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

[Water Romper]

The Grandfather I never got to meet.
I would imagine there’s a whole lot of inmates on here that got similar letters.

View attachment 1007894
Here’s a notarized copy but not the whole thing. View attachment 1007899

I have never seen on of these before- Seen them in the movies and such, the dreaded Western Union delivery guy gives it to the shattered wife/family. Seeing this for real really brings it home. I cant for the life of me know or even pretend to understand how a loved one felt after receiving this little yellow piece of paper. I was one of the lucky ones, my dad came home, of course, he wasn't my father then, he was just 22 when he got back from the Pacific (Guam)
But back to these pictures, this really weights heavy on my heart, your family and the thousands of others who received the same, no words can describe the sorrow. pain and hurt. Even after all these years, the "scars of war" be it many years ago or current, never goes away. I guess that's why they call this Memorial Day.

 

[DRYHEAT]

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

Home - WWII Memorial Registry

Honoring the 16 million who served in the U.S. armed forces, the more than 400,000 who died, and all who supported the war effort from home.

www.wwiimemorial.com

Thank you for posting that link. I was able to use the search feature and find where my grandfather was buried.

 

[LowRiver2]

My Dad served in Korea: Had a full ride football scholarship to USC , joined ROTC because he came from modest means growing up in Bell. He served a year in combat and returned.

I had the honor to know and train/work
missions in LAPD with RJ Cottle:
His APC was taken out by an IED in 2010.
RJ led by example and was riding in the front APC, even though most Sgt. Majors rode in the rear of the stick.
Never was a more calm , yet professional qualified tactician than RJ in D Platoon. He took over the operation when LAPD SWAT Officer Randy Simmons was killed in 07’ and his leadership that day will always be remembered in the SWAT family.

I have four uncles that served in WWII and Korea, all made it home. I honor their service and pray for the families of so many that made the ultimate sacrifice.

Josh Cullins was an USMC EOD operator that served two tours in Iraq before joining the LAPD. Josh stayed on in the USMC reserve program and was called back to Afghanistan in 2010. Josh was killed by a secondary IED while investigating a post blast of another IED. Josh was several days away from coming home and didn’t have to go to that call. Josh was backing the replacement EOD tech and helping him get acclimated to the area. Afghansitan was much more dangerous for EOD techs than Iraq (Josh’s own words), as the tactics the EOD units used in IRAQ were passed on to the Taliban.
Josh would have been a member of the LAPD Bomb Squad upon his return. He is an honorary tech and his picture and our Bomb Squad museum room is named in his honor.
Godspeed RJ and Josh :

 

[SoCalDave]

I know I've shared it here before but can't find the pic now of my grandfather in his WWI military attire. He survived that era but passed of a heart attack when he was 48.

My wifes grandfather was no so lucky during WWII.

 

[havasujeeper]

 

[HBCraig]

Awesome thread. Awesome

Both of my grandfathers were in the Korean War and both made it home. The one on my mom's side was a POW and was tortured from what I was told. He never ever talked about it and I don't blame him

My Dad was in the Army, specifically the 26th Infantry Blue Spaders. He was finished with his enrolment just prior to Vietnam starting.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

A Great Uncle I never knew. The story goes he had a deferment from the draft due to working on the family ranch. He enlisted and was an Armorer in the 3rd Armored division and died during the battle of Dessau. He survived the fight across France and the Battle of the Bulge, the battles across Germany and died during the last tank battle of the European theater, only days before V-E Day. Sometimes things don't make sense.

God speed all those that have paid the ultimate price.

 

[Outdrive1]

My grand father, WW2 pilot.

Stuart Lancaster (actor) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

And yes, I am a Ringling.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WAAZ]

Dad, somewhere in the South Pacific.

 

[Bobo57]

My dad - Navy pilot

 

[Echo Lodge]

Grandfather flew Corsairs in WW2. Went on to be Chief of Flight Test at Edward's Air Force Base.

Untitled 1

www.edwardsreunion.org

 

[OkHallett270]

This thread is awesome. My Dad’s stepdad was in the army in Korea, he turned 18 there. I don’t have any pics but I’ve seen a few over the years in my grandmother’s photo albums. The base he was in looked just like a scene from MASH. He drove a general around in a jeep at one point in his deployment. He told me they would drive to a certain place one day and head back the next only to drive through craters in the road that weren’t there the day before. Dad’s biological dad was in the Navy during the Korean War. I didn’t know him well enough to have any stories or see any pics. Both are passed on now. I also had a good friend from high school who did two tours in Iraq. He was a medic, stationed in Fallujah. He did his time and came home to become a lineman. He got married had a little girl and passed from brain cancer before she was 2. He was 36. He is deeply missed. Freedom isn’t free. Thank you to all of those who served!

 

[SoCalDave]

Adding my Grandfather in his WWI attire. Never got a chance to meet him as he passed about 8 years before I was born.

 

[SkyDirtWaterguy]

I read this thread and think how grateful I am that these brave men and women sacrificed everything to fight for their country so that we enjoy what we have today. At the same time it pisses me off thinking about the current state of affairs with the pussy ass BLM, ANTIFA, socialist assholes protesting that couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag if they had to. They need a serious wake up call.

 

[Water Romper]

On thing in common with these old photos- Notice how young these "men" are? most couldn't buy a drink yet we gave them weapons' and million dollar fighting "tools" to protect our country. To many never made it to 21 years old. True America grit.

 

[was thatguy]

Adding my Grandfather in his WWI attire. Never got a chance to meet him as he passed about 8 years before I was born.

View attachment 1008969

WWI...the mother of all horror.
20 million estimated dead.
Go over the top of the trench into certain death, or retreat and get shot for desertion.
Even in the face of tens of thousands of casualties in single days, the generals would not change tactics.
All over what amounts to a family squabble.