In movies and TV, when they aren't discussing movements, plans, etc. soldiers seem to talk about their sense of duty, why they're there, and sometimes really deep topics. I find this unlikely, tho. If you're stuck with a group of men for 5 years, assuming you and they survive, what do you have to talk about? You've been at war for years, and away from everyone and everything you cared about before. I'm a road construction worker and spend more time away from home with the same 15 guys than I do actually at home with people I care about, not that I don't care about my coworkers, but it's different from, say, my family. We work together, eat together, and stay in the same uncomfortable lodging together. We become almost too comfortable with each other at times. I feel like their conversations would be similar to ours: a good chunk of talk is about work, but a lot of it is just messing with each other and making fun of one another. Every now and then you have a one on one conversation with someone, and it might get a bit personal, talking about home and family. But for the most part we are just "loving assholes" to one another. We can fuck with this guy, but if somebody else gets on his case they better watch out. You know? I always imagine it would be more like that than anything. I realize that war and road building are very different, but you're still with a group of (often quite crude) men night and day.

With that said, how would this have differed between forces? What would Americans be like compared to Japanese? British and German? Russian? Canadian? Italian? Etc.

So, what were relationships and conversations like between soldiers in different armies during World War II? And what did soldiers talk about when they weren't discussing the war?