Uncle's grave in Belgium

[Freightman]

195750
Died at the battle of the Bulge

[DougGuy]

First condolences to your family for their loss, second a nod of gratitude for those who gave all fighting for our nation, our freedom, and that of our allies.

They aren't making men out of boys these days and it sorely shows. Too bad it cost the lives of so many, even worse the lessons taught are lost on the worthlessness of the liberals and their offspring which make up the "entitlement" generation.

In his lifetime, the threat of the Axis powers was a grave danger to the entire globe and if it weren't for the bravery of his generation, much of the world as we know it would never have been rescued.

Who is going to rescue America now? Who is going to keep us free? There are many among us who miss your Uncle, and his buddies, and the grave marker in a foreign land does not mark just the final resting place of an American veteran, it marks an immeasurable loss that will never be regained or relearned in our lifetime.

[EMC45]

Bless him. Christmas day too.

[WILCO]

Gave me chills Frank. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[WILCO]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksv05DMsAkg

[Blackwater]

God bless you for this post, and for honoring one of our "best and bravest." Those guys were amazing!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

An American veteran's salute to your uncle. Perhaps someday we will get to shake his hand.

[lightman]

RIP S SGT! Know that you were part of Americas Greatest Generation.

[Riverpigusmc]

RIP sir. Till Valhalla

[Outpost75]

Thanks for posting.
195788
195787
195786

195785

[xs11jack]

When it is so terrible, why do we allow our leaders to do this to us!
Ole Jack

[Leslie Sapp]

Freightman,
I thought you may be interested in this, a link to the official history of the 78th. https://archive.org/details/Lightning78thInfantry

[Blackwater]

When it is so terrible, why do we allow our leaders to do this to us!
Ole Jack

Good question, and in this case the answer's easy. FDR refused to enter that damnable war until Pearl Harbor. It was Tojo and Hitler that brought that one to us. NOT our gov't! Otherwise, why did most able bodied men volunteer to fight that dreadful conflict?

[Freightman]

Had uncles in the US Army, FIL in the USAC , Dad in the 77th assigned to Nimitz in the central pacific, FIL was with MacArthur, and another uncle in the USN at the Coral sea, Midway , Okanawa. so lots of blood shed for this country, the last eight years looked like it would fall, and if we don't do something about what is going on I still fear the end results. I am an old man 78 seen a lot but this governing and bi#%*ing over social media is DANGEROUS. Thanks for the link. Son and Granddaughter is doing a genealogy of the family on Dad's side, have a cousin who did a complete work up of mom's side of the family. Thanks for the interest.

[Bigslug]

My granddad (Mom's father) was somewhere in the neighborhood at the time - I've been trying to figure as much of that out as possible:

He was assigned to and ultimately discharged at war's end from the 590th Field Artillery Battalion as a lineman/spotter, and the remnants of his kit include shoulder patches from the 106th division, to which the 590th was assigned during the events in and around Bastogne. Elements of the 590 were chopped up very badly, and Grandpa said as much that a lot of the guys he trained with stateside were killed there.

Family lore is that since Grandpa was the only surviving son of his family, he got transferred off the line or to another unit and was not actually at - or involved in - the Bulge. If he actually left the 590 / 106th, it isn't clear from the stash of shoulder patches where he may have been transferred, since while they include a few divisions that he might have gone to, there's also some from 10th Mountain (Italy) and one unit from the Pacific which he was definitely NOT involved with, so I suspect his son/my uncle might have been patch collecting. Transfer or no, that plan didn't completely keep him out of trouble - his ETO/Africa/ME campaign ribbon has one battle star that would seem to correspond with his discharge record for participation in the "Battle of Northern France", which would have been where he did the bit of trigger-pulling he told me about. He was one of those awesome members of the Greatest Generation that came home, didn't talk about what went on much, and quietly got on with their lives while launching the postwar economic boom. Great as a statement of character, but makes it tough to put a coherent history together. The one clue as to what he might have dealt with - my mom tells me that even though he was "most awesome dad ever" the one thing he never did was go camping with them. My guess is that he got enough of sleeping on the cold hard ground (possibly with the added "atmosphere" of exploding trees) in the winter of '44-'45 to last him the last 71 years of his life. That would make anyone appreciate the wonders of coil-spring mattresses and central heating.

Thanks for helping to save the world, Grandpa.

[3band53]

The book that Frank showed I bought and have in my possession right now. Amazing story to have--some pretty bloody fighting in that area. The first real battle on Europe that was won by a purely American army, no matter what Montgomery said. It is interesting typing Frank when it would normally be Dad.
Frank II

[hithard]

A special thanks you to your family and uncle for gift given. Know that my wife and two children will always remember these gifts.

God Bless.

[w5pv]

Thanks to all,God Bless each and all

[sparky45]

Because Freedom isn't Free!


When it is so terrible, why do we allow our leaders to do this to us!
Ole Jack