Years ago, on a tour of D-Day locations in Normandy, the first place the tour guide took us was a German cemetery. Put it into perspective that these were just soldiers doing the fighting that their country told them to, just like the allies buried a short distance away.
@@blacknap0le0n56 They were Navy not soldiers, one of them had the job of ferrying equipment to the landing spots, not sure what my other uncle did, I don't think they were in any real danger, it was most likely after the beaches were secured.
The paratrooper on the church was named John Steele. He was wounded in the foot by a burst of flak. His parachute caught in one of the pinnacles of the church tower, leaving him hanging on the side of the church. Steele hung there limply for two hours, pretending to be dead, before the Germans took him prisoner. He escaped four hours later from the Germans and rejoined his division when US troops of the 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment attacked the village, capturing thirty Germans and killing another eleven.
My father had been there at Omaha and he was shaking when he saw that battle in Saving Private Ryan. He said afterward he thought the theater was putting a diesel smell in the AirCon because he clearly smelled it (memory).
@@williambill5172 my husband was a former MP in the Army and had seen combat in Panama during Operation Just Cause which was to get Noriega out of Panama. When he watched Saving Private Ryan in the theater, he couldn't help flinching and jumping during the invasion scene; it is a reaction combat vets the world over will understand.
On the topic of non-Germans in defense of Normandy: in the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan, there is a moment where the American soldiers shoot two Nazis who were trying to surrender. The Americans “joke” that they were saying ‘look, I’ve washed my hands for supper.’ The soldiers who were shot were actually speaking Czech and said “don’t shoot, we are not German we are Chech.” A great detail in an amazing movie
My grandfather’s unit was given leave because they were slated to be shipped to Normandy. His commanders knew the casualties would be high so they let them see their families one last time. On the way to the bus station to ship out, a gale-force storm closed down the roads and the busses stopped running. He missed shipping out and was declared AWOL. By the time he made it to base he had missed the deployment by 2 days. He never saw his buddies again. He had survivor’s guilt issues. We didn’t learn about it until after his death. I possibly owe my existence to a random storm.
My late father was one of the 82nd Airborne that parachuted on Utah Beach. Later that day a French farmer welcomed my father and his group of Paratroopers into his home all the while praising them and feeding them. Unbeknownst to them, the farmer had his daughter sneak out and bring the Germans. Daddy was 19 years old and had had about 12 hours of battle before he became a POW for the rest of the war and lost 65 pounds . He never hated the average German soldier since so many had no choice but to fight. He freaking hated the French for the entire rest of his life. He NEVER forgot the people of Nottingham, England for their warm welcome, patience, and the many kindness's shown to this arrogant, cocky young kid who had come to "save" them (his thoughts at age 19). He always praised the U.K for being such great Allies. God save the Queen, God Bless the USA.
@@michaelclark330 yes you can, thousands of videos on youtube. You just have to cut it and distort the movie in the video but they can edit in all the parts where they talk about the movie and best parts from the movie
The paratrooper hanging from the church tower was depicted in “The Longest Day.” I don’t think he was up there for days or shot too much, since that was one of the first towns the Americans took. Could be wrong about the timing, though. The actor who played him was Red Buttons, an old-time American comedian!
@@robertk2007 How about you should feel bad for humans? Knowing, not everybody was a fanatic killer. And it's not like fanatic killers are in every faction. Name a nation or people who did not have unhuman people in their ranks?
@@robertk2007 you do know that most people were forced to fight as Nazis even though they hated the ideology? My grandpa for example was forced to fight for the Nazis even though he hated national socialism more then anything else. If he would have done something against it his entire family would have been killed. Think before writing a comment.
Read this book a couple years ago. Fascinating. My father was on the King George V lobbing shells that day. Sorry, the book is "D Day Through German Eyes". The audible book is a 6 hour video on YT.
Artillery was the biggest killer on Omaha. The machine guns were further back in the draws. They had firing stations closer to the beach but the main ones were holding the draw at angles to create better enfilade fire. 2 Sgts lead their lean up the bluffs near the head of the cemetery. 50mm guns taken from obsolete Panzer 3’s were put on pedestals and targeting the LC ramp doors. The beach was twice the size of SPR. The channel was at 27 knots so the LC were bunched together right in front of the draws instead of the bluffs where trenches were more common. MG42’s had a fire rate of 20 rounds a second. The entire area was “zeroed in” by artillery and mortars. To drop ordnance on a position was as simple as calling your shots in the game Battleship. Pas-de-Calais was the fake landing zone. Bunkers like in SPR were more common. The shape of the beach at Normandy made Rommel keen on it. Same beach front the allies landed in NA, Sicily and Italy. The beach defenses were made by a French company (just like the train cars for the final solution). They used POWs and French laborers as well as infantry to create the defenses. A lot of the Normandy coast was still under construction when we landed.
My grandfathers brother fought on the western front. He was deeper in France when Normandy happened. He surrendered by Belgium and spent the remainder of the war in a Canadian POW camp and then immigrated to America. When asked about the war he would only say you do what you have too to survive. He wouldn't talk much about his time fighting. But he did admit he knew about some of the atrocities but was to afraid to say anything out of fear of being severely punished and or executed. He always said he was a coward and that he would have to make peace with that when he dies and meets God he would be punished for his non action. I don't condone the actions that the Germans did in World War II I myself do not know what I would do if I was in my grandfather's brother's position I hope I would be a better person but I'm not sure if I would and I hope I never would have to make that choice
I feel for your great uncle. Who knows what we'd do in his situation. I hope that he was able to forgive himself for choosing to survive. My late father parachuted at Utah Beach. He never hated the average German soldiers because so many had no choice. When all of the preparations for the huge 50th Anniversary of D-Day were going on there were a LOT of folks that didn't believe that the Germans should be involved or their combat dead should be honored. It was suggested that the Germans should show respect and not even show up. My father was against that! He said that they had fought and died just like everyone else and nobody could/should tell Germany to back away and not be involved. My father felt this way even after being a POW and treated horribly. Daddy died 6 months before the anniversary. We celebrated for him.
@@janettamcgee8124 your father was a great man. His beliefs are the true reason that i believe the world ended up the way it did. People like him helped the world heal form WW2 and didn't follow the same mistakes that his parents generation did at the end of WW1. Thank you and your family for his service
There are (if you can find them) color photos taken by the Allies on D Day from the behind the beachheads. The photographers were snuck in just ahead of the landings to document the landing. I've seen them on one History Channel TV show but can find them on the net because they are so rare.
I’ve been watching you guys consistently for the past two weeks although I’ve watched maybe a handful before and I could never really understand what you guys were saying because of the accent.. but two weeks in of consistently watching you guys I finally understand the accent lol keep up the videos fellas
Montemayor made a really indepth series on the Battle of Midway from the Japanese perspective. Its a pretty great series. Kinda long and a series but it's very interesting.
Interesting. Thanks for putting it on. A few of my fathers friends landed at Omaha while my dad was at an 8th AAF Base near Sudbury in England for the 486th Heavy Bombardment Group. You can still see remnants of the base in satellite maps.
My grandfather was a medic in WW2, He was among the men that stormed Utah Beach. He told me the germans ripped the first landing boats to pieces. By the time he got to the beach there were hundreds of Americans dead. The germans were low of amo by that time and were firing in short burst. Which made it easier to move up the beach. By the time the Americans made it to the bunkers at the top of the beach, the germans were trying to surrender, but the Americans wouldn't let them. They opened fire on them. Cutting them down, my grandfather told me the sheer hatred the men had for the germans after being fired on for hours, and seeing so many men cut down, was the scariest thing he ever seen in the war. A few germans were able to flee to a small town a few miles inland from Utah Beach. But surrendered the next day. The Germans that surrounded to the British and Canadians got a far better fate. But, the British and Canadians were given the weakest points to invade, the Americans bore the brunt of the battle that day.
My father was a paratrooper as well. He spoke of his buddies and funny stories but nothing war related. A few years before he died we went with him to several of the Company reunions. The guys would sometimes go into a room alone and talk. Sometimes they had tears in their eyes when they came out. We never knew what they talked about. I guess because it wasn't about us and we wouldn't understand anyway.
You were asking about whillie Pete, or white phosphorus being used recently, Russia, USA and Israel are notorious for using WP including Saudi Arabia and other middle eastern countries have used it on occasion. Yemen comes to mind. Russia uses it commonly and another thing you may want to look up sometime is the fact that neither the US or Russia are signatories of the antiperssonel land mine ban. The UK probably does use US made claymore mines at times. That's something you should watch and react to, the claymore antiperssonel mine and other types of antiperssonel(AP) land mines such as bouncing betties and toe poppers . Especially the Yugoslavian Pmr2a , the Italian Valmera mine and the WW2 German S mine (bouncing Betty) . A really crazy and interesting one is the Russian pom2 mine. It's crazy how it works. Nasty inventions that highlight the ingenuity humans have when it comes to violence. AT mines (anti tank mines) are designed to only go off from the weight of an armored vehicle so you can actually step on one and it doesn't have enough pressure to activate. The country of Chad actually drove right through and safely over Libyan AT mine fields with pick up trucks in the "Toyota war". Another interesting conflict you could cover.
There is a firsthand account of a US WW2 soldier in Europe shortly after DDay on youtube. It seems many Germans knew the war was lost by DDay and were looking for an excuse to surrender, although culturally they could not until they were surrounded, it depended on their officers. One lone guy marched 25 Germans back to camp, they couldve overpowered him but it was clear they had had enough of the war by then. Good to know the Germans weren't all just robots.
I got a hockey video for you guys. React to bob probert. Toughest hockey player of all time. Also had a severe coke problem and was completely unhinged. You guys won’t be disappointed
Everyone here in the US always makes fun of Canada for being so nice....If I was back in the Army and had to pick a soldier in another country to fight next too it would be a Canadian. They are extremely fierce fighters, don’t let the niceness fool you.
British, Canadian, American and other nations POW fought for the Germans on the Russian front. I have seen unit flags from them from a display in a Russian museum.
If you lot would ever consider doing a reaction series style thing I really recommend the documentary Vietnam : lost films. It’s an amazing documentary that gives you a hell of a lot of perspective of Vietnam soldiers
Omaha Beach - the US didn't use the special tanks, floating Shermans, mine-clearance tanks etc.... that's why they had more casualties. The terrain did not favour the attackers - bunkers close to the shore and steep cliffs.
The Polish here are like the Indians who fought for the British. I hope someday the British will recognise the efforts of these hundreds of thousands of Indian men who sacrificed a lot for nothing... it's about time I feel, now that dogs have been honoured as well!
There were as many as 250,000 troops of foreign birth that fought on the NAZI side. The French/German volunteers were among the last troops defending Berlin.
@@waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaluigi sorry man I just loved them reacting to Harry Mack reacting to both guerilla bars and Omegle bars both once a week and they haven’t done Harry Mack in about 3 weeks now 😔 I’m trying to be patient, but seeing them reacting to things makes people like me feel happy and awesome and they’re awesome for that! Still amazing that they’re doing awesome! I understand where you’re coming from bro, and I’ll try to be more patient 🙌❤️ love you man!
Love your work guys keep it up! But I must say that the whole common 'history is written by the victors' trope isn't really accurate. History is written by historians, normally from both sides of any conflict. and the wider range of historical views on both sides of conflict benefit the human race as a whole. I probably could explain it better but I'm not a historian myself, just a big history fan.
You guys should watch a video on the inflatable tanks was a massive mission and involved a lot of large individuals from Hollywood so the props would look legit for German spy planes
To what you said at the end, that Germans say they didn't know about the Holocaust, you are most likely to be right if you don't buy it. I am from Germany and we had this topic a few weeks ago. Just to summarize it was almost impossible to not know anything about the holocaust mainly because the nazis weren't that secret about it themselves
I completely agree about that as a German, obvious reasons were that any word against the way the Nazis handled the idea of their aryan supremacy would have ended with getting a visit by the SS and dragged into the next concentration camp or being shot on the spot
Dave, please don’t listen to a couple of comments that get buried. Nobody with sense thinks you’re a snowflake. The most obscure/nonsensical comments are on TH-cam. I mean, shit, I’m pretty early to this video and already, somebody has requested you REACT to Band of Brothers, which is 6 hours long. Sometimes you have to ignore stupidity.
1. Concentrate more on LONG range air power and less on a surface fleet unless you plan to build carriers in a hurry. 2. Don't waste time, materials, and manpower on camps and exterminations. 3. Don't fight a land war in Asia.
this video is not even close to the horror the soldiers on both sides experienced on that day. i mean, they were just soldiers. almost noone of them even knew or cared about politics. they did not follow blindly but followed orders. they were just friggin soldiers who did their job and killed each other and themselves. the true villains are the ones who decide over the fate of many.
Check out the movie "Meet Joe Black" and compare Mike and Anthony Hopkins.... there's a striking resemblance. Not identical, but they could very easily pass for brothers.
I have thought the same. Mike is obviously much younger than Sir Anthony but compare pictures of him when he was younger from movies like The Edge, Legends of the Fall and at the very least they look like brothers, more like fraternal twins. I've known a number of fraternal twins that don't look this similar. It's uncanny. Handsome men.
@@kylebarrett28 most of those videos are titled like “soldier reacts to” and they specialize in reactions to movies/series. Are you even familiar with the office blokes? That’s not their thing and they don’t have time to start doing it. They get too many requests for other stuff. Learn to read the room, bud.
Need to watch a video that goes in depth on the eastern legions it wasn't just giving a prisoner a gun it was more like the Germans saying you hate communists for occupying your land so if you fight for us we'll help liberate your home country and many people from Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and a few others would enlist into these volunteer groups also there was a Indian Legion and an ethnic Russian legion.
Hard to watch the video, when all I can think about is how did you get Anthony Hopkins to do this video... Seriously. Does he get that comparison a lot?
They know but just refuse to look into it. why should they care? it does not interfere with their daily life. It someone else suffering. The world know about what happened to the Uighur in China but no one care to intervene. What to gains from intervene, beside making a powerful enemy. It is better to stay silent and benefit from their money and cheap labor.
I was wondering why I had never considered the German perspective, or when I had I had assumed it to be a very offensive and aggressive minded perspective. I'm an extremely empathetic individual, so this kind of worried me to think maybe I have some large blindspots, but then it dawned on me... they were watching from pillboxes located on the shores of FRANCE now weren't they? It's not like you're really defending you're homeland or in a justified defensive "hold off" type position... they were OCCUPYING and defending their OCCUPATION of France. That's why my empathy kind of ends there from a realistic and genuine consideration. It's like how much do you really empathize w a serial killer?
Id have guessed the POWs would have been heavily supervised.. its probs quite easy and effective to get 2 soldiers to point guns at 6 POWs and make them do the grunt work?
Must have been really difficult for them.. To be really.... Tense..b Dave I genuinely think you're a good guy and a decent bloke or whatever but seriously... Is it really a shame.. A shame? That they have to simply say they aren't presenting something as a positive spin from a Nazi perspective? That's the hill you need to die on? Defending the honor of the poor Nazi solider who's occupying another country at the time they are firing massive caliber weaponry at soldiers floating in on little boats and then desperately seeking shelter? I'm just confused a bit by thjs constant need to feel badly for this spcific people in this specific conflict. It's actually OK to say in this case you know what? Germany itself is horrified and embarrassed at least publicly at this period in their history. So many people need defending. Not sure the occupying Nazi empire with its goals of world domination and the ethnic cleansing of whole sections of the world really deserves a single iota of empathy Honestly... I bet their perspective was confidence and aggression as they tried to pick off every single soldier... Then? Getting their ass kicked. Oh wait none of the guys on the beach knew what their government was all about right? Not one guy..... Lets just assume maybe a couple had some idea? Wouldn't they all? It's not a shame they have to say what they said. There's plenty of trash out there ready to present that side. With that intent.
Ostlegionen were not all coerced prisoners. Many were volunteers. This is why I don’t take these types of “history” videos too seriously or as the final word. Frequently shoddy research.
Why spend time on this? Everyone knows the opposite sides were made up of mostly young men caught up in something they had no choice over and were following orders, as good soldiers do and must. We don't need to be told that. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no justification for Germany's actions before or during the war. So they didn't like the consequences they received for what they did in WW I, so they basically repeated it. If you go too far in sympathizing with horrible actions, you become part of the problem.
I don't see how a video whose purpose is to entertain and inform by showing another side of events (alternate perspective material on the subject is abundant.....not), with all the appropriate disclaimers in place, can go too far into sympathizing with any horrible actions, especially when they don't do that at any point in the video. Acting like Germans haven't been on their knees for the past 80 years and get bombarded with the reminder of what their people did, in all levels of education, media, entertainment, by every book written and film made on the subject since then. Perhaps we should talk more about allied war crimes during WWII, which have been purposely ignored and omitted from the historical records. By failing to bring perspective to the people on the other side of the conflict, particularly the combatants doing their wartime service and the observant civilian population effected by the war, we are essentially saying they are lesser people who don't deserve their accounts being told because of the ideology of their regime.
@@ammie8659 Accounts of the opposite side are not that commonly shared so I doubt you have. But if you aren't interested in them or in the topic, you don't have to watch. We have no obligation, people watch it because they are interested.
Years ago, on a tour of D-Day locations in Normandy, the first place the tour guide took us was a German cemetery. Put it into perspective that these were just soldiers doing the fighting that their country told them to, just like the allies buried a short distance away.
I had two uncles that had not seen each other the entire war until they met up on a beach on D-Day. Both were in the US Navy.
The chances of one of them even being able to tell that story is statistically impressive.
@@blacknap0le0n56 They were Navy not soldiers, one of them had the job of ferrying equipment to the landing spots, not sure what my other uncle did, I don't think they were in any real danger, it was most likely after the beaches were secured.
@@edsmith3461-z7m Then my sympathy for their memories. That must have been a grim sight to behold.
@@edsmith3461-z7m There are at least 54 ships in the English Channel from D Day.
They were absolutely in danger. The Channel was heavily mined.
Heroes
The paratrooper on the church was named John Steele. He was wounded in the foot by a burst of flak. His parachute caught in one of the pinnacles of the church tower, leaving him hanging on the side of the church. Steele hung there limply for two hours, pretending to be dead, before the Germans took him prisoner. He escaped four hours later from the Germans and rejoined his division when US troops of the 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment attacked the village, capturing thirty Germans and killing another eleven.
for the Japanese perspective i recommend letters from iwo jima
Isoroku and oba the last samurai as well
Watch the first 30 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" for the most realistic depiction of the D-Day landings on Omaha Beach and the subsequent battle.
My father had been there at Omaha and he was shaking when he saw that battle in Saving Private Ryan. He said afterward he thought the theater was putting a diesel smell in the AirCon because he clearly smelled it (memory).
@@williambill5172 my husband was a former MP in the Army and had seen combat in Panama during Operation Just Cause which was to get Noriega out of Panama. When he watched Saving Private Ryan in the theater, he couldn't help flinching and jumping during the invasion scene; it is a reaction combat vets the world over will understand.
@@henriettaskolnick4445 is this a joke
@@rancidcrawfish bruh lmao
Funny how people forget the other side was doing what they're told just like now. Get off your horse
Love your work
Three sides to every story:
Yours, mine and the truth.
That's my belief.
Watch Europa the last battle, that's the truth
But what if one’s opinion is the same as the truth
The original Scotty from Star Trek got his one finger shot off in the D Day landings.
He was a Canadian at Juno beach.
On the topic of non-Germans in defense of Normandy: in the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan, there is a moment where the American soldiers shoot two Nazis who were trying to surrender. The Americans “joke” that they were saying ‘look, I’ve washed my hands for supper.’ The soldiers who were shot were actually speaking Czech and said “don’t shoot, we are not German we are Chech.” A great detail in an amazing movie
I was just about to comment on that!
Midway from the japanese perspective is also super good
My grandfather’s unit was given leave because they were slated to be shipped to Normandy. His commanders knew the casualties would be high so they let them see their families one last time. On the way to the bus station to ship out, a gale-force storm closed down the roads and the busses stopped running. He missed shipping out and was declared AWOL. By the time he made it to base he had missed the deployment by 2 days. He never saw his buddies again. He had survivor’s guilt issues. We didn’t learn about it until after his death.
I possibly owe my existence to a random storm.
My late father was one of the 82nd Airborne that parachuted on Utah Beach. Later that day a French farmer welcomed my father and his group of Paratroopers into his home all the while praising them and feeding them. Unbeknownst to them, the farmer had his daughter sneak out and bring the Germans. Daddy was 19 years old and had had about 12 hours of battle before he became a POW for the rest of the war and lost 65 pounds . He never hated the average German soldier since so many had no choice but to fight. He freaking hated the French for the entire rest of his life. He NEVER forgot the people of Nottingham, England for their warm welcome, patience, and the many kindness's shown to this arrogant, cocky young kid who had come to "save" them (his thoughts at age 19). He always praised the U.K for being such great Allies. God save the Queen, God Bless the USA.
The movie called The Longest Day is an excellent portrayal of both sides. Perhaps a reaction is in order?
Thats a movie....you cant make a reaction video to a movie😂
@@michaelclark330 yes you can, thousands of videos on youtube. You just have to cut it and distort the movie in the video but they can edit in all the parts where they talk about the movie and best parts from the movie
@@michaelclark330 check TH-cam.
@@michaelclark330 THANK YOU. I’ve been trying to figure out what that movie was called for years!
@@masamune2984 The book is much, much better...
I'm happy to see you guys watching his content.. he has so many good videos you should check more of them out. It's definitely worth your time.
The paratrooper hanging from the church tower was depicted in “The Longest Day.”
I don’t think he was up there for days or shot too much, since that was one of the first towns the Americans took. Could be wrong about the timing, though.
The actor who played him was Red Buttons, an old-time American comedian!
He was up there for a couple of hours, then taken prisoner. He eventually escaped and rejoined his division.
Great reaction 👍. It’s crazy to think about how scary it must of been for them.
Ah, feel so bad for nazis😂😂
@@robertk2007 How about you should feel bad for humans? Knowing, not everybody was a fanatic killer. And it's not like fanatic killers are in every faction.
Name a nation or people who did not have unhuman people in their ranks?
@@robertk2007 Not all German soldiers were Nazis. The Nazis were a political party.
@@robertk2007 you do know that most people were forced to fight as Nazis even though they hated the ideology? My grandpa for example was forced to fight for the Nazis even though he hated national socialism more then anything else. If he would have done something against it his entire family would have been killed. Think before writing a comment.
@@robertk2007 You are not a clown, you are the entire circus.
Read this book a couple years ago. Fascinating.
My father was on the King George V lobbing shells that day.
Sorry, the book is "D Day Through German Eyes". The audible book is a 6 hour video on YT.
If you want to hear the some of the other side of the Pacific theater, the movie Letters From Iwo Jima shows the battle from the Japanese side
Artillery was the biggest killer on Omaha. The machine guns were further back in the draws. They had firing stations closer to the beach but the main ones were holding the draw at angles to create better enfilade fire. 2 Sgts lead their lean up the bluffs near the head of the cemetery. 50mm guns taken from obsolete Panzer 3’s were put on pedestals and targeting the LC ramp doors. The beach was twice the size of SPR. The channel was at 27 knots so the LC were bunched together right in front of the draws instead of the bluffs where trenches were more common. MG42’s had a fire rate of 20 rounds a second. The entire area was “zeroed in” by artillery and mortars. To drop ordnance on a position was as simple as calling your shots in the game Battleship. Pas-de-Calais was the fake landing zone. Bunkers like in SPR were more common. The shape of the beach at Normandy made Rommel keen on it. Same beach front the allies landed in NA, Sicily and Italy.
The beach defenses were made by a French company (just like the train cars for the final solution). They used POWs and French laborers as well as infantry to create the defenses. A lot of the Normandy coast was still under construction when we landed.
There’s was a lot of German soldiers that didn’t know about the camps
My grandfathers brother fought on the western front. He was deeper in France when Normandy happened. He surrendered by Belgium and spent the remainder of the war in a Canadian POW camp and then immigrated to America. When asked about the war he would only say you do what you have too to survive. He wouldn't talk much about his time fighting. But he did admit he knew about some of the atrocities but was to afraid to say anything out of fear of being severely punished and or executed. He always said he was a coward and that he would have to make peace with that when he dies and meets God he would be punished for his non action. I don't condone the actions that the Germans did in World War II I myself do not know what I would do if I was in my grandfather's brother's position I hope I would be a better person but I'm not sure if I would and I hope I never would have to make that choice
So true. It's hard to be noble with a gun to your head or maybe your child's head.
I feel for your great uncle. Who knows what we'd do in his situation. I hope that he was able to forgive himself for choosing to survive. My late father parachuted at Utah Beach. He never hated the average German soldiers because so many had no choice. When all of the preparations for the huge 50th Anniversary of D-Day were going on there were a LOT of folks that didn't believe that the Germans should be involved or their combat dead should be honored. It was suggested that the Germans should show respect and not even show up. My father was against that! He said that they had fought and died just like everyone else and nobody could/should tell Germany to back away and not be involved. My father felt this way even after being a POW and treated horribly. Daddy died 6 months before the anniversary. We celebrated for him.
@@janettamcgee8124 your father was a great man. His beliefs are the true reason that i believe the world ended up the way it did. People like him helped the world heal form WW2 and didn't follow the same mistakes that his parents generation did at the end of WW1. Thank you and your family for his service
There are (if you can find them) color photos taken by the Allies on D Day from the behind the beachheads. The photographers were snuck in just ahead of the landings to document the landing. I've seen them on one History Channel TV show but can find them on the net because they are so rare.
I think the German perspective to seeing the incoming armada went something like:"Oh,shitze!"
I love your guys’ videos keep up the great work.
I’ve been watching you guys consistently for the past two weeks although I’ve watched maybe a handful before and I could never really understand what you guys were saying because of the accent.. but two weeks in of consistently watching you guys I finally understand the accent lol keep up the videos fellas
Same here. Although I still need subtitles...
I struggle sometimes also lol.
Christ they're speaking English 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
@@drkelmentz yeah no shit
The movie with paratrooper hanging from the church is called The Longest Day.
Montemayor made a really indepth series on the Battle of Midway from the Japanese perspective. Its a pretty great series. Kinda long and a series but it's very interesting.
Interesting. Thanks for putting it on. A few of my fathers friends landed at Omaha while my dad was at an 8th AAF Base near Sudbury in England for the 486th Heavy Bombardment Group. You can still see remnants of the base in satellite maps.
My grandfather was a medic in WW2, He was among the men that stormed Utah Beach. He told me the germans ripped the first landing boats to pieces. By the time he got to the beach there were hundreds of Americans dead. The germans were low of amo by that time and were firing in short burst. Which made it easier to move up the beach. By the time the Americans made it to the bunkers at the top of the beach, the germans were trying to surrender, but the Americans wouldn't let them. They opened fire on them. Cutting them down, my grandfather told me the sheer hatred the men had for the germans after being fired on for hours, and seeing so many men cut down, was the scariest thing he ever seen in the war. A few germans were able to flee to a small town a few miles inland from Utah Beach. But surrendered the next day. The Germans that surrounded to the British and Canadians got a far better fate. But, the British and Canadians were given the weakest points to invade, the Americans bore the brunt of the battle that day.
My grandpa was a US paratrooper in this invasion, he never talked to anyone about any of it.
My father was a paratrooper as well. He spoke of his buddies and funny stories but nothing war related. A few years before he died we went with him to several of the Company reunions. The guys would sometimes go into a room alone and talk. Sometimes they had tears in their eyes when they came out. We never knew what they talked about. I guess because it wasn't about us and we wouldn't understand anyway.
You were asking about whillie Pete, or white phosphorus being used recently, Russia, USA and Israel are notorious for using WP including Saudi Arabia and other middle eastern countries have used it on occasion. Yemen comes to mind. Russia uses it commonly and another thing you may want to look up sometime is the fact that neither the US or Russia are signatories of the antiperssonel land mine ban. The UK probably does use US made claymore mines at times. That's something you should watch and react to, the claymore antiperssonel mine and other types of antiperssonel(AP) land mines such as bouncing betties and toe poppers . Especially the Yugoslavian Pmr2a , the Italian Valmera mine and the WW2 German S mine (bouncing Betty) . A really crazy and interesting one is the Russian pom2 mine. It's crazy how it works. Nasty inventions that highlight the ingenuity humans have when it comes to violence. AT mines (anti tank mines) are designed to only go off from the weight of an armored vehicle so you can actually step on one and it doesn't have enough pressure to activate. The country of Chad actually drove right through and safely over Libyan AT mine fields with pick up trucks in the "Toyota war". Another interesting conflict you could cover.
There is a firsthand account of a US WW2 soldier in Europe shortly after DDay on youtube. It seems many Germans knew the war was lost by DDay and were looking for an excuse to surrender, although culturally they could not until they were surrounded, it depended on their officers. One lone guy marched 25 Germans back to camp, they couldve overpowered him but it was clear they had had enough of the war by then. Good to know the Germans weren't all just robots.
I got a hockey video for you guys. React to bob probert. Toughest hockey player of all time. Also had a severe coke problem and was completely unhinged. You guys won’t be disappointed
Everyone here in the US always makes fun of Canada for being so nice....If I was back in the Army and had to pick a soldier in another country to fight next too it would be a Canadian. They are extremely fierce fighters, don’t let the niceness fool you.
British, Canadian, American and other nations POW fought for the Germans on the Russian front. I have seen unit flags from them from a display in a Russian museum.
Please react to the story of Joe Medicine Crow the last native American War Chief of WW2.
Darkdocs has a great video to reat to.
Can you do Midwest voice translator by Charlie Berens
The Office Bloke's Try link doesn't work for me. I found it on my own though.
If you lot would ever consider doing a reaction series style thing I really recommend the documentary Vietnam : lost films. It’s an amazing documentary that gives you a hell of a lot of perspective of Vietnam soldiers
Omaha Beach - the US didn't use the special tanks, floating Shermans, mine-clearance tanks etc.... that's why they had more casualties. The terrain did not favour the attackers - bunkers close to the shore and steep cliffs.
THe Longest Day ..with John Wayne
Please Link to watch full movie
The Polish here are like the Indians who fought for the British. I hope someday the British will recognise the efforts of these hundreds of thousands of Indian men who sacrificed a lot for nothing... it's about time I feel, now that dogs have been honoured as well!
Ever see Cross or Iron? It's a great movie from the German perspective.
There were as many as 250,000 troops of foreign birth that fought on the NAZI side. The French/German volunteers were among the last troops defending Berlin.
all you The Longest Day fans..watch this
Hey guys, when’s next Harry Mack Omegle bars and guerilla bars video coming out?? 🙌❤️
@@waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaluigi sorry man I just loved them reacting to Harry Mack reacting to both guerilla bars and Omegle bars both once a week and they haven’t done Harry Mack in about 3 weeks now 😔 I’m trying to be patient, but seeing them reacting to things makes people like me feel happy and awesome and they’re awesome for that! Still amazing that they’re doing awesome! I understand where you’re coming from bro, and I’ll try to be more patient 🙌❤️ love you man!
White Phosphorus also known as Napalm, nasty stuff
Can you please react to "German Soldier Remembers WW2 | Memoirs Of WWII #15"?
Memoirs of WWII is one of my favorite channels. Incredible stories from those who actually fought in the war!
Willy Pete is some dangerous and damaging stuff!
Omaha Beach, search for Heinrich Severloh.
Please react to “German Soldier Remembers WW2” by the channel Memoirs of WW2
Love your work guys keep it up! But I must say that the whole common 'history is written by the victors' trope isn't really accurate. History is written by historians, normally from both sides of any conflict. and the wider range of historical views on both sides of conflict benefit the human race as a whole. I probably could explain it better but I'm not a historian myself, just a big history fan.
Mike looks like Tim Westwood.
I don’t buy a second of it either, cheers from 🇨🇦 boys
it must have been very scary to see endless waves of people coming to kill you.
It's funny how the word 'regime' can be such a politically loaded word.
You guys should watch a video on the inflatable tanks was a massive mission and involved a lot of large individuals from Hollywood so the props would look legit for German spy planes
To what you said at the end, that Germans say they didn't know about the Holocaust, you are most likely to be right if you don't buy it. I am from Germany and we had this topic a few weeks ago. Just to summarize it was almost impossible to not know anything about the holocaust mainly because the nazis weren't that secret about it themselves
I completely agree about that as a German, obvious reasons were that any word against the way the Nazis handled the idea of their aryan supremacy would have ended with getting a visit by the SS and dragged into the next concentration camp or being shot on the spot
Dave, please don’t listen to a couple of comments that get buried. Nobody with sense thinks you’re a snowflake. The most obscure/nonsensical comments are on TH-cam. I mean, shit, I’m pretty early to this video and already, somebody has requested you REACT to Band of Brothers, which is 6 hours long. Sometimes you have to ignore stupidity.
1. Concentrate more on LONG range air power and less on a surface fleet unless you plan to build carriers in a hurry.
2. Don't waste time, materials, and manpower on camps and exterminations.
3. Don't fight a land war in Asia.
History is written by the victors means what? The history taught in schools which are but a broad overview yes. The history is written.
lol germany had 100s of tousand non germans ukrainians, estonians, yugoslavs fighting on tthe German side beside the POWs
this video is not even close to the horror the soldiers on both sides experienced on that day.
i mean, they were just soldiers. almost noone of them even knew or cared about politics. they did not follow blindly but followed orders. they were just friggin soldiers who did their job and killed each other and themselves.
the true villains are the ones who decide over the fate of many.
Check out the movie "Meet Joe Black" and compare Mike and Anthony Hopkins.... there's a striking resemblance.
Not identical, but they could very easily pass for brothers.
Mikes older
I have thought the same. Mike is obviously much younger than Sir Anthony but compare pictures of him when he was younger from movies like The Edge, Legends of the Fall and at the very least they look like brothers, more like fraternal twins. I've known a number of fraternal twins that don't look this similar. It's uncanny. Handsome men.
You are right. 😁 I guess, Mike is taller though...
Can you guys watch the Cuban Missile Crisis by TimeGhost History, please?
Yall should react to Band of Brothers if you havent seen it
React to it? That’s like a 6 hour series lol wtf? They can watch it on their own time
I agree but there's no way these guys haven't seen that show lol.
@@waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaluigi theres a bunch of reactions to it on here. You dont do it all at once. And then you do some editing
@@waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaluigi Most reactors do one episode at a time. 🙄
@@kylebarrett28 most of those videos are titled like “soldier reacts to” and they specialize in reactions to movies/series. Are you even familiar with the office blokes? That’s not their thing and they don’t have time to start doing it. They get too many requests for other stuff. Learn to read the room, bud.
Need to watch a video that goes in depth on the eastern legions it wasn't just giving a prisoner a gun it was more like the Germans saying you hate communists for occupying your land so if you fight for us we'll help liberate your home country and many people from Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and a few others would enlist into these volunteer groups also there was a Indian Legion and an ethnic Russian legion.
You react to the opening scene of saving private Ryan
Hard to watch the video, when all I can think about is how did you get Anthony Hopkins to do this video... Seriously. Does he get that comparison a lot?
They know but just refuse to look into it. why should they care? it does not interfere with their daily life. It someone else suffering. The world know about what happened to the Uighur in China but no one care to intervene. What to gains from intervene, beside making a powerful enemy. It is better to stay silent and benefit from their money and cheap labor.
I was wondering why I had never considered the German perspective, or when I had I had assumed it to be a very offensive and aggressive minded perspective. I'm an extremely empathetic individual, so this kind of worried me to think maybe I have some large blindspots, but then it dawned on me... they were watching from pillboxes located on the shores of FRANCE now weren't they? It's not like you're really defending you're homeland or in a justified defensive "hold off" type position... they were OCCUPYING and defending their OCCUPATION of France. That's why my empathy kind of ends there from a realistic and genuine consideration. It's like how much do you really empathize w a serial killer?
But remember that they were only Soldiers.... They had to do that. Or something bad could had happen to them.
The world has lost a lot of its nuance
Yes, that's be abundantly clear the past several years. Really frustrating.
Has soccer aka football been politicized in Europe like all the American sports have over here?
Yes, a certain movement was carried over from the USA to some countries in Europe.
Id have guessed the POWs would have been heavily supervised.. its probs quite easy and effective to get 2 soldiers to point guns at 6 POWs and make them do the grunt work?
During combat?
Can’t wait for you guys to try in n out in California
Can you watch the 2 episodes of The Western front, by Armchair Historian
Careful .. you might be "Cancelled"
Must have been really difficult for them.. To be really.... Tense..b
Dave I genuinely think you're a good guy and a decent bloke or whatever but seriously... Is it really a shame.. A shame? That they have to simply say they aren't presenting something as a positive spin from a Nazi perspective? That's the hill you need to die on? Defending the honor of the poor Nazi solider who's occupying another country at the time they are firing massive caliber weaponry at soldiers floating in on little boats and then desperately seeking shelter?
I'm just confused a bit by thjs constant need to feel badly for this spcific people in this specific conflict. It's actually OK to say in this case you know what? Germany itself is horrified and embarrassed at least publicly at this period in their history. So many people need defending. Not sure the occupying Nazi empire with its goals of world domination and the ethnic cleansing of whole sections of the world really deserves a single iota of empathy
Honestly... I bet their perspective was confidence and aggression as they tried to pick off every single soldier... Then? Getting their ass kicked. Oh wait none of the guys on the beach knew what their government was all about right? Not one guy..... Lets just assume maybe a couple had some idea? Wouldn't they all?
It's not a shame they have to say what they said. There's plenty of trash out there ready to present that side. With that intent.
I think we fought the wrong enemy
racist pos
Not much of a perspective. That was pretty 6th grade
Ostlegionen were not all coerced prisoners. Many were volunteers. This is why I don’t take these types of “history” videos too seriously or as the final word. Frequently shoddy research.
Come again? DDay American perspective and allies
Why spend time on this? Everyone knows the opposite sides were made up of mostly young men caught up in something they had no choice over and were following orders, as good soldiers do and must. We don't need to be told that. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no justification for Germany's actions before or during the war. So they didn't like the consequences they received for what they did in WW I, so they basically repeated it. If you go too far in sympathizing with horrible actions, you become part of the problem.
@Remington597man I think you missed my point, but ok.
I don't see how a video whose purpose is to entertain and inform by showing another side of events (alternate perspective material on the subject is abundant.....not), with all the appropriate disclaimers in place, can go too far into sympathizing with any horrible actions, especially when they don't do that at any point in the video. Acting like Germans haven't been on their knees for the past 80 years and get bombarded with the reminder of what their people did, in all levels of education, media, entertainment, by every book written and film made on the subject since then. Perhaps we should talk more about allied war crimes during WWII, which have been purposely ignored and omitted from the historical records. By failing to bring perspective to the people on the other side of the conflict, particularly the combatants doing their wartime service and the observant civilian population effected by the war, we are essentially saying they are lesser people who don't deserve their accounts being told because of the ideology of their regime.
Heard it all for years. So has everyone else. Why not move on?
@@ammie8659 Accounts of the opposite side are not that commonly shared so I doubt you have. But if you aren't interested in them or in the topic, you don't have to watch. We have no obligation, people watch it because they are interested.
@@MaSsiVeGaming1 Oh, gee. I was too uninformed to know any of this! Thank you for your enlightenment.
React to hard to watch videos like people standing on high edges