Warriors and Scholars: A Modern War Reader

SECTION I: WORLD WAR II, EUROPE

1 Section฀I WORLD฀WAR฀II—EUROPE ฀ The฀first฀two฀sections฀of฀this฀work฀touch฀upon฀the฀war฀both฀in฀ Europe฀ and฀ in฀ the฀ Pacific.฀ For฀ the฀ European฀ Theater,฀ two฀ papers฀ address฀ the฀ war฀ from฀ very฀ different฀ perspectives:฀ on฀ the฀ ground฀ and฀in฀the฀air.฀The฀first฀analyzes฀the฀epic฀struggle฀that฀began฀with฀ Operation฀Barbarossa,฀the฀Nazi฀attack฀on฀the฀Soviet฀Union,฀in฀June฀ 1941.฀The฀second฀paper฀is฀the฀personal฀story฀of฀a฀surviving฀American฀ airman฀from฀the฀“Bloody฀100th”฀Bomb฀Group฀stationed฀in฀England,฀ one฀of฀the฀initial฀units฀engaged฀in฀the฀aerial฀campaign฀against฀targets฀ in฀Germany฀and฀Nazi-occupied฀countries.฀These฀two฀papers฀are฀very฀ different฀yet฀are฀linked฀by฀the฀common฀word:฀sacrifice. ฀ Any฀reader฀of฀military฀history฀is,฀indeed,฀fortunate฀to฀have฀a฀paper฀ by฀the฀distinguished฀historian฀Col.฀David฀M.฀Glantz,฀who฀reviews฀the฀ massive฀conflict฀in฀the฀East฀between฀Germany฀and฀its฀allies฀versus฀ the฀Soviet฀Union฀that฀only฀ended฀with฀the฀Nazi฀surrender฀on฀May฀ 8,฀1945.฀His฀goal฀is฀to฀educate฀the฀reader฀as฀to฀the฀immensity฀of฀the฀ struggle฀and฀then฀methodically฀address฀some฀of฀the฀myths,฀issues,฀and฀ controversies฀that฀have฀emerged฀over฀the฀past฀sixty฀years฀regarding฀ the฀Eastern฀Front. ฀ On฀ the฀ ground,฀ the฀ Soviet฀ armies,฀ supported฀ by฀ the฀ united฀ Russian฀people,฀met฀and฀defeated฀the฀Nazi฀thrust฀at฀a฀tremendous฀ cost฀in฀lives฀and฀material.฀The฀price฀in฀lives฀from฀all฀the฀participants฀ makes฀this฀saga,฀perhaps,฀the฀costliest฀in฀all฀of฀military฀history.฀In฀his฀ paper,฀Glantz฀asserts฀that฀the฀Soviet฀Union฀suffered฀over฀35฀million฀ military฀and฀civilian฀casualties฀throughout฀World฀War฀II,฀an฀immense฀ price฀to฀pay฀for฀a฀single฀nation.฀“The฀Great฀Patriotic฀War”฀has฀left฀ an฀indelible฀mark฀on฀the฀Russian฀nation฀that฀colors฀its฀current฀and฀ future฀policies. 2 World฀War฀II—Europe ฀ The฀second฀author,฀Maj.฀John฀(“Lucky”)฀Luckadoo,฀truly฀earned฀ his฀nickname.฀This฀young฀airman฀was฀among฀the฀first฀to฀arrive฀in฀ England฀with฀the฀B-17s฀to฀begin฀the฀strategic฀bombing฀of฀Germany฀ and฀Nazi-occupied฀territory.฀The฀airpower฀visionaries฀were฀eager฀to฀ put฀their฀ideas฀to฀the฀test฀of฀combat.฀So฀much฀had฀to฀be฀learned฀at฀ such฀a฀great฀cost.฀The฀sacrifices฀of฀these฀pioneering฀aviators฀did฀not฀ match฀the฀casualties฀on฀the฀ground฀in฀the฀Eastern฀Front,฀but฀their฀ early฀ losses฀ of฀ men฀ and฀ planes฀ were฀ also฀ incredible,฀ and฀ chances฀ for฀ survival฀ were฀ not฀ very฀ high.฀ The฀ strategic฀ bombing฀ campaign฀ represented฀the฀efforts฀by฀the฀United฀States฀and฀Great฀Britain฀to฀make฀ airpower฀a฀new฀and฀decisive฀element฀of฀war.฀They฀were฀determined฀ to฀relieve฀some฀of฀the฀pressure฀on฀the฀Soviets฀and฀take฀the฀war฀to฀the฀ heart฀of฀the฀enemy฀twenty-four฀hours฀a฀day.฀ ฀ Major฀Luckadoo฀provides฀a฀personal฀view฀of฀the฀broad฀strategy฀of฀ the฀campaign,฀and฀of฀special฀value฀is฀his฀perspective฀as฀a฀young฀airman฀ thrust฀into฀a฀position฀of฀great฀responsibility฀with฀minimal฀training฀ and฀preparation.฀These฀brave฀American฀aviators฀had฀to฀overcome฀the฀ skills฀of฀veteran฀Luftwaffe฀pilots,฀adverse฀weather,฀heavy฀antiaircraft฀ fire,฀and฀fatigue฀to฀deliver฀their฀bombs฀on฀target.฀He฀and฀others฀of฀his฀ generation฀met฀the฀challenge.฀Luckadoo฀credits฀his฀survival฀to฀pure฀ luck.฀Only฀four฀of฀the฀original฀forty฀members฀of฀his฀flying฀class฀who฀ were฀assigned฀to฀the฀100th฀Bomb฀Group฀completed฀a฀combat฀tour.฀His฀ personal฀testimony฀and฀gracious฀sense฀of฀humor฀provide฀the฀reader฀ a฀unique฀perspective฀on฀aerial฀combat฀in฀Europe฀in฀1943.฀He฀surely฀ earned฀his฀nickname.฀ ฀ 3 ...