My father served in the 8th Air Force at a time when the odds of completing a tour were about 20%. The airmen had various ways of coping with this, my father's way was to simply accept that he wasn't going to make it and just do his job as best he could.
He told me that after the war, whenever he felt down, he'd think about what a miracle it was he survived, and would feel better.
Interestingly, the way the survivors have reckoned with it in the past 10-15 years at the end of their life was to build a number of monuments to their units at the 8th air force museum in Georgia. It's worth a visit.
As an old man, my dad was the beneficiary of a lot of love lavished on WW2 servicemen. He loved it. When you have the chance to say a kind word to a combat vet, be assured they'll appreciate it.
Thanks! I've often wondered what I'd do in the same situation. But my father put it as he took those risks so I wouldn't have to. I'm grateful to all our combat vets. We should never forget what they did for us.
He told me that after the war, whenever he felt down, he'd think about what a miracle it was he survived, and would feel better.
He lived to be 93.