Getting to Know Americans

Re:Getting to Know Americans by burgerbrain on Monday April 04, 2011 @01:20PM (#2407472)

Wehrmacht: german armed forces in the 30s/40s.

You run across WWII vets all the time in america, is it so stunning that there might be vets in Germany as well?

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Re:Getting to Know Americans by grammaton on Monday April 04, 2011 @01:39PM (#2407590)

Yes, thank you, I know who the Wehrmacht were. I paid attention in history class.

More so I'm just surprised when I run across any veteran of WWII. FYI, no you don't run across WWII vets "all the time." Most of them are in their eighties or nineties at this point, and there aren't too many people of that age, let alone specifically WWII vets.

Mainly I was just surprised by a very random piece of information. You certainly don't hear about the German veterans of WWII in America all that much. I hope you're bright enough to figure out why.

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Re:Getting to Know Americans by burgerbrain on Monday April 04, 2011 @01:49PM (#2407656)

Here, it is not at all uncommon to hear that somebodies grandfather is or was a vet. There were something like 15 million of them just from the US as I recall. For someone a decade or two older than myself (he says it was her father, not grandfather, so you can get a good guess at their ages...), encountering veterans would be only that much more common.

"You certainly don't hear about the German veterans of WWII in America all that much."

"My girlfriend is German and lives in Berlin."

I am under the strong impression that her father lives in Germany....

EDIT: Furthermore: "The total number of soldiers who served in the Wehrmacht during its existence from 1935-1945 is believed to have approached 18.2 million." With numbers like that, this hardly seems like such a particularly odd occurrance.

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Re:Getting to Know Americans by yequalsx on Monday April 04, 2011 @05:49PM (#2408717)

Well, one thing that is odd is that I'm under 40. I didn't mention this though. But I did grow up in the Canal Zone and have a colonial/imperial perspective on the issue of national arrogance.

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Re:Getting to Know Americans by grammaton on Monday April 04, 2011 @02:18PM (#2407780)

Hearing that someone's grandfather was a vet is quite common, yes. And the number is 16 million. That said, most of them are dead now. So these days, for someone like myself - barely thirty - it is, in fact, quite uncommon to run across a living WWII veteran. I never have, and neither has anyone I know. I assume things are different for people in older generations. In other news, the sky is blue.

And yes, I am well aware that the father mentioned lived in Germany. Not only did I pay attention in history class, I can also read.

Is there some reason you're being condescending?

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Re:Getting to Know Americans by burgerbrain on Monday April 04, 2011 @02:19PM (#2407789)

"Not only did I pay attention in history class, I can also read."

"Is there some reason you're being condescending?"

Are you fucking serious?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Getting to Know Americans by grammaton on Monday April 04, 2011 @02:26PM (#2407821)

I was asking someone else a question about their story, and you respond by acting like I've grown a second head for being curious, and giving me a definition of a basic term related to the discussion.

So, yes. Yes I am being serious.

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Re:Getting to Know Americans by burgerbrain on Monday April 04, 2011 @03:06PM (#2408019)

The worst part is I think you don't even get it.

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