Tuesday, January 29, 2008

WWII Europe

My grandpa Bob was an engineer gunner on a bombardier flying missions out of Italy during WWII. He survived, but like most survivors during that time, he never told us any stories. I have heard many stories of Air Corp soldiers who flew missions and it sounds like it had a huge mental impact on the rest of their lives. During WWII 72 million people died. A majority were civilians but there were over 25 million soldiers killed including over 400,000 Americans.

Here are your prompts I would like you to comment on:

Can you imagine a war today in which 70 million people died? Why or why not? Use the info from the Lesson 1 videos to provide an in depth explanation.

What did you learn about in the Lesson 1 videos that you had never learned before? Explain.

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

I couldn't imagine a war today in which many people died.Now-a-days that is
something that is really censored in the media, so people that are over here
that haven't been over there and have seen the war in Iraq don't really know
what it's like or could even imagine it.I couldn't imagine walking out of my
house and seeing the affects or the aftermath of war.

Unknown said...

We all need to think that if the War in Iraq continues we will surpass the deathtoll of World War II.

Unknown said...

We need to think that if the Iraq War continues we will surpass the deathtoll of World War II.

Cory Plough said...

@Torn - I can hear the frustration in your comment. I would love for you to expand your ideas and go in depth with the prompts.

Jessica said...

I couldn't imagine a war today in which so many people died. Yes i agree with Sarah just walking out of my house and seeing the affects the of war. i just wouldnt imagne it or want it to happen. No i dont know anyone in the war

Kyle said...

I don't think i could ever imagine that many people dieing in a war like that today. Everything is all politics, they always have been and always will be. But something thinks can't be helped. But something like that i don't think would happen over night. Yes, the war in Iraq has had it's share of deathes, but 72 million. WOW.

Anonymous said...

It's very hard to imagine a war with such a high death toll. 72 million is just a ridiculous number of deaths. I just I won't have to see a WWIII in my lifetime.

Anonymous said...

I could definately imagine a war with that high a death toll today. For example, if a country used Nuclear or biological warfare the casualties would be huge. I certainly hope this never happens but I could see the possibilities of it happening.
I don't know anyone who was in WWII.

Anonymous said...

I can definately imagine a war with a large death toll but the media will keep us out of the loop. Welcome to the world of censorship.

and i have had family members serve in every war up until iraq. i might as well copy and paste from my last post.

Anonymous said...

I could not imagine a war that many people because it would cause way to much damage to everyone. I have to family members that were in WWII. My Great- Grandmother Mello and My Great- Grandfather Mello. Grandma was a nurse. Grandpa was a pilot.

Anonymous said...

I actually think I could imagine a war today that rivaled WWII. There is enough tension that at any point another world war could break out. And, with the massive changes in warfare and tools of destruction, including devestating biological and chemical weapons, it would certainly surpass any amount of disaster ever faced by humankind before. When you really think about it, a war today is not so far-fetched.

Anonymous said...

I couldn’t imagine a war today in which so many people are dying in, because death is a scary thought and it hard to deal with mentally and physically and death is really sad thing.

My grandpa fought in WWII, but he was in the Italian army HA. He was captured within a couple of days of the war being, and for the rest of the war he was POW. My grandpa told me he met Adolf Hitler.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, I do believe that if another World War were to occur, the death toll could greatly surpass 72 million. In this day and age we are much more technologically advanced. If the casualties reached 72 million in WWII, just think how much damage the weapons of today, and even future weapons, could do. Its not something I'd like to contemplate...

Anonymous said...

We all need to think that if the War in Iraq continues we will surpass the deathtoll of World War II.

I see more and more deathes coming every day. I fear that George Bushes last act will be to destroy Iraw with a nuclear bomb.

Anonymous said...

There is no way that I can imagine a war that woulld have as menay death as WWII, even though the war in Iraq my get close. I think that even with all of the troops tht have been killed I sill don't think that we will match that deathtoll. I really hope that I'm right in what I'm saying, because no one really ever knows how meany deaths that we my have in May. I could anser this very same question in june , and say that I( do think the Iraq war will surpass the deathtoll, but right know I just don't think that way.

Anonymous said...

yes i can imagine a war today in which many people have died. The war in which i am speaking would have to be the war on terror in iraq.

My grandfather was briefly in WW2, he never shared stories with any of us but my grandmother, and she tool them to the grave.

Anonymous said...

I actually did havea family member who fought in WWII. He was my great grandfather. A wonderful man..He was my favorite relative. Unfortunitly he passed jauary of 2007. Although he is gone we still talk about his stories at family events. He used to tell us storiesabout how he was the guy who carried the back pack with the phone hooked on it. I never got tired of hering his stories he was a hard working man , there should be more people like him in this world, it would be a lot better.

Anonymous said...

During WW II my gradfather fought in the army. He told me a story recently, he said after the war he and a fellow jarhead stopped in a little town near Kasnas, when they did my gradfather wanted him to grab a beer with him and the black man refused. The black guy said they would both get into trouble, when they finally decided to take their chances the black man was removed from the bar and my gradfather never saw him again.

Anonymous said...

No I couldn't imagine a war today because after all the events that went down on September 11,2001.I really can't image a war occurring in this day and age.Unless we were provoked by someone.But I think after the United States went through all these different wars and thousand's of people died.I can't even begin to think that if I woke up one day and then all of the sudden a massive war breaks out and we go through this process all over again.

To answer the second question what I learned that I didn't know before.Was how close Hitler was to taking over America and that we weren't going to fight for it. Also that how many problems our Allied Ax men had when the WW2 battle in Europe was occurring.One last thing I learned from these videos was that when our men were being executed.Hitler had to record every minute of their pain and torment.

Anonymous said...

I sure cant imagine war today, we have so many family and friends that have died in Iraq. I do not want our soldiers to go back to war cause we are gonna end up losing love ones again. I understand for many people its hard, my brothers are in the military and couple of my cousins and i end up praying hoping they would be safe when they were in Iraq

Anonymous said...

I can imagine a war today where 70 million people could die. In WWII nations were fighting with other nations and they did desparate things to each other and used horrible weapons like the atom bomb.But there were designated leaders who were running the war and and the Allies claimed they were fighting for freedom and democracy.As Roosevelt said in the video, the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor while their diplomats were supposed to be negotiating in Washington.So,it seemed the U.S. had no choice but to fight back.Now,separate groups of terrorists have lots of money and very up-to-date weapons. What will stop these type of forces from hi-jacking a country like Pakistan that has atomic bombs and using these weapons to blow up whole continents if they wanted to?They have no nation to answer to and they fight on for their own causes.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't doubt that it could be possible for such a war with a high casualty rate to happen nowadays. One of the reasons the death count was so high in WWII because of the many major nations that were involved. There was also the goal of genocide, and the "no holding back" mentality that Germany had taken up in this war. Then there's the technology nowadays that is so lethal that it makes the atomic bombs dropped on Japan look like child's toys. An example would be the thermonuclear bomb, "Mike", that was dropped on the Marshall Islands as part of a test and ended up erasing them off the map with an underwater crater one mile wide and deep.

What I had not know about WWII, were some of the conditions of the concentration camps. There was also the amount of women that participated in the war and what their positions were. Finally, there was Hitlers blatant disregard for his general's advice, that ultimately lead to his demise, in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

I think that if there was a war, it would be devastating. I would problem predict one third of the world pollution would die. Because over the year’s humans become more cannibalized, and now wrong is considered right. But that’s just me. But I also believe that war defines a man. I believe it’s when the bullets are flying that courage is born. I don’t know but I believe that an after math would be devastating... but who knows. Because like after each world war that death toll is higher than the last one, and with the world getting more advance in their war fair technology its easer to kill a man.

Carlos C.

Cory Plough said...

@RYAN- Great job answering both questions and using info from the videos to support your answer.

Unknown said...

It is not that hard to imagine a war today in which 70 million people die. Anything can happen and today you still hear about bombs blasting off in the middle east and hear about soldiers being killed. My grandfather did join the army during WWII, but he was kicked out because his feet were too small or something weird like that. Something that I did learn from watching the vidoes was that women actually joined the army. They did not fight or anything like that, but they flew airplanes and learned how to kick some butt.

Anonymous said...

It would be hard for anyone to know that a very large amount of people have died dued to a war. A war is one of the top issues that are the cause for the deaths of many. Todays war in Iraq have not quite reached that limit. But depending on how much longer the war continues it could possibly happen. The Holocaust is an example of millions of people who died. The reason responsible for that was the beliefs of a dictator. It is hard to imagine that high of a number of people who would suffer.

The videos in lesson 1 gave me alot of information about the war efforts and how women contributed their help to the war. And it was interesting to hear what the experience was like from some of the Holocaust survivors.

Anonymous said...

With the way the War in Iraq is going, the way our economy is going, and the rumors of 2012, going to war with a greater death toll than WW11 isn't far off. If we did go into war it would build our economy by giving jobs to people to build guns, bullets, and armor. Having a greater death toll than 72 million is a very tragic, catastrophic, and unnecessary loss to have on the worlds hands, but it would certainly fit the judgment day picture of the 2012 conspirators. I could absolutely see this happening.

I learned that women would sometimes fighting in the war, up on the frontline with the rest of the men. I learned about the cruel conditions and beatings that the Jews had to go through in the concentration camps, and that they were separated in lines, from left to right, which would lead to your death. A very tragic way to go out. You know what your walking to, and what your in line for, yet you have to stay in line.

Anonymous said...

To tell you the truth I could not even imagine with my naive mind set a war in today's timeline that 70 million people could die. I have been home schooled almost all my life and have been shielded from the "world" and the evils through out it. I have seen war films but it is something that only happens in the past or in films. Where there is an evil empire and the good guys who save the day. The war in Iraq we hardly hear anything about or we only hear a small part of the whole picture. So I can not really imagine but is it possible in today's time. Yes, would be my answer.

The videos told me what I already knew pretty well but it gave me a little info that I was not clear on.

By: Samuel R

Anonymous said...

A war today, were we lost millions of men and women, would be a bad thing, however, a good thing. It would be a bad thing for those who lost all thier loved ones. However, it would be a good thing since the death toll rate is extremely low.

What I learned from Lesson 1 wasn't much due to I'm fascinated with World War 2, so I know a few things.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't imagine a war that kills 70 million people today. It would seem like a dream. Many people would never forget if a war like that ever occured. The world would change a lot during a war like that. Many people would suffer. A war would not be good.

What I learned in the lesson was that many people suffered and were killed. I didnt know people were in really bad conditions in the camps.

Anonymous said...

I can hardly grasp a war occuring in this time taking that many lives. If it did happen, it would probably be censored by the media so we don't get the full story. Even still, I could hardly imagine what kind of war would take so many lives.

Cory Plough said...

EVERYBODY - HINT ABOUT ANSWERING THIS DISCUSSION


Please explain what you learned that you did not know using facts from the movie. Even, if they were small things, you still need to show me that you are watching the films.

Anonymous said...

Today we have the Iraq war which has already killed 3,000 U.S american soldiers and the news media is making a big deal out of it. It was well publizied when it happened. I can't imagine what the news today would be like if they recorded 70 million people died as a result of defending a country. It would disrupt families all over the world and the loss can't be replaced.

I learned about the halocost and Hitlers plan for extermination of all weak and useless people to him and Germany. I'm sad for all the people that followed him in doing wrong things.

Anonymous said...

I learned from the video how the Jews were mistreated by loading them into cattle cars to be tranported to the concentration camps.They also seperated families when they arrived there.

Anonymous said...

No, I can’t imagine a war like that, but I think we have been in a war that will get that bad if we do not end it soon. If we keep on fighting we will have a bigger death toll on our hands then we did in WWII. We have the recourses that allow us to go into a WWIII but I hope we don’t really go that far.

I learned that D-day was the beginning of the end. We had to invade the beaches to win the war.

casey h

Anonymous said...

I couldn't imagine a war today in our society. People are dying everyday in our society and we don't even have a war going on. If we had a war I don't think anyone would want to walk outside and see what affect the war had on everyone.

I learned in the videos in lesson 1 that 350,000 women donned military uniforms during World War 2, and I didn't know that before I just thought that they were nurses and nothing else.

Anonymous said...

What I learned from watching the videos is just how hard people imprisoned because of the Holocaust had to work just to survive. What they went through is inhumane and shouldn't happen to anybody else ever again.

Anonymous said...

Of course I believe that if another World War happened, the deathtoll could be greater than 70 million. Now day's were much more advanced with not only our weapons, and missile's, but also our training, and our battle strategies. With our knowledge we could wipe out 70 million people with 5 advanced bombs (5 at the most!!!).

I noticed in the womens video in lesson 1 that a lot of women made military uniforms during World War 2 and they also knitted US flags for the troops and for the towns, im not sure if they added that in the film but i had already known that, but what i hadn't already known is that they had other jobs then just nursing the soldiers and i thought knitting flags was just a hobby and a nice thing that they wanted to do for the troops and towns people. It's crazy to think they would have women up on the frontlines in battle.

Stephen M.

Anonymous said...

It's not hard to imagine a war today in which a ton of people will die. With a lot of people living in this world and all the technology we have for building weapons. I think it could be easily reached if someone wanted to.

I learned a lot in the videos. Like the effects it actually had on the world. And learned a little about the concentration camps.

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine a WWIII, because we are secure,well equipt, and educated and I know what the end result would be. We would all be gone.

I have had family members in every war. They don't talk about it much as I know it must make them sad.

Anonymous said...

I would be sad if we were to have another war involving that many deaths.However, if the war in Iraq continues for a long time I am sad to say possibly the death would equal to 70 million. I do not even want to imagine such a trrible thing. I couldn't imagine it at all. Another major war especially now when the economy is bad the war would destroy everything.
Jayde S.

Anonymous said...

I could not imagine a war where that many people died because people are trip'in on getting the troops back from Iraq.If that many poeple died in the war you would have to also think about how many men that where in the war all together.The videos in lisson 1 show how the war effected every one not just the people that had families in the war.There was lots of poeple that where touched by the war because of how big it was.
DeWayne,Smith

Anonymous said...

I could imagine a war today in which 70 million people died, because the technolgy is so sophistacated that its not uminagineable. You have all these Necleaur war heards, missles etc. That with just one push of a button can go to the desired location and destroy and entire city. Its hard to say what i learned about World War II, because most of the major things I already knew, its just the details that I havent read or watched on the videos. So in a way it was mostly review for me.

dominique R.

Anonymous said...

each of wwi ww2
we had to go 2 war with the nazis and japanese,both lead to destruction with bombs and killin
and i cant imagine us going to war with a other country like iraq,iran or other forgin country.
-simeon m teran

Anonymous said...

To a point yes i can imagin all them people dieing today due to the fact that no one really get along and with us white people treating African Americans like crap and Mexicans also i can say i can imagan it happening. Like we already have a war in Iraq and we have already lost alot of our men because of how hated america is.

Ashley Stuart