Flyboy is a general expression for pilot, in no way intending on reducing Rudel reputation :)

And i did read about him, he even landed behind ennemy line to rescue a fellow pilot and made it back to the german line by foot. He could not use his leg at the end of the war but still flew support mission in a ju57 (plane type that was operationnal in 1939...). They had to create a new level of the knight cross for all of his accomplishment!!!

Bong

"Rudel flew 2,530 combat missions claiming a total of 2,000 targets destroyed; including 800 vehicles, 519 tanks, 150 artillery pieces, a destroyer, two cruisers, one Soviet battleship, 70 landing craft, 4 armored trains, several bridges and nine aircraft which he shot down."

But I think Erich Hartmann's 352 air to air victories are more impressive.

Let keep it on the ground with the grunts :)

Bong

WW1 is often forgotten about, because Hollywood loves WW2. Canadians held the front lines in a cloud of mustard gas when everyone else had run away. I'm going to agree with the general feeling here that any solider is the best soldier.
That being said... think about 2000 years ago when men stood toe to toe and hacked each other to death with sharp tools. There wasn't any casualty count below 100%, because if you lost the fight your troops were more than likely killed almost to the man. Those that weren't killed outright were made slaves or tortured for their religious beliefs. By comparison, war today is a civilized business.

Ww2 eastern front was far from civilized... close to a genocide in the wake of the advancing army

Bong