WWII Story my Dad use to Tell

[BigBoy99]

My father, before he passed away, use to tells the story of a friend of his who had heard that if you drink lots and lots of coffee, it would raise your blood pressure to a level too high be accepted into the Army. On the day of his induction physical, his friend consumed gallons of coffee before reporting for his physical. He passed with flying colors and was induced into the Army.

After the war, my father encountered his friend and asked how was his military service. He said that he had been slightly wounded in the Battle of the Bulge and was sent to a field hospital for treatment. Upon release from the hospital, the Doctor came by and asked him how he became inducted into the Army. He said, people like him, which had such low blood pressure, were excluded from the draft!

 

[arjay]

My dad told a story (he was Swiss) of two americans who were antsy about getting out of Switzerland (flight crews who crashed/landed there were "guests" for the duration) when "Patton began to move".He told them to be patient,but they were going to go for it.He didn't think they had a chance on their own.He got them to a train station where they saw soldiers inspecting papers and they began to panic,wanting to run. He told them to shut up and follow his lead. He walked them past the soldiers while chattering away as if they were old friends and put them on the train. No idea what became of them

 

[steelslaver]

If you act like you belong somewhere most people will not question
you being there.

 

[Rudi]

Yes, and wear one of those yellow vests and carry a clipboard.

 

[TX-Dennis]

My dad tells the story of his late friend Bill. Bill was an Oklahoma farm boy. He was drafted into the army during WWII. Went for basic training at Fort Hood. After a couple of days he went AWOL and hitchhiked back to Oklahoma. He was out plowing a field when the MPs came to arrest him. They were taking him back to Hood when he jumped out of the vehicle and ran, eventually once again returning to the family farm in Oklahoma. A week or two later the MPs found him again, and he was taken back to Fort Hood where this time he completed basic training.

I forget where Dad said he was sent next, but it was on the East Coast where he was to board a ship for Europe. As the ship pulled away from the docks, Bill jumped overboard, swam to shore and again hitchhiked back to Oklahoma. Of course, the MPs came for him. This time they put him in irons until he was on the ship and the ship was well out of the harbor on its way to Europe. This time Bill served out his tour and eventually returned home safely.

On another note Bill brought back a German submachine gun which he eventually gave to Dad. Unfortunately it was stolen when I was a youngster. Sure wish it was still in the family today.

 

[arjay]

Two of my aunts left Europe just as the war broke out (they worked for Swiss diplomats) They couldn't contact their family once they had left . They both married GIs.One was sent to Camp Hale (10th mountain division) to train and my aunt followed him to Denver and worked at the Remington Arms Plant. Ray never talked about the war.Long after he died my aunt told me that he hated camp Hale,skiing,snow,cold etc and complained bitterly about it. They sent him to the South Pacific. Moral of the story-don't gripe!

 

[Rpg]

My Dad was a navigator in B17's flying out of North Africa in WWII.

He used to tell the story of his bombadeer. This guy was very anxious about completing his quota of bomb runs to get to go home. He fixated on my father, believing that as long as Dad was in the plane, they'd get back to base. Dad used this guy as an example of how crazy someone can be and still function at a job.

In the early 1960's, the bombadeer showed up at our house and spent two hours in our living room spouting John Bircher stuff. He had books and pamphlets to go along with his nutty world view.

After he left, Dad turned to me and said: "I told you he was crazy ".

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

My grandfather left for WWI with friends from his neighborhood and came back wounded and alone. He had a shrine in the second floor of his garage with a bugle, WWI helmets, rosaries and army green crucifixes, and personal effects. I lived with him and helped him farm in the summer. It was a while before I understood why he would go up there and sit by himself sometimes. He never acknowledged a question about or discussed his time in Europe. On lighter note, he was a longtime president of the VFW and hid the post booze on his farm. I found a few lost bottles in the 1969's.

 

[pittpa]

Good stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Truckman]

My Dad was sent to train with the Quartermaster Corps after his basic training...On arrival a sergeant asked the green recruits if any of them knew how to drive a truck...Nearly everyone, including my Dad, raised their hands, and all were assigned to move cases of supplies from railcars to the waiting warehouses with two-wheel handtrucks...Dad said he hurt his back that day moving cases of soap, but never reported it because he didn't want to be considered a "goldbrick"...He lived with periodic pain the rest of his life and always regretted not saying anything when he had the chance...

His advice to me when I left for USAF training was, "Don't be first, don't be last and don't volunteer for anything"......Ben

 

[S&WIowegan]

Couple of military stories. I grew up with a kid who was about 6 Months older than me. We were both farm boys and hunted, camped out, etc. It developed that I was good in school and he was terrible. He dropped out at age 16 and I went to college. He had joined the National Guard to avoid the draft but quit before he finished his hitch. We got drafted together in 1964. He was determined to flunk the physical and stayed drunk for a month. The doctors at the induction center knew what he'd done and kept him overnight. He passed the physical and we rode the train to FT. Knox together. Got split up in basic...he went to AIT then Nam and had the most fun of his life. Got wounded once, extended his tour and received a Silver Star. The Army sent me to work in the Bio Warfare Research Center. We got out and hooked up at a home town bar. He showed me his bullet wounds and talked about how exciting Nam was.

My best friend from college went to Law school after we graduated and I went in the Army. The Army drafted him as soon as he finished law school. He became an artillery officer, went to Nam and got screwed up by Agent Orange. I worked in the labs where they tested Agent Orange.

Aint life strange???

 

[Justin T]

My grandad said that when he went to the pacific he got on board ship with his group, and was immediately collared by an old salt. Guy had clearly crossed the equator a time or three. He asked my GF if he'd ever been on a seagoin' vessel. Of course, a no was given in reply. GF was told to go to the galley and get a sandwich after they got underway and eat it on the fantail of the ship. He was hungry anyway and did as he was told.

Later, they encountered rough seas. He looked around and all of the men he was travelling with were green and puking their guts out in their helmets. He never got seasick, and never got to track the old sailor down and thank him.

 

[arjay]

I had a dual citizenship as a kid,but to maintain it I would need to serve a year in the Swiss army at 19. I was just young enough to have missed the draft (born in '54) and just thought- nope.

 

[Greyman50]

My Dad was sent to train with the Quartermaster Corps after his basic training...On arrival a sergeant asked the green recruits if any of them knew how to drive a truck...Nearly everyone, including my Dad, raised their hands, and all were assigned to move cases of supplies from railcars to the waiting warehouses with two-wheel handtrucks...Dad said he hurt his back that day moving cases of soap, but never reported it because he didn't want to be considered a "goldbrick"...He lived with periodic pain the rest of his life and always regretted not saying anything when he had

His advice to me when I left for USAF training was, "Don't be first, don't be last and don't volunteer for anything"......Ben

LOL! similar experience. First day of basic at Ft. Campbell, in formation with Top on his podium telling us what was going to happen. After a rant of how we would be trained he asked for " drivers". Dad told me never volunteer as did my Uncles( all officers in WWII), my DI leaned over and TOLD me to raise my hand, what was I to do? Raised my hand and was told to fall out on a PFC for the driving test.
Next day Top again asked for more drivers, about 100 hands went up in formation. He told DI's to pick out 25 and they would be " driving wheel barrows and shovels moving 2 huge piles of sand into the PT area!
DI later told me he looked at my induction info and saw I grew up on farm and drove everything!Took test and got Army license which by time I got in country in Vietnam said, sedan, pick up, 3 1/3 ton stake bed and M-151 jeep,....All vehicles, wheel and track. Never thought an Army license would be a big deal but instead of walking/ marching , I drove. Driving around Vietnam was " interesting" to say the least.

 

[SMSgt]

His advice to me when I left for USAF training was, "Don't be first, don't be last and don't volunteer for anything"......Ben

Great advice!

MY dad was a WWII Seabee in the Pacific and had told me a few tales but nothing important, just unloading supplies on the Saipan beach during the invasion, building the runways there and on Tinian, etc. Late in his life I mentioned I was writing a novel that began with an atomic bomb being loaded on a B-29 on Tinian. He looked over at me and said, "I built those atomic bomb pits there."

I about fell over. He further explained that he didn't literally build them himself but had done all the surveying for the pits and associated ramps for loading the atomic bombs. He certainly bumped up a few notches on my respect list that evening.

 

[Skeet 028]

Father in law was assigned to the British commando groups for almost 4 years before D day. He liked fighting with them cause the officers led from the front. Anyway...one day he and I had a few little...well maybe a little more than a few drinks. He looks at me and says..you know what my favorite weapon was with the commandos? No says I. He kinda laughed a little and said..the Brits had a machete..Had a D handle Heavy booger. Make it as sharp as you wanted it....little snicker. Looked me in the eye and said...cut a man clean in half with that thing..another snicker. I'm at that point thinking..holy crapo...I'm married to his daughter!!! I hope he likes me! He also told me he knew some of the Sihk(knife) fighters...He said they even scared him...and he wasn't afraid of much!..2 Bronze stars..Silver star and Croix de Guerre

 

[Smoke]

I read in a biography of JRR Tolkien that in 1914 he and all of his closest friends enlisted to fight the Germans. In 1918 he was the only one left alive.

 

[BigBoy99]

The mention of edge weapons brought back a conversation I had with a fellow worker. I knew he was a Green Beret during the Viet Nam war but he never really talked about his experiences. On a long car trip together he told me about his war efforts. He was one of the Green Berets who was stationed behind enemy lines to help look/assist down flyers. He would go out for a month at a time and live behind the lines. He said his favorite weapon was a tomahawk. He said always carried two of them - one for throwing and the other for "Close Support."

 

[arjay]

I have a neighbor who's German,but grew up in Odessa,Ukraine. He was about 12 when the tide turned.He,his dad and I'm not sure who else hid in coal cars for two days retreating to Germany when the Russians came back. They killed his mom.
Another friend and I were talking about family history (I was fooling with ancestry.com and building a tree throughout the pandemic.) Her family has been here since 1900-1920s and she's Jewish.The town they came from in Poland,all the Jews were taken out,shot and buried in trenches,then all of the records of them were burned.

 

[Skeptic 9c]

If you act like you belong somewhere most people will not question
you being there.

Old Army story, all an infiltrator has to do is find a clip board and walk anywhere with an annoyed expression and acting like they are looking for someone. Everyone will avoid them.

Geoff
Who has done inspections and inventories.