"Thoughts from the Blog Writer" (Post #58B)

I have recently finished reading Charles Glass book The Deserters: A Hidden History of World War II. As I read it I came to realize there are many forms of battles or wars fought. Some in a person’s own mind, others within a family, among friends, in one’s own county, or with other nations. 

No matter where the battle takes place some soldiers fight with great courage and complete the war as a victor. There are others who are almost paralyzed with fear yet they also complete the war as a victor. There are other soldiers fighting for the wrong cause that will experience defeat in spite of their courage and bravery. There are battle scars of some kind for every soldier. Some scars are visible, others are not.

Also, as I read The Deserters, I realized human beings are very inadequate in passing judgment on their fellow-man. Some of the inadequacy comes from never experiencing what the man on the front line had experienced. Some reasons for incorrect decisions about a soldier's actions come from not having the complete truth or information of the soldier’s reason for desertion. And for some judges, they have made up their mind before the trial ever begun.

The soldiers who deserted in World War II had to come face to face with their desertion. Some World War II deserters were willing to face their desertion for what it was and accept the consequences. Some who had lost their minds were helped by those who had compassion on them. Others refused to admit the truth and blamed their desertions on others refusing to admit where they had failed. Others came to understand how their misunderstanding of their leaders' actions led them to the wrong conclusion leading to their desertion. It was not until after finding out the truth many years later what their own leaders had endured during the war that they understood why their commander was aloof or seemingly uncaring. Their commanders were carrying around their own demons that also caused their actions to be clouded.

Another major lesson I learned by reading this book is that war brings out the best or the worst in people no matter their nationality. I have always been greatly disturbed by the cruel, inhumane actions of Hitler and those who obeyed his commands. However, as I read how American soldiers guarding their own comrades who had deserted the American military treated their own comrades I became incensed. 

Some of those guards in these "Desertion Camps" were no better than the German soldiers in the concentration camps. They could do anything to their own comrades with complete immunity even though they were going against the rules of how these prisoners were to be treated. Read the book to see how some American soldiers treated their own comrades.

I began to realize if the United States, or Great Britain, or any other countries we believe to be honorable came under a leader like Hitler we too could become like a Nazi regime. As in Germany, there were those in favor with Hitler and many others not in favor of the Nazi regime. The same would be true in America.

Let us remember no country or a group of people are beyond the ability to become a Nazi Germany. If we fail to admit that then you have not read the atrocities done in our own Civil War. Brother against brother, friend against friend, neighbor against neighbor. War brings out both the best and the worst in humanity.

Thoughts by Peter Lagasse

The regular posts will continue about the letters my uncle wrote and the battles he fought.

While on books, I would highly recommend In for a Penny In for a Pound by Howard Hewer.

This is a gripping story of the twentieth century’s greatest struggle in the modest voice of a Canadian teenager in the RAF.

In 1940, nineteen-year-old Howard Hewer dreamed of being the next Billy Bishop, of piloting Spitfires or Hurricanes over Europe. His dream was shattered when he was selected instead for a career as a wireless operator in Bomber Command.

But he got all the adventure he signed on for. Hewer and his crews of 218 and 148 Squadrons flew important night operations over Germany and North Africa, dropping their deadly payloads and dodging enemy flak.

He was not always much safer on the ground. He survived the Blitz in London, a U-boat attack in the South Atlantic, a fire-fight with Italian troops near el-Alamien, as well as chaste love affairs, fistfights, and beers with Boer rebels.

Self-deprecating, bittersweet, and alive to both the horrors of war and the friendships and courage of the men and women who fight it, In for a Penny, In for a Pound is the unforgettable story of a young Canadian’s experience of history’s "greatest" war.