tennesseeboy Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 Little known fact: in the '60, an epidemic of rabies swept Europe, from west to east. When people got around to studying it they traced it back to a westward migration of foxes and wolves that started in the Soviet Union in the early '40s. Yes, basically a bunch of rabid animals saw the Russians and Germans fighting, and said "We're crazy, but not THAT crazy. !@#$ this ****. We're outta here..." Mention this because: 70th anniversary of the German invasion of Russia. And, more importantly, 67th anniversary of the largest land battle in history. Much thanks to the 2.5 million Russians who annihilated an million-man German army group in a month, and basically won the war. I was in Kiev for the 60th anniversary of the "Great Patriotic War" as they called it. Ukrainians fought with the Russians, fought with the Nazis and fought as partisans. When the Nazis crossed the Dnipro the jews ran to greet them figuring they would be treated better than when Stalin persecuted them. The slaughter at Babi Yar was one of the first episodes of the Holocaust. Their war and our war in WWII were two very different things, thank God. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I was in Kiev for the 60th anniversary of the "Great Patriotic War" as they called it. Ukrainians fought with the Russians, fought with the Nazis and fought as partisans. When the Nazis crossed the Dnipro the jews ran to greet them figuring they would be treated better than when Stalin persecuted them. The slaughter at Babi Yar was one of the first episodes of the Holocaust. Their war and our war in WWII were two very different things, thank God. Nice article here: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/the-unknown-war/439295.html One thing that this article says, that I did not know... Of all men born in the Soviet Union between 1921 and 1923, only 3 percent survived. Don't know if that's true, but I have seen the age demographics for the postwar USSR, and the bell-curve is so warped that I could easily believe the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 We should be careful to avoid giving the impression that we were the ones who carried the load. The war started in 1939 and we didn't even get into it until December of 1942. The invasion of Normandy took place in June of 1944 and the European war was over in April of 1945, less than a year later. We really should appreciate the load that England and Russia carried, although I think it was our industrial strength and leadership as well as our support that made it possible to withstand the nazis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 We should be careful to avoid giving the impression that we were the ones who carried the load. The war started in 1939 and we didn't even get into it until December of 1942. The invasion of Normandy took place in June of 1944 and the European war was over in April of 1945, less than a year later. We really should appreciate the load that England and Russia carried, although I think it was our industrial strength and leadership as well as our support that made it possible to withstand the nazis. People should also remember that about 61 million people died during WW2. Mostly citizens. Thats 61 MILLION!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 We should be careful to avoid giving the impression that we were the ones who carried the load. The war started in 1939 and we didn't even get into it until December of 1942. The invasion of Normandy took place in June of 1944 and the European war was over in April of 1945, less than a year later. We really should appreciate the load that England and Russia carried, although I think it was our industrial strength and leadership as well as our support that made it possible to withstand the nazis. December of '41. Although a strong case can be made that, between Lend-Lease, the Atlantic Charter, and the occupation of Iceland, we were in it much earlier (most people don't know that there was an honest-to-god shooting war between the US Navy and and German forces in the North Atlantic by October of '41). Another little known fact: the US, through Lend-Lease, provided about 1000 calories of rations to each Russian soldier, per day, for four years. Think about how much food that is. The American farmer arguably contributed more to the war than American GIs. It's been said that World War II was won with British technology, American material, and Russian blood. There's a very considerable truth to that statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 December of '41. Although a strong case can be made that, between Lend-Lease, the Atlantic Charter, and the occupation of Iceland, we were in it much earlier (most people don't know that there was an honest-to-god shooting war between the US Navy and and German forces in the North Atlantic by October of '41). Another little known fact: the US, through Lend-Lease, provided about 1000 calories of rations to each Russian soldier, per day, for four years. Think about how much food that is. The American farmer arguably contributed more to the war than American GIs. It's been said that World War II was won with British technology, American material, and Russian blood. There's a very considerable truth to that statement. It's been said that World War II was won with British technology, American material, and Russian blood. There's a very considerable truth to that statement. That kind of says it all in a nutshell. However I also think we were the major player on our side in the Pacific war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dib Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 One less B-17. Liberty Bell crashes June 13, 2011 two days before the anniversary of the invasion of Saipan sad day, saw her in Fort Lauderdale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 It's been said that World War II was won with British technology, American material, and Russian blood. There's a very considerable truth to that statement. That kind of says it all in a nutshell. However I also think we were the major player on our side in the Pacific war. Yes...although maybe a quarter of the US war effort was directed to the Pacific (which really just shows how completely outclassed Japan was - they had absolutely no business fighting a modern war). And one shouldn't short the ANZACs. What the Aussies went through in Papua New Guinea was every bit as brutalizing as Guadalcanal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Worked with some crazy crazy aussies in Vietnam. Rough mothers, and quite the drinkers by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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