D-Day +28 124

mcgruff10

@mrussel1   My grandfathers canteen cover that I found twenty years after he passed.  Shows exactly where he was from training to VE Day. 

mcgruff10

@mrussel1 some war “souvenirs” he brought back. Luftwaffe belt buckle, insignia from a German cap, k98 bayonet. There was a lot more but my grandmother threw them out.  

jeffbr

mcgruff10 said:

@mrussel1   My grandfathers canteen cover that I found twenty years after he passed.  Shows exactly where he was from training to VE Day. 

Wow, Mike! That is a treasure. 

mrussel1

McGruff, that's so great. Thanks for sharing. 

mrussel1

mcgruff10 said:

mrussel1 said:

cp3iverson said:

WW2 vets are the most fascinating people to me.  Brave and humble.  

In May i happened to be at the airport in NOLA (home of the National WW2 Museum).  That day about 100 or so WW2 vets were flown in for an event at the museum.  As they were wheeled/walked down the concourse it was mass applause from everyone in the airport.  Chills man!!!!  They are superheroes to me. 

I mentioned this many moons ago but I think it's worth repeating.  My father died in 93.  He was a Korea vet.  Two of his brothers were still alive and were at the after funeral gathering.  Mike was Army, Battle of the Bulge and captured there by the Germans.  George was a marine and an island hopper.  The neighbor across the street was Polish resistance.  The three of them spent the entire afternoon arguing about who had it worse, recounting their experiences.  I wish I would have recorded it because it was utterly fascinating.  

I think in order of having it worst I would go:
George
Polish resistance
Mike

I think that's right,  although my Uncle Mike nearly froze to death in the stalag.  As the end drew near,  the Germans took their boots,  gloves,  socks,  etc. Then they abandoned the prisoners.  

mrussel1

hedonist said:

My dad left Germany in 1938 and served in WWII after receiving American citizenship and a college education.  Most of his family who stayed behind were killed (he was fortunate to somehow re-unite with his father for a brief period before my grandfather's passing).  He fought as a fucking kid in North Africa and the Battle of Salerno.  By the grace of I don't know what, he not only survived, but relished life and goodwill with gratitude until he died.  No airs about him.

A fine, loving and funny man whom I'm lucky to have known, let alone have as a father.

While he didn't receive reparations, his wife did - but that's another story.

When I visited my fatherland years ago, there wasn't talk at all about the war...almost as if on purpose.  Granted, I also wasn't looking for it...although there were bars that outright made fun of Hitler and his henchmen.  Gave me a chuckle.

Did your dad fight for the Germans or Americans? I wasn't clear from the post and comments on reparations. 

RYME

This is a great 5 minute video about how incredible D-Day was and how it all went down, an All or Nothing mission super risky and the consequences if it had failed.
Very humbling and sobering.
https://youtu.be/pHsAmOR5m00

ponytd

mcgruff10 said:

@mrussel1   My grandfathers canteen cover that I found twenty years after he passed.  Shows exactly where he was from training to VE Day. 

Wow, that is pretty awesome.

My mom's dad never really talked about it. He was only ever in England and there during the bombing in London, but like a lot of them, he would never talk. My dad's dad died the year I was born and had left the family about 15 years before, so hearing stories and seeing things like this from others fascinates me

Bentleyspop

Hate never goes away.....

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1136436562189869058?s=19

Meltdown99

Meltdown99

The mystery of Yang Kyoungjong, the only soldier to have fought on three sides of a war
https://nationalpost.com/news/world/the-mystery-of-yang-kyoungjong-the-only-soldier-to-have-fought-on-three-sides-of-a-war?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3DzDelY-PAryUymkcrWZ1PErWugBhNOMlTpeH3d46SR56p8dbDWqSMso8#Echobox=1559828227

True or not, Yang Kyoungjong’s unwitting journey from Korea, to Northern China, to Ukraine and finally to France is a perfect representation of just how sprawling the Second World War was, and how so many people’s lives were changed and displaced forever.

Spiritual_Chaos

Meltdown99 said:

What was the reson canada joined in? As soon as Pearl harbour like the states? A ”brother”-act? 

Or How did that come about. To be honest from school (here) you sort of forget canada was one of the four ”squadrons” (or Whatever one would call it) (2 american, 1 british and 1 canadian right?) on that coast. 

Meltdown99

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Meltdown99 said:

What was the reson canada joined in? As soon as Pearl harbour like the states? A ”brother”-act? 

Or How did that come about. To be honest from school (here) you sort of forget canada was one of the four ”squadrons” (or Whatever one would call it) (2 american, 1 british and 1 canadian right?) on that coast. 

We followed Britain into the war.  Even though we gained independence over our foreign policy in 1931?  I think Canada felt they it was her duty to support Britain.  We are still a part British Colony, someday, some PM will decide it's time to end being part of the British Colony, at least that's my hope.  For a country like ours that had a small population at the time, we were active in every theatre of the war.  I believe at the conclusion of WW2 we had the 4th largest Navy...

The British had Sword Beach and Gold Beach, Canada had Juno...Juno and Gold were the only beaches linked at the end of day 1.

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1136688561338703872

Spiritual_Chaos

Meltdown99 said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Meltdown99 said:

What was the reson canada joined in? As soon as Pearl harbour like the states? A ”brother”-act? 

Or How did that come about. To be honest from school (here) you sort of forget canada was one of the four ”squadrons” (or Whatever one would call it) (2 american, 1 british and 1 canadian right?) on that coast. 

We followed Britain into the war.  Even though we gained independence over our foreign policy in 1931?  I think Canada felt they it was her duty to support Britain.  We are still a part British Colony, someday, some PM will decide it's time to end being part of the British Colony, at least that's my hope.  For a country like ours that had a small population at the time, we were active in every theatre of the war.  I believe at the conclusion of WW2 we had the 4th largest Navy...

The British had Sword Beach and Gold Beach, Canada had Juno...Juno and Gold were the only beaches linked at the end of day 1.

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1136688561338703872

Ah ok. Cool. 

brianlux

OK, so here are a few brief stories about my father in WWII

One of the most interesting things about my Pop's involvement is that it was somewhat ironic.  My father was full blooded Amish but went to great lengths to be accepted into service.  Amish people are generally pacifistic, but my Pop felt strongly about serving in WWII.  He volunteered, but was initially reject due to having flat feet.   So every day for a few weeks he rubbed dirt around the edges of his feet to give them color such that they looked normal and then went to a different recruiting station in a different town and was accepted into the U.S. Navy. 

The other ironic thing is that Amish people generally avoid technology and yet my father trained to become an aviation machinists mate and was shipped of to the Soloman Islands where he served on a small landing strip on one of the islands.  I asked him what part of the planes did he work on and he said, "Everything from the propeller to the tail."  After the war he went on to become, first, a draftsman for Ampex (they made great reel to reel tape recorders), and after that became an aeronautical engineer for United Air Lines.

His outfit was bombed by Japanese planes from time to time, sending him and his buddies diving into fox holes.  Somehow, they all managed to survive.  He told me though, that one night he had been dreaming that a "Jap" had cut his arm off.  He woke up and couldn't feel his arm and thought it really had been cut off.  But it turns out he slept on it and it went numb.  So he made it through those years unscathed.

Guys weren't supposed to take photographs over there but one of my Pop's buddies had a camera and film and managed to acquire the chemicals needed to develop the photos.  Here is one of those photographs (my father is the man on the far left):

Meltdown99

mrussel1

brianlux said:

OK, so here are a few brief stories about my father in WWII

One of the most interesting things about my Pop's involvement is that it was somewhat ironic.  My father was full blooded Amish but went to great lengths to be accepted into service.  Amish people are generally pacifistic, but my Pop felt strongly about serving in WWII.  He volunteered, but was initially reject due to having flat feet.   So every day for a few weeks he rubbed dirt around the edges of his feet to give them color such that they looked normal and then went to a different recruiting station in a different town and was accepted into the U.S. Navy. 

The other ironic thing is that Amish people generally avoid technology and yet my father trained to become an aviation machinists mate and was shipped of to the Soloman Islands where he served on a small landing strip on one of the islands.  I asked him what part of the planes did he work on and he said, "Everything from the propeller to the tail."  After the war he went on to become, first, a draftsman for Ampex (they made great reel to reel tape recorders), and after that became an aeronautical engineer for United Air Lines.

His outfit was bombed by Japanese planes from time to time, sending him and his buddies diving into fox holes.  Somehow, they all managed to survive.  He told me though, that one night he had been dreaming that a "Jap" had cut his arm off.  He woke up and couldn't feel his arm and thought it really had been cut off.  But it turns out he slept on it and it went numb.  So he made it through those years unscathed.

Guys weren't supposed to take photographs over there but one of my Pop's buddies had a camera and film and managed to acquire the chemicals needed to develop the photos.  Here is one of those photographs (my father is the man on the far left):

Great story!  For someone to set aside pacifist beliefs to fight tyranny and evil is really heroic.  And thanks for sharing the picture.  I love seeing these young men,  teenagers even,  overseas and willing to give their lives for what we take for granted today.  
I admit to shedding a tear or two this morning watching the news from France.  And I also admit to crying every time I watch the opening and closing scene of Ryan,  as the flags wave at the memorial.  

hedonist

mrussel1 said:

hedonist said:

My dad left Germany in 1938 and served in WWII after receiving American citizenship and a college education.  Most of his family who stayed behind were killed (he was fortunate to somehow re-unite with his father for a brief period before my grandfather's passing).  He fought as a fucking kid in North Africa and the Battle of Salerno.  By the grace of I don't know what, he not only survived, but relished life and goodwill with gratitude until he died.  No airs about him.

A fine, loving and funny man whom I'm lucky to have known, let alone have as a father.

While he didn't receive reparations, his wife did - but that's another story.

When I visited my fatherland years ago, there wasn't talk at all about the war...almost as if on purpose.  Granted, I also wasn't looking for it...although there were bars that outright made fun of Hitler and his henchmen.  Gave me a chuckle.

Did your dad fight for the Germans or Americans? I wasn't clear from the post and comments on reparations. 

He fought for the US, sir.

And seeing the photo of Brian's father makes me wish I had more of the few pictures and items he saved from the war, and from his home life (I'm compelled to toss out a big fuck you to my stepmother; again, another story).

ponytd

brianlux said:

OK, so here are a few brief stories about my father in WWII

One of the most interesting things about my Pop's involvement is that it was somewhat ironic.  My father was full blooded Amish but went to great lengths to be accepted into service.  Amish people are generally pacifistic, but my Pop felt strongly about serving in WWII.  He volunteered, but was initially reject due to having flat feet.   So every day for a few weeks he rubbed dirt around the edges of his feet to give them color such that they looked normal and then went to a different recruiting station in a different town and was accepted into the U.S. Navy. 

The other ironic thing is that Amish people generally avoid technology and yet my father trained to become an aviation machinists mate and was shipped of to the Soloman Islands where he served on a small landing strip on one of the islands.  I asked him what part of the planes did he work on and he said, "Everything from the propeller to the tail."  After the war he went on to become, first, a draftsman for Ampex (they made great reel to reel tape recorders), and after that became an aeronautical engineer for United Air Lines.

His outfit was bombed by Japanese planes from time to time, sending him and his buddies diving into fox holes.  Somehow, they all managed to survive.  He told me though, that one night he had been dreaming that a "Jap" had cut his arm off.  He woke up and couldn't feel his arm and thought it really had been cut off.  But it turns out he slept on it and it went numb.  So he made it through those years unscathed.

Guys weren't supposed to take photographs over there but one of my Pop's buddies had a camera and film and managed to acquire the chemicals needed to develop the photos.  Here is one of those photographs (my father is the man on the far left):

that's really cool he went to those lengths to join up. Like mrussel1 said, that is really heroic. Awesome he managed to make it out unscathed too.

mrussel1 said:

Great story!  For someone to set aside pacifist beliefs to fight tyranny and evil is really heroic.  And thanks for sharing the picture.  I love seeing these young men,  teenagers even,  overseas and willing to give their lives for what we take for granted today.  
I admit to shedding a tear or two this morning watching the news from France.  And I also admit to crying every time I watch the opening and closing scene of Ryan,  as the flags wave at the memorial.  

When I was at the cemetery there 2.5 weeks ago, we got to see the flag ceremony with the 21 gun salute and playing of Taps. Even though both of those were recordings and played over the loudspeakers, it still choked me up and brought tears to my eyes. Very humbling and awesome experience.  Our tour guide said that all French schoolchildren take field trips throughout the year to the cemeteries and beaches in Normandy. I thought that was really cool.

brianlux

hedonist said:

mrussel1 said:

hedonist said:

My dad left Germany in 1938 and served in WWII after receiving American citizenship and a college education.  Most of his family who stayed behind were killed (he was fortunate to somehow re-unite with his father for a brief period before my grandfather's passing).  He fought as a fucking kid in North Africa and the Battle of Salerno.  By the grace of I don't know what, he not only survived, but relished life and goodwill with gratitude until he died.  No airs about him.

A fine, loving and funny man whom I'm lucky to have known, let alone have as a father.

While he didn't receive reparations, his wife did - but that's another story.

When I visited my fatherland years ago, there wasn't talk at all about the war...almost as if on purpose.  Granted, I also wasn't looking for it...although there were bars that outright made fun of Hitler and his henchmen.  Gave me a chuckle.

Did your dad fight for the Germans or Americans? I wasn't clear from the post and comments on reparations. 

He fought for the US, sir.

And seeing the photo of Brian's father makes me wish I had more of the few pictures and items he saved from the war, and from his home life (I'm compelled to toss out a big fuck you to my stepmother; again, another story).

Bummer about your stepmother but good that you have a few pictures- no doubt treasures to you!