[cav68]

They did but from him it was just a bad day and no more would he relate. I had been back from Nam for years before he would talk about it at all, he said I would not have understood until I had been under fore. So real, so real.

[colorado tanker]

Most of the WWII vets I’ve met were the same way, just didn’t talk about it. They were the kind of men who just did what needed to be done, during and after the war. I’m so sorry to see them passing.

[philled]

My grandfather would only say "We weren't there to be tourists" when asked about what his European tour of duty was like. After he went to the 50th Anniversary, he only talked about what they ate and the wine he brought back. It wasn't until we saw Saving Private Ryan in the theater that he began talking about his D-Day experiences.

He was fortunate to not have been part of the morning landing waves and had advanced well off the beaches when he was wounded. I asked if, when visiting again in 1994, he tried to find the spot where it happened. He said that he didn't need to- he had an image of where it was and what it had looked like as a medic had propped him up on a fence (hedge?) for what seemed like weeks- and it would always look that way to him regardless of what changes time brought.