The WWII Relatives thread (1 Viewer)

[Saintman2884]

I am taking a WWII class this upcoming summer and I want to do some research sort of on this board, I want to ask the members of this board if they had any relatives that fought in WWII whether it was Germany, Italy, or the Pacific theaters. I still cannot forget the War by Ken Burns, that was an excellent documentary that was truly heads and shoulders above any thing I have ever seen.

So it with that in my mind, I want to take some time to ask the people of this board their WWII memories, and share some experiences.

My father's uncle actually parachuted in to France on D-Day and was in Germany when it fell in April 1945, and spent some time in Essen and Belgium.

My half brother's grandfather was on the ground in Germany as well. He actually captured a Lager gun from some Nazis and I think my brother still has it somewhere in his house in Atlanta.

 

[SaintMeaux]

My grandfather lied about his age and joined the Navy at 16. He served on a tug in the South Pacific, that's all he's ever really said.

 

[DCSaints_Fan]

My grandfather was drafted in February 1944 when he was a 38 years old, a few months after my mother was born. Served in France and Germany, under Patton, so he arrived on the continent after D-day. He told me he was a 'light machine gunner', I assume he meant the BAR (Browining Automatic Rifle). He recalled one story where he was taking a dump right when the Germans decided to start attacking. There was alos another story, about which I never asked him about, that my mother told me when his unit had to wade across the Rhine(or perhaps some other river in Germany), he ran off and hid a monastery, because he was afraid of the water. They threw him in the brig, but he was discharged honorably. I never asked him a whole lot, I thought the war was horrible and I didn't want to dig up bad memories. Sadly he passed away three years ago.

 

[hardhead233]

My grandfather(mom's side) was in the Navy during WWII and was aboard the ships that transported troops and other supplies to the shore during D-Day(can't remember exactly what they were called he told me years ago), I think he was something like a medic assistant. My brother did an interview years ago where he just recounted things from that time period, the war and D-day but unfortunately I think the tapes all got lost in the storm. Sadly my grandfather also perished in the storm as well, he was 83...

On the same side(my mothers) my great uncle(who was like 93 or 94 when he died several years ago) was infantry and fought in Europe and had part of his finger blown off I know that much, that's all I remember as a kid because they would say "your uncle is coming to visit" and I would say "the one that has half a finger??" hahaah. I wasn't very close with that side of the family though so I don't know many details, that side of the family was from Mississippi and he was very influential with the community college system in Mississippi and had a couple things named after him and awards bestowed to him before and after his death..

 

[BullDawg]

One of my uncles (father's side) served in the Navy in the Pacific and my grandfather (mother's side) served in the Army, also in the Pacific theater. I've never spoke with my uncle although I have a Imperial Japanese Admiral's flag. My grandfather has shared some of his experiences but as in any war, there are some things that just aren't discussed.

 

[billinms]

My grandfather joined the Navy before WWII, and was in China when the war started. One of my great uncles was a pilot shot down over Switzerland. Because they were neutral, he wasn't allowed to leave until the war was over. He lived in a little Swiss villa for a few years and said he almost never left.

 

[MamaSaint]

My own father did not serve in WWII. I'm still not sure of the reason, but he was rejected for some physical problem. Two of his brothers served in Europe, though. One uncle rarely spoke of his service. He was in a unit that built a bridge over the Rhine River. Only 10% survived the war. He also said that the worst thing that ever happened in his life was having to shoot a woman. She was driving a tank & it was either kill or be killed. He said he had nightmares for many years.

Four of my mother's brothers served. One was in the first Army group that arrived in Nagasaki after the atom bomb was dropped. He was already an ordained minister, and he was so moved by what he saw that he became a missionary and spent the next 25 years of his life in Japan. I know that one was in the Navy & the others in the Army. I have no idea where they served, though. They never spoke about it.

Jan

 

[DadsDream]

My uncle was in the Marines.

He started the war in Iceland. Yes, we had a whole Marine division in Iceland before the war started, in case the Nazis invaded Britain.

He went from Iceland to Guadalcanal. Briefly discharged for medical reasons after Guadalcanal, he got called back and somehow survived the island hopping campaign, including Tinian, Saipan and Guam.

I presided as honor guard at his funeral and presented the flag to my aunt.

 

[porculator]

One grandfather was with the 88th airborne and went into France 2 days after D-day via glider and parachute. His job was basically to patch up allied runways after they got bombed.

My other grandfather (who is still alive at 95) was a Navy ace, so he says. He tends to exaggerate stories, but it wouldn't surprise me since the Japanese Zeros were just flying gas cans. One time he told me when I was like 10 about how he would try and look every Jap pilot in the eye before he shot him down.

 

[APSaintsFan]

My Grandfather(My Dad's dad) was at Pearl Harbor in the Navy. He was based on the Enterprise but he was at base while they were at sea for some reason. He woke up when he heard explosions outside his quarters. Saw Japanese planes, then grabbed a rifle along with others, and ran out and started shooting at the planes. He said he thinks he hit a lot of the Zeros but he don't think he shot anything down. He died 3 years ago. He told me that he was really scared when that happened but he was going ahead doing like everybody else and fight. He also said that he lost a lot of buddies at Pearl Harbor. By the way he told me when 9/11 happened and everybody was talking that this is just like Pearl Harbor, he said "It ain't no where near it."

 

[Brad Mojo]

My grandfather and grand-uncle survived The Battle of the Bulge.

 

[SaintsFan11]

My paternal Grandfather was a Captain in the Amry in Normandy under Patton, coming in at D-Day +15. Lots of great stories, we're actually going to Normandy this summer to retrace his steps.

My paternal grandmother was a British red cross ambulance driver, her brother trained RAF pilots.

My Maternal Granfather commanded a minesweeper in the south pacific largely after the war, previously had was given a deferment because he was a draftsman working for Higgins out of N.O.. One frightening story about the Minesweepers is that he says there was a typhoon and they were forced to weather it at sea- only 3 out of 11 were seen again.

His brother was in Italy in some terrible fighting, including Anzio I think.

 

[Saint by the Bay]

Both my Grandfathers served. On my Mom's side in the Pacific. He was an anti-aircraft gunner. He had a great picture on his nightstand of him sitting in the gun but I don't know what happened to it after he passed away.

On my Dad's side he was in Europe. Was at D-Day and was wounded there. He went on the make the rank of Sgt. Major (his CO had to fly to Washington and appear before Congress to get that rank for him because it was a rank that just wasn't given to black men in the 50's), was the highest ranking NCO in Europe for a while, served in Korea and finally retired after over 30 years of service.

To this day I love sitting and listening to his stories about WW2. He was on the front lines and really saw and experienced some amazing things.

 

[DadsDream]

My father-in-law flew cargo and troop transport planes in the Pacific. He was one of the first pilots to land in Hiroshima after the bomb and he flew many supply missions there during the occupation.

Trained on B-26 bombers (a real hotrod of a plane) for the European campaign, letters home show he was extremely upset when they transferred him to the Pacific and put him in C-46 cargo planes (flying truck).

He died in 1974 of an extremely rare form of cancer. The VA covered everything, even as the government officially denied any connection between the cancer and his time in Hiroshima.

 

[MamaSaint]

My father-in-law flew cargo and troop transport planes in the Pacific. He was one of the first pilots to land in Hiroshima after the bomb and he flew many supply missions there during the occupation.

Trained on B-26 bombers (a real hotrod of a plane) for the European campaign, letters home show he was extremely upset when they transferred him to the Pacific and put him in C-46 cargo planes (flying truck).

He died in 1974 of an extremely rare form of cancer. The VA covered everything, even as the government officially denied any connection between the cancer and his time in Hiroshima.

My uncle referenced above who was in Nagasaki shortly after the bomb, also suffered from two extremely rare forms of cancer. The government also denied any connection.

I forgot about my ex-father-in-law who was in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific. He brought home some war trophies that my ex-husband still treasures. One is an authentic samurai sword which is very old. He also brought home two Japanese military pistols. Both are German-made Lugers. One is a Japanese officer's pistol with a wood grip. My ex has been offered huge amounts of $$$ by collectors for this gun. It's an odd size (9 mm maybe??) & ammunition has to be custom made.

Jan