ObsessiveTanker

Hey,
I was lucky enough to get a chance to have a sit-down with a WWIIVeteran( American, Pacific Campaign) for about three hours yesterday, and decided that I would share some of the info. he gave me about being a POW and some cool tales. We have a printer/scanner thingy so I just ran the pictures and the letter through and put 'em on here.
His name is Norman Brunns and he saw action on Okinawa, Mankin, and Saipan. He was taken prisoner by the Japs onduring a night raid(he didnt give to many details about his imprisonment-and I didn't ask). They let him keep his camera and he snapped a nice picture of a captured American landing craft used by the Japs to tow artillery pieces. He somehow escaped, and made it back to the foxholes they were in a few days later. Another nice tale was when they ran into 3 Type 95 HA-GO tanks and clashed with them for about an hour. I am Zack, he is Bruns.
Zack- What was it like running into the Jap tanks, did you see alot of them? What happened?
Bruns- We(he is talking about hiscompany)were walking along a road and came out into a clearing, and the CO hollered for everybody to sto and take a rest. A few seconds later the radio man was gunned down by a Jap MG and 3 tanks came out behind some wood with infantry all 'round them. Most of us scattered like mice when this happened and the Bazzoka man was caught out in the open. They were shouting Banzai and everything was a cluster ****. We set up a mortar and pointed that barrle right at that Jap tank racing to us and dropped a round in, blew the thing to bits. Other two were moving slower than the first and someone got a Bazooka and put 2 rockets into the side-blew that one up. Last one was smarter and was zig zagging threw the field with its machine guns chewing us up. Bazzoka took of one of the wheels and a Flamer went up and fried them.

Below is a picture of the HA-GO taken out by the two bazooka rockets. He went n to tell me about the camps, which there are a few pictures of and of a shot-down Jap bomber.

If you have any specific questions about Bruns just ask, the interview was 3 hours long. I was going to be interviewing Battle of the Bulge veterans tomorrow but I got the stomach flu so thats not happening. I am really mad right now at my school because they prohibited the German veterans from comming to be interviewed for AP Honors History projects, because a Jewish kid was ellegdedly 'intimidated, and frightened by the German veterans who so brutally killed millions of Jews during the war.' Ihonestly cannot believe that a person would honestly be scared and intimidated by an 80 year old man. I am getting real sick and tired of people automatically classifying Germans as Nazis,ext. My teachers want us to learn history, but only a single view poin of it. In my AP honors history book all of WWIIis summerized in 2 and a half paragraphs. I don't know where the world is going now-a-days but I find it really ammusing when teachers claim they know about WWII from reading a few paragraphs. I asked my teacher today if he knew who Rommel was, his first answer was 'some type of dog??'
Ihave the German veteran's info and I will write to them and we'll see if they reply.

STO_118

Slightly off topic but my great uncle passed away recenly, he was a Lancaster navigator and was also involved with the Horsa gliders. I never found out anything else.

It's a shame that so much history from such an imporant time is being lost.

As for the German thing, doesn't seem to be very objective but then history is always written by the victors and even today the German military is villified.

pattoncommander

It's a real shame when you speak with people about anything more that 10 years ago.....and the realization hits hard how extremely poor our schools are. I have had people ask me if East Germany was "on our side or against us" ...and if a B-17 on display here was used by the North or Confederates. My wife suffered under Stalin and survived labor caps in Romania and the same scenarios regarding Nazis=Germans and Nazi KZ death camps that are highly publicized but the fact that Stalin did many times more to his own people are rarely covered, really hurts her.

Having spent 18 years in Germany and studied there, I have met many people who HAD to serve in the WW II military. It was mandatory if you did not want youself (or family) in a KZ. To mention or act as if you did believe in the Nazi regime could bring unimaginable grief on your family. They served as we did....as soldiers, which did not make them a Nazi Party member nor make them support the views about races or religions other than superficially for survival.

Education is power, and too much is being hidden or changed to suit the needs of a few.

STO_118

I've always believed the biggest mistake back then was letting Stalin have his way. Some of the things I read about this time say even though the Wehrmacht had very poor morale and knew they had lost they expected to fight alongside the allied forces against Stalin.

Schooling here it not much different, we learned quite a bit about WWI on the western front but nothing about naval actions and in WW2 nearly everything was concentrated on the Blitz. While there were fanatical elements to the German military forces and quite bit of brain washing or at least empowerment of the younger German population at the time I bet many of them just wanted to get home. Thankfully my parents are bookworms and my father always watched WW2 films when I was younger, films I still watch today, Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far being some of the most watched.

RSEA

I suppose then that your teachers and administrators would not approve a visit / interview with the veteran of the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg, who lives here in Phoenix. I first met him 20 years ago and my best friend has known him since the mid 1970s. He is 85 years old and just had a stroke this past November.. So not sure how much longer he will be around..

You can tell your Jewish schoolmate that the Waffen-SS veteran I speak of has a Jewish son-in-law. And his Jewish son-in-law didn't seem too frightened to marry the SS man's daughter.

My best friend is a history teacher and long time collector of German Militaria. I can assure you that if you were in his school and class, you would know 1000 times more about WWII than your current teachers could ever dream about knowing lol.

I feel your frustration young one, as my friend recently told me a little story about a new 20 some year old female teacher at his school. He had brought a few items in for "display" to one of his classes and the young female teacher said, "Now tell me, what am I looking at here, are these American, German or what?" Every item on the table had Swastikas on them.. It is like, what country do you think they are from??!! Unbelievable how little, even the so called teachers know these days, let alone the students.

pattoncommander

Too many people have formed their own ideas about WW II and far too many of them are horribly ignorant about the whole thing.
Even some reenactors are blatantly stupid in what they are doing. I was prevented from riding in a half track because my uniform jacket was pattern 5 made in 1945 and the yoyo in charge felt it was post war, ..but he could tell you everything about the 101st Airborne, down to the last detail, although he himself had never worn the uniform on duty.

My in-laws helped in the pipeline to get Jews out of Romania, despite father being a "volunteer" in the Waffen SS....in the village, when the SS came through looking for volunteers.....after the first two refused and were shot on the spot, they got the "volunteers".
That's how things were back then. Then our guys used to complain about the draft "ruining their lives and careers".

Churchill and Patton both had the same outlook..."don't stop at Berlin...keep going to Moskow."

Regarding ignorant teachers...look at the many subjects regarded as unnecessary or just dropped. History books are being "revised" every day and then too, especially in the south....schools are glad to get anyone to teach and many of them couldn't pass a 2nd grade English exam. World History, Geography, Art, classical music....all very low priority and constantly being cut back..

rivetcounter

Churchill did not have the same view as Patton, Churchill knew only too well that any advance on Russia wouldn’t have got past Poland and cost many lives in its failure, Patton was on his own with that little gem, Churchill didn’t trust the Russians and feared for a Communist controlled Europe but trying to achieve what the Germans couldn’t achieve especially after Russia had amassed and well equipped a huge army was not one of his week points, how would an Allied army be equipped and supplied after all the Allies had huge logistical problems trying to supply troops in Germany on many occasions the troops were hours away from running out of supplies, only a very small number of ports were open to supply the troops how would they have managed to push further east most of the factories in Europe were smashed so they couldn’t have helped, thankfully no one listened to Patton

ObsessiveTanker

I guess that's just the way things are these days..... My Jagdtiger has not come yet after 17 days even though I paid for 6 day shipping, I realize that Australia had a massive disaster but I think it's about time that they should be operational and get my f**king tank here. Icontacted them and they said it was in the USA but I'm guessing that I have been ripped off of $518.00. I don't plan on ordering from them again unless if they have something really good to offer. From now on I think I'll just buy from RCTank Wars and RC Panzerkampfwagen Deutschland.

rivetcounter

Haven’t you used these exact words before when you ordered the Tiger II

ObsessiveTanker

That time I originally ordered a Mato Jadgtiger, but it didn't pass through customs for some reason and was sent back to Awesome Hobbies. They contacted me and because of the complication they gave me their custom King Tiger which was 75$ more. I figured that the shipping issue was just a glitch and no big deal, but this time I know they have my address and information and I even paid for 6 day shipping which was $115.00 to the $400.00 Jagdtiger. For a 14 year old thats a lot of money, and probably to anybody. So I think that even though they have had a disaster I have the right to complain. I like Awesome Hobbie's tanks but they need to ship things better before they can get me back.

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

If your biggest complaint is that your toy tank has not yet arrived, you haven;t much to complain about. There are people losing everything over there there, including family members ebcasue of the floods. You seem to constantly complain and say the same exact things over and over. You also seem to have a need to constantly state that you are 14 years old and it's a lot of money for a 14 year old. My honest opinion is that even IFyou are 14, you should have enough sense to see that the statement you made is rediculous and selfish as well as plain stupid. grow up boy! There are things much worse than a package being late. Since you got on this forum I have seen assinie things said and vulgar language used, sometimes directed at the good folks here. Please learn some respect.

ObsessiveTanker

YellowShaker,
I am not even going to get into a flame war with you. This same thing happened the first time i created an account on here and I'm not going to argue with you about weather or not Ican complain about my tank being late. As for the money thing, yes i have said that many times before but I am getting very worried that I have been ripped-off. I am 14 years old, born Feb. 8, 1996- I'm not sure why there is any reason to doubt that, if you are really concerned about my age just find me on FaceBook @ Zack Myslinski. Irealize that my statement was very selfish, but I honestly don't care. To the language thing, plenty of other users use vulgar language on this forum and at least Ibleep it out. AS for the respect thing, I really do not see the reason to bow down to the rulers of this forum, I haven't violated any of the forum rules in any way and as far as I'm concerned you could be a 14 year old too who spends a lot of time on Wikipedia.

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

To be perfectly honest with you boy, I could care less about your age or about your facebook.My concern is you are a fool and a clown and you have no respect for the men on this forum, who by the way are mostly much, older than your tender 14 years, and yes that does include myself... that alone proves my point. The fact that you continue to say things like you don't care if what you said was selfish is just another example of you proving my point fo me. And third, you are right, you do not want to get into a flmae war with me, or any other type of war for that matter. Now, in plain english, show a little respect, you little punk. If you cannot do that, then go play on facebook with the rest of those fools. At least there, you fit in perfectly.

BIGMIG

This thread started by a troll...............pull the plug on him.

BIGMIG

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

Well said!

ObsessiveTanker

Hahaha , I think i'll be on here for a long long time.

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

Brother, you are free to be on here, the point is, you are a complete moron who has no respect for his elders or the people who defend this country. In all honesty everyone here should be able to see that all you are is a troll and basically not worth much more than your average hemoroid. You come on the forum boasting that amazing KT that you bought for 500 bucks and talking up Awesome hobbies like they are the only place who do custom rc tank work. In truth the guys here were all too kind to you as it was. I told you before that if you like your tank, that's all that matters. The fact is, the thing looks like it was dropped in the pacific ocean and lay at the bottom for 60 years. I have seen relics from the Titanic that are in better condition than that sorry representation of a KT. Now, go stand in the corner junior. 

ObsessiveTanker

Not respecting my elders or showing respect for those who serve the United States? first of all none of you are my elders and I'm not sure where your getting the second from, mabey you should read the first post???

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

Ahh, so you are 14 but no one here is an elder to you? Must have failed math class too huh, junior?
And didn't I tell you to stand in the corner?

pattoncommander

Like maybe everyone else on this site is under 13???[X(] I served 25 yrs active, 14 years with the state, have been in combat....and guess what, I see no need to use profanity. A person who relies on vulgarity is merely proving that he has no command of his language....and maybe your parents were too lax with the hickory stick....sometimes, when intelligence doesn't soak into the head, it must be implanted from the other end. As was pointed out already, many thousands of your countrymen are suffering with great losses to property, homes and life savings....and you cry about a tank being late....mail is often held up or delayed by natural or weather related occurances. Like, wake up already[[>:]>:]

rivetcounter

Gentlemen, I feel our friend is merely trying to grab some attention by provoking another argument all the stories he tells and he has more than most of the vets on this forum have large holes, pieces missing and don’t quite fit together your latest jackanory tells of a POW being allowed by the Japanese guards to keep his camera now this may be true but the problem is cameras were removed from prisoners so evidence of cruelty along with other things couldn’t be recorded and in Japanese POW camps which are well documented as being cruel to say the least possession of a camera usually meant death for the owner hence why POW pictures are very rare.
The Jewish guy in your school may have a very valid reason for not being comfortable around a 85-95 year German old vet this may have a lot to do with most of his family line being annihilated which from your own wording you seem to support the Holocaust.

If you ever meet a German you will find that they are very conscious and concerned how the world sees there men serving in Afghanistan and after talking about their army they certainly don’t break into a few verses of Panzerlied nor do they boast about military achievements

sevoblast

Quite frankly, I am a little suspect about his stated age, but 'nichi voah'. I too picked up on the camera deal. Also the firing a mortar at a tank and knocking it out...LOL...what did they do, pick it up and 'pull the trigger'? And a couple other odds and ends in this latest story. Combine that with the slang use of an old man, the supposed conversations with a 'friend in the Bundeswehr' about what would obviously be Opsec subjects, and my opinion is we have a bit of a truth stretcher here, and that's putting it mildly. That's why he's on my 'ignore' list generally.
As an aside, if he was MY son, he would eating his meals standing up....after the taste of the Ivory Soap mouth washout went away.

rivetcounter

His opening line was “My Grand Father commanded a Jagdtiger” thing is his name can’t be found as a commander he also claimed he was an ace again he’s not on the list of aces that goes from 150 kills down to 1 granted that may not be complete through a telephone call all this was confirmed and the turret number of his Jagdtiger was 13—(can’t remember the last 2 digits) you guessed it, through a mistake this ace is actually his uncle then more recently he changed to his “Great Grandfather” now I suspected him some time ago and I do believe he’s telling porky pies, but this is only my opinion.

sevoblast

I well remember the vitriol from his first posts and incarnation. He changed his account and decided to try again. Same old same old, hence the inclusion on my very short 'ignore' list. Still, I'd like him to tell us which side of the mortar tube the trigger is on, right side or left side, looking from the rear of the tube as set up on it's rotating and adjustable tripod...let's see if he gets it correct.

nomobux

My Feedback: (4)

I like lots of butter and salt in my popcorn. This sci-fi flick is getting interesting !