Ww2 historical fiction ideas

[Code]

I must write a few page historical fiction about an American soldier in WW2. Ideas?

[Code]

Pre-pearl harbor attack

[RadioRaheem84]

I had an idea about a Jewish Socialist soldier who enlists in the army based on the rumors he was hearing about persecution of the Jews and concentration camps. He gets the idea after listening to a German Bund in the US encouraging US support for Nazism at the local City College of NY. He enlists because he has a Hitchens-like personality and thought that joining the US Army would help defeat fascism but discovers that the army is just as racist toward him and utterly destructive.

I got the idea from hearing an old veteran talk about his days in WWII. He said how he would fight with the black servicemen and how when he was stationed in France, his buddies really hated the Frenchmen and would wrap them in rugs and throw them over stuff. He said it was an immoral time and nothing like what was described in the movies; even in "real" programs like Band of Brothers. He said he remembers arriving near the East and seeing writing on the wall that read, "Americans, Russians are real enemies".

From what I recall he said that it was a really, really, really, racist time and NO soldier really knew why he was fighting the Germans except that they were evil Nazi Kraut bastards. They had no idea what Fascism was all about. They couldn't tell you about the history, ideology, and the points of fascism. Some soldiers wondered why they were even fighting the Germans and thought they should join them to fight the Russians.

It made me wonder if Americans had always had this kind of indifference or ignorance of world affairs? If it wasn't for FDR, I doubt that Fascism would've been that hated in the US.

Something should be written about this.

[manic expression]

Write about an enlisted man who gets into a conversation with a Spanish Civil War veteran (it'd be real interesting if the Civil War vet was Black, too). Just a thought I had.

[RadioRaheem84]

How would they have met though? Spain was neutral. Unless the veteran left Spain for France to join the Resistance there?

[eyedrop]

How would they have met though? Spain was neutral. Unless the veteran left Spain for France to join the Resistance there?

Didn't most of the spanish veterans who went to France end up in concentration camps there?

[manic expression]

How would they have met though? Spain was neutral. Unless the veteran left Spain for France to join the Resistance there?
There were thousands of Americans who went to Spain to fight for the Republic. Their unit was known as the "Abraham Lincoln Brigade", and were part of the international brigades: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_Brigade

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade was, IIRC, the first American military unit in history to see a Black commanding officer of an integrated unit. They saw action in many pivotal battles, including the defense of Madrid, Teruel and the Battle of the Ebro. After the war, most of the veterans returned to the United States. It a very proud chapter of the American left, and something that the next generation of revolutionaries must carry forward.

[RadioRaheem84]

There were thousands of Americans who went to Spain to fight for the Republic. Their unit was known as the "Abraham Lincoln Brigade", and were part of the international brigades: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_Brigade

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade was, IIRC, the first American military unit in history to see a Black commanding officer of an integrated unit. They saw action in many pivotal battles, including the defense of Madrid, Teruel and the Battle of the Ebro. After the war, most of the veterans returned to the United States. It a very proud chapter of the American left, and something that the next generation of revolutionaries must carry forward.


I know that, I just thought you meant an enlisted man in the US Army meets a Spanish Civil War at random during WWII. I was asking how this would've happened if Spain was neutral.

[manic expression]

I know that, I just thought you meant an enlisted man in the US Army meets a Spanish Civil War at random during WWII. I was asking how this would've happened if Spain was neutral.
Understood. Code said s/he wanted to set it before the attack of Pearl Harbor, so I thought it could be a soldier/sailor/airman meeting an American Spanish Civil War vet in a bar/jazz club in New York City, Chicago, Boston or somewhere like that, since the US wasn't in the war yet.

"Fuck me, the gals around here are...just...way better than Illinois anyway."
"Yeah? Well, it's nothing like Spain."
"Shit...who's been to Spain? I can't even get assigned to some do-nothing navy resort in Hawaii."
"Well if there's one thing Spain taught me...nothin' ain't do-nothing when we got a war to fight.... This one's on me, kid."

Yeah, OK, so I suck at fiction. :unsure:

[RED DAVE]

How would they have met though? Spain was neutral. Unless the veteran left Spain for France to join the Resistance there?Many US veterans of the Spanish Civil War, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, later fought in WWII after they returned from Spain. I personally worked with a guy, his name was Sam Kornblatt, who was such a fighter.

Sam told me that he had been in Spain in a funny way. One day, during a conversation, I asked him if he had been in WWII. He told me he had been in WWII starting in 1937. I said that the US was only involved in WWII in 1941. Sam said, "The other WWII." "Oh," I said. "That WWII." Sam smiled and nodded.

Sam was an ordinary working guy. The experiences of an American Communist in WWII would make a great subject for a movie. Sam was a lifelong leftist, although unaffiliated and a trade unionist. He also loved birds and was an ardent bird watcher.

Here's a list of the known members of the Lincoln Battalion. Sam in there. All honor to him.

RED DAVE

[Code]

Yeaaa!! You guys are great!! I like the idea of meeting a vet from Spanish civil war. From my knowledge US had soldiers overseas before US was officially in the war. That would be good.

[Scary Monster]

I had an idea about a Jewish Socialist soldier who enlists in the army based on the rumors he was hearing about persecution of the Jews and concentration camps. He gets the idea after listening to a German Bund in the US encouraging US support for Nazism at the local City College of NY. He enlists because he has a Hitchens-like personality and thought that joining the US Army would help defeat fascism but discovers that the army is just as racist toward him and utterly destructive.

I got the idea from hearing an old veteran talk about his days in WWII. He said how he would fight with the black servicemen and how when he was stationed in France, his buddies really hated the Frenchmen and would wrap them in rugs and throw them over stuff. He said it was an immoral time and nothing like what was described in the movies; even in "real" programs like Band of Brothers. He said he remembers arriving near the East and seeing writing on the wall that read, "Americans, Russians are real enemies".

From what I recall he said that it was a really, really, really, racist time and NO soldier really knew why he was fighting the Germans except that they were evil Nazi Kraut bastards. They had no idea what Fascism was all about. They couldn't tell you about the history, ideology, and the points of fascism. Some soldiers wondered why they were even fighting the Germans and thought they should join them to fight the Russians.

It made me wonder if Americans had always had this kind of indifference or ignorance of world affairs? If it wasn't for FDR, I doubt that Fascism would've been that hated in the US.

Something should be written about this.

Hmmm this confuses me, what was it about the Soviets that Americans hated so much, then? They sympathized with a proud mass murderer like Hitler, yet they loathed the Soviets? I guess it was just a result of standard anti-communist propaganda? :blink:

[Vendetta]

How fictional can you get?