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My dad was a corpsman in the Navy in WW2 pacific theater. He never talks about the war. Having watched episode 8 of WW2 in HD last night that focused on Iwo Jima, I can only imagine what he saw. Well, I can do more than imagine as that show has a ton of authentic footage and they pull no punches showing dead and dismembered bodies.
The most poignant moment was a soldier recounting being lost in German territory in '44. He was an intel officer and not a shooter. The piece had an actor doing voice over as they showed shots from the region. He talked about being lost and alone, until a single German soldier came towards his hiding place. Knowing he couldn't go back and if he tried to run he'd risk being seen, he snuck up behind the German. The voiceover switched to the actual man, now in his 80's. It showed him sitting in a chair recounting the event. He couldn't look up, his voice wavering. He said he picked up a piece of debris and hit the German soldier over the head, then took his knife and slit his throat. He then went over into a ditch and threw up, forcing his mouth onto the dirt so he couldn't be heard and discovered by other Germans.
Horrific stuff.
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