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Very cool photo of my grandfather WW2. Share your Memorial Day thoughts and photos.

beaverretriever

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Let me preface, he was not KIA. My grandfather on my mother's side was in the 8th Army Air Corps (both my grandfathers were) as a pilot and radio engineer. This photo was taken of him in England after Germany surrendered; he is on the left. He also met my grandmother while stationed there (she is now 94 and my last remaining grandparent)

Thanks to those who gave all for this country.

Robert Fish. He went on to own a boat engine company and Teleflex distribution center in Newport Beach where they raised five children.

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Ryan00TJ

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Above pics are from the German war archive. They are of the B17G piloted by my great uncle Lt. Dallas Hawkins. 8th Air Force, 398th bomb group. He was shot down on his 19th bombing mission over Lechfeld, Germany 7/19/ 1944. Simultaneous 88mm flak rounds hit the wing and fuselage. All crew were KIA except a waist gunner blown from the plane.

German after action reports stated the blown off tail, "floated like an autumn leaf in the wind". It can be seen in the top left corner of the first pic.

May we Honor these brave men and women by telling their stories of sacrifice!
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Slink

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Man...that's a tough read. Your Grandfather perished as a HERO. Can you imagine all of the Notaries that had to certified those letter all across the country during that time in our history? At some point you would have to become numb to them. Thanks for sharing
 

DRYHEAT

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Man...that's a tough read. Your Grandfather perished as a HERO. Can you imagine all of the Notaries that had to certified those letter all across the country during that time in our history? At some point you would have to become numb to them. Thanks for sharing
I need to do some more research on it, but he was on the USS Honolulu and I believe it was hit by a torpedo or dive bombed I don’t know which my mother was only two when it happened, the ship was saved and repaired and put back into service. My grandfather was in the wrong place at the wrong time unfortunately.
 

was thatguy

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My Grandpa was a sailor on a destroyer in WWII.
Sub Hunter.
He lived to 94 years old. Harrowing tales about the kamikazes.
His neighbor in Ohio was a man named Ted.
He was a survivor of the Batan death March.
 

was thatguy

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My dad was an instructor in B17 and B29. One plane down=10 guys not coming back. I'm no mathmetition but I can figure out if hed have been sent over seas I'd not be here today

The losses of B17 crews were sobering.
Hundreds of planes would meet up on sorties over Germany. Sitting ducks for flak and German fighters once out of fighter cover range.
10% of 500 planes is 50 planes...
That’s 500 men if only 10% losses suffered...
Suffice it to say that airmen requirements became “less stringent” as the war churned on.
The bravery is hard to imagine. The commitment from very young men was total.
 

DRYHEAT

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Oddly enough I’ve been working on stuff and cleaning in my garage today and I’ve had band of Brothers on the TV, watching some of the interviews, just really makes you think how good we have it because of the sacrifice of the generations that came before us.

Thank God we still have people today that are willing to make the same sacrifices.🇺🇸
 

WhatExit?

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My uncle survived Pearl Harbor and the war

They were the greatest generation and we owe them everything


 
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JDub24

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Great pictures and memories. My Grandfather on my dads side was in the Army during WWI (Band of Brothers Era) and actually was on the front lines in the Corps of Engineers. If you have seen the series there is a base that is left behind as the war pushed forward in the dead of winter and the Germans were trying to over run them every couple of days and they were running low on ammo, food, fuel...etc. He told us the story but we never believed him (he was a bit of a drunk and probably had PTSD before it was a thing) about basically being down to a few hundred rounds of ammo, a few hand grenades and a day or two worth of food when they heard tanks rolling up the toad towards them and their half ass fortified “base”. They all got together and decided they would rather die than be captured by the enemy. So they got on rooftops and in sandbag huts and waited for the end. A few were going to try and distract as long as they could at the front “gate” to buy as much time as possible.
As the tanks rolled up they stopped a few yards away and the lead tank popped open the hatch and a Brit yelled out that they were lost and were looking for directions. They had a whole tank battalion, supplies for the front line and a ton of food. He said he couldn’t believe what he was seeing and from that day on he started attending church because the only person that was going to save them was God himself. He died 35+ years ago so no way he would have known that the very scene he described to us would have made it into a major motion picture like Band Of Brothers. That old, drunk bastard was telling the truth. 🤣

Here is a picture of his dog tags and a photo he said his best friend took of a V-2 rocket hitting the same base that the story came from. He said the crazy bastard stood up from a Fox hole and took the picture before it hit the ground. I have held the picture in my hand and it is real no doubt.
God bless all the men and women who have given all so that we can enjoy our freedoms. 🇺🇸🇺🇸
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f12517

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My grandfather is buried at Riverside national cemetery. He saw service across 3 wars. It's hard to believe that he's been gone 5 years already. I miss him dearly at times. He's been on my mind all weekend.
 

WhatExit?

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My Grandpa was a sailor on a destroyer in WWII.
Sub Hunter.
He lived to 94 years old. Harrowing tales about the kamikazes.
His neighbor in Ohio was a man named Ted.
He was a survivor of the Batan death March.

Bataan Death March. OMG

After the April 9, 1942 U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II (1939-45), the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands perished in what became known as the Bataan Death March.

What the Japanese did to the Chinese and Americans and all their enemies was sub-human

No one with any intelligence should question why we dropped 2 nukes on Japan
 

was thatguy

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Bataan Death March. OMG

After the April 9, 1942 U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II (1939-45), the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands perished in what became known as the Bataan Death March.

What the Japanese did to the Chinese and Americans and all their enemies was sub-human

No one with any intelligence should question why we dropped 2 nukes on Japan

Yes. The Japanese did not consider any of their enemies as human.
I spent 2nd grade (1968?) in Ohio at Grandpa and Grandmas house, Dad was in Korea.
I was pretty mad because I didn’t like that my Dad left us, and I was being a punk to my Mom and Grandparents.
I think it was on Memorial Day my Grandpa put me in the car and we went to the VFW or veteran lodge of some sort.
There were a lot of men there with their uniforms and hats on. They had some fanfare and stuff but then they each took turns going up and talking about their lost brothers and about their experiences.
Back then they only had each other. There was no shrinks or wounded warrior groups or any kind of support like that.
Invisible wounds didn’t count, they had to suck it up and pretend to live normal lives...and they did.
Anyway, they told their stories and I got my first taste of realization of what it meant for my Dad to be a soldier.
 

DRYHEAT

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After a quick bit of research, my grandfathers ship was hit by a torpedo bomber in Leyte Gulf on October 20, 1944. He was initially listed as missing in action, so I don’t know if they ever found his remains or not. I had always assumed he had been buried at sea.

Here’s a few photos from Naval archives from that day.
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The last photo was taken 10 days later in drydock being repaired.

My grandmother remarried a USMC veteran, he was on Iwo Jima and Peleliu, I never thought about it until now but The grandfather I never knew may have been bombarding the islands that the grandfather I knew was fighting on?
 

Gelcoater

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I’ve no pictures to share.
All my grandfathers pictures pre 1978 were destroyed in a house fire.

My dads dad.
When he was 17 years old WW2 was going, and his dad, my great grandfather, was a journalist covering the war.
He became a POW of the Japanese and was sent to a prisoner camp in mainland China which they occupied at the time.

My grandfathers grandiose idea was to farb some paperwork and join the Marines. Because he didn’t want to be drafted into the Army and be sent to Europe.
He wanted to go to the Pacific and save his dad!

You know what?
He didn’t save his dad.
But he did make it to that POW camp eventually. Great gramps had been released almost 6 months earlier.

My grandfather was one of the Marines that sacked Okinawa.
Only story o really ever heard from him was about his rifle.
The M1 Grand.
Grandpa Jerry wasn’t a large man, 5’6 and about 135lbs.
He said the Grand was a really heavy rifle, so he had this bright idea to carry the rifle the Japanese were carrying, as they were plentiful on the field and were light weight and fit his frame better.
And he learned a lesson there shortly after.
As he put it best I can remember, “With the Jap gun, you had to shoot em 2-3 times before they would go down. With the M1 you only had to shoot em once”
And he sacked up and carried the M1 from then on. 🇺🇸
 

Cdog

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My Gramps was Corp of engineers. NJ based. Trained in Torrance for D day. He was called in second wave on d day to run artillery. His company “rainbow company “ was the first to discover a dachau sub camp. Came home & never spoke about the war unless asked about it. He was an engineer at Garrett in Torrance. Retired & was the best Gramps a kid could ask for. At his funeral several old guys were crying about the army salute. They said “Bill never mentioned he was in the war”. I was there with him holding his hand for his last breath at Torrance memorial.

Till we meet again Gramps.

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4Waters

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After a quick bit of research, my grandfathers ship was hit by a torpedo bomber in Leyte Gulf on October 20, 1944. He was initially listed as missing in action, so I don’t know if they ever found his remains or not. I had always assumed he had been buried at sea.

Here’s a few photos from Naval archives from that day.
View attachment 1008061 View attachment 1008062 View attachment 1008063
The last photo was taken 10 days later in drydock being repaired.

My grandmother remarried a USMC veteran, he was on Iwo Jima and Peleliu, I never thought about it until now but The grandfather I never knew may have been bombarding the islands that the grandfather I knew was fighting on?
My grandfather served in WW2 in the Navy. He piloted a landing craft at Iwo Jima. He very well could be in this pic as well as your grandpa.
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During one of his trips back to the shore he watched this live.
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I couldn't imagine the adrenaline and emotions watching that flag go up.
 

nowski

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My Dad (Tec4) was in the 191st tank battalion that was assigned to the 45th infantry (Thunderbird Division) during WWII. They fought battles in Italy, France, Germany and in the end took part in liberating the concentration camps in Dachau.

My Dad made these ashtrays (trench art) while hunkered down in Anzio.

My Mom was an RN during the War and wrote this song for my Dad while he was in battle.

Years later: Mom's song was played for us at Mom's Celebration of Life Services in remembrance of both Mom and Dad...
 

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4Waters

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My Dad (Tec4) was in the 191st tank battalion that was assigned to the 45th infantry (Thunderbird Division) during WWII. They fought battles in Italy, France, Germany and in the end took part in liberating the concentration camps in Dachau.

My Dad made these ashtrays (trench art) while hunkered down in Anzio.

My Mom was an RN during the War and wrote this song for my Dad while he was in battle.

Years later: Mom's song was played for us at Mom's Celebration of Life Services in remembrance of both Mom and Dad...
Those ashtrays are really cool👍👍
 

was thatguy

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Dad in ‘58 or ‘59?
Right after his shotgun wedding and enlistment for getting the homecoming Queen (Mom) pregnant lol.
He went on to a career as an Air Force combat controller, his own sport skydiving club, helped advance the HALO program across branches, all kinds of missions and shady shit, and basically was like a real life Sgt. Rock.
He taught us field navigation and survival at a very young age.
I remember in his last days like 11 years ago (cancer, 68 yo) Deb and I were at his house in Anchorage. His guys were coming from all over the country to see him off. Guys I hadn’t seen since I was little.
His wife was upset telling me “Tommy I am tired of all these guys coming everyday from all over”
I said “Good luck...”
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regor

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Great thread, thanks for sharing your stories.

I was 20 years old heading to the gulf during the first Iraq invasion aboard the USS Enterprise. Things had wound down for the most part, but we were still going through GQ’s and dawning chemical weapons gear and training for any attack. It scared the shit out of me and from that day forward, Memorial Day and ALL veterans that have/had war time experience took on a new meaning and level of respect.

God bless all your family heroes, they were some of the bravest men to ever walk the planet. 👍
 

tostark

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To continue to honor those that served in WWII, make sure that they are included int he WWII Memorial database.

 
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