Talk:Operation Coca-Cola/@comment-5982125-20131126044026

Yes, Kursk on a somewhat-smaller (although still quite large) scale. Most of the photos showing combat conditions are of the Battle of Kursk. Specifically: the one of the Russian soldiers where one is holding up an Orthodox Cross, the photo of the half-track, and the last one that depicts the soldiers walking.

The "President's Own" are an analogue to the SS, specifically the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. Joseph Piper is a fictional character but is basically an American version of Joachim Peiper, an SS officer who eventually rose to command the Leibstandarte and was famous for his ruthlessness. He is most often referenced in American outlets for his brutal conduct during the Battle of the Bulge, where is "Kampfgruppe Peiper" (Battlegroup Peiper) formed the main thrust of the German attack. To be fair though, Peiper was just a brutal and overly-aggressive son-of-a-bitch in general, the perfect SS officer. And the American character Joseph Piper is just a toned down version of him, since obviously the U.S.A. - even in this universe - wouldn't permit the same levels of brutality and barbarism that Nazi Germany permitted (not to mention encouraged).