Why do american soldiers fight like cowards?

Question

i am a war historian, and the second world war is my fav subject, in that war the bravery and courage of the soviet soldier was what defeated hitler and nazi germany, Hitler had nearly 2 million of his best troops and armour and air force on the eastern front to fight the soviets, while only haveing a measley 500.000 in the western front, on the eastern front the soviets fought house to house and had to hand battles, while on the western front the u.s and it's allies used aierl bombings form a safe high distance tactic, and even now in iraq...when a group of fighters start shooting at u.s forces from a house, instead of going in to raid the position with infantry they call in air strikes which results in killing may many civillians. This kind of cowardly tactic is used by america in iraq and afghanistan everyday,No wonder the iraqi civillian death rate is in the hundreds of thousands.

Answer 1

Your generalization of the American Soldier is ridiculous if not ignorant of the facts.In every army that has ever fought throughout history you will find cowards if you look hard enough,sure the Germans had less soldiers on the Western front that's because it was shorter by half than the Eastern front (and the soviets had more than 500 rifle divisions and over 44 tank and mechanized corp!!!) All armies will take advantage of air superiority and bombard the enemy before they send in ground troops i cant think of a country that did not.As far as bravery goes how do you explain the bravery of the 1st Marine division in its defense of Guadalcanal?Or the D-Day assault on the heavily defended Omaha beach which they still took despite over 4,000 casualities ,Or the 101st Airborne division in its epic battle of Bastogne which they held against no less than elements of 6 German Divisions(including Panzer Lehr,SS Leibstandarte,SS Das Reich,SS Hohenstaufen,2nd Panzer Division,or in other words the cream of the German Panzerwaffe)Or the brave 8th air force B-17 bomber raids in broad daylight over Germany and despite heavy casualties they continued untill the end of the war and never turned back once,or the one way mission flown by Colonel James H Dolittles B-25 bomber squadron against Tokyo on April 18 1942,or the august 1943 B-24 bomber raid on the Polesti oil fields which was defended by an entire Flak Division and in broad daylight and at a very low altitude,should i go continue?Even the enemy openly aknowledged the bravery of Americans such as Field Marshal von Rundstedt,Field Marshal Rommel,Field Marshal Kesselring,Admiral Yamamoto,SS General Hausser(the father of the Waffen SS) and finally General Dietrich commander of the 6th SS Panzer Army when asked during the battle of the Bulge why he had not captured the Elsenborn ridge he stated that 'it was not easy overunning the Americans as their soldiers were just as good as ours'.In Iraq i see no cowardice they are well trained and disciplined with a far superior officer corp than they had during the Vietnam war and as far as guerrilla warfare goes of course civilians will get killed, name one war where civilians were not caught in a crossfire or killed in air or artillery bombardments?

Answer 2

As an Iraqi war vet I can sadly tell you that you have been grossly misinformed. Air strikes are very effective, precise and only used in certain situations. Raids put us at a much higher risk to be a casualty and unfortunately that's how we carry out most of our missions. I'd suggest you find a new source of information. If you use the media that's a big mistake. Example, the Iraqi people, for the most part love us and what we are doing there. I have a few pictures of the locals giving us hugs and high 5's. The media leads you to believe otherwise, in most cases. Also the civilian deaths caused by the US are so very minimal. War is hell and death is the result if you are innocent or a combatant. You shouldn't even compare WW2 to Operation Iraqi Freedom, it's not EVEN A WAR! Two different battles, tactics, less countries and people involved, world domination not in play and different technology. For you being a self proclaimed, historian, I'm amazed at how unintelligent you come across. For the calling me a coward part, why don't you grab an M-16, go over there and show us all how it's done! If you make it back in 1 piece I'll call you a coward and then you can tell me how you feel. God Bless

Answer 3

My Army recruiter was Airborne infantry with 3 purple hearts. He has told me stories of combat and he kicked in doors on a daily basis and was also shot at and stepped on a land mine. He is 1 of the most bravest men I have ever met. So we do conduct door to doors modern day, and as for me. I am enlisted as a M1 Abrams crewman, I am protected by a tank. I'm still in combat but I am protected by 2 inches of chobham armor. BUT belive me, I will get out my tank and protect the infantry if need be. Am I considered considered a coward? No matter how modern war gets, our soldiers are still brave because they are willing to make that sacrifice. They can incorporate drones all they want. But we will always have brave men like my recruiter who are willing to fully answer the call and keep the wolf a bay. No drone can replace . Tanker, infantrymen, medic, or just foot soldiers entirely. Bottom fact is. All soldiers are brave men and don't make the mistake, they are the true Patriots

Answer 4

if as you claim your a war historian with WWII as your favorite subject, then why don't you know that soviet tactics also called for the use of air power against the enemy? in fact while the western allies used air power in both a strategic and tactical way the soviets were in a large part using their air power In a tactical way. the soviets also use artillery in large numbers and did wide rolling barrages to destroy anything to it's front. last i knew the last i checked the shell from a artillery tube didn't care if it was a military or civilian target it exploded when it hit the target.

as for in the now why wouldn't they be using air power? what would be the point in having a airplane if you didn't use it? the death toll in Iraq of civilians has been reported many times with far ranging differences in the totals. i don't know what it is, but i doubt the higher figures the same as the real low ones. there have been civilian death to be certain, but not the hundreds of thousands you try to claim.

you need to go get some different sources and read about what really happened in WWII.

Answer 5

Well, for one Russia only had a few million soldiers, the prisoners who didn't "volunteer" for the war effort were usually killed by hard labor. Would you rather be shot or killed slowly in a labor camp halocaust style? Your call!
The allies also did not totally depend on bombing, they merely used it to target industrial complexes which made the war easier on both fronts. Believe it or not there were plenty of ground engagements between the western powers and Germany. I won't even begin to go into the bravery of the United States Marines in the pacific theatre, where the command could drop from a Captain down to a corporal in a single day, especially in the later battles when the Japanese started digging in and using guerilla warfare.
As for todays tactics, it's called politics and an all volunteer army. The popular belief right now is that high tech equipment will rule the battlefield, and the soldiers have no choice but to accept that. Take a look at the numbers the American military have to work with in terms of manpower, especially considering the fact that they're spread all over the world in various countries. 'Sides, the US Military raids plenty of houses the old fashioned way, so don't say they always hide behind air power.

Answer 6

First of all, you're not a war historian. That's not fooling anyone. You're just some random moron who has no idea what he's talking about.

Second, a coward is someone who is unwilling to take a justified risk. That doesn't apply to American soldiers. They're just unwilling to take unjustified risks. There's no need to engage in hand by hand fighting when you could accomplish the same result with an air strike. That doesn't make them cowards, it makes them smart.

And third, American soldiers seem to be putting themselves more at risk than you are. So if American soldiers are cowards, what does that make you? Is there a term for someone who is clearly more cowardly than a coward? An arch coward? A mega coward?

Answer 7

Hey boys and girls we gots ourselves a troll poster here. No email. no real picture. a true hero of the people.
You might want actually read the history of WW2, WW1 well mostly every war. Read what the Germans said about the American Soldier. Oh that might mean you have to read and do something as oppose to vent.
Measly 500,000.. what a maroon.....
Read all of the sides. that will make you a real historian as opposed to a tool.
BTW: How many of the Soviets trucks were made in Detriot? Shermans used on teh Eastern front, How many convoys went to Murmask to keep th eSoviets supplied.
Oh yeah the "heroic" acts of the Soviets declaring war on the Japanese just days before they were defeated primarily by the Americans wuith some help from the UK and Aussies...

Answer 8

As one famous WW 2 General said 'Nobody ever won a war dying for his country, you get the other S.O.B. to die for his' the same General said only Intelligent people get scared in war as they can think of all the terrible consequences of what might happen but like all good soldiers they should obey orders and support their fellow soldiers and get the job done.The American Armed forces may have lost some battles in WW 2 but they won every single campaign and without the ridiculous casualty rates of the soviets, now that's what i call fighting smart.You also state the U.S.A.F. bombed from a great height ,well wouldn't you if you were being fired on by 100's of radar guided 88 mm and 128 mm Flak guns? The casualty rate of civilians in Iraq is minuscule compared to the massive civilian casualties in Vietnam,Korea or World War 2 and i see no cowardice at all in the US Army today as they are an all volunteer army.

Answer 9

First I do apologize for my English – it’s not my native language.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the question and now I guess I’ve found the answer. Americans are coward because they are not a nation in a general way. It is kind of commercial club. A community of ones who looked for money and better life, didn’t they? So there is no place for the real bravery in this profit-based thing known as ‘American nation’.
Do you remember from what Americans started their history? That was a genocide of native american tribes. They came with a fire-arms and just killed almost all the locals. I remember a movie called “Little big man'. At the end of the movie the main character – Jack Crabb - tells some remarkable words to gen. George Armstrong Custer, who used to fight with Indians a lot and got himself and his troops surrounded at the end by Indian warriors. He tells: “This ain't the Washita River, General and them ain't helpless women and children waiting for you. They're Cheyenne brave, and Sioux.”

It is interesting that there was a real battle on Washita River and it is really typical case. There was 574 fire-armed US soldiers against the 150 Cheyennes. So it goes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Washita_River

People who replied above tell that American soldiers are not coward and give the examples of this. For sure there was a really brave guys. I don’t argue with this. But I’m speaking not about specific persons. It is about the US military tactic in general (that was the main question, right?). I’ve checked the list of US’s military operations and it seems to me that US all the times fights only with poorly armed countries a priory. Check it: Panama, Mexica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Iran, Lebanon, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and so on and so on. US attack only if 150% sure of success. But who can seriously speak about US’s bravery at the times when soviet missiles have been set up in Cuba?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations

May be that’s a second reason of the subject – US never had any war on it’s own territories. How can US militaries know what means to defend your Motherland, your home and your family?
Well. Thas’ it, I guess. As Forest Gump said: “..And that's all I have to say the war in Vietnam”.

p.s. Here is another one honest opinion about the subject: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/12/12/commentary/world-commentary/why-are-americans-such-cowards/

p.s.: as it turned out, US militaries really like big words. Just take a look on the following military operation names: operation Eagle Pull, operation Golden Pheasant, operation Eagle Claw, operation Frequent Wind, operation Bright Star, operation Urgent Fury. Sound like a titles of an action film. To assure themselves that they are really brave and strong boys. I’m just wondering what name they’d give to the Washita River operation.

Answer 10

I disagree with the soldiers part. its our government that calls the shots.

Now with the goverment. I agree with the rest i guess. For some reason we think that since our parents gave birth to us in this country we are better than people born in different countries and our lives mean more than theirs.

Dropping a bomb so that we can take out 1 target without loosing a single american life and killing civilians i think is BS.....at the same time, the media isn't gonna report our successful missions where we only take out our objective and no civilians were killed.

Its bound to happen...no matter how well something is planned out...a civilian dies sometimes and its gonna be all over the media.

Answer 11

erican Soldier is ridiculous if not ignorant of the facts.In every army that has ever fought throughout history you will find cowards if you look hard enough,sure the Germans had less soldiers on the Western front that's because it was shorter by half than the Eastern front (and the soviets had more than 500 rifle divisions and over 44 tank and mechanized corp!!!) All armies will take advantage of air superiority and bombard the enemy before they send in ground troops i cant think of a country that did not.As far as bravery goes how do you explain the bravery of the 1st Marine division in its defense of Guadalcanal?Or the D-Day assault on the heavily defended Omaha beach which they still took despite over 4,000 casualities ,Or the 101st Airborne division in its epic battle of Bastogne whi