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Question: A workmate inferred today that his grandfather, who died in WW2, was braver than mine (who lived)!.!.!.comments!?
We were talking about the war at work today as a couple of us got together and watched 'Raid On Rommel' last night!.
Today at work the new lad, who is 20, and I were talking about what our grandparents had done for the war effort!. His grandfather was an Officer in the Royal Engineers who was killed on the Normandy beaches whilst trying to clear a minefield!.
My grandfather was a Private in the Paratroopers who lost a thumb at Arnhem but otherwise survived the war intact!. Upon hearing this, my workmate starting laughing and insinuated that my grandpa was obviously a coward, as he did not 'go out in a blaze of glory' like his did!.
He was most definitely being serious!.
I, and those working near us, were shocked in to silence by his comments!. I then called him a rather rude name!. Another workmate told him to **** off and not come back, which I believe he did!. Obviously he was being very, very childish, but do you think I was being far-fetched in my reaction!?
Thanks!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Your grandfather was luckier and just as brave!. My father was in the USN he survived the war!. He also walked almost twenty miles three times back and forth to the county seat before he was able to enlist!. That was because he was only sixteen!. In fall of 1942, a month after his seventeenth birthday his destroyer was sunk in a night action off Guadalcanal!. Nearly the entire crew went with it!. Before it went down they engaged and tried to torpedo a Japanese battleship at such close range the warheads would not arm!. Then they were in turn engaged, shelled, torpedoed, and sunk by a Japanese cruiser and destroyer!. My father survived and about three hundred others didn't!. That should illustrate survival in war has nothing to do with bravery!. By the way the paratroopers in Arnhem were known as "the Red Devils" for their berets!. They fought until they were decimated!. Anyone who fought there and lived or died certainly had nothing to apologize for about courage!.!.!.!.They were basically light infantry and lost a lot of their equipment in the drop!. They held off German armor for days!. The majority became casualties!. Some escaped and most did not!. Arnhem was one of the worst battles of WWII and you should be really proud of your Granddaddy!.!.!.!.Pongress are you just a tad green in the face!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Your reaction was not unwarranted, in my humble view!. If anything, your colleague's attitude was more akin to the playground "My Dad can beat your Dad"! Both grandfathers were brave - I suspect both would respect and appreciate the other!. It might help if you can get hold of any books about Arnhem or even watch the film directed by Richard Attenborough, "A Bridge Too Far"!. That film gives only a flavour about what it must have been like!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
No, I don't think you overreacted & apparently your other workmates agree with you!.
Your workmate is a moron, buy him a history book about WWII!. Every one during World War Two, civilians & armed forces alike made incredible sacrifices to make it through to the other side of the war, to belittle one man's efforts to belittle everyone!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
i would have reacted the same as you so don't worry!. at least your grandad went to war & just by doing that!.!.!.knew that he might be killed himself!.!.!.!.& that in my book - makes him a very brave man!.!.!.!.& hey - losing a thumb must of been bloody agony as well!! this 20yr old sounds very uneducated & thick!!Www@QuestionHome@Com
Death in war is usually a matter of just been in the wrong place at the wrong time!. It rarely has anything to do with whether the person is a hero or a coward!.
Sometimes they are and sometimes they are notWww@QuestionHome@Com
he is 20 the war ended 63 years ago take away 20 leaves 43!.
i could be wrong but i don't think this guys being honest!.
yes you was being childish both men if they where there did there bit, they where all brave in my opinion god bless them bothWww@QuestionHome@Com
No, I think that you gave him an answer he deserved for his inference that his relative was braver than yours!. He could also have been a little careless while sweeping the minefield causing his own death!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Most people would have reacted exactly the same as you!. He's obviously a complete idiot who has made a total fool of himself! He's lucky all you did was call him a rude name!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
he is a stupid, obviously!.
and i'm sure he would have been the first of the cowards during the war!.!.!. he can just talk talk and talk!.!.!. the world is full of people like him!
never mind!.!.!. just punch him next time!Www@QuestionHome@Com
George Patton was right - no man ever won a war by dying for his country!. He won it by making some other poor b-stard die for HIS country!.
And I think you'll find that only those who were never there talk of Glory!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Ignore him, some people got killed by bad luck as much as the other survived by good luck, damned stupid thing to say in the first placeWww@QuestionHome@Com
anybody who was at Arnhem is a hero in my book!.A lot of good men did not come back but that does not make them braver than those who did!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
That person was obviously an adolescent ar**hole!. You where right to give him the verbals!.
I doubt if he would join the forces, he is too much of a prick!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Sounds like your granfather was smarter thats why he lived longerWww@QuestionHome@Com
Your Grandad obviously has more brains than his!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
You don't have to fight or die to be a hero!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
that person sounds like a jerk who doesn't know what they're talking about!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
take no notice of the silly twat!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
no i dont believe you were being far fetched in your reactionWww@QuestionHome@Com
Being under enemy fire must be a terrifying experience!. The new lad at work was being most rude uncharitable about your grandfather!. The bridge at Arnheim was a vicious battle between American paratroopers and British soldiers versus the Wehrmacht and its Panzers!.
Conversely, in WWI soldiers would shoot off their own fingers to get sent away from the front!. It was a known ploy, and I think the French would send some of these men to the firing squad or force them out in no-mans land!. Doubtless, there were malingerers in WWII also, but to my mind the vast majority of soldiers were heroes, willing or not!. Many who did not go out in a blaze of glory had terrifying flashbacks for the rest of their lives!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I hate people who have attitudes like that!. Being a martyr sometimes instills in peoples minds this idea of being heroic and brave and that by surviving you were somehow cowardly!. I dont know where this attitude came from but its utter bull!. Ultimately whether you live or die comes down to luck nothing more nothing less!. Basically that he was standing in a particular place at a certain time and was hit by a bullet while your grandfather wasn't!.
Dont mind him!. Its an ignorant viewpoint!. He will soon realise that!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
The lad being immature obviously was in error!. All soldiers/firemen/medics/war photographers who did the best they could were heroes in my eyes!. Even conscientious objecters were brave because many of them worked as medics at the front line!. To stand out from the rest for one's convictions is a brave thing to do especially knowing they would be branded as cowards and would be taunted and insulted till the day they died!.
You reacted on the spur of the moment and I would have felt insulted too!. The lads comments were empty of truth!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
As my cousin used to say, how rude!. That's a stupid kid for you!. If his grandfather were alive today and have heard that, he probably, in the way it used to work, smack him up side the head and told him to shut up!.
The measure of bravery can't be based upon who lives or dies!. That's just a silly teenager who may not be playing with a full deck talking!.
If he's like his grand dad, why isn't he in the Army fighting a war over oil, instead of making rude comments!?
I think his remarks show a total lack of regard for those who did suffer, die, and manage to live through the last war!. I hope Britain doesn't have to rely upon his likes as I don't think he'd hold the line!.Www@QuestionHome@Com