what is your fav ww2 movie? Options

[UNDEAD 1]

curious to see what your fav ww 2 movie is BEFORE 1995 as saving private ryan is a given.

one of my all time fav is between, a bridge too far /longest day.

[UNDEAD 1]

i agree with you with post pearl harbor -the only reason i say what i did is from listening to the interviews of alot of guys from 101st and ohmaha.one guy had said from ohmaha bch that prior too the invasion they thought germ soldiers were 6ft5 and a pure fighting force-until after they secured the bch head and realized they were normal skinny kids but was still suprised because they fought like no other force he could imagine.he said fighting this enemy will mean a tough road to germany! hope i worded this right as im not much of a writer.i just feel back in the 40s coming from a farm and knowing my duty and wanting to earn for our family the minute that pontoon door drops and being confronted with ohmaha i could freeze at 18 yrs of age! concerning upham i think i would have to take this into consideration and fortify my positions the best you can ,he was as green as they come! and in crossroads thats the thing i noticed was the kids age and how he knew he was dead because there was no other option.he basiclly gestured "come on get it over with" i think that would fuck wth my head a little.





lol-speirs? no more posts at 9am when i get home from work at 5 am!

[Hellfighter]

i agree with you with post pearl harbor -the only reason i say what i did is from listening to the interviews of alot of guys from 101st and ohmaha.one guy had said from ohmaha bch that prior too the invasion they thought germ soldiers were 6ft5 and a pure fighting force-until after they secured the bch head and realized they were normal skinny kids but was still suprised because they fought like no other force he could imagine.he said fighting this enemy will mean a tough road to germany! hope i worded this right as im not much of a writer.i just feel back in the 40s coming from a farm and knowing my duty and wanting to earn for our family the minute that pontoon door drops and being confronted with ohmaha i could freeze at 18 yrs of age!

However.... all the troops in the first Allied beach assault waves were veterans and/OR highly trained over a long period of time. The reaction of those poor soldiers pinned down on Omaha was smart-going ahead without proper support would mean certain death in that wall of defenders pre-planned fire zones. The only guys that were going forward were something mentally beyond normal human endurance. Earlier, the US bombers failed to drop bombs to blow craters on the beach for the landers to duck in as they moved up to beach defences, and also as you know the tank LCTs let out the swimming tanks too far out in the deep sea. If the proper support was available I'm sure the training would've obscured the fear of going full ahead.
Yes, those Hitler Jugend kids in Normandy were beyond fanatical. Relating to the thread topic again [ ] do you remember the scene in A Bridge Too Far depicting Gavin's 82nd Airborne making a company sized boat assault at Nijmegen bridge?The movie accurately shows the infuriated Para survivors who get across the river [many didn't make it] slaughtering the riverside dugouts occupants directly opposing them even as they tried to surrender > unfortunately these defenders were 14,15 year old conscripts[probably not even trained well enough to get shoot any enemy realistically] , if these kids were a bit battle savvy they would've fallen back, but being so young, there's the fear of retreating without orders from their 'older' officers ....trying to imagine the kid's perspective/dilemna in that action leaves me numb.

All and all, I don't think a lot of the soldiers wanted to kill each other but it came down to brotherhood and pride of country. If I don't kill that German soldier he might kill me, my comrade in arms, or destroy my country. It was a "you or me" situation which can ultimately haunt people down the road afterwards.

Later studies confirmed many soldiers weren't shooting to kill if the situation wasn't a 'do or die' one. This led to a new mode of firing target practice in the U.S forces around the time of Korea I believe.


This post has been edited by Hellfighter: 03/08/06 5:32pm