[PEN-L:368] R-Saving Private Ryan

["Frank Durgin" <fdurgin1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was sadly amused by the discussion on the movie Saving Private Ryan,
particularly by the contributions from those whose fathers had served in
World War II. This veteran of many bombing missions over France and Germany
finds it incredible that those who told of their fathers' experiences
displayed no awareness of the fact that if it had not been for the Soviets
(Russians we called them in those days) their fathers might well have never
come back.

    	 In all parts of the FSU, the remains of war dead are still being
uncovered . Izvesitya of June 12, 1998 had a front page article updating
the Soviet WW II losses emblazoned with one-inch headlines, "In the Years
of the War our Army Lost 11,244100 People". The article also reported that
by the latest count, 17,400,000 civilians died.


     	In the course of suffering these incredible losses the Soviets
inflicted a heavy toll on German manpower and materiel. Every one of the
many thousands of German planes, tanks, and soldiers destroyed by the
Soviet armies in the gargantuan battles of Stalingrad, Kursk etc, was one
less plane which met our bomber formations and one less tank and soldier
which met the private Ryans on the beaches of  Normandy .