My grandfather and WWII

[Ivantherussian03]

I always think of my grandfather this time of year. The 6th of June 1944 was the D-Day for the Normandy Invasion, and the beginning of the end for the Nazis.

My grandfather served from the beginning to the end of the war. He landed in North Africa, then Sicily fighting the whole way. He was pulled out at some point and sent to England, to train for Normandy. He landed at Normandy on the 6th of June, fought through France, and then in into Germany.

Amazingly, he was wounded only 3 times. Some where in Northern France his jeep hit a landmine, killing everyone in it except him. He recieved 3 Bronze Stars for Valor in combat. His DD-214 reads like a history book. I know after the war he spent a considerable amount of time recuperating from shell shock or battle fatigue.

I am always amazed when I think about him. Guys like my grandfather did not usually survive; units like his chewed up men, and spit them as they fought the enemy, taking tremendous losses, replacing the entire unit's manpower 2 or 3 times. From my own experiences I know it was just luck that he survived.

Oddly enough, he passed away in the month of June 58 years years later. I am really unsure how to describe him. The war changed him, or so his wife said. I never knew him really, except toward the end of his life, and we never talked about WWII. According to the family, he never spoke of it. I just have a great amount of respect for him, and his sacrifices, and wanted to share his story.

[Char-Gar]

My Grandfather (who raised me) was in France with the AEF during the War to End All wars. He stayed in the Texas National Guard and when the guard was called up in 1941 and formed into the 32nd. Division he was with them. He was too old to ship overseas and spent WWII state side with the 111 Quatermater Corp. He got out with the rank of Lt. Col.

My Father joined the Cavalary in 1942 and was a spit and polish Corporal at Ft. Riley Kansas. When they dismounted the cavalary and took their horses, he went to OCS and served in the pacific and again in Korea.

My Uncle for whom I was name was on a troop ship that was torpedoed by a U boat and broke in half. Both halfs stay afloat for some time and then the box end sunk taking thousands of GI to their death. He commanded heavy artillary with Patton's 3rd. Army though Europe. When the war was over he volunteered for War Crimes duty as he was a lawyer. He spent another year and a half in Germans as a prosecutor in the Dauchau trials.

War changes people no matter what. The more combat the greater the change. Nobody is every the same after than experience.

[waksupi]

I remember that both of my grandfathers were in the service in WW1. One of them never got out of the states, a victim of the Spanish flu, and spent much time in Ft. Des Moines recuperating. The other grandfather, lied about his age, and was sent to the front lines. And he greatly regretted it, from what I was later told. He was in the thick of the trench warfare, was gassed, and shot up some. I believe grandma said he had three machine gun bullets in him. I'm not sure he ever really recovered. Whenever any one would go visit, he would stay out in the barn, reading Zane Grey, and other books. He would seldom sit with the family inside the house, and the most conversation I would ever hear from him, was on summer evenings, when we could sit in the yard and watch the firefies come out. I also recall he had an extremely mean German Shepard, that wouldn't allow anyone to touch him, except when there was a thunderstorm. And you didn't dare get out of a vehicle, when the dog was out. That old dog, and grandad, were each other's best friends. I wish I could have got to know both grandfathers better. Unfortunately, they both passed away in the 70's, and I was too young to realize what was passing.

[crazy mark]

Never knew either of my real Grandfathers as one died right after I was born and the other one was divorced from my Grandmother before I was born. I do know both never served in the military. My Dad went up from North Africa thru Sicily and onto Germany. I have many pictures he had of that time. Some were taken off a dead German Soldier. He didn't talk much about the war and was damned if I was going to be drafted so I went into the Coast Guard in '69. One of my Great Uncles taught instrument flying in the Army Air Corp and the other was in the Merchant Marines and was all over the Pacific. Neither one would talk much of their time during the war and when I would bug them too much all they could say was they chose not to remember all the deaths they saw. My step=Great Grandfather was in WWI and was gassed once and then took part in the wobbly massacre in Centrailia Wa. He was a Deputy Sheriff and against the wobblies. He also got shot in the butt during that altercation. I have one of his ditty bags from his WWI service I am going to give to the local veterans memorial in Chehalis Wa.