My Grandfather

We've had members on both sides of my family who have served in almost every conflict (Revolutionary War to Gulf War I) this country has been involved in, except the Spanish-American War. Long list of names, of those who came home and many who didn't. My mother's side of the family took some especially hard losses in the Civil War; several who made it to the end were at Bennett's Place when Johnston (General of the Army of North Carolina) surrendered to Grant.

My grandfather was in Europe; I'm not sure where or what he did, my mother has all of that info. When the Germans surrendered, he volunteered to go to the Pacific. He was on Okinawa when the Japanese surrendered, and volunteered for the Army of Occupation. According to my grandmother, they weren't allowed to take any weapons in with them, so the only thing he took was a TL-29 lineman's knife. I still have that one, and it'll go to my son one day.

My other grandfather (dad's dad) spent WWII on subs in the Pacific; my father spent 16 years on missile subs, and I spent four years on an aircraft carrier (Nimitz). I call my dad every Veteran's Day.

thx - cpr
 
orca8589 said:
they weren't allowed to take any weapons in with them
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WTF? Sounds like how they wouldn't let us (or issue us) any frag or 40mm while in Iraq during 03-04.
 
My father was a great man and served in the Army in both WWII in Europe and in the Korean War. He was also an MP at the Nuremberg trials.
 
My Grandad Went to France with the BEF in 1939 with the Royal Artillery.
He was on the beach at Dunkirk in 1940 and spent the night standing in the sea waiting for a boat. Later, he served in the Italian Campaign.

My Mom, along with millions of other kids, was evacuated to Wales at the age of 4.

My Dad used to collect shrapnel after the air raids. He did his National Service as a pilot in the RAF after the war.
 
my maternal grandfather and family were living on oahu when pearl harbor was attacked.

most of what i have discussed with him was regarding the aftermath. windows painted black, headlights painted black, checkpoints, etc.
 
I don't know if I have the right to say this, but...

The guys who served during WW1 & 2 were the ones who defined what we now take for granted.

The current generation exhibits none of the lessons or virtues they learned, and oozes with greed, excessiveness, and this bloated sense of self - entitlement.

No respect at all for the giants that preceded them.

We are nothing in comparison.
 
Apparently my father's feet kept him out of the Army, but his brains got him into the Manhattan project... which did a pretty good job of ending WWII.;)
 
Farmer Brown said:
I don't know if I have the right to say this, but...

The guys who served during WW1 & 2 were the ones who defined what we now take for granted.

The current generation exhibits none of the lessons or virtues they learned, and oozes with greed, excessiveness, and this bloated sense of self - entitlement.

No respect at all for the giants that preceded them.

We are nothing in comparison.
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Did you even read this thread before posting?
 
Charlie Mike said:
WTF? Sounds like how they wouldn't let us (or issue us) any frag or 40mm while in Iraq during 03-04.
Click to expand...

That was my response, too. According to my grandmother, we needed to generate as much goodwill as possible with the Japanese people. Toward the end of the Pacific war, their government was telling them we were there to wipe out their entire culture. According to her, my grandfather said a lot of guys had the same reaction; after all the fighting, to go in without a personal weapon, not even a bayonet or Kabar-type, was ridiculous concept.

My grandfather stayed in and around Japan to help, until the end of 1946. He made my grandmother promise not to repeat what he told her about while he was there. She said it was pretty bad stuff, especially the results of the firebombings and Hiroshima. He was deeply saddened by it until the day he died.

I believe, after all the things I know our family members have been through, in all the conflicts they've been in, that my grandfather going into Japan (where Americans were hated with such a vengeance) without even a Kabar or bayonet on his belt, is one of the gutsiest things any of our family has ever done.

thx - cpr
 
My father was a WW II vet. He was awarded the bronze star twice and a silver star, plus the legion of Merit. He was in the Pacific Theater and was in military intelligence. He coordinated guerrilla activities as well as those of coast watchers. He made trips behind enemy lines to do so.

My father had a great sense of humor. The only award he ever displayed was the one from a sub skipper who proclaimed him "Brown Knight and Captain of the Royal Head" for learning to successfully flush the head while submerged. He once explained to me that he had been making one of his "trips" at the time. Blowing the head required turning a series of valves in the correct sequence. If you did not do it in the correct sequence it sprayed back out at you under extreme pressure. I never quite had the nerve to ask him if he had done it wrong before learning to do it correctly. He hung the award above the toilet in the guest bathroom as being the most appropriate public place.
 
my father joined the navy when he was 16. he was in most of the naval battles in the Pacific. he was on a destroyer escort. the oldest man on board was 35 they called him pops. i asked my father a lot about the war but he just said you don't want to know. he did tell a story about his ship shooting down a Japanese plane and then fishing out the body. he talked about drinking coffee more than anything. how cold it was and how to keep warm. how he hated the pancakes and loved the eggs. he went to 2 reunions of the men aboard that ship after the war. i am sorry i forget the name of the ship. i do have the pictures of the ship at home. he was sad to hear of men he served with dieing after returning home. he got a flag that flew on board that ship during a battle and it was full of holes. i still have it framed. as a gift before he died i went to visit pearl harbor and bought a flag that flew over the Arizona memorial as a gift to him. he thanked me but did not talk about it. i have it now with the other one from his ship. when not in a battle he run up and down the Taiwan straight to keep the Japanese off the mainland. since the Chinese were helping fight the Japanese.

At 16 I was still in school and chasing girls. At 16 he was at war. Big difference. That generation they gave privileges to us that we did not even know what it was.

My grandfather was in WWI in France. I have a picture post card of him posing in a photo studio. he died 25 years before I was born.

as bad as things are now we still have it good.
 
During WWII and the German occupation of our country, my grandfather was a partisan. He never wanted to talk about it, but I know he'd shot a few nazis, collaborants and blew some of their nazi trucks...

My grandma (future wife of the aforementioned grandpa) was a nurse, she'd been stealing medical equipment from the hospital and supplied it to the partisans.

They both died 5 years ago at a very high age. I miss them.
 
My father was 65 when I was born in 1954. He left his homestead in northern Alberta and joined the Royal Canadian Army before the beginning of WW1. He was a medic in the trenches in France. He never spoke of his war experiences.
After the war he moved to the states and started a career as a pioneer in the development of xray technology. He was a true gentleman. He met my mother working at a VA hospital soon after the war. She was a RN and had worked as riveter on bombers in California during the war.
 
My Grandfather was wounded on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and spent the rest of the war recovering. He met and married a German lady in Singapore who had lost her brother on the Somme on the German side. He was the hospital Administrator for the Govt Hospital. He was due to return with family in the December of 41 and was asked to stay on. His wife and children escaped near the fall of Singapore with my father and aunt making it to England where she had to make a living as a German. My Grandfather spent the remainder of the war in Changi.
 
My dad fought at Anzio and up Italy in WWII. We kids questioned him, but he'd only tell us a few humorous stories - never mentioned anything bad. We went to see The Deer Hunter together and that movie really tore him up. Mom said she'd never seen him like that. I sure wish he were still alive.
The older I get, the more I realize and appreciate all the sacrifices he made in his life.

My uncle who fought with Patton, on the other hand, loves to talk about all his WWII experiences. He's 92. His kids don't care to hear about it, but my brother and I really enjoy talking with him about WWII.
 
I've got several uncles who served in various parts of the armed services and in different places around the world. The one that most captures my imagination and admiration though is my grandfather who was in the Australian Light Horse and fought in the Middle East in WWI
 
my great grandfather was in ww1, pulling the medic wagon on the front lines with the horses, after the war he lived his life "a saucer at a time". when in the trenchs, many of the men would drink there tea out of a saucer, because there tea had too cool of fast because they never new when they had to go over the hill.
my grandmother's brother was a wireless gunner in ww2.
both of them were lucky enough to make it back, though like many people, my great grandfather came back with trench foot. at home after the war, his dog bruce would like his feet when by the fire. it helped with the pain.
this is some of what i have heard about them, think i will go have tea with grandma, maybe hear a few more stories. this is a really good thread.
 
jill jackson said:
Was the Central Fire Control Gunner, aboard this B-29 "The Dangerous Lady"
in World War 2 and flew on 35 missions from the Pacific Island Tinian, into mainland Japan. He sat in a bubble midway on-top the plane and controlled two double Browning .50 caliber machine gun turrets. They put a total of 4 guns that operated simultaneously on target. (very devastating to the unarmoured Japanese fighters) The gun in the picture was one of the two, he controlled and shot down Japanese fighters with.
Anybody else have any relatives that served in combat, or maybe themselves served in combat?
If so post the facts to honor them or even yourself. :thumbup: Veterans Day is not far away!
b29-dangerous.jpg
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I enlisted during the Korean 'Conflict' & was a commo chief in a heavy weapons company with 17 rtos & wiremen. Wound up as a platoon sgt. before rotation. Left with spinal cord injury that finally evolved into 100% service - connected disability.

I do not regret serving my country .

My heroes are not in Hollywood, my heroes wear combat boots.

Uncle Alan
 
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