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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1034 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 29, 2026

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I read that book and quite enjoyed it. Then read the author's afterword in which he details his experience on a bomber crew destroying the Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino in WW2. Nazi soldiers were using it as a fortress. It was a stone structure on a tall rocky section and was indeed a fortress. But a 1944 American bomber crew can easily wipe out a 1500 year old fortress by dropping bombs on it.

Turns out those Nazi soldiers had left earlier and war refugees were sheltered within. They accidentally massacred a bunch of noncombatants and destroyed the birthplace of the Benedictine order. Miller says he was reviewing the ending of the book and realized that the priest pinned beneath rubble and waiting for death was something he actually caused. What a finish to a great book.

I don't see any evidence that there were refugees in the Abbey, though it also seems that there probably weren't any german soldiers in there either.

Huh.

I recall him feeling bad about bombing those people. Googling a bit I see claims supporting this.

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