tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post5666355109284236767..comments2023-09-06T01:53:41.634-07:00Comments on doug's Site: The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-44 Doug's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09219952832674415239noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-7340777126654260402010-07-06T19:24:23.000-07:002010-07-06T19:24:23.000-07:00No so childish or unusual I think Growed. One of ...No so childish or unusual I think Growed. One of the things that common American soldiers took advantage of in their march through Sicily was the number of Italian and Sicilian-American troops who had a deep ancestral connection to the areas they were deployed in. <br /><br />It must have seemed surreal for mothers and fathers and grandparents who left Sicily and its poverty for the new world to get letters from their young men talking about seeing villages and towns they might have left behind decades earlier. doug noakeshttp://dnoakes.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-89242948344006765972010-07-06T16:09:36.000-07:002010-07-06T16:09:36.000-07:00Forgive me, don't know what I was thinking... ...Forgive me, don't know what I was thinking... but when I saw war and Sicily... for whatever reason my mind went directly towards the "Tomatoe Wars"... yes, I think very childishly, and do not know as much as I should, considering my eldest son's family is from Sicily (Volpino Family), and my husband's from Italy (Cabano family)...Growedup Mousehttp://growedup.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-39919676047911773622010-07-06T15:59:47.000-07:002010-07-06T15:59:47.000-07:00Yeah, at least that would be a better outcome Astr...Yeah, at least that would be a better outcome Astra.<br /><br />Remember: Never play Texas Hold'em with a German guy who has a Panzer Division in the parking lot.doug noakeshttp://dnoakes.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-22534362216885547822010-07-06T15:58:11.000-07:002010-07-06T15:58:11.000-07:00Well, Doug, any more I'd settle for knowing th...Well, Doug, any more I'd settle for knowing that Monte Cassino wasn't a reservation gambling-house....Astra Navigohttp://astranavigo08.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-56970452968404104342010-07-06T15:48:43.000-07:002010-07-06T15:48:43.000-07:00Your dad must have had a very tough war Astra.
Y...Your dad must have had a very tough war Astra. <br /><br />Yes, Atkinson is too diplomatic to say it, but Clark to me should have been relieved after the Salerno landing. (It took General Alexander to get the guy to call off his contingency plans to retreat off the beaches there. "We're not doing that, General 'Alex" reportedly said. He told Clark in no uncertain terms there would be no with drawl plans at his HQ, period. No doubt visions of a Mediterranean Dunkirk and a huge Nazi propaganda victory were dancing in the British Commander's head.<br /><br /> Clark was a George McClellan-sized egotist. "Mark Clark's Fifth American Army" was the official title he liked to use in press releases. Another self-serving and overly cautious guy who managed to get more people killed in the long run. He goes down as a "controversial commander", a polite term for a screw-up. I agree Truscott was probably the best general to take his place. <br /> <br />I don't know how the hell people get out of school with such a dead-level knowledge of American history. With all the audio-visual and written resources around, every kid in high school should know the major battles of World War II, Korea, Vietnam any other the USA was in by the time they get out of high school, and what horrible things can happen to men and women in them.doug noakeshttp://dnoakes.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-85454927526414884342010-07-06T15:43:50.000-07:002010-07-06T15:43:50.000-07:00You're welcome Mike. "Day of Battle"...You're welcome Mike. "Day of Battle" certainly brought me several new perspective on this brutal campaign. Atkinson does a good job going top to bottom in the battle lines and explaining the errors, disasters, monotony and madness of the whole war enterprise. Somehow, they made it to Rome...can't wait for volume three.doug noakeshttp://dnoakes.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-50480574001140261172010-07-06T13:07:11.000-07:002010-07-06T13:07:11.000-07:00My Dad lost a couple of close friends at Anzio.
A...My Dad lost a couple of close friends at Anzio.<br /><br />As to Clark, he was a moron. Truscott made the most sense, and the disagreement between he and Patton is pretty well documented vis-a-vis the advance in Sicily.<br /><br />(I was discussing this not too long ago with a couple of friends -- their teenage son chimed in and asked in all seriousness what kind of gambling was allowed at Monte Cassino.<br /><br />We are raising an entire generation of idiots.)<br /><br />Astra Navigohttp://astranavigo08.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-69279274707468041632010-07-06T12:40:12.000-07:002010-07-06T12:40:12.000-07:00Thanks Doug the book sounds very interesting. I lo...Thanks Doug the book sounds very interesting. I love WW2 stories as well as the Korean war.Mike ..http://wellhell2.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-62152025595584349792010-07-06T11:40:10.000-07:002010-07-06T11:40:10.000-07:00Part of a 1974 "World of War" British do...Part of a 1974 "World of War" British documentary, featuring Mark Clark and others, narrated by Laurence Olivier.doug noakeshttp://dnoakes.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.com