W.W. II Hero And What His Trophy Flag Means To Me - Updated With New Pictures

[PA Reb]

I wanted to share this photograph with everyone. The picture below depicts two men holding a captured Nazi battle flag. The man on the viewer's left was a Corporal and both served in Patton's 4th Armored Division, 25th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron during W.W. II. The man on your left enlisted in 1941, trained with the 4th Armor in the U.S. and deployed to England in Jan. 1944 in preperation for the invasion of France. He landed at Utah Beach with the rest of the division on July 11, 1944 and entered combat operations on July 17, 1944. He crossed France and Europe with the division and fought in places like Bastogne, places we can only think about in awe now. He came home with the rest of the division in 1945 after the war was over.

The (man on your left wearing the hat) is my father-in-law. He once told me he captured the flag some time after Bastogne and the Battle of the Buldge. He brought it home and gave it to me a few years before his death. This very flag hangs in my "man cave" right below a framed copy of this photograph. I look at this flag daily and realize it symbolizes an unspeakable human horror to which I can never fully comprehend. But, with the picture hanging above it, I'm reminded what my father-in-law and millions like him did to protect the rights we sometimes take for granted in this country. I think I can speak for him and say he would be enraged at the current attacks on the 2nd Ammendment to the U.S. Constitution. I also think he would tell me to be courageous and to never back down from those that try and take your rights away. Thanks "Sammy" - I'll take your advice!

[litenlarry]

I would have to say that WW II vet's had it the worst, in both the Europe/Italy and Pacific campaigns, over most modern wars..
My Dad is a WW II vet, fighting in Germany..He is still alive, but some time ago he gave me his captured P38 pistol along with the bring home papers..Everytime I fondle the P38 I can't help but imagine the history behind the pistol..
Your battle flag is a keeper..Salutes to " Sammy" and his kind..
I have since bought another P38..His capture is on the bottom..

[jaykellogg]

My Dad is still alive at 92 and he too is a vet. He never was in combat, he was in the signal corps. He tells of being on a wooden pole when a Japanese soldier was shooting at him and he heard the bullets strike the pole below.

I have talked with several WWII vets and I have seen some of their trophies. I have owned some of these from time to time. These people survived the Great Depression and (most) enlisted in the service at the start of WWII. My father had a party before he was supposed to be inducted in the NAVY. The next day he passed sugar and was released. My grandparents wanted to get Dad deferred, because he was the only boy. Dad quietly enlisted in the Army and drank no alcohol the night before. the second time he passed the physical.

You are lucky to have that flag.

[amazingflapjack]

"He never was in combat, he was in the signal corps. He tells of being on a wooden pole when a Japanese soldier was shooting at him and he heard the bullets strike the pole below."

The above meets or exceeds my definition of combat. That's where they shoot at you. Flapjack.

[Texas Star]

I think the photo is a reversed transparency. The swastika is facing the wrong way.

Nice P-38's.

Who is the man in the pic in the beret? Can't tell if he's a British paratrooper or commando or a French Maquis man.

[moosedog]

Great post. My father was in the Navy and fought in the south pacific.
Sometimes the wounds never heal, and unfortunately I didn't get to know him that well.
You just can't thank the Vets enough.

[wyo-man]

Thanks to all the vets.
My Dad was one of six brothers all in WWII at the same time. Because my Dad was the youngest they would not let him go overseas, but "let" him be a Drill Instructor. Of the six, one did not come home and is lost at sea when the plane he was a crew member (498th Bomber Squadron, 345th Bomber Group, Meduim) of crashed in the ocean somewhere near New Guinea.
RIP Uncle August.

Sorry for the thread drift - that is a special flag; I am glad you appreciate it.
wyo-man

[vigil617]

Heroes, every last one of them.

What they did, as teenagers and 20-something young men and women, was nothing less than save the world from a brand of tyranny that none of us can even imagine.

They came home, didn't talk much about it, resumed their lives, raised families, bought houses, worked jobs, and watched as other wars came and went, seemingly without any lessons learned about war and how it's the young who do the fighting and dying.

"The Greatest Generation." Even that seems inadequate to describe the men and women who truly made the world safe again, and who only asked that their comrades who didn't come home be remembered as the heroes.

God bless every single one.

[Old TexMex]

Thanks for posting that, Father fought in the Pacific, U.S.Army, Uncles were in Europe, one a POW, Father in Law was 2ndAIF infantryman in new guinea and left me his medals when he passed on, I had a good old mate named Andy Hoey who was a Rat of Tobruk. Their motto:"No Surrender". All tough cookies.

[PA Reb]

Originally Posted by Texas Star

I think the photo is a reversed transparency. The swastika is facing the wrong way.

Nice P-38's.

Who is the man in the pic in the beret? Can't tell if he's a British paratrooper or commando or a French Maquis man.

No sir, its not a reversed transparency. The flag is a one piece printed cotton style with the image on both sides. The swastika is facing the wrong way on the "back side" because that's the way they were made. The way it looks in the picture is the same as it would look today if I took it down, turned it around and took another picture of it.

The other man is not wearing a hat at all - that's his hair. My father-in-law told me he was a buddy in the same unit but I don't know his name. He appears in other pictures I have from the era also.

I'm glad y'all evidently liked the picture of the flag and thank you for the complimentary "likes" everyone posted. Staying within the topic of this thread, I've attached three more pictures. When the 4th Armored left the coast of France on their trek eastward across Europe, my father-in-law told me they were in a seaport town in France doing a door to door "cleaning". He told me at one house in particular they drug a Nazi Kreigsmarine (Naval) officer out along with his family. The family was sent packing and the officer was taken prisoner. The Kreigsmarine dagger, sheath, hangers, etc. shown below was taken from that officer by my father-in-law. He eventually gave it to me and I then gave it to my oldest daughter.

The other picture is him (foreground) and a buddy (I believe it might be the same guy from the flag picture) on watch in front of what is obviously an enemy bunker. He told me this one was also taken in France.

He used to chuckle when he'd hear all the 101st Airborne hype especially concerning Bastogne. He'd always say how lucky the 101st was that the 4th Armored came to get them out of the jam they were in. He'd go on and on about it and then laughingly say that "you'd never get a 101er to admit it though!"

[luangtom]

I, too, would cherish that flag. I cherish each and every item I have from my father, a WWII vet of China, Burma and India (CBI). He was a gunner on an aircraft of Gen. Chenault's Flying Tigers. He walked away from that war with one Purple Heart. His little brother, a Navy Corpsman, walked away with five. Heroes, both of them.

[adowns]

If this thread interests you, these are terrific books. Veteran Bringbacks Vol. I and Vol. II. Pictures of war trophies brought home and the stories of how they were obtained. I think the author is going to publish a Volume III after he gets enough material.

Veteran Bring Backs (Military Weapons rifle Lugers Pitol): Edward Tinker: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415kBDQcsvL.@@AMEPARAM@@415kBDQcsvL

Veteran Bring Backs Vol. 2: Edward B. Tinker: 9780972781558: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41LVFLLxa9L.@@AMEPARAM@@41LVFLLxa9L

[rimfired]

You've every right to cherish his memory and the momento.
My Grandfather was a Cpt. Army Medical Corps in the trenches in WWI, his son, my dad, was a Pharmacists Mate in the CG on a Destroyer Escort in N. Africa and the Med in WWII.

I've got lots of their momentos and "souverniers" Then I have mine.

God Bless!