The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: Tucker on May 27, 2013, 05:45:36 PM
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022909049
Manifestor_of_Light (16,319 posts)
Check in if your dad was in The Big One!
DU Boomers, did your daddy serve in World War II??
Mine enlisted in the Air Force when it was part of the Army, at Ellington Field. He served in Europe as a Norden bombsight mechanic. This was the great technical achievement of the war besides radar.
His 483rd Bombardment Group won lots of awards for accuracy & bravery.
Combat records:
•Participating in the First Task Force Shuttle Mission to Russia
• Most enemy aircraft destroyed by a B-17 on one mission by one crew (13)
• Most Me-262 jets destroyed on one mission by one crew (3)
•Most Me-262 jets destroyed by one gunner on one mission (2)
•The B-17 with the greatest number of holes from combat action to return to an operating base (total 30,748)
•The most decorated combat crew for one mission in Air Force history where each of 10 crew members was awarded a Silver Star, and four wounded members, the Purple Heart Medal.
•The most jets destroyed by one Group during the entire war (7)
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 04:47 PM
Star Member mainer (6,687 posts)
1. My dad was in the Army, served at the Battle of the Bulge
After he came home, for the rest of his life, he kept repeating for us the one piece of wisdom he'd gleaned from combat:
"Never volunteer."
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 04:49 PM
Star Member lpbk2713 (23,276 posts)
3. Mine had five kids and worked in a shipyard during WWII
He died from asbestosis as a consequence.
Irony. Choose to avoid the conflict only to die from the choice.
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 04:56 PM
Star Member arely staircase (4,245 posts)
9. i am a 5th generation american male
that has managed to avoid every military conflict in our nations history since the war of 1812. seriously, my 6th great grandfather fought under Andrew Jackson and we haven't seen combat since. we even avoided the civil war - granted by dying of a fever before hostilities broke out, but nevertheless.
Like father, like son. A family of cowards.
Response to elleng (Reply #14)
Mon May 27, 2013, 05:07 PM
Star Member mainstreetonce (409 posts)
15. Father in Europe WWIi
Father in Law in Korea
Uncle was at Nirmandy .
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 05:14 PM
Star Member angstlessk (6,048 posts)
18. My father was in the Navy..and ISLANDS REALLY HAD TOPLESS MAIDENS WITH GRASS SKIRTS!
All the islands are now modern, but during WW2 there were women who were not ashamed of their mammary glands and wore grass skirts...
I saw photos from his service
:lol:
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 05:15 PM
Star Member proud2BlibKansan (96,399 posts)
20. My dad was in the Battle of the Bulge
I'd bet he wants his sperm back.
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 05:23 PM
Star Member lumberjack_jeff (24,572 posts)
23. Yes. 1st Army. Shot in the head in Belgium in 1945.
He survived and got his bronze star in 1990.
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 05:25 PM
Star Member Skittles (86,399 posts)
25. my grandfather was one of the Dunkirk soldiers
Last edited Mon May 27, 2013, 05:32 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)
trapped by Germans by land, air and sea - all he ever said about it was, "I could dive under a jeep faster than anyone."
He also served in WW I.
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 05:27 PM
Star Member BainsBane (9,714 posts)
27. My grandfather was
somewhere in the South Pacific. He was a psychiatrist while in the military and set up some of the first psychiatric treatment for veterans when he returned.
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 05:36 PM
cascadiance (14,059 posts)
32. Father was in the Navy in Korean war...
...
Our family is thankful that a Japanese torpedo bounced off the hull of the ship where he was instead of exploding or some of us wouldn't have been born...
No one called it or questioned it.
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 05:41 PM
brewens (3,017 posts)
34. VB-104, PB4Y (Navy Liberators) crewman. Long range reconnaissance and bombing
in the south pacific. Those guys were a lot like submarine crews so far as their going out on lone patrols and never being seen again.
My dad had gotten in a car accident in San Diego right before they were being deployed. The plane he was assigned to originally, went down with no survivors in transit. No one knows why or where exactly. While stationed at Guadalcanal he got in some kind of fight with his planes commander/pilot and was transferred to another crew. Shortly after that, those guys went missing and were never found.
He was wounded twice. Once in air combat with japanese fighters and another time by flak bombing a Japanese airfield. They were in that region for almost all of 1943.
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 05:54 PM
Star Member Shrike47 (463 posts)
42. Father in the NAVY, Pacific theater. Intelligence.
I guess the college graduates were automatically officers. He had been a teacher.
Response to Shrike47 (Reply #42)
Mon May 27, 2013, 06:05 PM
nadinbrzezinski (120,488 posts)
47. It was not automatic
They were called six week wonders. It was a shortened version of OCS.
gNads strikes again.
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 06:04 PM
edbermac (11,151 posts)
45. Served in Patton's army.
Said he was nuts.
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 06:04 PM
nadinbrzezinski (120,488 posts)
46. Dad was in the polish resistance, later in the Army
Last edited Mon May 27, 2013, 06:08 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)
After liberation.
Record...there is no stinking record. Suffice it to say, he told me and my husband a lot, but how they got from Warsaw to Paris in 1947... He never did tell the story
Oh and my uncle, he died well before I was born, was in Intel in the Pacific
Was he monitoring U S shipping routes for the Japanese?
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 06:13 PM
Star Member Elwood P Dowd (7,196 posts)
49. Dad and 4 uncles served in the Army.
He suffered a broken arm and damaged shoulder during a training exercise, and spent the rest of the war as an Army mail clerk in the States. A few years after the war, the VA discovered he also suffered a damaged hip, so he did receive a little disability check until he left us.
His families first parasite.
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 06:14 PM
treestar (40,535 posts)
51. No, too young
And grandfather too old by then, and too young for WWI. A lucky bunch, my family, there are many children born but none seem to be of age at any given wartime.
Bullshit.
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Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)Mon May 27, 2013, 04:56 PM
arely staircase (4,248 posts)
9. i am a 5th generation american male
that has managed to avoid every military conflict in our nations history since the war of 1812. seriously, my 6th great grandfather fought under Andrew Jackson and we haven't seen combat since. we even avoided the civil war - granted by dying of a fever before hostilities broke out, but nevertheless.
This Dummy wasn't smart enough to sit this one out. The op said Check in if your dad was in The Big One, not Check in if you come from a family of pussies.
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022909049
Irony. Choose to avoid the conflict only to die from the choice.
Like father, like son. A family of cowards.
:lol:
I'd bet he wants his sperm back.
No one called it or questioned it.
gNads strikes again.
Was he monitoring U S shipping routes for the Japanese?
His families first parasite.
Bullshit.
Two Hero's in my family My Uncle that boarded a German sub as it sank to retrieve the machine that encrypted the messages the Germans sent. I believe he was just 19 years old when he went into the sinking Sub.
My Dad, a hard hat diver that was part of the Sub rescue, later went into the ASR's as a diver.
At one time he told me that as he hit bottom he wondered if he would ever see his little girl again. That was me.
My Hero's were all ways the men that down below by Sub or by Diving into the unknown.
The men of the Sea are my hero's be it by sail or Nuclear, these men have and had balls to head into the unknown.
Pig boats of the WW2 time are special to me, the men that road those boats were supermen .
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My grandfather was killed on June 10, 1945 by a sniper on Okinawa. He left behind a five year old daughter (my mother) and a 23 year old widow.
(http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s450/DUDUmmies/22e6c4ad-a0a3-4e89-87fb-2781343a59fb.jpg) (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/DUDUmmies/media/22e6c4ad-a0a3-4e89-87fb-2781343a59fb.jpg.html)
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My father was too young--besides, I'm technically just barely too young to be a "boomer" I guess.
Although both my grandfathers served.
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My father was too young--besides, I'm technically just barely too young to be a "boomer" I guess.
Although both my grandfathers served.
Same here.
My father was in during the Korean conflict. He had five brothers that were in WW ll and a younger brother that was in Vietnam.
On my mother's side, both brothers were in WW ll. One died on his way home after discharge.
I had no Uncles that managed to avoid military conflict. They enlisted.
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Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 07:01 PM
TlalocW (8,922 posts)
71. Dad turned 18 in 1945 and enlisted in the Navy
I know he was on a ship. Don't know if he saw any action, but he was honorably discharged the same year after the war ended.
Then he got drafted into the army for the Korean War because he hadn't served enough time in WWII to not be drafted.
TlalocW
So he enlisted in 1945 and got discharged in 1945?
:confused:
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 07:18 PM
Star Member rrneck (13,798 posts)
78. Yep. Navy signal core. Served on an LST. nt
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 07:20 PM
wial (427 posts)
82. My dad was a conscientious objector in England, and dug up unexploded bombs.
Because he was a historically and philosophically informed intellectual he just didn't believe killing young men to make old men richer was a good cause. For his bravery, gangs of nasty English schoolgirls would give him white feathers, implying he was a coward. When he was told to march right, he would march left and get weeks of KP for his insolence. He was given a true/false test to see if he qualified for clerk duty, but he felt that would aid the war effort, so he got every single answer deliberately wrong. He said the examiner gave him a long look but couldn't do anything.
Canadian infantry were billeted near where he was. When they too questioned his courage, he would fight them vastly outnumbered back to back with my uncle after whom I am named, who later died in Burma after he was spurned by the family of the Jewish girl he had fallen for, and subsequently enlisted out of a broken heart.
One thing though, you couldn't pop balloons around my dad. After bomb disposal, loud noises like that would make him jump out of his skin.
Although I honor the spirit of service that makes people risk their lives in combat roles, I'm damned proud to be my father's son.
Response to Manifestor_of_Light (Original post)
Mon May 27, 2013, 07:25 PM
Star Member tularetom (17,416 posts)
88. 1st Marine Division, Guadalcanal, New Britain, Peleliu, Okinawa
My mom, too. Navy nurse.
GOBUCKS. They heeded to your knowledge.
http://www.conservativecave.com/index.php/topic,62637.msg723344/highlight,new+britain.html#msg723344
Daphne08 Donating Member (1000+ posts)
Daddy fought in the Battle of Cape Gloucester, the Battle of Peleliu and the Battle of Okinawa.
GOBUCKS
I think you're right about this DUmmy basing her bouncy tale on the HBO series "The Pacific", even though she left out Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima.
The HBO show featured the combat at Cape Gloucester, but every time I've seen an actual documentary about it, it's been referred to
as the battle of New Britain.
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Mon May 27, 2013, 07:20 PM
wial (427 posts)
For his bravery, gangs of nasty English schoolgirls would give him white feathers, implying he was a coward.
Implying hell. They were calling the coward out. Typical DUmbass, thinking he was so smart. Intellectual my ass. He was a coward plain and simple.
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Implying hell. They were calling the coward out. Typical DUmbass, thinking he was so smart. Intellectual my ass. He was a coward plain and simple.
And probably a Nazi sympathizer as well.
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Dad was in WW2 in the Pacific on a cruiser from 43 till 45. His ship earned 7 battle stars while he was on board. A few years ago at CU I posted the diary he kept after the war ended and was going to do it here, but just never have.
.
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My great uncles served in WW2. One in the Navy in the pacific and the other was a bomber pilot in Europe. Dad served in Korea.
We got back about 4 hours ago putting flowers on the uncles graves. Dad was cremated so his ashes are here with us.
RIP uncles and dad. RIP to all those men and women that paid the price to keep this country free. FOAD to all dummies. I hope dogs piss on your graves.
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My Dad's side:
My Grandpa fought against the Soviets for all of World War II, he started as a young teenager helping his Dad and then advanced to doing other things against the Russians. He was Finnish. He never did have a lot of use for the Germans or the British, and he hated the Russians.
At the end of the war, his family moved to northern Minnesota and set up a farm. He graduated from the local high school in 1948. He worked on and off in Chicago before being drafted into the US Army and going to Korea for that war. He advanced rapidly as he used and taught a lot of the tactics he had learned against the Soviets.
He decided that he liked the steady paycheck, but didn't really care for living in a fox hole, so he got out and went into the USAF. The USAF sent him to Hurlburt Field, FL where he met my grandmother, who already had three kids including my father. They married and had four more children.
He retired a few years before I was born.
My Mom's side:
My granddad was too old, but I had an uncle that served in the Navy during WWII.
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Mon May 27, 2013, 05:36 PM
cascadiance (14,059 posts)
32. Father was in the Navy in Korean war...
...
Our family is thankful that a Japanese torpedo bounced off the hull of the ship where he was instead of exploding or some of us wouldn't have been born...
This family had another ancestor captured by the Soviet Army during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Sounds like a war story by TiT or DUmoTex.
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Star Member angstlessk (6,048 posts)
18. My father was in the Navy..and ISLANDS REALLY HAD TOPLESS MAIDENS WITH GRASS SKIRTS!
All the islands are now modern, but during WW2 there were women who were not ashamed of their mammary glands and wore grass skirts... :thatsright:
I saw photos from his service
What..... never seen a older National Geographic? This was a revelation to you?
My God, these people are infantile. (BWAKT)
Star Member tularetom (17,416 posts)
88. 1st Marine Division, Guadalcanal, New Britain, Peleliu, Okinawa
Surprised you could recite that list. So, what's your major malfunction phuckstick?
GOBUCKS
I think you're right about this DUmmy basing her bouncy tale on the HBO series "The Pacific", even though she left out Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima.
The HBO show featured the combat at Cape Gloucester, but every time I've seen an actual documentary about it, it's been referred to
as the battle of New Britain.
That sounds more like it.
TlalocW (8,922 posts)
71. Dad turned 18 in 1945 and enlisted in the Navy
I know he was on a ship. Don't know if he saw any action, but he was honorably discharged the same year after the war ended.
Then he got drafted into the army for the Korean War because he hadn't served enough time in WWII to not be drafted
:???: Something very strange there. If you're packing a discharge, honorable or otherwise, you don't get drafted. You can be recalled to active duty, if in a reserve status, but not drafted into another branch. You would have to enlist, or be commissioned, into that branch.
Star Member BainsBane (9,714 posts)
27. My grandfather was
somewhere in the South Pacific. He was a psychiatrist while in the military and set up some of the first psychiatric treatment for veterans when he returned
That would explain a few things..... :whistling:
brewens (3,017 posts)
34. VB-104, PB4Y (Navy Liberators) crewman. Long range reconnaissance and bombing
in the south pacific. Those guys were a lot like submarine crews so far as their going out on lone patrols and never being seen again.
A little melodramatic, don't ya think? The expanse of the Pacific is a very lonely place with a litany of lonely death. Sub crews spent 1-2 months at sea. Alone. VB crews spent 6 hours out max and then back to the E-Club.
cascadiance (14,059 posts)
32. Father was in the Navy in Korean war......Our family is thankful that a Japanese torpedo bounced off the hull of the ship
*sigh* Why? You feel you have to be a member of the club, right?
nadinbrzezinski (120,488 posts)
47. It was not automatic
They were called six week wonders. It was a shortened version of OCS.
Like when you were commissioned into the Mexican Underground Balloon Force.
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My mom's father was WW II Navy.
My father enlisted in the IL National Guard when he turned 18 as his father died very young and he had already had to quit high school to run the family farm. His mother needed to eat. He never seen combat but helped with several floods and disasters around the United States during his four years.
My dad's older brothers all served and there was no one to take care of the farm. I seen the equipment they had, very primitive stuff.
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My Dad was too young for WW2 and my grandfather was too old but he built ships at the New York shipyards in Camden NJ. My mothers father was in Europe during WW2, he was a Quartermaster at first but they needed bodies (he never told me what for) so they gave him a rifle.
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Both Grandfathers were in WW II USAAC.
One was a crew chief on C-47's for the 82nd on D-Day. The other was a waist gunner on B-17's. Both made MSG before they got out.
My driving goal since the day I became a Sergeant was to math them in rank.
Almost there. :-)
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My dad's father was in the Army and stayed Stateside, buying beef for the Army all war long. My mom's father had just completed a hitch at an old fort in NYC (can't remember the name now), and wasn't recalled for the war, as he got married just before the war started. My dad was judged medically unfit for Vietnam in 1963. I missed Desert Storm by a day . . . and it's haunted me ever since.
As for my paternal grandfather's brothers, one was in the 1st ID, and saw action at the Bulge. The other was a Navy pilot that had some funny stories of his exploits in Wildcats. He eventually transitioned into Hellcats, and further into Corsairs, but the vast majority of his flying time was in Wildcats.
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There were 9 children in his family, 8 boys and 1 girl, Dad was #7, Aunt Sue was right in the middle, with 4 older and 4 younger brothers.
My Dad was too young for WWII, he and his younger brother served in Korea, Dad was section chief for a battery of 105's.
2 of his older brothers saw action in Europe during WWII, another one, Aunt Sue's husband, was captured by the Germans and spent 4 months in a POW camp.
The other 2 older brothers were in the Army CORPS of Engineers, both helped to build the Radford Army Ammunition Plant near Radford, VA, and Fort Pickett, near Blackstone, VA. (Another uncle on my Mom's side was head of maintenance at Fort Pickett.)
My Dad's youngest brother was too sickly to serve in the military and died from hepatitis complicated by double pneumonia back in the early 50's. Dad honored him by giving his first-born son (ME :-)) his name.
Neither me nor my 2 brothers were in the service, I didn't even have to register for Selective Services, since my birthday fell between where Carter abolished registering for the draft and Reagan started SS.
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My dad's father was in the Army and stayed Stateside, buying beef for the Army all war long. My mom's father had just completed a hitch at an old fort in NYC (can't remember the name now), and wasn't recalled for the war, as he got married just before the war started. My dad was judged medically unfit for Vietnam in 1963. I missed Desert Storm by a day . . . and it's haunted me ever since.
As for my paternal grandfather's brothers, one was in the 1st ID, and saw action at the Bulge. The other was a Navy pilot that had some funny stories of his exploits in Wildcats. He eventually transitioned into Hellcats, and further into Corsairs, but the vast majority of his flying time was in Wildcats.
A lot of pilots loved the Wildcats. I saw a documentary about them on the military channel. While slower than the others mentioned, the armor plating was second to none.
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There were 9 children in his family, 8 boys and 1 girl, Dad was #7, Aunt Sue was right in the middle, with 4 older and 4 younger brothers.
Damn. You had a chance to be the 7th son of a 7th son. :tongue:
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Damn. You had a chance to be the 7th son of a 7th son. :tongue:
I missed by 6. :lmao:
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My dad enlisted in the navy at 17. He lied about his age. He never spoke about the war. All I know is that he served on a light cruiser. His brother, my uncle, served in the army in the Pacific. The only story that either of them ever told was when they met op with each other. My uncle ate too much ice cream on the ship. My dad drank too much beer on the island.
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Star Member tularetom (17,416 posts)
88. 1st Marine Division, Guadalcanal, New Britain, Peleliu, Okinawa
My grandfather was there, he was an amphibious tractor driver and you left out several locations. He didn't make it to Iwo Jima but they were on reserve to go. Funny story is that he volunteered and when he got home from the induction station there was a letter from the draft board waiting for him. :-)
We have the pleasure/honor to host the reunion of his unit here in Hampton Roads this year. They have the honor of being the first group kicked out of the USMC museum. :rotf:
My other grandfather served in the Army in Europe and was at the liberation of one of the camps. He served honorably but never talked about it.
Also since the primitives want to be sexist, my grandmother served for the duration as a WAVE working in the pentagon for one of the fleet Admirals. My other grandmother worked in wartime industries.
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Due to diseases in childhood and resultant leftover shit in his blood, my Dad was turned down for enlistment, though he did spent the next 30 years as a firefighter for the Air Force, including a long stretch for a large SAC base with a missile wing's silos spread out around it and a large tactical aircraft training element (So, he had plenty of hairy experiences without any of the glory). Two of my Mom's brothers served in WWII, both Army and both in Europe; ages worked out a little differently on my wife's side of the family, her grandfathers were too old and her Dad and I think her uncles too young, though she had plenty of more-distant cousins in it, some on each side.
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My grandfather hopped around islands in Pacific with the 155th Infantry Regiment, 31st Infantry Division (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/31st_Infantry_Division_%28United_States%29). He was in the national guard for a year before the war kicked off, activated, and eventually got out of the service after the war ended.
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My dad was in Korea, my uncle in Vietnam. My great uncle and several others were in WWII. My Great grandfather and his brother were in WWI. Five GG relatives fought in the Indian Wars, two of them were killed with Custer at Little Big Horn. More than a dozen were on both sides during the Civil War. I know of two who fought during the Revolution.
When you get back to the old country the tradition continues.
My oldest son just enlisted.
I served for 28 years.
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A lot of pilots loved the Wildcats. I saw a documentary about them on the military channel. While slower than the others mentioned, the armor plating was second to none.
My uncle said that, being based near San Diego, that he and his boyhood friend, who flew Dauntlesses/Helldivers, would occasionally fly over the border to Mexico and buy whatever tequila they could find, and fly back. The Wildcats couldn't carry much--the machine guns and ammo boxes had to be left at base. With a second seat (and leaving the gunner behind), the Dauntlesses/Helldivers could carry a lot more booze. One day, there in the taxi area, was the base commander waiting for them. Six months' grounding over that.
ETA: My wife's side . . . her great-uncle, who was an Ordnance officer with the 102nd ID in Eurpoe, got a Bronze Star for figuring out the method of firing captured German artillery rockets back at the Nazis. He also found a burned-out barn with something along the lines of just over 1,000 Jews that had been burned to death inside it. He never told me about that one--I read it in a newspaper. On my wife's father's side, eleven generations back, was the commander of the Patriot forces at the Battle of Oriskany in the American Revolution.
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3 g-uncles enlisted into WWII. 2 Navy and one Army. The Navy uncles were in the Pacific and the Army uncle was killed in a tank in nothern Africa.
Prior to that was my ggg-granfather who was in the Civil War. He fought in the Yazoo Swamps, where he and many others developed an intestinal disease, lost an eye and spent half his military time in the hospital. According to his military pension papers, he wasn't very healthy most of his life after that.
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My grandfather was a green private fresh from jump school when he was assigned to the 508th parachute infantry regiment, 101st Airborne in July 1945. You never met a man more grateful than my grandfather for the atomic bomb.
For Memorial Day, we put on a documentary of the 1967 fire on the USS Forrestal for my son. His grandpa was serving his first fleet posting aboard that ship (as an Aviation Ordnanceman in an A-6 squadron) when this incident occurred. Even though Grandpa Mike wasn't killed in this, my boy seemed to understand his first grasp of what it means when good men (and women now) give everything they have in the service of their countrymen. Joshua was especially impacted by the actions of Chief Gerald Farrier.
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My granddad (mom's dad) was Army. He was originally assigned to the 27th Infantry Division when it was reactivated in October 1940. He ended up getting out as a Lieutenant. I think I vaguely recall pilots wings on one of the pictures I saw, but I can't remember. I need to go to my aunt's house since she has a lot of the family heirlooms and pictures.
Here's a pic of him (well, his back) and my great grandmother from the Gary, IN newspaper when he left for basic.
(http://image2.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2012/12/82927787_132648471111.jpg)
Before the war he played for the Chicago Bears (even has his own Wiki page) and after the war he married my grandmother. He died 5 years before I was born. Would have loved to hear his stories, but alas, it wasn't to be.
Don't know a damn thing about my dad's side.
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A lot of pilots loved the Wildcats. I saw a documentary about them on the military channel. While slower than the others mentioned, the armor plating was second to none.
A very solid A/C. One of the top Japanese aces retold one of his encounters with an F4F-3, I believe. He was absolutely dumbfounded that it was still flying......
....with a smiling Navy fighter jock looking back at him.
I believe he said he emptied his entire base load into him. Even the 20 mike-mike.
Before the war he played for the Chicago Bears
Say no more. He's cool! :-) :-)
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Say no more. He's cool! :-) :-)
Even has his own wiki page!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Mihal
(http://image2.findagrave.com/photos/2012/2/82927787_132565403715.jpg)
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A very solid A/C. One of the top Japanese aces retold one of his encounters with an F4F-3, I believe. He was absolutely dumbfounded that it was still flying......
....with a smiling Navy fighter jock looking back at him.
I believe he said he emptied his entire base load into him. Even the 20 mike-mike.
Say no more. He's cool! :-) :-)
It was built like a tank, aside from being somewhat underpowered, but like the Spit and the Bf-109, its narrow landing gear killed an awful lot of pilots.
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I only know of one relative who served during WW2. Sadly it was for only 6 minutes and he is still with the 1176 other comrades who were killed in action at 0806 on 12-07-41 aboard USS Arizona (BB-39). I found out about this on my first visit to the Arizona Memorial....it was a bit of a shock looking at the marble wall with the names of the officers and enlisted who died that day and seeing your last name on it.
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I only know of one relative who served during WW2. Sadly it was for only 6 minutes and he is still with the 1176 other comrades who were killed in action at 0806 on 12-07-41 aboard USS Arizona (BB-39). I found out about this on my first visit to the Arizona Memorial....it was a bit of a shock looking at the marble wall with the names of the officers and enlisted who died that day and seeing your last name on it.
I discovered a man's name on the Vietnam Memorial that matched my father's other than the middle initial.
It was very disturbing, especially since my family name isn't one you see every day. There are variations in spelling which makes ours even more rare.
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I have a military history in my family going back to the Civil war (on both sides of the battle field)...and as far as WWII goes, I have a grandfather who served in the Army, and was a sergeant when he came back home. He served in the Battle of Okinawa.
I also have a great grandfather on my mother's side who served and was awarded a purple heart for his hand which was blown off. I don't know what branch of the military he was in or his rank.
I am very proud of my military history in my family. (yes even the Confederate) I don't understand anyone who would be ashamed of serving your country.
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Both grandfathers were in the army during W.W.II.
I don't know what my paternal grandfather did, he died before I was born - but have seen pictures of him in uniform around the time of his marriage to my grandmother.
My maternal grandfather came of age during the War, he arrived in Normandy the day after D-day; from what he said he used to help targeting in the artillery by calculating the angles the guns should be pointed up.
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Dad was in WW2 in the Pacific on a cruiser from 43 till 45. His ship earned 7 battle stars while he was on board. A few years ago at CU I posted the diary he kept after the war ended and was going to do it here, but just never have.
Here's my Dad's diary (http://www.kancoll.org/articles/cruzan/c_credits.htm).
Here's my heritage...
Revolutionary War:
Benjamin Cruzan, Sr., Co. "C", 5th Troop, 1st Regiment Light Dragoons, Continental Troops
War of 1812:
Benjamin Cruzan, Jr., Dowden's Company of Infantry, 4th Kentucky Volunteers
Civil War:
William Manton Cruzan, Co. "E", 12th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Cavalry
World War I:
Benjamin Edgar Cruzan, Pvt., Battery "F", 341st Field Artillery, 89th Division, 3rd Army, AEF
...and I'm damned proud!
Our family (http://members.socket.net/~mcruzan/geneal01.htm) has had members in every war this nation has been involved in except the Mexican War and Gulf II, and the flag proudly flies in the front yard.
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Don't know a damn thing about my dad's side.
I play around in genealogy. If you want, I might be able to find out a few things for you. PM me if your interested. :)
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Civil War:
William Manton Cruzan, Co. "E", 12th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Cavalry
Yankee. :rant: :tongue:
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My grandfather was there, he was an amphibious tractor driver and you left out several locations. He didn't make it to Iwo Jima but they were on reserve to go. Funny story is that he volunteered and when he got home from the induction station there was a letter from the draft board waiting for him. :-)
We have the pleasure/honor to host the reunion of his unit here in Hampton Roads this year. They have the honor of being the first group kicked out of the USMC museum. :rotf:
My other grandfather served in the Army in Europe and was at the liberation of one of the camps. He served honorably but never talked about it.
Also since the primitives want to be sexist, my grandmother served for the duration as a WAVE working in the pentagon for one of the fleet Admirals. My other grandmother worked in wartime industries.
My grandmother also worked in wartime industries while my grandfather was serving in WWII.
When my father was serving, my mother had a job with the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois. I believe she was an editor and a typesetter. She worked for a couple newspapers before that.
Lots of great memorials here of those that have served our nation. Warms my heart to read them all.