von shrad Posted July 19, 2000 Share Posted July 19, 2000 O.K, I have had a terrible cold these past few days with no shortage of heavy coughing, sneezing etc. It got me thinking of what do frontline troops do at a time like this? I couldnt stop coughing to save my life so I can imagine that someone on the line would be a sitting duck for himself and his comrades. Did they pull him off the line? I have heard stories of vets ******* in their helmets because of sickness but it wasnt until I was really ill that I began to think of them. You know, being that sick it would be easy to just give up(read not care anymore) Just curious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted July 19, 2000 Share Posted July 19, 2000 If your army can afford to pull you out of the line just ebcause you're a little sick then you must be winning by a huge margin. It's war. You stay on the front until you can't function effectively in combat anymore. Anything else is just unbelievably weak IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakko Ichiu Posted July 19, 2000 Share Posted July 19, 2000 Read McDonald's "Company Commander" for examples of what the U.S. Army did under those circumstances. IIRC, if you were in a bad way, they might send you back to wherever the warmest billet was in the Company -- usually the CO's -- for a few hours or a night if you were lucky. If you were completely non-functional, then back to an aid station for triage. If McDonald is typical, then most guys were back in the line pretty quickly. ------------------ Ethan ----------- Das also war des Pudels Kern! -- Goethe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formerly Babra Posted July 19, 2000 Share Posted July 19, 2000 Pardon my ignorance, but under what circumstances exactly would one be required to use one's helmet as a potty? Is the ground (or the ocean) not good enough? Saving it for something special? ------------------ It's a mother-beautiful bridge and it's gonna be THERE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von shrad Posted July 19, 2000 Author Share Posted July 19, 2000 Yes true but, if someone is making that much noise wouldnt he be a liability to your side? Hell the Amis were wise to keep from talking and lighting cigarettes in their foxholes I could just see the reaction from friend and foe during a bad coughing fit. Also you said that anything else is just weak. Well I have never been in combat but I have this feeling that most of the so-called tough guys break just as easy as some of the others. I talk things WWII with my friend and if we get on the subject of a man breaking down or the inherent trait of self-preservation he views them as weak. Nobody knows how someone will act under those kind of conditions. He has this bravado attitude that I think a few minutes in the mix would change, and so do a lot of others IMO. BTW Happy Birthday kid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcents Posted July 19, 2000 Share Posted July 19, 2000 Ummm...if I'm in a foxhole in the front line I'm not about to show my "full moon" to any german squad across the way. Hence, the use of the helmet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntelWeenie Posted July 19, 2000 Share Posted July 19, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Formerly Babra: Pardon my ignorance, but under what circumstances exactly would one be required to use one's helmet as a potty? Is the ground (or the ocean) not good enough? Saving it for something special? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> It would only be used when your pockets are full... ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kunzler Posted July 19, 2000 Share Posted July 19, 2000 I am just reading the book The Forgotten Soldier. I just got done with a passage where the author, during one of the many retreats on the Russian front kept getting ill. He would be pulled back to a hospital or sent on convalescent leave, but kept getting sent back to the front despite his sickness. In one memorable passage, he couldn't get the truck he was a passenger on to stop during a dysentary attack and well, you can guess the rest. Oh, and no, he didn't use his helmet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von shrad Posted July 19, 2000 Author Share Posted July 19, 2000 Babra, when you have dysentary and shrapnel is flying all over it looks about as good as place as any. I cant remember where I heard that, maybe TV maybe a book but it did happen. Edotid fur speeling [This message has been edited by von shrad (edited 07-19-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Deych Posted July 19, 2000 Share Posted July 19, 2000 Reportedly, people on the front get sicker less then would be otherwise expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formerly Babra Posted July 19, 2000 Share Posted July 19, 2000 If shrapnel is flying all around, I want my helmet where it belongs -- on my noggin. If I don't want to expose my bits, I just go in the bottom of the foxhole. Standin' in it has gotta be better'n wearin' it on your head. ------------------ It's a mother-beautiful bridge and it's gonna be THERE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarmo Posted July 19, 2000 Share Posted July 19, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Formerly Babra: I just go in the bottom of the foxhole. Standin' in it has gotta be better'n wearin' it on your head. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'd bet the reason for helmet operation was because when you're really sick, you can't maintain the correct position unless you sit down. Now ask yourself, would you prefer ******* while you sit on the ground? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterk Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 How come sickness isn't modelled in CM???? It should be a factor in the operations at least! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuse Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 I would like to point out that I am just a little jealouse (sp?) of our invalid von shrad While we all have to go to work and do other menial tasks, you get to stay at home with your vomit and Montezuma's revenge playing Combat Mission and eating chicken noodle soup You can bet that I will be in contact with my senator about this and have you digging helmet holes along the freeway Hope you feel better soon. ------------------ Upon the fields of friendly strife, are sown the seeds of Victory. ---Douglas McArthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iggi Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 What we did in the reserves was make a piss slit in the wall of the trench. You piss in it. You also make a hole to place a grenade that someone might lob in your trench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakko Ichiu Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by iggi: What we did in the reserves was make a piss slit in the wall of the trench. You piss in it. You also make a hole to place a grenade that someone might lob in your trench.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Just don't get the two confused...Yecch! ------------------ Ethan ----------- Das also war des Pudels Kern! -- Goethe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathfinder Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 hehe.....trust me, there are those times when the ol' steel pot would come off and then ya had the liner for yer noggin. Now with that plastic piece of kevlar dung (no liner)....welp, I guess ah'd do like mr babra and just poop in place...rather than put a poop filled piece o' plastic on mah haid. ------------------ unca pathy will show ya the path, if only he could find it himself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark IV Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kunzler: and no, he didn't use his helmet.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Definitely a bad plan with a German helmet. They didn't have the Ami-style separate steel pot with a million-and-one uses. Leather liner was riveted right in there on the German one, and you would have the magic memory to cherish for the rest of the time you owned the helmet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von shrad Posted July 20, 2000 Author Share Posted July 20, 2000 Hey thanks Fuse O.K. so here is the quote I was looking for. Pg.263 of Stephen Ambroses' Citizen Soldiers "I didnt want to crap in my helmet," he related, "so I decided to crawl outside at night." As he wore two pairs of long johns beneath his wool pants, "it was a real chore getting down to the point where I could do my duty. As I was doing my duty I heard some noises behind me. I thought they were Germans. I jumped into my hole without pulling my drawers up. That really startled my foxhole buddy. I had crapped in my first pair of drawers, so I had to stand there in the middle of the foxhole and cut it out. This wasnt easy, because I had to do the cutting with my bayonet." So you see he *thought* about crapping his helmet so that proves..... Ah hell Eric give it up. It proves you were wrong again! Von Shrad, shrinking like an embarassed Fred Flinstone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrD Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 This topic as a new low for the forum but here goes. As an avid sailor more than once I've been harnessed to the life line in gale-force winds and when I had to pee I just let it go. Better than falling overboard. It's also impossible to get out of that foul weather gear to pee. Never wear underwear in your foul weather gear! It's not so bad, in fact it warms you right up! I bet a lot of soldiers did the same. After the first mortar shell falls you've probably soiled yourself anyway! Forgotten Soldier is a great book! If you ever feel like you have it rough read that book. Damn those German were tough! My favorite part was when he did his training for the GD divison. Makes the SEALs look easy. [This message has been edited by DrD (edited 07-19-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Michael emrys Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 I've heard of GIs in foxholes in near proximity to the enemy using everything from empty ammo cans to empty ration cans and cartons, then heaving it into no-man's-land after dark. BTW, I remember reading about American soldiers in Burma who came down with dysentery but still had to go out on patrol (nearly everybody in the company had it). With what might be called typical American ingenuity, they would cut away the seat of their fatigues. This would enable them to just take a step off the trail and squat to do what had to be done while keeping both hands on their rifle and eyes searching for movement (of the other sort!) in the jungle. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 I logged onto the forum and noticed an odd, and not too pleasant smell. Then I found the source of it OK, I think the original question a the follow up one has been answered well enough. Me thinks it is time to move on before we get to other bodily functions not yet mentioned! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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