As someone else pointed out, the real Battle of Huertgen Forest was much worse than depicted in this movie. Here is a fascinating account of what the 82nd Airborne found on the Kall Trail in Feb. 1945. Be sure to read the Major's account at the end about ThanksGiving, brutal.
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1979/1/1979_1_32.shtml
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The "Real Battles" are always worse. That's something even Hollywood can't do.
shareA reason why this campaign was so deadly: 1 characteristic about battles in wooded areas, is the high % of head wounds. Both sides would send shells to explode into the trees, creating 1,000s of wooden shrapnels in addition to the metal ones. The only other campaign I've seen with stats so horribly high as this one was Monte Cassino - in which case it was the rocky terrain causing the shrapnel storm. In a typical battle, there will be casualties, but in terrain like a forest or a rocky landscape the death toll will be much higher due to the higher % of head wounds. I think this was touched on or alluded to (perhaps by relating stories told by survivors) showing the very 1st casualty of the movie *SPOILER*, the kid whom Manning is carrying out assuring him that he will make it. At 1st, all the filming is from the right side, and we don't see how he could be so badly wounded. Only after they rest and the kid demands Manning don't pick him up again, do we see the horrifying extent of his injuries. Head wounds will always claim a higher mortality rate - not only from brain injuries, but the crucial arteries in the neck. In medical circles, the Cassino and Hurtgen campaigns were infamous for the high % of death from headwounds.
shareF'ckin hell, EVEN WORSE than the movie
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