charge of the Shower Unit came along and after a discussion with our Lt. he sent his guy back somewhere with the caveat that he'd deal with him later. The rest of us had a leisurely shower and a change of clothes without incident.

Sgtleo

 

"We got our Christmas packages — somehow. We took them and wondered how much longer this fighting was going to last. How much longer? We cursed the Germans for their insane desire to fight. We cursed them long for the life they had forced us to lead."

"But more than the mere German we fought the weather. Those winter days when snow fell like powder without pause, when the sweat of our dirty bodies froze our clothes to us! Our knuckles were raw and bleeding, and our lips were cracked. Our noses ran and our eyes were blinded by the whiteness that was everywhere. Our feet were wet and frozen and numbed with pain. The walking that had to be done was agony. When we could use our mess kits the once hot food was icy, the coffee useless. And in the howling wind of the afternoon or the cutting blast of the night, it was painful to use a latrine. For most of us sleep was a thing beyond our ken. There was time for nothing but fighting the enemy"

Lone Sentry: The Thunderbolt Across Europe: 83rd Infantry Division (WWII Unit History Map)

 

ww.wrawmc.amedd.army.mil/Patients/healthcare/medicine/dermatology/Textbook/Cold-Induced%20...

More on the effect of the winter's Cold

The bitter lessons learned by the Fifth U.S. Army in Italy during 1943 to 1944 unfortunately did not reduce cold injuries in the European theater.

Records show 46,000 cold injuries in the European theater from autumn 1944 to spring 1945, or about 5% of all hospital admissions for medical treatment. In the Mediterranean theater, the rate had dropped to 1.3% of admissions from 4% the previous winter. Cases peaked the week ending 17 November 1944 with 5,386 cases, with another smaller peak of 3,213 cases appearing during the week ending 29 December 1944, the Battle of the Bulge. The incidence of frostbite was much higher during December, with more cases of trench foot in November.

After the spring thaw began 1 February 1945, the character of the epidemic returned to increasing numbers of trench foot cases. During November and December 1944, there were an astonishing 23,000 cases of cold injury on the Western Front. In terms of combat riflemen (4,000 to a division), the loss amounted to about 5.5 divisions.Changes in clothing types and design had occurred because of U.S. experiences in Italy during the winter of 1943 to 1944, but requisitions were made too late and clothing did not arrive in theater until after the worst of winter was over. Poorly fitting and poorly insulated shoes, a lack of adequate socks, and poorly fitting outer garments all played a role in producing the large number of cold casualties sustained in the European theater. The mistaken belief that the war would end before winter arrived in 1944 was a factor in not requisitioning the necessary cold weather clothing.

(Personal Note:- I still have to be careful re frostbite on my feet)

Sgtleo

 

I think that having to really "rough it" and facing real danger at some point in a man's life is greatly beneficial. It gives one perspective about what is really important.
For example, I've been involved in several real serious shipboard fires. I can tell you that something like a little grease fire in a pan on the stove is a non-plused "big deal. Put a lid on it" kind of experiance. When I started working at a federal prison the inmates wanted to see how I'd react. One of them set a trash can fire on me. My response was so bland it has never happened again.
Camping in horrendous weather or standing watch at two in the morning while freezing to death or, fixing 20 tons of heavy machinery in 120 degree 80% humidity weather outdoors does alot to give you perspective.
It is something that cannot truly be transmitted by word or written discription. You have to experiance it for yourself. But, it seperates the men from the boys in short order.

 

Frostbite casualties during the Bulge



Dysentery victim in the Pacific

 

Are we having fun still?