Quote:
Originally Posted by p911dad
Here's some Russian Salad Dressing.. |
Valentin Gavrilov, retired colonel, injured during the battle for Stalingrad when his tank burst into flames, returned to take charge of a tank battalion and fight in the battle for Gneisenau Fort in Königsberg (Kaliningrad).
One of the most decorated solders in Russian military history. Think Alvin York and Audie Murphy. Combined.
Remembering that the Red Army lost something like 3 times as many men as their enemies (and approximately 20 times as many as the US Army) but still won, one cannot help but have respect.
I served (USN), have a bit of fruit salad for the uniform, and am old enough to have known some guys who were "in the sh**" during Vietnam, but WW2 Eastern Front... damn. One battle - Stalingrad - had between 1.3 and 1.8 million dead. Oh, and neither side was all that interested in taking prisoners.
Kinda puts that sheriff's ego in perspective, huh?
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BTW, a good new book on the political background and initial military phases of WW2 Eastern Front is "Operation Barbarossa: The History of a Cataclysm" by Jonathan Dimbleby.