Program rerun | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - Arkansas' Best News Source
During the Second World Catastrophe, as the Germans marched deeper into Russian territory, Stalin & Co. brought back the ancient practice of penal battalions. Filled with either convicted prisoners serving sentences handed down by a civilian court or military types accused of not fighting (hard enough) in other units, these companies were put together and sent on near-suicide missions toward the German guns. Often enough at the point of a Russian gun.