# Other than Hitler, name a figure associated with WWII **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2016, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637 "2016-07-11T07:54:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/21 "2016-07-11T15:52:18Z")
You want them alphabetically, chronologically, or by order of importance? I think I can list a couple hundred off the top of my head. But I’ll just go with John Wayne. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/22 "2016-07-11T16:06:00Z")
Goebbels was the first name to pop into my head. Don’t know how he pushed to the head of the line over FDR, Stalin, Churchill, etc but I guess “WWII = Nazis = Nazi Guys” is my mind’s initial reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/23 "2016-07-11T16:06:28Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > That is spooky… > > **S** talin > **H** itler > **I** l Duce > **T** ojo > **E** isenhower **S** talin **H** itler **E** isenhower **M** ussolini **P** atton 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/24 "2016-07-11T17:08:44Z")
Roosevelt Unlike several posters, I followed the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/25 "2016-07-11T17:11:40Z")
Greg “Pappy” Boyington ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/26 "2016-07-11T17:17:22Z")
One from each side: Nimitz Mengele ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/27 "2016-07-11T17:18:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Roosevelt > > Unlike several posters, I followed the rules. OK, Churchill. Remind me again of the years that WWII started and ended. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/28 "2016-07-11T17:52:14Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Unlike several posters, I followed the rules. What is the rule that we aren’t following? After Hitler, thinking of the next name that comes to mind depends on context. There’s no “second in command” of WWII hierarchy. Not even Stalin, though I often say he should be considered just as bad as Hitler. So what comes to mind first depends on what I’m thinking about at the time. Watching Hogan’s Heroes the first one that comes to mind is Goering, maybe Himmler, if it is a Hochsteader-centric episode. Just yesterday I read about Eichmann, and his rendition from Argentina, so he’s on the top today. And Maybe Elie Wiesel. Last week I watched _Ike: Countdown to D-Day_, so then he was at the top. And Omar Bradley. And Roosevelt. Thinking about my dad in the Pacific Theater, I think of MacArthur, Col. Tibbets or Hirohito. Thinking about central European theater, I’d go with Mussolini, Anne Frank, Patton. If England is the subject, then Churchill, Chamberlain, Montgomery, King Edward VIII. Or Lord Haw-Haw. Scientifically inclined, I think of Von Braun, Oppenheimer, Turing, or Gen Groves. And maybe Feynman, because I liked his books. The war in the Pacific brings to mind Nimitz, Yamamoto. The Battle of the Atlantic - Doernitz, especially as he became head of the government after Hitler. Hitler is the evilest person of the 20th century. He transcends mere awareness - he is synonymous with evil. In 500 years, there will probably be only two names that define the century, that everyone knows: Hitler and Einstein. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/29 "2016-07-11T18:04:29Z")
Betty Grable. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/30 "2016-07-11T18:17:12Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Greg “Pappy” Boyington That’s who I was going to say. How about [John Thach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Thach), developer of the [Thach Weave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thach_Weave)? . ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/31 "2016-07-11T18:21:42Z")
Churchill ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/32 "2016-07-11T18:24:26Z")
Alan Turing Douglas Bader R J Mitchell George VI You know - movie characters. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/33 "2016-07-11T18:28:11Z")
Churchill ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/34 "2016-07-11T18:52:18Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > What is the rule that we aren’t following? The OP said he wanted people to post one name but many people are posting lists. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/35 "2016-07-11T18:55:59Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > Remind me again of the years that WWII started and ended. 1937 to 1945. Of course a lot of Britons don’t think the war started until they got involved in 1939. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/36 "2016-07-11T19:25:11Z")
Oh! Yeah, we just did this for WWI! Um, um– [del]The Red Baron![/del] Stalin! ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/37 "2016-07-11T19:34:18Z")
First name that came to my mind was Patton, but on another day it might have been Churchill, Mussolini, Hirohito, or any of a number of others. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/38 "2016-07-11T19:46:31Z")
Georgy Zhukov ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/39 "2016-07-11T19:50:30Z")
I think starting off with Hitler poisoned the well with a bias to German names. For me > [@](#): > > Lieutenant Colonel Robert Samuel Johnson (February 21, 1920 – December 27, 1998) was a USAAF fighter pilot during World War II. He is credited with scoring 28 victories during the conflict flying a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. After my uncle, a naval pilot killed flying off the Enterprise on December the 7th or 8th, 1941 my grandparents were told. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637/40 "2016-07-11T20:37:39Z")
Churchill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-hitler-name-a-figure-associated-with-wwii/759637.md?page=3)