There were a lot of brave men in that war. I knew as a boy one of my uncles had been in Sherman tanks with Patton but did not understand how lucky he was to get through the war. He had five tanks shot out from under him. Two the tracks were knocked off, one the turret was blown clean off killing all but two men, one a hit that went right through the tank and one which caused the tank to burn where it was hit. He survived but had scars and burns which were bad to look at twenty years later. He loved Patton to his final day but I doubt he loved those Shermans.
Taking a Sherman up against a tank which outgunned you, was better armored and would not catch fire at the drop of a hat took more courage than I can imagine. He did say they tried to never engage a Panzer with less than four tanks. There was no point because they did not last long enough for one of them to get around the rear of the German tank. Only there could they deliver a killing blow if they could get close enough.
Those were men. Not saints or anything like that but men who took on a task and saw it to the finish. People today have gotten so use to instant this or fast that they are not willing to struggle for long before they are looking for a way out. Those men did not and that is why we are not learning German as our language to this day.
