My Heroes: What did you/your father/grandfather do in WWII?

[empresley]

It was only during conversation about taking care of horses did my Grandfather mention his days in the Calvary. There was time stationed in Ft.Hood, Tx. but I was so young, all the details are lost. This must have been a time when the US Calvary and the use of horses was coming to an end. He came home from military service to start a diary business. I spent all my summers with this gentle man who never raised his voice. He tried hard to teach me his golden rule; “taste your words before you speak”.

My father was a naval journalist and ironically spent the war years on a battleship. He has only told two stories of the war that I can remember. He was part of the detail that occupied Japan after their surrender. His battleship assignment then went to Europe for the Normandy invasion. His invasion story is about one of his six brothers; Lt. Herbert Presley. Dad is on a battleship, his brother on an infantry transport. The night before the invasion they were able to talk via ship to ship radio. Two or three days later, while moving through a small village Lt. Presley was lost to a sniper. Dad is now 83 and has one surviving brother.

I will mention my service and being a vet. of Vietnam only in the context of being drafted in 1969. It was a very tearful and emotional goodbye outside the induction center in Atlanta. What a mix of emotions to walk through those doors, leaving parents behind, tears on my cheeks and finding what seemed like half of my ’67 HS senior class inside. The reunion we had that morning was wonderful medicine for a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds.

em.

[SilverGate]

My Dad was a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese…
He was a member of the 307th Signal Aviation Division, 7th Fighter Command.
He was a radio repairman with the Army Signal Corps during WWII.
Told me his happiest years were spent in Hawaii.
Retired from the David Sarnoff Research Center at Princeton.
He died at age 79 in my home state, N.J., Feb. 2, 1995

Thanks, Mac1, for starting this thread on the eve of your Dad’s birthday…
And thanks all who have shared thoughts, stories, and memories.
It inspired me to go back and re-read my Dad’s last letter to me… he said in part:
"The picture of the Dogwood has the promise of Spring Time. Although there will be many storms ahead, it gives me a goal to see the spring blossoms. I want to thank you Bill, for your kind remembrances of me. I always tried to help you in the best ways I knew. Sometimes it is not easy to express ones thoughts in a letter, although I do try… So in closing, Bill, please save this letter as there are times this letter may make it easier to say, Happy New Year to you and Larry,
Signing off with Love from Dad"

Well, Dad, I not only saved it… but I posted it for the world to see.
(Dad is standing on left in photo below)
Thanks for the memories.
Peace
Bill
SilverGate

[maxandgeorgia]

I second Jerry's recommendation to tell your folks who are with you this holiday season how much you appreciate and love them. . . . (quote)

Several Christmases ago, a month or two before the holiday, I asked each one of our family to write a letter to Mom (sending it to me), telling her their favorite memories and stories with her. I really didn't know if they would do this or not, but they did, even her great grandsons. I bound these along with photos and some other keepsakes that went along with the letters, and that was her Christmas gift. It didn't cost a thing. Needless to say, it is one of her most treasured possessions, and the making of it was a treasure for each of us. Just a suggestion for some of you who are annually stumped about what to give someone who seems to already have everything. Love, in the end, is all that really matters, and finding ways to show it. ~G

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Roscinante

Posted a thought about my Dad earlier but it may have been deleted cause I used some"French" in expressing my anger at my Dad not getting an "honor guard" at his funeral.

You mean this post? http://www.airforums.com/forums/312101-post5.html
It's still there, shows as post #5 on my screen.

[Roscinante]

Thanks for that. Must be a "senior" moment. I hit my refresh button and everything and couldn't find it.

[str8strm]

Jerry:
Maybe I'm having a senor moment also. Debbie wrote a reply mentioning that it wasn't just our fathers and grandfathers (as the first post mentioned) but there were a lot of mothers and grandmothers involved in the war efforts also. I can't seem to find that post now. You don't suppose our moderators don't appreciate the women who flew all those planes during WWII and helped put our broken soldiers back together do you? Couldn't be that. Must be a mistake. I certainlly hope so. Ron

[overlander63]

I am showing post #6 saying something about women. Is that the one?

[str8strm]

Jerry was right. It was a senior moment. Strange that he couldn't find #5 and we couldn't find #6. Thanks.

[Roscinante]

Ron,

Just gives us a second chance to make our points!

Debbie was 100% correct. We so often fail to mention or adequately recognize the contributions of all the women in our lives to our success - individual and collectively as a society. They rock the cradle and our world!

So, here's to the women upon whose shoulder we stand, we lean, we cry, we rest, and we depend. My wife is the best gift of my life. My mother instilled a love of reading and learning that set me on a road to success in life, and I have been blessed with a wealth of women role models, teachers, mentors, friends, and coworkers.

THANKS to all!

[str8strm]

Jerry:
We couldn't have said it better. Looking forward to meeting you both at a rally sometime soon. Ron and Debbie

[brunoffrance]

I've just red for the first time this thread and it's the day to tell us a great THANK YOU or " merci" ( sorry, it's french ) to have made our liberty, our reality now.

here is a picture in honour of these heroes:

Bruno.

[Sugarfoot]

Mac, again I want to thank you for starting this thread. Today after Christmas dinner I asked my uncle to tell me a bit about his part in WWII. What I thought would be a 15 minute conversation turned into 2 hours. He was overjoyed that someone was interested and wanted to hear his story. The time I spent with him was one of the best parts of the day.

Every one of these noble veterans, from all of America's wars, has a story. It doesn't matter what part they played, how much or little action they saw, if they were stateside or overseas. Every story is important. I only wish I still had my father so he could share his story as well.

[overlander63]

This is something we should all do if we care about our family history. When you ask your father or mother about, say, their experiences in WWII, take a small tape recorder with you, and record the conversation. You will be saving it for your children, as well as helping their stories as accurate as possible.

[Roscinante]

We did this when my mother was dying of Brain Cancer and my Dad was dying of a broken heart at losing his wife of 62 years.

Stories I had heard a 1000 times as a kid and those I had never heard were captured by my sisters and brothers.

Wished we had done it while they were in better health and able to talk longer.

[Streamin 65]

My father wasn't born until '42 but I have a great Uncle who did several
tours of duty during the war. He is currently 91 years old, still drives a car, and sometimes will pick my wife up to give her a "bear hug" when we visit.
Two years ago, he went to the VA where a young girl working at the desk said he was due some "items" from the war. Shortly thereafter, I went to visit him. He pulled out a small box that the UPS guy had just brought. The box contained seven medals he had earned during WWII that our government had apparently neglected to present to him for 60+ years. Several combat stars, marksmanship etc. I don't remember what all of the medals were for, but I promptly built him a nice chestnut case to display these medals, complete with room for his Army photo and a place for a flag when he is gone.
Being only 36, WWII is a reach for my comprehension. Anything I've learned about the war was from the history channel. I always knew he fought in the war, but never thought much about it, and he never talked about it. The medals peaked my interest, and I began to ask questions.
WOW, the stories!!!...... I could listen for hours........days.......
My great uncle is a very humble man. In brief, his summary of WWII is "we were young, and did what we had to do."
He is now becoming a frail old man, but I think he is still a giant amongst men.
Here's to you Uncle Gus, and everyone that served with you. Your generation is truly the greatest yet. --dave

[prhamilt]

My father was a ball turret gunneer on a B-24, having served out of Ipswich, England for the last 9 months or so of the war. In the little he said about that time he described most of his missions as "milk runs" but also said that everytime he left the ground he thought it would be his last. When the war in Europe was over he was sent stateside to await reassignment to the Pacific theater, whcih was scheduled to happen within 30 days. He was in Walla Walla, Washington when the war ended. He considered himself lucky to have had the opportunity to be part of the war. His first cousin enlisted at the same time and both had hoped to be pilots. His cousin made it into the training program, but by the time he had finished flight school they were no longer sending additional pilots oversees. He was always disappointed in that fact.

I took a flight on the only "combat ready" B-24 still flying a few years ago as a way to remember my dad who passed away 10 years ago this summer. It was a remarkable experience and one anyone can be part of by contacting the Collins Foundation. I would be glad to provide info. for any interested parties. If the moderator needs justification for this thread, the fact that the early airstreams and B-24's were made of essentially the same aluminum outta due. In fact, chances are the aluminum salvaged from the 15,000 B-24's that were originally produced is probably in the skin of many an early Airstream. I like that thought...

[Jim & Susan]

Originally Posted by prhamilt

....... In fact, chances are the aluminum salvaged from the 15,000 B-24's that were originally produced is probably in the skin of many an early Airstream. I like that thought...

Indeed.

Jim

[CanoeStream]

Like so many on the Forums, my parents were brought together by WWII. There would have been no other way a young man from Clarion, PA, and a young woman from San Antonio could have gotten together. I have scanned a couple thousand photos in four family albums up until he started taking slides in about 1957; now my brothers and sisters can share without pulling those prized albums apart. My father died five years ago and this scanning raised so many questions that will always be unanswered. Don't put this off!

Photo 1: My father (on your right) with two other pilots at Plant City, FL; probably 1944.
Photo 2: My father in the pilot's seat of a B-17 (he flew missions as a copilot).
Photo 3: He went straight to Texas after flying his plane back from England. This is Ben Smith and Billie Jean Thompson at Blanco, TX, on August 8, 1945.
Photo 4: My father flew countless aircraft to the future-Airstream boneyards in Arkansas and Arizona after the war. My parents got married in Oct '46 while he was on convalescence from a C-54 crash on Johnston Island (passenger). After two years as a flight officer at Haneda airfield (now Tokyo Int'l), this March '49 pic is their last morning in Tokyo -- my mother is 3 months pregnant with me; I was born in San Antonio. I grew up living in Fairborn, OH, Chateauroux, France, and multiple locations in Texas.

Several of my dad's WWII pics are at 571st squadron page. He flew in the last 8th Air Force mission over Germany, then participated in food drops to starving Dutch.

[rmpray]

Good reflections. My dad was building turbo chargers for bombers at GE thus exempt. He was proud of his work, but wished he had served. (He was a in the CCC prior to the war). My mom was an RN during the war. My uncles served in the Army during the war. One in the Pacific I believe, and saw much action. Did not talk much about it, but he continued after trhe war with the reseres and retired. The other managed to enlist despite poor eye sight and ended up in Fla. as a fireing range instructor. My Great Grandfather enlisted at fourteen (lied about his age) and served in the union army during the civil war. We had cousins on the Confederate side. I did twenty in the AF. My youngest is a Marine and served in Iraq in "the wild wild west" (made some good Iraqi friends). Middle son is AF in Europe and oldest could not serve (blind in one eye) so he joined up with KBR and is on his second hitch in Afganistan.

Father in Law was career Army (Quarter Master) who stayd on after WWII and did thirty years. He was in Berlin when the wall went up..but did not live to see it come back down.

[BIGED52]

Was a worker for the Rock Island Lines Railroad after high school and joined the National Guard in 1939 when he was 19. He and many of his fellow Guard Unit members then enlisted in the Army the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked. He had already almost two years in the Guard and so was sent with some of the first U.S. Army combat units deployed to the Pacific theater. He was sent to the Phillipines early in the war to defend against the Japanese onslaught. He was badly wounded by Jap machinegun fire and sent to the States to recover from his wounds. He was then sent to France after D-Day and fought in both France and Germany. During this time he was written to by a young girl from a cotton farm in Arkansas as she was writing to other members of his unit. He told them all that they should stop writing to her as after the war he was going to go home and marry her. They had a good laugh at that remark and continued their letters to her. However, he did come back from the war in Europe and traveled to Arkansas to meet her. Before he returned to Ft. Knox from his leave they were married. He told me very little of his war experiences. Just to hard to talk about with a kid I guess. I was only 17 when he died of a heart attack at the age of 49 in 1969. He did tell me that when he was in an inspection just before he got out of the Army in 1948 that the inspecting General got in his face regarding his ribbons worn on his dress uniform jacket (Ike Jacket). Seems the General thought that his ribbons were displayed wrong on his uniform. Without blinking he replied that the General was mistaken. The General of course blew his stack and stated that this lowly Tech Sergeant was out of uniform for wearing his ribbons incorrectly. My dad then responded "Sir, I served in the Pacific first and then in Europe, Sir." Then the General turned bright red and left the parade field without finishing the inspection of the rest of the troops! Telling that story was one thing that always made him laugh. My older brother was in the Marines and wounded three times at Khe Sanh in 1968. I served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam from 1971 to 1972. Ed