Introduction to the WW2 Site - Please Say Hi Showing 1,401-1,450 of 4,900

[Rebecca]

Hello all. My name is Rebecca. I'm a history major, and I studied abroad this past summer in Normandy, France. That incredible journey ignited a huge interest in WWII for me, especially the European theater. My grandfather was part of the Army Air Corps and witnessed Pearl Harbor, so I'm starting to read about the Pacific theater as well. Excited to find new books to study!

[Dwayne]

Welcome Rebecca!

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Welcome Rebecca. isn't the Normandy region an amazing place, I visited there just a few months back. I bet your grandfather had some great stories to tell! Enjoy your time here in the group, I hope you find a few things of interest.

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

Hi Rebecca, welcome to the group. How fortunate to study in France. Must have been a lot of fun, along with the historical connection.

[happy]

Welcome Rebecca

I am turning green with envy. The weekend my brother and I spent in Normandy in one of my fondest memories!

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Welcome Rebecca and please free to jump right in on the threads.

[Manray9]

Rebecca wrote: "Hello all. My name is Rebecca. I'm a history major, and I studied abroad this past summer in Normandy, France. That incredible journey ignited a huge interest in WWII for me, especially the Europea..."

Rebecca, welcome.

[Elinor]

Rebecca wrote: "Hello all. My name is Rebecca. I'm a history major, and I studied abroad this past summer in Normandy, France. That incredible journey ignited a huge interest in WWII for me, especially the Europea..."

Welcome to the group, Rebecca. It's wonderful to see a younger person so interested in history.

[Jerry]

I belong to other Goodread groups but just now discovered this which is exactly my cup of tea (with a little bit of milk, please).

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Welcome to the group Jerry.

[happy]

Welcome Jerry - good group of people here

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Welcome to the group Jerry, glad you found us.

[Jerry]

I look forward to lots of interaction.

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

Welcome Jerry. It is one of this best groups on GR.

[Manray9]

Jerry wrote: "I belong to other Goodread groups but just now discovered this which is exactly my cup of tea (with a little bit of milk, please)."

Welcome. From the photo I guess Kansas not the other Manhattan.

[Dj]

I used to live in Manhattan Kansas. It was a much better choice than Junction City when I was in the Army.


Manray9 wrote: "Jerry wrote: "I belong to other Goodread groups but just now discovered this which is exactly my cup of tea (with a little bit of milk, please)."

Welcome. From the photo I guess Kansas not the ot..."

[Miss M]

Hi all,
I just commented in another thread, so thought I should introduce myself. Been lurking for a bit, and following/friended a couple of the members, but hesitant to join in as I don't think my reading is as dedicated as most of you. I have picked up some very interesting tips though, already.

I'm a (US) Army brat with a German mother, so I do a bit of reading in German too. My grandparents and mother escaped from the DDR in 1953 (Erzgebirge zone), so I have some interests in that area. Spent most of my childhood in the Stuttgart area. I've lived in Arlington, outside of Washington, DC, for a long time now, and up until a few years ago generally worked for defense contractors directly, mostly in international programs, and at one point worked a few years for USAF. But now I've been away from the military for a while and my reading has shifted away some too...

I generally prefer to read the broader, survey books about the war, and social histories, not so much the individual campaigns which is why I feel a bit inadequate compared to your member's knowledge. I do want to get more serious again in 2014, so hopefully will be around a bit.

[Jerry]

That was taken at Ocean Beach in SF where I worked for many years, commuting from Marvelous Marin. Ball caps are as common in the Bay Area as wheat in Kansas, which is much flatter and somewhat duller.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Miss M and welcome to the group, it doesn't matter if you only read one or a few books on the subject, you are more than welcome in the group. I'm glad you have found a few things of interest already. Your family background sounds quite interesting, I bet your mother's side of the family would have a few interesting stories to tell!

[Dwayne]

Willkommen Miss M

[Miss M]

Thank you, both!
Rick, sadly it's a case of 'you should ask before it's too late' - although I do know the basics of what they went through, there are a lot of things I now realize I wish I knew more about.
Long story, but my brother and I are the only ones left from either side of the family; really wish we had talked about it more with my mother, but I always thought there would be time.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I think a lot of us have made that mistake, can't be helped worse luck but hopefully reading books about others experiences will give you and your brother more of an idea of what your parents and grandparents went through.

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

Welcome Miss M. Always good to have someone looking at the big picture. Quite a family history. Glad to have you here.

[Miss M]

Thanks for the welcome, Mike.

[happy]

Let me add my welcome to Miss M

please feel free to add a much or as little as you like - we don't bite :)

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Miss M wrote: "Hi all,
I just commented in another thread, so thought I should introduce myself. Been lurking for a bit, and following/friended a couple of the members, but hesitant to join in as I don't think my..."

Hi Miss M and nice to see you here and a very warm welcome to the group. No specialist knowledge is required as we all learn from each other's reading and experiences so please don't feel you can'y join in.

Having patrolled the DDR/GDR border in the 1980s and been based in West Berlin for a while living with the Wall and seeing the border's frontier "defences" of metal fences, watch towers, tripwire and mines, the ploughed strip, the dogs and barriers close up I find your family story very interesting. To younger people today - and happily so - it looks like a fictional world where a physical barrier ran from the Baltic to Czechoslovakia.

As Rick says many of us have missed talking about family history - mine with very elderly uncles when I was a young lad who had served in WWI.

[Manray9]

Miss M wrote: "Hi all,
I just commented in another thread, so thought I should introduce myself. Been lurking for a bit, and following/friended a couple of the members, but hesitant to join in as I don't think my..."

Miss M: Welcome. Please pitch in whenever you feel like it. We have a diverse and interesting group with knowledge in many areas.

[Miss M]

Thank you all again, I can tell it's a very friendly group.

Hope everybody has a wonderful time ushering in the New Year, whichever time zone you're in!

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Already the morning of the 1st over here, hope its a good year for everyone!

[Lee]

Dj wrote: "It may have been asked before, but what is your favorite game?

Lee wrote: "Greetings, all.

I'm from Columbus, Ohio, a longtime reader of WW2 stuff. I'm also a wargamer (as in hex-board and counters)..."

I have several favorites, but the series I keep coming back to is GDW's /Europa/, for European & East Front operational stuff.

[Lilo]

Welcome and Happy New Year to all newcomers.

Happy New Year also to "alte Hasen (old rabbits)".

[Marc]

Hello to all WW2 enthusiasts,

I'm very pleased to have found this forum. I wrote a book that was published in 2009 about one of the most ardent POW escapers of the war, my father.

Escape, Evasion and Revenge



Here's a link to a recent academic review of same:

http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vol12...

Best wishes and Happy New Year to all,

Marc Stevens
Toronto

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Welcome to the group Marc and thanks for the details on your book, its sounds like an amazing story.

by Marc H. Stevens

If you like you can post details about you book on our author's page:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Lilo]

Hi, Marc,

Welcome to the group. I am sure you will feel at home here.

I just bought your book. It is the kind of book I like to read. I am glad you set your father a monument by writing his story.

[Dj]

Ah I see a lack of sleep doesn't bother you much, LOL. I played those a few times, they sure do need quite a bit of space, but can give some good insights into how wrong things can go.


Lee wrote: "Dj wrote: "It may have been asked before, but what is your favorite game?

Lee wrote: "Greetings, all.

I'm from Columbus, Ohio, a longtime reader of WW2 stuff. I'm also a wargamer (as in hex-boar..."

[Jerry]

Marc wrote: "Hello to all WW2 enthusiasts,

I'm very pleased to have found this forum. I wrote a book that was published in 2009 about one of the most ardent POW escapers of the war, my father.

[book:Escape, ..."

Wow, what a story. Thanks for tipping us to it.

[Elinor]

It's on my reading list for 2014, Marc! Sounds very interesting.

Marc wrote: "Hello to all WW2 enthusiasts,

I'm very pleased to have found this forum. I wrote a book that was published in 2009 about one of the most ardent POW escapers of the war, my father.

[book:Escape, ..."

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

Welcome Marc, glad you found us.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Welcome Marc and a happy New Year to all our members.

[Heather]

Popping in to introduce myself...I'm New to this group. I love a good WW2 book, especially European theatre/holocaust, but would love to expand my knowledge in other areas!

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Heather and welcome to the group, good areas of interest, you might want to check out these threads:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Heather]

Thank you, those threads will be useful thanks again.

[Jerry]

The more the merrier, Heather.

[Lilo]

Hi, Heather,

Welcome to the group. I am sure you will like it here.

[Rory]

Hi GeeVee,
I picked up Harold R. Winton's Corps Commanders of the Bulge based on your recommendation. Thank you.
So far, about 50 pages in, and impressed at the way he analyzes the different lectures and courses covered during the time the generals attended the various war colleges. The description of the Lee lecture reminded me of Lost Triumph, Lee at Gettysburg, where that author also tried to surmise the influence of Lee's actions at Gettysburg based on the influences of Napoleonic study at West Point when he attended.
While I thought author stretched his point quite a bit, it does make sense that officers in training would study the most recent examples of warfare and be unduly influenced on many levels by the actions of the prior war--the ol' "Generals prepare for the last war".
Book also reminded me that when I was in high school I read several novels that "projected" the continuation of the Star Wars trilogy, and one mentioned an Empire starfleet commander/general who guessed how his opponent would react by the person's culture.
So does knowing which military theory is stressed in a country's schools really provide a keen insight into what the general of that army will do? Can we truly see that influence when analyzing a past battle like Bulge or Kursk or France or Gettysburg, or are we benefiting from 20/20 hindsight?

Well off to finish the book but just food for thought out there.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Hi Rory, I'm pleased it was a useful recommendation and that you are enjoying it. I still haven't read it myself so your views are helpful as it was recommended to me me by a friend.

I think your final point is an interesting one and something that is still done and considered highly important by governments and their militaries today; perhaps even more so today in modern asymmetric war both prior and during operations at command/strategy level but also importantly out on the ground once forces are deployed (psychological operations or PsyOps).

Let us know your thoughts once you finished too.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Heather wrote: "Popping in to introduce myself...I'm New to this group. I love a good WW2 book, especially European theatre/holocaust, but would love to expand my knowledge in other areas!"

Welcome Heather and pleased you found us. Please feel free to jump in on the threads.

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

Heather wrote: "Popping in to introduce myself...I'm New to this group. I love a good WW2 book, especially European theatre/holocaust, but would love to expand my knowledge in other areas!"

Welcome to the best little group on GR, Heather.

[Colin]

Heather wrote: "Popping in to introduce myself...I'm New to this group. I love a good WW2 book, especially European theater/holocaust, but would love to expand my knowledge in other areas!"

You may like my book Occupation and Insurgency, which deals with the holocaust/war crimes in the field on the eastern front, and I interviewed SS officers and Soviet irregulars.

[happy]

Let add my welcome to Marc and Heather

The people are very nice and don't bite, please feel free to add to the discussions as you see fit.