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Pastimes : G&K Investing for Curmudgeons -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (16977)	9/25/2001 3:13:25 PM
From: Logain Ablar	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 22706

Hi unclewest: Long time. Even with the attack on NY many here do not understand what is actually involved with war. The axiom war is hell is not an understatement. If war was fun it would not be phrased as hell. People are killed, maimed and wounded. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about ancient times or now it is still hell although now there are more ways to inflict damage. The pain / discomfort is the same just more wide spread. With the HBO special band of brothers I became interested in reading the complete novel Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose on the exploits of the 101st Airborne Division (actually its on Company E of the 506 PIR). Here are a few captions out of the book to try and illustrate what a soldier goes through. Some background. On December 19, 1944 the 101st Airborne took up positions in and around Bastogne, Belgium to stop a winter offensive (actual break through of the allied lines) by the Germans. The 101st had just left Holland (they were part of Operation Market Garden) in late November. The division was surrounded by the 20th and faced elements of 3 German divisions. On December 25, 1994 the Germans hoped a concerted attack would surprise the defenders. A direct quote “One German officer was so shocked by the carnage and the bitterness of that battle that he left a note pinned to the black board of a shattered school in Champs, reading “Let the world never see such a Christmas night again. To die far from one’s children, one’s wife and under the fire of guns, there is no greater cruelty. As for being shot by friendly fire or the talk we hear about hurting innocent civilians. No sane soldier wants to hurt or kill innocent civilians or shoot one of his own. However, civilians here in the US, comfortable in our homes with our families should not judge those in the heat of battle. On December 26, 1944 – Lt Charles Boggess was the tank commander leading the push to break through to the 101st. I won’t go into the gory details of the push through to go the last 4 miles but here is an excerpt on the final breakthrough. At 4:30, just after one of his two remaining halftracks had been knocked out (from what I could gather he had lost over half his tanks) the tank commander spotted a small green-painted bunker to his right. Beyond it lay parachute canopies draped over the snow-heavy fir trees. But in the growing darkness Boggess could not tell whether this was an American or German position. He took no chances. He ordered his gunner to fire a couple of rounds into the strangely silent bunker. The corporal responded, slamming two armor-piercing shells at the bunker, followed by two rounds of high explosive. That did it. Scores of shadowy figures fled into the surrounding trees. Boggess began to feel that he had made it. He sensed it in his bones. He took a chance at being picked off by a sniper and carefully raised the turret hatch. Then he called out, Come here this is the 4th Armored!” A soldier - he could not make out whether it was friend or foe – approached cautiously, a carbine cradled in his arms. Suddenly, the soldier smiled and yelled excitedly, Lieutenant Duane J. Webster, 326th Battalion, 101st Airborne. I can’t begin to describe (or understand for that matter) the pressure the tank commander was under. One must understand Patton’s men were fighting under appalling conditions on their way to break through to relieve the 101st at Bastogne. Patton disengaged 3 divisions actually in combat and launched them over 100 miles of icy roads, straight into combat. The 101st was in dire straights also. The book really shows the courage and bravery of our fathers.