RiP Otto Carius

Jump back to quoted post25 Jan 2015, 01:19 AMJames Hale

RIP.

Bear in mind he did kill several hundred people sacrificing their lives to stop Nazism, though.

Jump back to quoted post25 Jan 2015, 05:20 AMjuggernauth

Well, he just did his job

During the end of March, 1./s.Pz.Jäg.Abt.512 went into action against US tank during rearguard actions, losing four Jagdtigers, three of them to breakdowns. During the combat around Herborn, the Jagdtigers were able to successfully engage US tanks at ranges exceeding three kilometers, reporting more than 30 destroyed vehicles.

2./s.Pz.Jäg.Abt.512 had been ordered to the city of Unna, where they on 8 April destroyed more than 20 US tanks and armored cars trying to capture the city. Retreating from Unna, one Jagdtiger was lost against US tanks.

On 11 April, ten Jagdtigers, three Pz Kpfw IV's, four Sturmgeschütz IV's, and four anti-aircraft vehicles of Kampfgruppe Ernst set up position on a ridge. As a US armored column approached, the unit opened fire, destroying at least 50 vehicles, including 11 Medium Tank, M4's. The US forces withdrew, and engaged with fighter-bombers, two of which were destroyed, while destroying one Jagdtiger, and damaging another.

In his Book "Tigers in the Mud" Otto Carius also recorded that a 128 mm projectile went through all the walls of a house and destroyed an American tank behind it.[7]

Jump back to quoted post25 Jan 2015, 08:32 AMRMMLz

I don't wanna go off-topic and start an irrelevant and pointless argument, but that's not an excuse.

Jump back to quoted post25 Jan 2015, 08:39 AMjuggernauth

Oh, so if there were a total war tomorrow and you were drafted to defend your country, of course you would refuse because killing people is bad ?

I don't care if he was a nazi or not, if he was a bad guy or not. He was a soldier, he did his job just like millions of other soldiers at the time. People die in wars.

Celebrating and respecting the sacrifices of soldiers and what they have had to endure; watching their friends die, always living under artillery fire, no hot showers, warm beds, limited diet availability, etc, should be undertaken separately from a study of the motivations behind their service or the context in which they served.