WWII

[kenv1950]

Anybody have parents or grandparents that were in WWII ? and do you have any of their stuff ? My Dad flight engineer B-17.. My Mother was a riveter. That's my dad , the guy with no shirt. Picture 1944 France

 

[Bib]

My uncle was flight engineer on a B-17. He had one picture in the house of him and his crew standing beside their plane. He never talked about the war and I always assumed that he didn't see much action. A few years after he passed my brother told me that he looked up the Bomb Group that Jack flew in (388th). We found his name, missions and crews. That guy flew 23 missions!....and the only reason he didn't go out on #24 was that the war ended!

 

[sheepdawg]

My dad was in the Wehrmacht. Fortunately he got sent to the Western Front and was captured near Metz, France in October 1944.

I've got a few pictures and a copy of his POW release papers. My father was an artist so all of the artwork on the walls of the American NCO club and the portraits were done by him. The last one was a charcoal of his mother. Kept him in cigarettes, good American cigarettes.

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

My Dad flight engineer B-17..

In that picture your dad looks like a young Brad Pitt. You probably know this, but in a B-17 the flight engineer also manned the top turret.... as if he didn't have enough to do already.

 

[arjay]

Around 15 members of my immediate family were in the thick of it in Europe.4 of them emigrated after the war.One is still alive here and two in Europe.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

My dad was in the Navy. He brought home a hammock.
I think it was standard Navy issue at the time although I don't think he actually slept on it.
We hung it out in the yard. My bro and I really enjoyed that Navy hammock!

 

[Stevens]

Dad was in the Army, Bushmasters in Philippines during and on Japan occupation force after surrender.I have an Arisaka rifle and a nephew has a Japanese Navy officers sword both he brought back. Also patches, cap, and a few other badges and pins. After the war he was in the Hawaii National Guard the patch on the right, Bushmasters patch on the left.
Steve W

 

[kenv1950]

My uncle was flight engineer on a B-17. He had one picture in the house of him and his crew standing beside their plane. He never talked about the war and I always assumed that he didn't see much action. A few years after he passed my brother told me that he looked up the Bomb Group that Jack flew in (388th). We found his name, missions and crews. That guy flew 23 missions!....and the only reason he didn't go out on #24 was that the war ended!

Yup, my dad never spoke of the war, I never learned what he did until he was gone

 

[kenv1950]

In that picture your dad looks like a young Brad Pitt. You probably know this, but in a B-17 the flight engineer also manned the top turret.... as if he didn't have enough to do already.

I have money from every country he was in. He typed across the top of every bill when he was there. . I know he was my dad and the engineer had a lot on his hands

 

[schgsd]

My father was a teenager in Holland when the Germans took it over. Was apparently rounded up with other men in the town on two separate occasions to be sent on a train to Germany. The first time while being held in the lobby of a local hotel he noticed some men were asking to go to the bathroom. But never returning. He decided he needed to go as well and found a small window open in the back.

The second time while on the train it stopped and they managed to kick out some of the wall and get out. Walking back to town he came upon the German officer who had rounded up the men in his town. He said "Hello (fathers name) I see that you are back". And the officer kept on walking. The war was nearly over at that point and they did not care anymore.

He never spoke of those incidents while he was alive. Only once when I was much younger he said on Christmas that he spent one working on a gang building railroads for the Germans. And told of sneaking out to steal railroad ties for firewood.

 

[Nico Testosteros]

My family lived in southern England during WW2. Yes, they were "in" WW2.

 

[kenv1950]

Got a trunk full of stuff and the pistol

 

[msinc]

My father was already in the Army when WWII started. He said it was not doubt that we were going to war, it was just that nobody expected it to start like it did. Him and his family were German immigrants. They sent him to the Pacific. Two years later when my uncle joined he got sent to Europe.
Many of our relatives that were still in Germany disowned my father and uncle because they didn't go back to Germany and fight for Hitler. When the concentration camps were liberated and the word got back to America what was happening over there my grandfathers Jewish friends in the neighborhood all wanted to kill him because he was a German.
My uncle stayed in England after the war and is still alive {93 years old}...he was hit by a car the other day in London. He got up and walked away.

 

[shouldazagged]

My dad was 4-F--almost legally blind--but was a war correspondent. First wave, Omaha Beach, D-Day, through the breakout.

Four of my mother's brothers served in the Army. One went to the Aleutians. Never talked about it, but later took his own life. The other three fought in Europe. At least one, and as I recall, two, were in on the liberation of concentration camps in Germany.

My dad's brothers were too old to serve, I think. Dad was the youngest of nine kids and I never knew most of his family. Long, sad story.

 

[shouldazagged]

My family lived in southern England during WW2. Yes, they were "in" WW2.

Oh, yes, they certainly were. Southeast?

 

[LTC]

My Father who just passed at almost 94, was drafted in the spring of 1942. On December 7th, 1942 he boarded the Queen Mary bound for the ETO. He did not return until July 1945.

He saw Scotland, England, North Africa, Italy, Corsica, France and Belgium. He was a truck driver / mechanic in a Coastal Artillery battalion equipped with 90 & 40mm's.

My older brother was born December 23rd, 1942. They didn't get to see one another for another 33 months.

LTC

 

[rwsmith]

I saw just the other day.......

One went to the Aleutians. Never talked about it, but later took his own life.

I saw a documentary that included one of the big Aleutian operations with a special force that was sent to get behind the Japanese. They had a rough time, couldn't get to the Japanese but the Japanese were shooting at them as they ran out of ammo and food and had no shelter. Finally they were met by the main force that came on after them but it was a dismal day in WWII history.

My Dad was in Korea in 1948 so he missed the two big shows but my FIL was in the thick of it in the Pacific. I also made a great many friends who were WWII vets in school and in the contractor field I was in and they had tons of great stories. Sadly many of them aren't with us any more.

 

[Bkreutz]

Dad was a Marine fighter pilot in WWII and Korea. I grew up in a house with a F4U prop on the wall in the rec room. My dad had the room made with the size of the prop in mind when the house was built. I wasn't around when the house got sold after he died. I have no idea where the prop went.

 

[hoc9sw]

shouldazagged said:
Four of my mother's brothers served in the Army. One went to the Aleutians.


Send me a PM with your email. I have a couple of Aleutians items that might be of interest.

 

[Hofstet]

My dad spent 4 yrs as a Gunner's Mate on Liberty ships in the Navy during the war.
My uncle landed in Normandy on D Day and survived to see Germany surrender. He was an Army Ranger.
My father-in-law was in the Navy and fought in the Pacific.

 

[pawncop]

My dad was a Master Control Gunner on a B-29 "Honshue Hurricaine". He did not speak much about his experiences.

My uncle was in the infantry or Marines in the PTO. He spoke of the Japanese coming in waves, basically running towards their death. I do not recall any other details.

 

[pharris]

My dad was drafted in 1942, was scheduled to go to Europe when he had to have hernia surgery and missed the boat. He told me he was never stationed where he couldn't get fresh milk every day, served out the war in Miami and Denver. One uncle at the battle of the bulge who brought back a 4 digit Belgium Browning and all kinds of German patches and pins. My dad brought home a 1911 that he bought off of a returning soldier, he sold it in the 70's, my oldest brother has the Browning.

 

[Chas310]

My dad in the Philippines. Far left

 

[hoosierone]

My father joined the Army right after Pearl Harbor. He and my mother were married 9/41. He ended up getting wounded on Peleliu 10/44. I remember him saying you had to be quiet in your foxhole, if the Japs knew where you were they would jump in with a grenade. He had decent potential but ruined it with drinking. We were estranged but reconciled a couple years before he died at age 46.

My mother's cousin was a bombardier on a B-17. After he died I did some research and found he was in the Schweinfurt raid. His plane ditched in the Channel. He was a quiet easy going guy.

 

[dougb1946]

Dad was in the navy. Naval Armed Guard, navy files stationed on freighters and supply ships to man the guns. He saw action off Okinawa, pass shooting at Zeros. He was watching Victory at Sea once with one of my brothers and a picture was shown of a Zero hitting a cruiser. Dad said he thought he had got a piece of the Zero. Not much talk about the fighting, but lots about the training, the friends, the food, and a few interesting events.

One uncle fought with a mountain regiment going through Italy. Very high death rate. Not much talk, but some interesting poetry written. A quiet small man, tightly wound. These were men who charged up mountains at entrenched Germans and chased them out of the mountains.

Uncle Willy was an ace pilot in the Battle of Britain. He shot down a couple of Spitfires, a few Hurricanes, and an assortment of other types, before he failed to return on one mission. He flew a ME109.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

My father served in the US Army, Pacific Theater at Guadalcanal and Tonga. Shot in the head by a Japanese sniper, spent the duration at a hospital in New Zealand.

I have his DD214 and decorations including Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Combat Infantryman Badge, as well as his funeral flag (August 10, 1980).

Just about all of my uncles and several first cousins also served in WW2. Had an uncle shot down in a B17, escaped via Switzerland. Another uncle lost most use of both legs to machinegun fire in Italy. A first cousin was flight engineer on a B17, later worked for Boeing throughout the B52 program (1950's through 1970's). Father-in-law was a Navy radioman during the battle for Tarawa, a particularly ugly fight.

My mother did clerical work in a classified defense facility. Her first husband was KIA in Europe, met and married my father after the war.

Not very many families were untouched by WW2.

 

[kenv1950]

Glad to see we still carry these memories to pass on, but I'm seeing a lot of the younger generation not caring much or maybe its something that comes with age... I have adult children, but they seem not interested. That's why I keep everything in a trunk to pass on just in case they become interested some day

 

[shouldazagged]

shouldazagged said:
Four of my mother's brothers served in the Army. One went to the Aleutians.


Send me a PM with your email. I have a couple of Aleutians items that might be of interest.

PM sent, thanks.

 

[jinx]

My Dad joined the Army in 1939 because he was starving to death like everyone else. Earned a little rank and told me he was stationed in "paradise". Living a good life, had food, clothing, housing and most importantly, a job. "Paradise" was Hawaii and he said one day in December he witnessed the biggest fireworks display he had ever seen. Was shooting at the Japanese planes with an M-1. He was at Schofield barracks. From there he island hopped across the Pacific along with a brother and 2 other brothers fought in Europe. One brother at the Battle of the Bulge was wounded and the doctor said he lived because the cold kept him from bleeding to death. All of them were wounded several times but in those days you healed up as best you could and went back to the line.
All of the soldiers then were truly" the greatest generation".
My heroes forver

 

[CO_Kid]

All of my blood relatives in the war are dead.

My grandmother's third husband, who has been "grandpa" since I first met him, was a mechanic on planes. Never got anywhere near combat.

I don't have anything from him from the war. What I do have is the phone from his bar in his basement. He knows I love old rotary phones and when he couldn't get down to the basement anymore because of his age, he gave it to me. He's 91 now and in a home, and his two leech sons moved into the house. My grandpa's one fault is that he is an enabler to his two sons. One can't keep a penny in his pocket, and the other got divorced, moved "back home" afterwards (over 15 years ago) and lived in the upstairs suite ever since. My grandma, being the kindest soul you'd ever meet, agreed (somewhat stupidly) to sign over her rights to the house, so when grandpa moved into the senior center, my grandma moved into an apartment (roughly 20 years age difference between my grandma and grandpa).

So now my other "uncle" and "aunt" have moved back in. One is in his late 50's, the other is in his 60s and they can't afford to live on their own. The house has long been paid off so there is no mortgage.

I have a couple of my great grandfather's uniform ribbons from the war, but he died before I was born.