Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with War

How many will be killed / wounded?

Baby_Balrog — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:53:42 -0800

Of the 30,000 additional troops President Obama has now committed to sending to Afghanistan, how many will be killed or wounded? I'm having a hard time figuring out the statistics for casualties in the war. What are your odds of dying or returning wounded or returning with mental problems? It doesn't have to be super accurate, but I can't seem to find any numbers on what percentages of soldiers (out of the total combat forces) are killed / wounded.

Game on!

timpollard — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:30:57 -0800

Does anyone know where in the UK I can buy sheets of blank (on both sides) printable playing cards, similar to the ones from the US site 'www.plaincards.com'? I want to print out a home-designed card wargame and perforated card sheets would make life so much easier! Thanks in advance...

How do I get my brother out of the Marines?

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:40:34 -0800

How do I help my little brother get out of the Marines? My little brother (well, not so little anymore) recently graduated from Marines' boot camp and is now in infantry training (I think, I'm woefully ignorant of military terminology). He recently expressed to me online that he's basically had enough with the Marines and wants to go home. Is there any way he can do that simply and legally? Would he have to get a dishonorable discharge. Seriously, I know nothing about the military having come from a long line of cowards. Can he just leave or is there some special process? Is there some kind of hotline or something he can call to be counseled on this stuff? Some more info: He's 18 years old, but he signed up when he was 17 with our mother's permission. He's stationed in South Carolina (again, I forget the name of the base... I'm a terrible older brother) somewhere. Our family lives in New Jersey, but I'm in California. If he needs to hide out from the military I have absolutely no problem taking him in (too dramatic?)

I'll also say that I feel more than a little guilty that I didn't protest more before he left for boot camp and that trying to help him get out of the Marines is probably my way of trying to make up for that. Maybe it's too little too late.

Can you help me find this essay?

codacorolla — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:18:01 -0800

I'm looking for a World War 2 essay that may be titled "Missing the War", which is about the difference in perception between how the Second World War was portrayed in the media and how it was for the soldiers involved. I remember reading it in a best-of essay collection that might've been published in 2006 or 2007. Google searching for that title doesn't bring up anything similar. It's a really great essay, and probably some of the best war writing I've ever read.

Intimidation through obscure references!

WidgetAlley — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:07:34 -0800

I need a badass battle cry. You know, something I can scream in the face of adversity, or put on a shield and hang on my wall. Although my heritage is primarily French, German and Welsh, I'm open to all histories, cultures and languages. Bonus points if it's got a cool story or myth behind it, extra-super-bonus-points if it acknowledges both badassery and the willingness to accept defeat (such as, "Today is a good day to die.")

If it's based on a particular figure or house in history, I would dearly love some background to accompany it; and if it's not a Western language and you can provide a pronunciation guide, I'd be grateful for that too. (Nothing more embarrassing than finding out you've put the emphasis wrong and are actually yelling that you love puppies.)

Strike on, brave Mefites, strike on!

Who were the highest ranking Jewish officers in the World War II militaries?

Joe Beese — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:36:26 -0800

Who were the highest ranking Jewish officers in the World War II militaries? Any service of any combatant nation can be considered - including Germany's.

For example: In the American army, it was Major General Maurice Rose.

One-volume book about WWI

Postroad — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:34:03 -0800

Suggestions for a very good one-volume book about World War I. Decided I wanted to know more abut this "war to end all wars," and so am looking for a single volume book. Did this for the AmericanCivil War and found The Battle Cry of Freedom splendid. Now on to WWI...hive: any good ideas?

Books on 17th c. Anglo-Dutch maritime wars?

judith — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:40:59 -0800

Looking for good books/resources about the 17th century Anglo-Dutch maritime wars. For a project I'm doing, I'd like to get more historical detail about what the Dutch call the English Wars and what the English call the Dutch wars. While I am interested in the specific facts, I'm more interested in getting a sense of time and place, both for those who were at sea and for those at home in the two countries. Do you know any fascinating books (non-fiction or historical fiction) that reference these events?

Church of what else?

movicont — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:44:24 -0800

Looking for obscure rivalries, ala Emacs and Vi. I'm looking for some relatively obscure rivalries like that of Emacs and Vi for text editors or as this comment says, Lattimore and Fagles for Homer translators.

Best Book About Civil War

NorthCoastCafe — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:30:27 -0800

What's the best single book to read about the American Civil War? I have only time and interest for one book, a fondness for historical fiction but desire to be informed about the background, history, politics and social/cultural significance of the war.

Best overview book on the Vietnam War?

snap_dragon — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:00:38 -0800

Looking for an essential nonfiction overview (among many available) on the Vietnam War. Any suggestions?

How destructive are current U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals relative to their maximum levels?

Joe Beese — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:54:02 -0800

How destructive are current U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals relative to their maximum levels? For simplicity's sake, we can define "destructiveness" as combined gross megatonnage, unless you have a better idea. I'm also assuming that it makes sense from a political/military perspective to consider weapons stored in former Soviet Union countries as belonging to Russia's maximum arsenal but not to its current arsenal, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Bonus points if you can find a link to a widely circulated graphic from the early-80s freeze movement. It represented the world's nuclear stockpile with dots placed in a rectangular matrix. Each dot represented one Hiroshima bomb, I think. One group of 3 dots was circled to indicate all the explosions in World War II - or something like that. And above them were dots and dots and dots...

Help a 13 y/o get to know the Amercian soldier.

keith0718 — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:30:34 -0800

What resources (films, books, websites) can I share with my 13 y/o daughter who has expressed a recent keen admiration and care for the American soldier from the Vietnam War era to the present? I recently took my 13 y/o daughter to see The Hurt Locker, after which she expressed a deeply felt admiration for the American soldier. I told her that not everyone feels the same way; and that, especially after the Vietnam War, soldiers were subject to quite a bit of disrespect when they returned home. She was really interested in his phenomenon and I would like to direct her to some resources (films, books, websites) that help her explore it and empathize with the existential experiences of the American soldier both on the battlefield and at home.

Interviews, Research & Archiving, oh my!

ikahime — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:06:04 -0800

I'm preparing for a massive personal archiving/interviewing trip with my grandparents and need advice regarding many aspects of the project. My grandparents came to America from Lithuania during WWII and have an amazing story that my cousin and I started documenting several years ago. Life being what it is, we really only got a rough outline and are now going for another week long visit with them (now 97 and 90 years old, but still witty and spry). Not only do they have some great/astounding anecdotes that we haven't documented, they also have an amazing collection of photos (some taken by Life Magazine photographers) which are in not such good order (to say nothing of being stored or digitally preserved).

Here are some of my concerns that perhaps y'all could help me with:

History: I'm not a historian, and so have been trying to bone up on the Soviet-Nazi conflict that took place in the Baltic States. Books and online resource recommendations are appreciated.

Preservation: I need to construct a good workflow for organizing/digitizing old photos. How best to store? Should I be uploading to the cloud, or bring an external hard drive with me?

Interview: Getting these stories out of them is not usually too hard, but I'm wondering about tried and true methods of biographical interview. Should we march thru the historical timeline? Jump around and organize later? Are there some good prompts I shouldn't forget to ask them?

Documentation: I would like to either film or audio record or both. I will probably have access to a decent microphone + laptop and a so-so digital video camera. Should I have both roll at the same time, or just favor one vs. the other? This is my weakest link. Is Audacity a good enough program, or should I be throwing down for something else?

In addition to doing this for my own (and my family's) edification, I'm gathering this info now for some sort of creative project in the future (still yet to work out - could be something as mundane as a book, or more outlandish like an interactive sculpture, or hyperlinked map). I've started making things like timelines and maps of their trip from Lith to Germany to Britain to the US; got any other ideas of rich add-ons?

Lastly, I'm looking for other media to bring with me that may enhance their reminiscing, especially music of the era/region (they were in Germany for quite a few years in the late 40s. Got some faves?

Thanks to all in advance!

Civil War Mystery or Civil War Hoax?

ValkoSipuliSuola — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:43:09 -0800

Can anyone help me solve a Civil War mystery? I'm reading a screenplay set during the American Civil War and the author's notes give the following as reference material:

"...then on the Eleventh day of November 1864, and Emissary who had made many ventures into the South as both Courier and Spy, was instructed by the President of the Union to personally make himself known to the President of the Confederacy and to offer a proposition of Amnesty to the South to hasten the Cessation of Warfare between the States. The mission was only partially completed due to interference by an irresponsible gang of cut-throats whose sympathies were with the South, and the subsequent assassination of the Emissary by 'person or persons unknown'.

Arthur March, a Northerner (b. Cleve, Indiana, 1829) and formerly a Special Investigator for the State of Ohio, was held for questioning in St. Louis, Missouri, and released. No other arrests were made.

Arthur March, 35, dapper, prematurely gray..."

Kelsop R. Addaps, The War's Bequest, Vol II, Chapter 7

I've searched for Kelsop Addaps and found nothing, except this, which is a French translation of the document I'm working from. No mention of either the book title or author in the Library of Congress or any rare book sites I could find. I checked for Kelso and Addams as well, thinking the name might be a typo. Searches for Arthur March turn up a guide to Federal Bankruptcy from 1876 and some modern physics writings....

I've done Mormon Genealogy searches (they have the best records) as well as 1860 US census records and come up empty.
Arthur March:
born in 1819 in Essex, UK
born in 1849 in Holcomb, UK
born in 1847 in Pottstown, PA

Kelsop Addaps:
No results, nobody with that last name shows up ever.

Searching for "Person or Persons Unknown" in all of 1864 newspapers throughout the US got me one article about someone putting rocks on train tracks in Janesville, Wisconsin and one article from Pennsylvania about something else unrelated.

I don't want to write this off as a hoax without exhausting every possible avenue, but at this point my Google-Fu is completely worn out. Can anyone else shed some light on this?

After the devastation

yclipse — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:29:17 -0800

How long did it take for radiation to fall to safe levels in Hiroshima after August 1945? We learn from many sources that Hiroshima was rebuilt after the war, but how long would radioactivity continue to affect the area in dosages high enough to affect humans?

(Or maybe the question does not compute, and the city was simply reinhabited and rebuilt oblivious of health hazards?)

WWI, what happened?

serazin — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:51:09 -0800

What was WWI about anyway? Last night my roommate and I were watching Jules and Jim, and both realized we know nothing about World War I. As she summed up our mutual lack of information: We know that someone was assassinated and then everyone started senselessly killing each other. Surely there's more to the story than this.

Can you, in simple terms, sum up the context leading to WWI, and/or explain its aftermath in simple terms? Simple outside references also welcome!

Sources about atrocities in the Southwest?

Bookhouse — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:15:29 -0800

What are the best nonfiction sources about the atrocities surrounding the Mexican-American War and related Native American wars? Having recently read In the Rogue Blood and being now halfway through Blood Meridian, I'm curious how close to fact the authors are when describing the absolute horrors committed in the Southwest during the 19th century. I'd love to find an engaging history book on the subject, but will take any suggestions for sources.

Books on Hitler - Nazi Germany

snap_dragon — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:05:05 -0800

I just finished reading Hunting Eichmann and am wondering if any MeFites could recommend any other popular nonfiction books on Nazi Germany, Hitler, war criminals, etc. I don't do huge tomes well (400 pages or less!). The only other books I have read are MAUS and Explaining Hitler. Thanks for your input. So much out there...don't know where to begin. Probably the more well known the better as they may be available at my library.

Storytelling Grandfather - Author?

CarolynAMW — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:15:21 -0800

Can anyone identify a short story or teleplay with the following plot or some variant thereof: A grandfather frequently tells his grandchildren about his experiences in the Revolutionary War, pointing to a general's portrait hanging over his fireplace as he sits in his rocking chair. He has one favorite grandson, who grows tired of the grandfather's story. The grandson researches and finds that the general in the portrait is not so brave as the grandfather makes him out to be. During the next telling of the story, the grandson interrupts his grandfather and corrects him with the truth -- whereupon the grandfather takes down the portrait and never tells the story again. Years later, as an old man himself, the grandson is sitting in the same rocking chair, surrounded by his grandchildren, goes to tell the story, looks up to the blank space above the fireplace, is filled with a profound sense of loss/regret, and falls silent.

A friend in Israel said he thinks he once saw this on American television. I could only offer the similar story -- but with a very different moral -- in "The Four Feathers," where Harry Faversham "heroically" corrects the old general's embroidered account of the Battle of Balaclava. Hawthorne has a book of stories on a grandfather's chair, but nothing like this. I also tried Washington Irving and Benet -- no luck.

best scholarly books about the Korean War

Postroad — Sat, 23 May 2009 08:56:01 -0800

Names of a few of the best scholarly histories of the Korean War for a thesis paper for college as history major, with an emphasis upon the military aspect, especially about the Chinese army joining the North Koreans.

Is it acceptable to write a piece of fiction based on the war in Iraq?

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:29:49 -0800

Would it be seen as (and is it really) exceptionally tasteless to write a fictional novel about a soldiers' experiences in Iraq? I just wrote out a lengthy explanation, but it was all sorts of moddled and there were a thousand thoughts scattered throughout.

I'm curious to know whether it would be widely considered tasteless or offensive to write a novel set mostly in Iraq about a soldiers experiences in the war there. Of course a "war novel" can go a million different directions, so suffice to say that this would be an extremely informed endeavor, with no shortage of consultancy (I've many friends and a few relatives who have fought - really fought - in the war). It would not be a rollicking action-packed adventure or anything of the sort, but it would be very, very raw.

I suppose I don't particularly care what people would think about this, as there is such a fog about what really goes on over there, and I know many, many people who have been immensely intrigued by soldiers who have blogged about their experiences.

My only qualm is that my writing style tends to be a bit cynic, perhaps almost perverted at times (I have, as an example, received a number of comparisons to Bret Easton Ellis). There would be no amount of exploitation involved, of course, but to write from about the day to day life and thoughts of a 20-something in a warzone could certainly be offensive on the grounds of those thoughts alone, even outside the the context of the war.

What are your thoughts?

Help me understand the cold war--or at least a mediocre movie

mecran01 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:05:49 -0800

I have several questions about the 2006 movie The Good Shepherd with Matt Damon, and I haven't been able to find answers from my usual sources. I'm hoping Robert DeNiro is a secret MeFi fan and will step in, providing closure. [spoilers ahoy!] The IMDB FAQ suggests that Edward's giving of the dollar to Ulysses' aide was a tacit agreement to reveal "the cardinal" a highly-placed asset in the KGB. Wikipedia, however, has the following:

"Ulysses notes of Edward Jr.'s fiancée: "neither of us can be sure about her", and asks Edward, "Do you want her to be part of your family?" Edward says nothing. Shortly after this, Ulysses' aide asks him for change to purchase his daughter a souvenir from the gift shop. Edward asks how much it is, and, upon hearing it is a dollar, hands him a one dollar note, commenting that a cardinal rule of democracy is generosity. This appears to be a reference to a scene from the film's beginning, where a young boy on a bus asks Edward for change for a dollar—when Edward returns to his office, he matches the bill's serial number to a CIA asset codenamed "CARDINAL". So Edward is, in fact, returning the "marked" dollar to the asset, who is Ulysses' aide."

So is Edward betraying The Cardinal (and thus becoming, like his father, a traitor who forsakes his family) or simply communicating with him? Also, why is he being observed by his own people during this transaction? Did Edward bring them along, or are they trying to catch him betraying his country?

Also, what was symbolized by Edward's burning of his father's suicide note? Is it an indication that Edward realizes he has become his father?

Collaborators on film

cazoo — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:11:37 -0800

Films about war time collaboration? I'm searching for a list of films which deal with the idea of war time collaboration. More specifically about those that collaborated with their aggressors/colonizers and how they were treated by their countrymen.

A recent example which fits this theme would be "Lust, Caution". Other examples might be "Casablanca". The genre, war, and nationalities do not matter so much as the theme or the premise. It seems like there must be quite a few set in WW2, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.

Thanks hive mind.

Won the war. Lost the war poet.

taramosalata — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:57:20 -0800

Help me identity this 1910s/20s/30s British poet (from precious little information). * Auden admired his work -- this is definite but I've lost the source and cannot be sure whether Auden ever reviewed his work.

* He's not usually ranked among the great WWI poets like Sassoon, Owen, Brooke, et al. And I cannot find him on this Wikipedia list. But I do remember reading a short Wikipedia entry devoted to him.

* And he did write about war -- before WWII, if not during WWI -- and was particularly well-known for one longish poem (or short epic) that was published as a single volume. With 80% certainty I believe its title to be a definite article followed by a multisyllabic latinate (but not too complicated) abstract noun. It was something like 'The Ambiguity.'

* First name might be David. (20% certainty here).

[Apologize for the sparse clues. As soon I read about his work I knew I was determined to track it down -- then neglected to bookmark or jot down the actual info. So this riddle is really a passionate query.]