So I'm just curious, how did you guys get interested in learning about World War 2?

I guess I got into learning about it around the time I was six or something. My grandfather had just recently passed away and I had learned that he had been in World War 2 in the Pacific as a medic. It kinda sucks because I never got to listen to his stories as he had just start to begin opening up about it. But besides that, I think I also started getting into it by watching the most obscure movies about it.

I'm 6, and this is a time before "Saving Private Ryan" came out and all the shitty wannabe's like "Enemy At The Gates" or "Pearl Harbor" came out as well. But what obscure movies am I talking about? Well, movies like "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" of course! (Yeah, I know, my selection is awesome! )

It's sort of funny in a way. Because I was only 6 and watching only Disney movies, they never really go into the Holocaust at all, and here I am thinking "Whoa, the Nazi's look so cool!" (As in their uniform and stuff) Yeah... that was a little awkward once I found out about what they did to the Jews...

Anyways, thanks to those movies like those, my interest in World War 2 only grew more and more as I grew older. I remember in 5th grade I had watched "Saving Private Ryan" for the first time when I was home sick from school. The next day I had art and had drew a picture about the beaches of Normandy in class. The art teacher was pretty impress with it and thought I could continue with my 'talent' in art, but the other teachers... They basically called my parents bad parents because they let me watch "A super violent movie", to which my mom simply replied "It's better to make him watch it and learn that real war is Hell than to make him think its some type of game." (I love you mom). The teachers didn't take too kindly to that but they were bitches anyways for numerous reasons, reasons which are private.

My interest continued to grow more and more as I grew older with games that were coming out at that time like the original "Call of Duty" or "Medal of Honor". Highschool also read "Night" by Elie Wiesel which was a part of our World War 2 segment of history class, and had fun learning about that. Now I'm here listening to the Swedish metal band "Sabaton" as they sing about World War 2 and playing games like "Company of Heroes" or watching documentaries (Though if you really do want to learn more, books are best way to go")

So how did you guys get into World War 2?

910738 Well... I'm not exactly sure.

My dad got me WWII toys when I was little, I thought the Germans had the coolest uniforms. I enjoyed watching WWII movies with my dad and basically grew up learning about it and studied it in middle school... I think, don't remember very well. I got several books on WWII and studied it just for fun, being the military historian that I am. I even started writing my own book on it, but I've kind of at a roadblock.

Lately, I've been reading Jeff Shaara's The Final Storm (epic book, I totally recommend it). And my favorite WWII movie is Saving Private. (Though Band of Brothers isn't too far behind.)

910738 I got started when I learned that my dad was a huge warmonger. He was really interested in WWII and I started to watch Band of Brothers so I got really into it so I started to watch WWII movies, TV shows stuff like that. My absolute favorite is Saving Private Ryan. Oh and you should read Black Cross by Greg Iles it's my favorite WWII book. That is my story.

This is a question that's made me try to figure out a big part of my life. That being said, there's still an answer.

As for the base question of "What got me interested in war history and, more specifically, the Second World War?", I don't honestly remember. It's been an extremely long time and as far back as I can remember I've always been interested in history. On top of that, some of the first games I played were Golden Eye and Quake so there's been that influence. In regards to movies, I shared Poodicus' excellent taste in Disney films which gave me a good basis

Anyways, from around the time I was 10 I just sort of drifted towards WWII history in any form/source I could acquire information from. I've spent... Goddess' knows how many hours reading and watching films about it and just about as many playing games involving it. In those regards Band of Brothers tops out as my favourite "movie" and CoD 2/CoH tie for my top in the game slot. I also have a profound love for M*A*S*H. It's not WWII but the era is close.

As time has gone on I've gone from one thing to the next as they've come out and I've pretty much engrossed myself in the history as much as life will allow. I even planned on going to university to study history but, quite painfully, discovered that while history is my passion it is not something I wish to pursue as a career. Yet. In regards to the whole "Germans look cool but look what they did" deal, I've made a point of trying to understand the mind set of every side involved. So who do I see as a villain(s) in it all? A very select group of people scattered around sides.

My family directly hasn't been too much of an influence. My parents both find the topic distasteful and as for my grandparents, well, they survived the war as children. However, in both cases they're from Ukraine so their memories are of the invasion, then the Russian return. From what my grandfather tells me, they preferred the Germans to the Russians. The Germans were cold, but set out easy to follow rules. The Russians pretty much called the whole village traitors and set about attacking it. I have heard brief stories of my great uncle who actually DID fight. However, it turns out he was in the Gestapo or the SS (no one seems to know for sure) so it's not often talked about. Neither is the war for that matter.

All in all, it's been a hugely important topic for me. So much so that it resulted in my visiting Normandy 2 years ago. I'm not a spiritual person, but that trip meant more to me than words can describe. It was nigh holy ground. Being Canadian, Juno Beach and the Canadian cemetery at Beny-sur-Mer were the most important to me but I appreciated everything I saw just the same. Sacrifice was sacrifice. I hope to go back in the coming years but time shall tell.

Anyways, forgive the Wall'O text. Hopefully someone enjoyed it or... something
That's my piece and I'll leave it at that!

910738
Honestly, it's really hard to say. But I'll try.

I do know that when I was a little kid (less than 10 years old), my dad was in his own WWII-interest phase. I remember him telling me a bit about D-Day and watching Pearl Harbour with my parents. Being a little kid, I wanted to know more about why these planes and ships were fighting each other, and my dad told me about how it was the Japanese who attacked the US. Of course, back then I had no idea of what the word "war" carries with it, but this did plant the seeds for my interest in WWII.

In the couple years that followed, I became obsessed with the Titanic, and interest in WWII died out due to that. However, I remember purchasing this book on world events at my school's book sale, and in it were two pages dedicated to the war. Perhaps I remembered what I learned years ago, and wanted to know even more now (the Titanic phase was starting to die out by now). Whatever it was, WWII was back in my brain, and what now interested me most was the Sino-Japanese War.

Now, I'm a Chinese-Canadian, so naturally I wanted to learn more about this conflict. So my parents told me about it - how Japan invaded China, expecting an easy win, but spent years fighting guerillas that bogged down thousands of troops. I thought: "Hey, that's a pretty neat story!" I guess my interest then expanded from the Pacific to Europe, and then all of WWII.

By the time I was 12, I was deep into WWII. When I got my first gaming console, the two games I immediately chose were Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World at War. Tons of books, films, and games I read, watched, and played at the time had something to do with WWII. I'm probably one of the few teenagers who chose his first games due to an interest in history

So there it is. In short, parents began it, heritage revived it, and books maintained it.

My great grandfather's and great uncles served during the second great war, I had a grandfather fight in the european theater and also a great uncle.
One of my great uncle's was a higgins boat driver on the D-day landing on UTAH beach, and my great grandfather was an infantryman in the 82nd airborne. Took out the AA guns in preparation for the landings.

Now on my mothers side I have a great grandfather who we cannot confirm but we have heard stories, he was at the battle of Stalingrad and fought with the red army up until the captured of the Reichstag at the end of the war.

I got into it because I grew up with the stories told to me by my grandparents who heard the same stories from their parents, there truly is nothing like hearing history from someone who was actually there.

911834

God knows how many times I've watched this film just for this one scene. Yeah, I was an idiot in that I could understand rewinding a film to the start, but not to a certain point back in the VHS days.

912252

Oh man I haven't seen this in so long! Still seems kind of cool even now.
Old favorites die hard it seems.

My own interest came with the game Battlefield 1942. Of course, at this time, I only thought about it as a game, but when I started to delve deeper into it during my younger teen years, It served as a great distraction from the personal problems I had. (Like accepting myself as gay) The interest only grew when I first played the third Red Alert game. I got highly involved with the Soviet Union, and researched a lot around that. This eventually grew into me reading The Communist Manifesto, and becoming a communist. I love to read and learn in general, and I have a very easy time doing it. I just kept on reading, and reading, and reading.

Now a days, It's a hobby of mine, and a relentless strive to learn everything I possibly can about the subject. I know fifteen times the amount of my history teacher, and she has let me help her several times, pointing out things during her lectures. Not sure everyone appreciates it, but I like when it's done right.

My own interest came with the game Battlefield 1942. Of course, at this time, I only thought about it as a game, but when I started to delve deeper into it during my younger teen years, It served as a great distraction from the personal problems I had. (Like accepting myself as gay) The interest only grew when I first played the third Red Alert game. I got highly involved with the Soviet Union, and researched a lot around that. This eventually grew into me reading The Communist Manifesto, and becoming a communist. I love to read and learn in general, and I have a very easy time doing it. I just kept on reading, and reading, and reading.

Now a days, It's a hobby of mine, and a relentless strive to learn everything I possibly can about the subject. I know fifteen times the amount of my history teacher, and she has let me help her several times, pointing out things during her lectures. Not sure everyone appreciates it, but I like when it's done right.

From a five-year-old playing soldier to the in-depth reading I do now, WWII has been a lifelong hobby that I honestly can't picture myself without.

Likely thanks to my dad, an avid wargamer and history reader.

911834 Another M*A*S*H fan I thought I was the only one in existence.

My interests started when I was very young when one of my first toys was a B-25 Mitchel bomber. I loved playing as the American soldier defeating the Germans. My interest waned in elementary school as we had little to no instruction in history of any sort. I rediscovered WWII when I had to write a report on a Holocaust rescuer. I changed the rules to instead write about my grandmother on my mom's side who was a nurse in the Yugoslav partisans. Another significant influence was my grandfather who fought in the 75th infantry division 575th signal corps. Other recent events include reading both The Good War and The Longest Day.

910738 Well, I got into WWII because a few years ago, I took interest in the biggest war to take place in human history. Now... Well...

CONFOUND WWII.

IT MAKES ME READ.

... But I enjoy reading about it...

910738

I'd say it all began when I was seven or eight years old. I had already known what kind of family I lived in, and that's a Canadian Military family. However, by now I had begun my decent into the pages of history as I started into the Second World War. That and I overheard my grandfather talking to a old friend of his on the phone sometimes. I still remember his name too.

His name was Otto Kumm.

Believe it or not, he actually was good friends with Kumm. Kumm even helped my grandmother to the hospital to deliver my aunt. (My grandfather also knew Albert Speer, Hans Speidel, and Günther Rall)

Sorry, kinda getting off topic. I began looking into the Second World War more and more as the years dragged on as It's always been a part of my life, considering it has been a part of my family's history too.

I got into WW2 when I was in middle school because of a video game. I started to read books to find out more. I watched a bunch off movies too. I am vary well read on the war having reading a book on the economies of every country involved as well as the turning points.

My grandfather was a mechanic in the US Army Air Corps in India during the war

910738 It all start with a comic version of Hitler's biography. I started watching the uniforms and guns documentary in that era, and then it goes like that till today. I played CoD 3 and WaW, but not the others in the series. And everything gotten deep, very berry merry deep. I support German, not to mention anything about Hitler's plan, because they're awesome! all those uniforms and tactics! I love them all! They got great general; the allies got that too.

910738 I guess I'm super late to this party, but I've been into World War II ever since I was just a wee lad playing Medal of Honor: Frontline on the Gamecube. When I got into 4th grade, I read every book about it as I could get my hands on in the school's library, including an interesting one on the Battle of Britain that I still remember to this day.

910738 During EAA, and I see the old warbirds flying over my house every summer, so I keep a pair of binoculars handy. But that isn't the reason. Like I have said on several threads, my great-great-uncle went down on the USS Houston. My great-grandfather was on one of the Iowas. My dad and I are history buffs, so we watched a lot of documentaries, and I am distantly related to one of the men who rests within USS Arizona.
2473193 That is how I started really getting into it, by reading every book I could. Mostly on Naval Warfare, but the I branched out.

910738 I started getting into it when my dad told me about it when I was in my 4th year of school. Since then until I graduated I studied every bit of it I could and I am still doing as such

Well.......I think it was mostly of my Grandfather. He was a german Fallschirmjäger during the war. Later the I became more interrested because of the technology of the War and what have influence the modern military until today! For Exampel here a project from Germany, what was later used by American and russian's and today known as AWACS!

So many things were developt back then and it still amaze me!

910738 You can thank Call of Duty for getting me involved. The most realistic WW2 games ever, and you can also thank General George S. Patton for it as well.

910738

Ive an admin in the darn group and ive never answered this question

Oh well....

It all began about six or seven years ago when I was a wee 12 year old in fifth grade with

3326411 just don't make Gunney mad, and you're fine.

3326440

I know...R. Lee Ermy is just a Badarse

3326448 he did well with his role. He got a shotgun, and we didn't get one until the 7th mission. NO FAIR!

3326459

Agreed, a trench gun would have been fun

3326477 I like the one pistol from mission 6. The assassin pistol.

Ahh yes, the welrod.

The plans for those are still classified

3326485 still my favorite. If only we could use them throughout the whole game.

when i was in fourth grade our teacher had us pick a event in human history that defined the future to come i picked world war two because it had tanks (yeah i know dumb reason but i was 9) anyways i couldn't even say all that i had reaserched because the gas chamber stuff and the ripping the fillings out freaked kids out

I started getting into it when I was visiting my grandad house, there were photos of him in front of a DC-3, then I start asking questions about himself, then digging about the era myself. He was a pilot flying the Presidential aircraft for the Indonesian president

I got interested when my grandfather on my mom's side showed me a book with literally every combat plane in WWII (still have it). Ever since then I was obsessed with WWII. I mostly focused on looking at the machines of war and the big battles, but I sometimes looked at what happened behind the scenes of the battles.
Recently I found out that my grandfather on my dad's side was in the merchant marines in WWII and that I am related to the infamous Sepp Dietrich (unfortunately).

My grandfather had a bunch of WW2 memorabila in his house, where I lived for almost 5 years. One day he showed me Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, I've been an enthusiast ever since.

2037861 Wait, wouldn't that make him part of the AVG?

3474462
Not really, he was drafted into the regular army, and was baised in Bengal India (modern day Bengaldesh) where he likely worked on the bulldozers and trucks that work and ran on the Ledo Road

3476266 OK.

910738

The Bridge on the River Kwai and a National Geographic documentary about Bob Ballard's discovery of the Bismarck is what kindled my interest in WWII. From there my interest grew and snowballed.

i got interested in military history after reading about it in history, playing Battlefield 1942 and 43, Call of Duty 2 and Big Red One as well as COD World at War, and from my family members that served in the military (uncle- Lt. Col, Army, Uncle- petty officer 3rd class, navy, and Grandpa- Major, Marines)

My great grandfather got guned down while para jumping on Sicily and his grand father fought in the battle of Gettysburg during the amarican civil war and my dad was a Sargent and my uncle was the radio operator of a submarine and my cusin is in the marine's

also call of duty 2 big red one is best game

3938696 Which sub?

I remember it's the Uss West Virginia

3940561 Ohio-class. Very nice ship. I've got a cutaway model of one.

He was in the original crew

I first learned of WWII through my dad most likely (Navy brat here),and started picking it up. At first, it was about weapons, tanks, aircraft, etc. Now, I could give Harvard-level and length lectures on the Battle of Stalingrad, George Patton, or the German Wunderwaffe.

What I really look at though, are the people, and simple acts of friendship seen. The 101st Airborne fighting against all odds, the German u-boats continuing their fight until the literal end of the war, stubborn French resistance in both their homeland and overseas, the young RAF fighter boys, the list goes on.

And we cannot forget the kindness. The German fighter pilot who led a damaged, defenceless B-17 back home, turning back only when Allied flak fired at him. The countless times troops let the wounded enemy be taken away, or helping them their own selves.

When we talk about WWII, we're talking about the last REAL war, to me. It was where both sides had a set uniform, a code of conduct, and followed the Geneva code. Not to discredit our boys now, but we seem to be the only ones doing that. The Vietnamese, Koreans, Taliban/al Qadea, and all haven't, with the Iraqis being an exception. Maybe one day, we'll return to the old way.

3961158 Welcome to the group. Maybe you could do a thread about the Wunderwaffe.