My dad was 'lucky' enough to be drafted before Pearl Harbor at the age of 28. Saw 'action' with a hospital unit composed mostly of Italian Americans from New York. They were bombed 5 times from North Africa thru Italy, France and Germany. Spent a good amount of time in England pre D Day, called the English barbarians but did love Monty Python.
He liked to compare his service to 'MASH'. He and his buddies sold sheets to the Bedouins in North Africa, ate pasta as regularly as possible and generally were involved in the shenanigans you might expect from a bunch of first generation New Yorkers. I think the bordellos of Paris were a particular high point, sure looked like it from the pictures. Never really talked about the bad things, but enjoyed many reunions with lifelong friends made during 54 months of service, most overseas. There was talk of sending them to the Pacific after VE Day and it probably would have happened except for the A bomb.