The Common Soldier World War II was like just about any other war in at least one respect.

Most of the time it was not an adventure; it was a time of loneliness and boredom and fatigue. Action and danger were the punctuation marks. Still, in its ferocity, World War II was like no other war anyone has ever seen. Lets hope it stays that way. (Wright xix) During World War II, an average of 25,000 people died each day. (Sheehan 42) Many of those were Hitlers targets such as the Jews. Many of them were also soldiers who gave their lives fighting for justice. Thousands sacrificed their lives in the fight to abolish Hitlers tyranny. The infantry suffered many losses in its brave fight. The infantry used many weapons and all types of equipment. Many of them also had extensive training. However, the army was mostly comprised of people who were drafted. The Navajo Code Talkers also made a huge impact on the war with their nigh unbreakable code. Thus, the common soldier was no ordinary man but a brave warrior fighting for the freedom of his fellow man using the weapons and equipment given to him along with all the help he could get. Undoubtedly, the success of our soldiers was due to the training they received whether they were drafted or volunteered. The training each soldier received depended upon the strict discipline that was required of them and a lot of marching was involved. Doing drills in the training camps was often exhausting and training was hard due to shortages of equipment. Most soldiers didnt handle a rifle until they left the training camp. The draft supplied millions of recruits for the camps to train. Ten million men were drafted by the time of Japans surrender in 1945. At the time that was one out of every six men. This surplus of soldiers raised the number of people in the armed forces to 16 million. (Wright 5)

Furthermore, the weapons soldiers used varied enormously depending upon what could be supplied. Rifles were the standard weapons in the infantry. The United States infantry most commonly used the Springfield, until later in the war when they upgraded to the M1 Grand. This was amazing because the M1 Grand was the first semi-automatic to become a standard weapon for the infantry. Pistols, while fairly common, were usually only carried by officers. The standard pistol for the United States Army was the M1911A1. It was a .45 caliber and is often thought of as the best pistol in the war. Submachine guns, however, were uncommon and only used by the Special Forces and the airborne divisions. Machine guns were used more often to slaughter large groups of the enemy. An example of this would be the United States Browning automatic rifle, which is commonly called the BAR. Flamethrowers were also commonly used to flush the enemy out of buildings. (Wagner, Margaret and Susan Reyborn, et. Al 381) In addition to the infantrys weapons, the equipment used by the infantry play a major role in the war. Many soldiers carried explosives and each squadron would have at least one radio. The most common piece of equipment was the radio: This was used to communicate over long distances for attacks and other purposes. Grenades were also fairly common. There are many kinds of grenades but the three major kinds are offensive, defensive, and smoke. Offensive grenades were lighter and easier to carry. They were designed to be less likely to damage the thrower of the grenade. Defensive grenades, on the other hand, were heavier and much more destructive. These grenades are made to be thrown before taking cover behind some kind of barrier such as a trench wall or sandbags. Smoke grenades are very different from the other kinds of grenades, however, and are commonly used as signals. They are also used to obscure the vision of enemy troops in order to evade detection. There are also various other types of grenades. The infantry also equips its members with mines. The United States alone used about 24,402,000 mines in World War II.

(Wagner, Margaret and Susan Reyborn, et. Al 361) There are two major types of landmine. The first type is an antitank mine which are used to destroy vehicles. They are pressure activated so that they can only be set off by vehicles and were often scattered around antipersonnel mines. The second major type of mine, known as the antipersonnel mine, was extremely deadly. They did anything from exploding to shooting shrapnel to harm or kill the enemy. Unlike antitank mines, however, antipersonnel mines could also be placed indoors. Due to the fact that mines were so commonly used in World War II, finding a way to detect them became a priority. There were many ways to detect and destroy a minefield, but the most common was the use of metal detectors. However, these ways varied, and the most gruesome of them was to herd a group of expendable soldiers into the minefield to clear the way. Engineers were also used to try and disable the mines without blowing them up. While this way was not always as successful as the others it was by far the most humane. Another form of equipment that soldiers used was the booby trap. Soldiers commonly used these when no mines or grenades were on hand. (Wagner, Margaret and Susan Reyborn, et. Al 381) Foremost, is that fact that so many gave their lives during World War II fighting for their beliefs and the rights of their fellow man. A total of 60.4 million people were killed or wounded during the Second World War, and 26 million of those were killed. (Bender 142) Each country lost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of not only soldiers but also common civilians. Japan lost 2.3 million men and woman during the war, Germany lost 5.6 million, China lost 10 million and Russia lost over a staggering 20 million. That is a horrifying amount of lives that were lost fighting over freedom. Compared to the rest, the United States got off easy, losing only 300,000. The wounded and the dead were piling up on both sides, and had the war not ended when it had, the corpses would have overwhelmed the living. America alone had a little over 1 million soldiers

injured. Around half of these were seriously disabled, causing them difficulties with the rest of their lives. (Bender 141) Furthermore, the Navajo Code Talkers had a major impact on the war. These brave soldiers were Navajo Indians that were deployed throughout the troops, including the infantry. When the code was first used there were only 29 Code Talkers in the operation. By the end of the war over 400 Navajos had volunteered, and it was the only code used by the allies. Their code made a lasting impact of the war by allowing the allies the use of an almost unbreakable code. (Hoffman 3) Without it, the allies would have had to go to enormous lengths to keep their plans a secret. This allowed them to easily access information while preventing the enemy from eavesdropping. Another thing that had a major effect on the war was the vehicle used by the infantry. The single jeep or truck could mean the difference between being able to flank the enemy and being surrounded. Amphibious vehicles allowed troops more mobility and allowed them to cross the roughest waters. A few of the common amphibious vehicles were the DUKW, the landing craft, the landing ships and landing vehicles. The DUKW, also known as the DUCK, was used to carry supplies. During the war the United States produced 20,000 of these and sent many to the British. Landing crafts came in many variations and subtypes. The only thing they have in common was that they carried anywhere from 25 to 250 soldiers. A larger form of the landing craft was called the landing ship. These were used to transport not only personnel but also their vehicles. Landing ships also had smaller boats or amphibious vehicles. These were used to transport the vehicles and or men from the ship to the shoreline. The landing vehicles were commonly used to land troops on the beachfront. They would carry the men from the ship and cross over large amounts of water before landing. Often they would have to traverse dangerous oceanic terrain such as coral reefs. (Wagner, Margaret and Susan Reyborn, et. Al 370)

Consequently, while the infantry may seem very common and unimportant, they are in fact, the backbone of the army. Their weapons and equipment play an important part in their survival and help them to do their job of protecting humanity. The code talkers played an important part in not only the survival of the infantry but also the survival of many of our countrymen and allies. Our infantrys impact was also more significant because of the vehicles they used to get around. Without them the infantry would be almost useless and perceptible to attack at any time. So next time you see a veteran from the infantry, think about all they sacrificed to give you the rights and freedoms that you take for granted.

Works Cited Dudley, William. World War II: opposing viewpoints. San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press, 1997. Print.

Hoffman, Lou. "

History: World War II

City of Albuquerque

." Albuquerque

- Official City Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.cabq.gov/veterans/history/worldwarii>. Sheehan, Sean. D-Day, June 6, 1944 . Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2003. Print. Wagner, Margaret E., Linda Barrett Osborne, and Susan Reyburn. World War II companion . 1. ed. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007. Print. World War II: day by day.. London: Dorling Kindersley Pub., 2004. Print. Wright, Mike. What they didn't teach you about World War II . Novato, Calif.: Presido, 1998. Print.