WWII Memories Thread

One of my uncles died in a submarine in the Pacific. Another was in the Navy at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. I never heard much from him about that. He was aboard a ship in the Coral Sea which was sunk in a battle there. He got to go on one of those trips to DC a few years ago. He really enjoyed it.

One of my dad's hunting buddies had an interesting experience liberating a prisoner camp at the end of the war. It is a rather long story, so I won't go into detail. Part of it is somewhat unfavorable to one of the heroes of the war, General MacArthur. Basically, the Navy ignored MacArthur's orders to delay the rescue until his troops could do it. FWIW, MacArthur was unpopular with many in the military at that time.

 

My great uncle(my grandmother's brother... celebrated his 100th birthday this past summer) served as a communications chief in WW2. He was in 5 different campaigns, including DDAY and the liberation of Berlin. He has shared many fascinating stories regarding the war over the years at different family gatherings.... Two items come to mind that I would like to share.....

1st: After the liberation of Berlin, he removed the swastika from a Nazi banner and used it to record the names of those in his unit and their rank and status after the fighting was complete. I can not really explain the emotions I experienced, when I had the opportunity to hold that piece of history in my hands and read the names as he shared his memories of the individuals listed.

2nd: Another of his favorite stories was riding through the French countryside while waiting to return to the US after the war was over. My great uncle had started his service in the horse cavalry while/before becoming a communications chief. Long story short, a well to do French family wanted to express their appreciation to the US soldiers by allowing the use of their stables and horses to some of the US commanding officers. One of officers had previously commanded my great uncle while in the cavalry and included him in the rides through the countryside. It is one of his fondest memories... riding through the French countryside on a horse he would never have been to afford/let alone ride otherwise, celebrating the end of the war....

 

Wow, these are great stories and memories! Love it!

Thanks for sharing.

 

Corey, my dad was on the 66..Coast Guard CPO Lopez. He was a Marine Gunney b4 the war so they put him on the 3" and over the 1 quad .50.
Think you can dig up some more info....they prob. were together but my Pops got out right b4 the hit from the plane.

 

GOD BLESS all who gave all.A wise man said Their no winners in war just Loss.A reminder to US ALL!!!!

 

Dad was a senior in HS on 12/07/1941. He said that when he heard the news at Sunday night church services he felt like he had been punched in the gut. He knew where his senior trip was going. He was able to help my grandfather get a crop planted and harvested before being drafted in November 1942.

Luckily he spent most of the war stateside working in hospitals at various bomber training bases. In November 1944 he was transferred to the infantry and began training for the planned Japanese invasion. He finished training in December 1944, just as the Germans counter attacked at the Battle of the Bulge. He was in Belgium within 2 weeks of the German attack instead.

Once there they attached him to a field hospital and he spent the rest of the way driving an ambulance to the front and bringing wounded back behind the lines. After the war ended the guys who had been there the longest came home 1st. Dad didn't get home until 4/17/1946, nearly a year after the war ended. We lost dad on 2/7/13. One week before he would have been 90.

His ambulance



On the boat ride home

 

That pic is incredible! My papa would have laughed his butt off at that!
He told me stories of a man who walked around with a white macaw on his shoulder. Also of sweating his ass off while making bread for the crew. It sounded like a crew of great guys to me. Here's a clip of an article I found from the Bangor daily:

 

There are a couple of books about the boat. One by Andrew Zimmermann, one by Martin Huston (sic?). They def. were together at some point. You should get on Hull#.com and add his name to the muster.

Yes, I grew up hearing about the bird.....they also had a Portuguese Water Dog.
Do you have or done a search for pictures?

 

I've got some original pictures from WWII. They were taken by the army's official photographer (my neighbor). He was sent to Italy to assure Musilini was dead so there's one of Musilini hanging in the town square with his mistresses. Along with many many very cool photos (Generals, presidents, etc). I'll post a few up. The negatives apparently went to the Smithsonian.

 

My Dad served in the CBI in the 10th Air Force. His unit flew B-24's equipped with Azon bombs that were radio guided to the target, usually a bridge,by the bombadier. He was an apprentice jeweler and repaired watches before the war. Uncle Sam thought he'd be good at repairing instruments, which he was, and continued to do so after the war until his retirement. My Uncle Elwood server as a medic in the 10th AD. He saw action during the attack on the fortress city of Metz as well as part of CCB during the Battle of the Bulge,and the liberation of Trier. I believe he also experienced the liberation of a concentration camp.

 

I watched the original Victory at Sea religiously during the early '50s. A few years ago I found a DVD set with all 26 episodes. It seemed much more interesting in the original. Watching the DVDs I noticed a lot of repetition in many battle scenes. Still a great documentary.

 

Thought I'd add the story told to me about the rescue of the POWs after the war.

This story was related to me a few years ago by the widow of a WWII veteran, my father's hunting buddy and a man I was proud to call a friend. I have probably forgotten parts of it, but this is the essence:


After the Japanese surrender, there were prison camps to be liberated. In one case, the Navy wanted to go in immediately and free the POWs in a certain camp. General MacArthur ordered the Navy to stay away—he apparently wanted his troops to do the job, a bit later than the Navy could have done it. Ignoring his orders, the ship on which my friend was stationed went immediately in to the prison, located on the shore of one of the Philippine islands. They landed with no problems and met the prisoners.


The prisoners had been used to unload supplies from incoming ships. A Filipino was apparently in charge of the work crew. Food for the prisoners and the Filipino and his family was limited by the Japanese. The Filipino and the prisoners worked out a scheme by which the prisoners would surreptitiously drop a few grains of rice into a can as they carried bags of rice off the incoming ships. Later the Filipino's wife would cook up the rice and split it with the prisoners. One time the prisoners counted the grains they put in the can and ensured it was an odd number. When they got their share back, they counted the grains and discovered they got the extra grain.


While the liberating sailors, my friend among them, were there, the Filipino insisted that the rescuers eat a meal with him and his family. My friend said later that it was one of the hardest things he ever had to do. The sanitary conditions of the kitchen and eating utensils left much to be desired.


Some time after the episode there was a move in Congress to honor the ship and crew. Due to political maneuvering the effort was defeated. I was told it was revenge by MacArthur because the Navy stole his thunder with the rescue.


Shortly after I learned of this I related the story on another website. I got flamed by at least one individual because I insulted his hero. My intent was/is not to belittle the general. There is no doubt of his military genius. I take this story to indicate he was a human with some shortcomings, like everyone else.


On another note, my dad told me one reason for the general's unpopularity was that when he left the Philippines early in the war (making his famous "I shall return" comment), he took his Filipino maid with him and left all the US troops behind.

 

The Tribute to Valor short is available on SmugMug Film's site. Worth a watch.

http://youtu.be/FHVpnFM9FwA

 

Original picture Frank took for the United States when sent to Italy to confirm Mussolini's death

 

I'm sure you guys might recognize a few of these fine gentlemen. Frank got the opportunity to photograph much of the war.

 

Thread revive.

I am planning a trip through France and Germany in just a few weeks. I will follow the path of my great uncle Lewis' during his military service in WWII as part of the 90th Infantry Division, 359th regiment, company A. He was a tiny little dude from a little town in PA, mixed in with the Tough Ombres from Texas and Oklahoma, the boots on the ground for the Utah beach invasion. We will be in the Hatzenport / Morshausen area on the 80th anniversary of his death, which occurred on a recon mission after the successful crossing of the Moselle River as they were attempting to determine the strength of enemy forces.

My uncle took a lot of photos during the war. I have a Google folder with over 300 photos that he took during the war that I scanned from his original negatives. I recognize a number of them from various published histories of the 90th I have seen online. I have shared them with the official historian for the 90th. If anyone is connected with the 90th, specifically the 359th company A, I am happy to share photos. The little guy kneeling in the front with the camera is my uncle Lewis.

359th History: https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/183/

 

My father was a Navy vet (Canadian). I can't imagine how dissapointed he would feel if he'd lived to see the kids and grandkids voting for fascists now.

 

My father in law was a Tech Sgt. US Army in WWII. He fought in Okinawa & told us a story of how his fellow soldiers would go "souvenir" hunting after a battle.

He was pocketing a small Japanese flag from a body when an enemy soldier, faking death, took aim at him. His buddy immediately shot the soldier & saved his life. They lost contact over the years until the 1970s.

While on a flight to Vegas for a gambling junket with family, he & his seatmate kept exchanging glances with each other. My father in law finally said "I know you from somewhere." His neighbor announced, "Snuffy!" ( It was his wartime nickname. )

Sure enough, there was his life saver in the next seat. Coincidence? Maybe but what were the odds?

He died 12 years ago today

 

It saddens me that so many of these veterans are gone now. I think it was just this year the last of the Arizona survivors passed away.

We owe them not to forget what they and those who did not come home did for our country.