The thread with the D-Day pictures made me think of this. Rather than hijack that thread, I'll start a new one. So, the topic, and then some background: Does anyone have a still living relative or friend who served in WWII, and if so, what have they told you about their experiences? My only close relative to have served was an uncle who passed away about 25 years ago, when the idea of a world war was not nearly as obscure as it is now, and the vets of that war were not considered a disappearing treasure. I never talked to him about the war, but I wish I had. I did read a newspaper interview he once did. He was a Marine, and was wounded on either Saipan or Tarawa, I can't remember which. He talked about the alarm in your head that never really turns off in combat, the one that once woke him from a sound sleep to find a jap bayonet pointed at his face. He grabbed the bayonet and knocked the man off balance, and another Marine shot him. I was around 20 when he died, older than he was when he served. I often think back to that age, what my own level of maturity was like, and would love to ask him how he found the inner courage to do the things you have to do in combat. There's an old man that occasionally does contract electrical work for my TV station. In the station's younger days, he also did some camera work on my crew, and I'd often get exasperated with him because he'd lose focus, or ruin a good shot by making a move I hadn't called for. I'm not the stereotypical yelling director, but he could bring it out in me. Because I didn't work with him very often, I never really talked in-depth with him, just normal day-to-day pleasantries. A few years ago, I was shocked and ashamed to learn that this sweet, old guy who I would tear into for those silly mistakes was a genuine American hero. He dropped out of high school on his 17th birthday and joined the Corps, and was in the first wave to struggle ashore at Iwo Jima. Saw the flagraising with his own eyes, and was wounded on the 16th day of the campaign in a famous incident in which the Japs blew up a supply cache' to keep it from falling into USMC hands. The local Marine Corps League was raising money to send him back to Iwo for the 60th anniversary. He gave me a fantastic interview, talking about how the porous volcanic ash that covered the island made every step a chore. How they had to slog through that stuff while fighting an enemy that was so well dug in, it was like they were fighting the island itself. He also told me that it was only recently (this would have been 2005) that he began telling his own children about his experiences. The doc at the VA hospital urged him to open up to them, saying that many vets were beginning to develop psychological issues from decades of keeping those terrible experiences to themselves. Since then, I've heard my friend tell audiences at Veteran's Day celebrations to talk to the veterans they know, and even to record their stories. They need to talk, and to hear their experiences keeps a cherished commodity in our nation from never being forgotten.
I have a co-worker that actually stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day. He is 87 and retired years ago but decided to come back and work part time. He'll answer most questions if you ask him. Both of my grandfathers were stationed at Pearl Harbor and one was there when it was attacked. He passed away a few years ago but he kept part of a wing of a Japanese plane he shot down...it has some logo on it. Always thought that was kind of cool.
I had an Uncle that served and he died before I was old enough to hear most of his stories. I later found out he was held POW for quite some time in less than "desirable" conditions. They pretty much ate the rats that they could catch in their confines. While on duty at Fort Riley as part of the Big Red One I got the honor of attending a reunion of surviving members of the group that took Normandy/Omaha as part of the color guard for the official ceremony. Holy Sh!t it was like a room full of walking talking history books. Craziest bunch of cats I have ever run across. Partied like rock stars and they were all 70+ This was in 1995. One of the most memorable highlights of my career. I hope OT sees this thread because she has a great story about running into a table full of these guys, all CMH winners. What an honor that had to be. They guy you met at the station talked of the tough times. We used this type of stuff so many times for motivation. When you realize that many of our Soldiers were laying down minefields in 2 ft of snow with either bare feet, or just rags wrapped around them because they didn't have boots. Damn tough SOB's. I have no trouble recognizing them as the greatest generation our country will have ever known. Unfortunately this is the case with so many of our men and women. I know too many guys that went to nam, my father included and every swinging richard is bat sh!t crazy. I have yet to meet one that isn't. I also know quite a few, more than I can name that have come back from OIF/OEF that don't have both chopsticks in the chow mein anymore either, myself included. My dad NEVER talks about nam and I quit asking a long time ago. I'll talk about my experiences in OIF to a point but mostly just try to suppress it and I assume this is the case with most of us because we don't want to admit there are monsters in there but eventually they will always find their way out. So far so good here but I'm starting to wonder. Thanks for the post MC. :thumb::usaflagwa:thumb:
Although I am the right age, I never went to Viet Nam. I hed a student deferment...1-H. I'm probably luckier than I can imagine. Within the last 3 years, I reconnected with an old college friend of mine, who was a machine gunner/crew chief for helicopters during Nam. He never, ever talked about it and seemed well adjusted. He was a top student who nearly won a national award for his major two years in a row. We lost touch after college and marriage and reconnected right after Katrina. It turns out his wife committed suicide a month before Katrina, and he lost everything in the storm with no insurance. He was renting and owned no home. He ended up on the northshore with nothing much at all and son in high school. When his son graduated and went away to college, he sort of cut ties and disappeared back to NO. Apparently he forced himself to hold together for his son's sake and when his son became responsible for himself...he ended up losing it. I heard that he's in some sort of rehab trying to deal with all the demons that have been hounding him his whole life. I never met anyone so "gung ho" about living up to his responsibilities especially about parenthood in my whole life. As you can imagine his relationship with his son was as strained as his other relationships in life. One of our last conversations was very short. I had called him up on father's day a year ago, as he was isolating himself from friends and the little family he had left to let him know that I thought he was one of the most hard core, dedicated fathers I knew; and to wish him a happy father's day...(I don't think it was). Please pray for RV.
I spent 20 years on active duty. I was a combat engineer which in non military speak = glorified infantry. The thing about iraq was due to they type of fight it really didn't matter what your job was, everyone was doing the same thing. We ran convoys, did raids, checkpoints, IED hunting, patrols through the different towns both on foot and mouted. We also blew up a couple thousand tons of iraqi ammunition from a captured supply point (even though most of it was either U.S. or Soviet munitions) that was pretty fun.
My grandfather told me about his experiences and being there at Normandy on the beach. He lied about his age to enlist, he was only 16. I think I was about 9 years old when he sat my cousins, brother and I down to tell this story. We all cried. Hell of a man, an example I am still striving to be.
My grandfather, who I basically lived with while growing up, died when I was 12 from a stroke. He retired from the USN. When I was 25ish, I was helping my grandmother clean out some stuff and ran across a brown paper bag at the bottom of their closet. Inside the bag was a bunch of medals (to include the Navy Cross) and a diary he had kept every day of his first cruise on the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier. He set sail out of Pearl Harbor as an aviator of an Avenger Torpedo Bomber and participated in the battle of Leyte Gulf in October of 1944. His journal entries are pretty amazing. They showed me a man I had not known (personality) and the entries on or around October and November of 1944 showed how much they were flying and how bad they got shot up in those old planes. With out his diary I would have never known what I know now. I talked to my grandmother some and she provided a lot of information but still not the same to hear it from their own mouths. Boy I missed an opportunity. I have toured the Intrepid in NYC (before the renovations) and it is really amazing how they lived in those conditions in the 40’s. It would have been nice to hear his words and stories about the experience. On a side note, my uncle was a Marine Sniper in Vietnam (5th Marine). He got shot up a couple times pretty good. (the last time was in Hue City). He has never talked about his experience and has some pretty bad dreams. Not until a few years ago, a guy wanted to write a book about the 5th Marine Sniper teams in Viet Nam and he began opening up. The author of the book put together a reunion of the old teams and it really helped my uncle. Nightmares diminished almost immediately. He still has nightmares and will not talk about his experiences to his son or me. He has a shoe box full of letters he wrote home to his mother while in country but will not share those with us yet (if ever). But once a year, after their annual reunion he is really good. I am not sure why I shared this with my TF family other than to let you know if you can hear the words directly from their mouth, you should try to do so. No better history lesson. No better way to realize the sacrifices some have made for us all to enjoy this freedom we have. Since I am being somewhat personal, I will say this as well. I am scared that our current leadership (both executive and legislative branches) is throwing away the things that past generations have fought and died for at a record rate. What happen to the checks and balances of our government? How does a Czar fit into a check and balance system? They don’t, they are only answerable to the executive branch. We are printing money like it is just paper. I should stop now. I am not trying to hijack this thread by making it political, but we have generations of our families that have fought and died for those words in our constitution. I think those that have, those that are and those that will fight for our country should be appreciated. Not a bunch of lip service on TV or at rallies, but rather putting our country’s money where are mouth is. Enough. Thank you for reading.
I dredged this thread up by way of telling everyone that the Iwo Jima vet I described in the original post died last night. A wonderful family man, friend, citizen and American hero. He will be missed.
