Both my parents were machinists during the war at Mare Island shipyard, there were more people working behind the scenes than there were in uniform. Think about all the stuff you've ever seen or heard of related to or used in WWII, somebody had to make it!

My uncle Ralph was a Ranger though, and he went through some heavy shit from what I heard. I don't know many details, but I did hear that he was a sergeant leading a squad/platoon/whatever, and they were wading across a small river at night. The Germans opened up on them and most of his men were killed, maybe all of them, I don't know. But he survived by playing dead and floating down stream with the bodies of his men.

I didn't come along until 1956, but I remember uncle Ralph was pretty fucked up and a heavy alcoholic. Didn't know why for a long, long time.