A real American hero

Personal conversation | August 23, 2003 | Self

[11B3]

I can think of two of these men - one of them with nearly the exact same experience in the Pacific. (He was my neighbor.) He was a bomber pilot, shot down, broke his back. Recovered well enough to survive the Death March.

The other was my uncle. During WWII he led a platoon of infantrymen in Iceland and Greenland. Their job was to alpine ski from fjord to fjord hunting U-boats with bazookas. Having spent time myself on Army issued alpine skis, I can't imagine doing that for any length of time - much less years. They sunk a few subs though.

[teldon30]

This is the best thread i have ever read on FR....My grandfather was at the invasion of Leyte...he was shot in the inner thigh by a Japanese sniper as he lit a cigarette (two days after everything was suppose to be clear)...just missed his nads...my best friend's great uncle was a bomber pilot that was shot down over Germany...he managed to escape...i enjoy all their stories...i hope this thread continues...even if freepers just mention tidbits like me.

[truth_seeker]

My Dad. Left high school at 17 to enlist in the Marines and serve his country, in World War. Rode the bus to Billings Montana, then the train to San Diego.

Trained at Pendelton, and after floating around the South Pacific, landed his amphib tank on Okinawa. He was seriously wounded in the hand, when shrapnel hit his field telephone.

He recovered from his wound, at Honolulu, and was ready to return to full duty, when we atom-bombed the shit out of the fanatic Jap bastards. (written thusly, as that is precisely how the guys felt--sorry if it offends)

My mother was certain he would have been off to invade Japan, had not the war ended. I believe he was out before he turned 20.

My Dad was an outgoing man, but reserved about the hell of actual combat. He was one proud Marine, to his death in 1996.

[Iscool]

A good friend's Marine Dad spoke of the South Pacific...He would be in a foxhole and all night long the "Japs" would be talking to him...They'd be saying "Joe, I can see you...I'm going to kill you...You'll be dead by morning"...As I understand it, this was a nightly occurrance for some time...
I didn't learn much about WWII from my Dad...Another one of those Staff Sgts in the motor pool...He started out somewhere in Africa in "41" and made it home in "46"...5 theaters of operation total...
Like many others, he was under Patton at one time...I asked him about Patton's nick-name, Old Blood and Guts...My dad says yeah, his guts and YOUR blood...My dad wasn't too impressed with George Patton...
I did see pictures of a liberated concentration camp...Dead prisoners stacked about 10 feet high and probably 50 yards long...Numerous rows of them...The holocaust was real...Anyone that says otherwise is an idiot...
My dad would not allow a gun in the house, even for hunting...Said he'd seen enough killing...
At ten years old, my oldest son said he wanted to drive a tank...He kept saying it until---he drove a tank...U.S. Army...Germany, not long before the WALL came down...
The initial story from the military was that a bomb had exploded in his car...What became the official story was that he was in a car wreck and the car caught on fire...At the funeral here in the States, his sargeant told the family that he was involved in smuggling people out of East Berlin and everything was connected...
Like so many soldiers, he was a wonderful boy and I miss him dearly...
As for me, I've got plenty of heros...

[teldon30]

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/949830/posts

[TomSmedley]

ping

[raisincane]

My father-inlaw was a medic during WWII. He served in Italy and Northern Africa. In the midst of a battle he was wounded. This wound was from fire which left him completely bald. He continued to do his job and never reported the injury, so he never received The Purple Heart. My father-inlaw, Eddie, never told us just how he caught on fire. He was a good man who volunteered, worked two jobs most of his life to support his family. He never talked of the war, only to tell humorous stories.

Here is one......Sitting around the Thanksgiving table one year, my brother inlaw was relating his son's experience serving on board ship. My father inlaw was trying to interupt and say something. Eddie was quite feeble by this time. Finally, he blurted out on the way home from the war aboard a ship while pulling guard duty top side, the ship was in rough waters, rocking back and forth. He was one of the two guards. They were not allowed to leave under any circumstances. The other guard had to go to the bathroom. He hung his butt between the rails. The ship rocked down and then back up very quickly. Eddie said the poor guy ended up pooping right on his own head!

We really laughed at this story. We miss Eddie. One fine hero.

[Shamrock-DW]

A lot of good stories like this at http://teamhouse.tni.net

[Clara Lou]

Reading this brought back the memory of a different sort of tattoo... two brothers who had numbers tattooed on their forearms. I was hired to work the stockroom.
I'm trying to understand why you'd want to mention this on this thread. The tattoo connection is very weak, but you manage to use it very effectively to point out that two Jewish men didn't give you the job they said they would. Big deal. Did you ask them why? Maybe they didn't like the way you worked. Maybe they were jerks. There are jerks of every heritage, including yours and mine.

[kaylar]

My dad has a baseball cap that he likes to wear. It mentions that he served in WW II, Korea, and Vietnam, 1941-1971. He's had the cap for years, and he said that no one ever commented till about 2-3years ago. Now he can't wear it in public without at least one person coming up and thanking him or asking him about his tours of duty. He stated that many of the people doing so are young people : Teens and 20somethings.

[TexasBarak]

He was separated from active duty in 1962. What could still be so sensitive? I mean, technology has changed so much since then as to be basically unrecognizible

Ya gotta wonder. My own father commanded an aviation unit in Vietnam in '68 or so (when I was a small child), and since he hasn't hear that the mission has been declassified, still won't even give a hint what they were doing. Whatever it was, it was pretty serious stuff- as a light colonel, he'd had a top-secret clearance for years, and they went through the whole routine again for him to obtain an even higher level of clearance (which he won't name). He got a Distinguished Flying Cross out of it (which he says is the only medal he's proud of- not the silver or bronze stars, but just the DFC), and the citation with it doesn't say what he did to earn it.

I've always wondered- and I'm sure I'll go to my grave wondering.

[TheSpottedOwl]

I don't know why I mentioned it. I had forgotten all about it. They just needed someone they could pay under the table until the job was done. I thought it was a little ironic; my dad moves heaven and earth to enlist, and the survivors go and give his kid the shaft....

[Tunehead54]

Bookmark Bump! Thanks - great thread. We owe so much to so many.

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[Tunehead54]

18 posted on 08/24/2003 1:58 AM EDT by TheSpottedOwl (I need a new tag line)

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Check mine out for a little inspiration. ;-)

PS: Heck - I'll even give ya a clickable link!

[TheSpottedOwl]

Wow, now I'll have to try harder. Some of the taglines I see here are awesome :-)

[PLMerite]

They really drum that security thing into your head. And when you're in that business, you realize that every little piece of information counts.

Stuff from 40+ years ago might have been declassified by now; I'm pretty sure some of it has, in fact. But it's a pain finding out what.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Thank you all very much. This is a terrific bunch of replies.

However, in reading through the list, it occurs to me that the many who served without the experiences of combat are too often overlooked. Without a doubt, the unsung soldiers that signed up in peacetime or just plain served their tours without complaint or combat are heroes as well. The cast of the lot decides who goes where just as surely as it decides the fates of those in harm's way.

It was not my intent to exclude those who served honorably, or even the patient devotion to duty the civilians in our lives have performed as they go about the tasks of a lifetime in meeting the needs of their families and their civic duties as Americans.

For all of the men and women that go about their lives with integrity and devote themselves to their families and our nation, my hat is off and my head is bowed. Without a heavy leavening of these people, our nation is through.

To think that all of the 'Atlas' types that fill our nation and it's military, I am amazed at the forbearance that accompanies the lifetimes of duty, courage and honor. Frankly, if I ran things, the malingerers, the deceivers, the traitors of the left and those who simply suck the blood from the nation would be expelled from our shores in a heartbeat to wander the earth like homeless pariahs.

It would be nice to see somebody publish a book filled with the stories of all kinds of these people that share a love and devotion to our nation and our freedoms. Maybe somebody will do a 'Book of Patriots' someday. It would sure beat the heck out of a coffee table book about the (low) life of the Clinton crime family.

[JLO]

Well, the most heroic thing I've personally witnessed is my partner (a disabled VN vet) who saved a drowning neighbor boy who fell through the ice years ago. He had no thought or hesitation about his own danger. He says it was his military background that came through and he didn't give it a second thought. He was a 173rd Airborne Ranger.

When it was published in the paper, the cops said he "attempted" to save him. Can't explain that one.

Very nice thread, WorkingClass!