Your point is certainly true in that there are indeed traitors in every war. But in regards to Stalag 17, if I may clarify:
The character played by Peter Graves (Sgt. Price) was actually German, not an American traitor. This is revealed twice in the movie:
Stetson (William Holden) confirms Price as the mole when Price claims he heard of the attack on Pearl Harbor at “dinner”. Stetson then says (I paraphrase); ‘Dinner? It was noon in Cleveland. It was dinner time in Berlin.’
The second is when price gets shot by the German guards. His last words (spoken in German) were: “Don’t shoot! I am German.”
I thought he was German-American. He certainly lived in America, didn’t he? Or was he just very well versed and Bill Holden caught him out in lies?
My apologies if I got the details wrong. A fine film but I haven’t seen it for about 6 months. It’s one of my husband’s favorites.
For 22 years, I lived in the Yorkville section of Manhattan. It was a hotbed of traitors prior and during WWII.