I just watched a video on the tough time the US Navy had trying defend the transports supplying the landings on Quadalcanal.
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VE DAY 80 YEARS AFTER
- Thread starter Rudi
- Start date
Dad said that the people he held in the highest regard during the war were the Merchant Marines.
He said it took guts to transport supplies in slow moving, unarmed, lightly armored vessels that were easy targets for U-boats in the North Sea.
He said it took guts to transport supplies in slow moving, unarmed, lightly armored vessels that were easy targets for U-boats in the North Sea.
Wow! What a great pic! He's so lucky to be marching west instead of east.
Interesting to hear stories from the other side as well. Some of them look relieved that it's over, even as POWs.
My gf's late mother's husband, Fritz, and his brother avoided being conscripted until late in the war, and managed to get into the Navy, which at that point was considered the safest service. He rarely talked about his experiences but he did mention going ashore somewhere (event and reason unknown) but everything else from that he had no recollection of. I think he saw some pretty terrible stuff and just blanked it out of his memory. He also had a lifelong revulsion for turnips, possibly because they were one of the only things to eat at some point.
I was reading recently about the occupation of the Channel Islands from the Germans' perspective. For many it was a safe but boring post. One fellow remembered the announcement of the attempt on Hitler's life and someone at the back of the room loudly and unambiguously expressed his disappointment that it failed.
DR505
US Veteran
My English grandmother said early in the war she saw a flight of HE-111s fly over her town, turn to the north sea, and drop their bombs in the water. Perhaps they didn't want to bomb civilians?
Probably low on fuel and heading back. My mother remembers being lead off of a streetcar by strangers,taken to a bomb shelter until the all clear sounded,hopping back on to the end of the line and walking 1 1/2 miles to the farm by herself.Another story was about a plane coming in low over the house in flames so she and her brothers chased after it.but they didn’t find it. I recently learned that there’s a marker at the crash site (Pentland hills)She was 7 at the time.She was evacuated to the borders by herself where she lived with and attended school with a number of other kids and it was common for German bombers to drop their loads near there before heading back across the channel.Her dad had died in ‘39 so my grandmother thought she would be safer there than in Edinburgh
robvious
Member
the irony and beauty of America is symbolized by my father & his best man... their fathers were on opposite sides of the trenches during WWI... one a German machine gunner the other a U.S. Sergeant and Army medic with an ambulance corp attached to a sanitation train.. there sons becoming life long friends in college... I am named after my dad's best friend...
You are so correct. My dad was in the Bulge in the Ardennes and got badly f##### up and tore into us 3 sons as if a demon on several occasions. I believe he was haunted his entire life by his experiences.
DWalt
Member
Eisenhower accepted the German unconditional surrender on April 7, but for various political reasons VE-Day was officially declared to be April 8.
The only German soldier I ever personally knew was a co-worker back in the late 1960s. For him the war was ended at the Battle of the Bulge where he took some shrapnel. He was 16 at the time. He had many interesting stories, but the best ones were about life in Germany after the surrender. He said he survived mainly by theft for about two years.
The only German soldier I ever personally knew was a co-worker back in the late 1960s. For him the war was ended at the Battle of the Bulge where he took some shrapnel. He was 16 at the time. He had many interesting stories, but the best ones were about life in Germany after the surrender. He said he survived mainly by theft for about two years.
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When dad processed out in '66 he hauled us all to Cincinnati and landed a job at Cincinnati Milling Machine. At the time it was the largest machine tool company on the planet.
After his first day mom asked him how his day went.
He said the he was glad the war was over for him as almost every engineer in that mammoth facility was either German or Japanese.
After his first day mom asked him how his day went.
He said the he was glad the war was over for him as almost every engineer in that mammoth facility was either German or Japanese.
"Thank you!"; and, I'm curious if you lied about your age when you signed up... or are you really a blessed 101?
I came along in 1938 and lived in the Bronx. I very clearly remember the blackouts and the wardens s shouting; TURN OFF THAT LIGHT ! Us kids would gather empty cigarette packs and peel off the alu. foil from the inside and toss it up in the trucks that came around to collect pots and pans to "shoot down another Jap".I remember the day my father left to join the US Navy (many tears) he did come back thank God. I stood at the side of the "Grand Concourse" to see the victory parade through the Bronx. Yeah, I'm an old guy, but I somehow keep getting up in the morning.
