Anyone remember WWII?

[tcartwri]

The Merchant Marine suffered more KIA, based on the ratio of service members to KIA, than any other US service. The Merchant Marine had a KIA rate of 3.9% vs the USMC at 3.7%. This is not well known, and their service of getting supplies to not only feed civilians in the UK during the war, but supply the military was critical. Without the beans and bullets, the guy with the rifle ain't real useful for very long.

When fact checking my memory, I came across this page, American Merchant Marine in World War 2 which was interesting. Some of the stories on the link I have read before but then there was this one:



People went off to war at a very early age. The power monkeys in the Royal Navy during the age of Iron Men and Wooden Ships were children. Officers could be young teenagers or even children. Hard to believe a boy would be put in charge of men but it is what happened. Admiral Nelson was the Captain of a ship at the age of 20. I think he may have been the acting Captain for long periods of time on previous ships when he was the XO and his CO was sent home or sick. People back then did some things that were remarkable.

Later,
Dan

Yup, Dad was 100lbs soaking wet, and he almost drowned during training when they put a 50lb pack on his back and had him go hand over hand from dock to ship on a rope. Fell between the two and sank like a rock.

 

[sixdogs]

What amazes me about the WWll generation--I'm not quite that age--is the lack of grandstanding almost all of them attached to service that may well have been extraordinary and meritorious. Time and again I have read the obits of people I had known for years and occasionally saw things like like five Purple Hearts or Medal of Honor or POW for two years or guarded Eisenhower or shot down in enemy territory or whatever and they never mentioned it. How do you go through part of life that significant and not feel it worthy of mention to your friends?

Maybe I have an idea. I saw a TV show on WWll once and one of the survivors commented that "the real heroes are the guys that never came home" or to "mention one person's story without respect for the others would be to dishonor their memory." That's what I figure. Those guys sure were tough and it makes the political class these days look pretty inadequate.

 

[dmccarty]

...
Maybe I have an idea. I saw a TV show on WWll once and one of the survivors commented that "the real heroes are the guys that never came home" or to "mention one person's story without respect for the others would be to dishonor their memory." That's what I figure. Those guys sure were tough and it makes the political class these days look pretty inadequate.

I think most people, irregardless of generation, do not brag or grandstand about their service. One of the problems that combat Vets can carry is survival guilt. How come I survived but Joe next to me died? Why him and not me? This can happen to people who live through any critical incident, LEOs, fire fighters, tornado survivors or people watching a marathon. Read many first hand accounts of combat and this will be a very common theme. I was reading a book about Iwo Jima and one of the men was describing how he was talking with a couple officers on the beach, I think one was a Colonel, and the man went to do something. Right after he left, a shell hit right were the men were standing and everyone was killed. Just blown to pieces. If he had stayed still for a short time he would have died. Yet he lived... Why?

Many people in combat have earned medals, including Medal of Honor, but the medals are never awarded for the simple reason that officers did not see the action, or if they did so, the officers died before they could write the report. There is not need to brag or talk about what one did, when you were doing what many others also did, but they died while you lived. One did their duty, it was as simple as that. I don't think many people in the US today understand the meaning of Duty but I do think many of our service members understand.

A coworker lost a brother in Afghanistan a few years ago. Reading on how the man died in combat I don't see how the man cannot be awarded a Medal of Honor:

508th Parachute Infantry Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Guy Jones said,"This paratrooper gave his life for his men and his unit by forcing an attacker to detonate an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) against him before it could endanger his soldiers.

That sounds like an MoH earning action, and I know it takes years for awards to be made, but I have heard nothing further. Many a Marine has won a MoH by jumping on a grenade to save other members of the unit and that sounds like what this NCO did.

Later,
Dan

 

[MRSDOUGLAS]

Do you have a time limit? I have been intending to write my story for my kids and grandkids and this will give me a good excuse...do need some time though.

Honestly I haven't asked her but you should write it down! I love reading the stories from my family, some of whom I only vaguely remember. I'll ask mom what her timeline is though.

 

[MRSDOUGLAS]

Blast from the past here! Mom asked me for a name for one of the stories you guys submitted so I came back to find it for her. She is in the editing process but if anyone else has any stories they would like to submit she would love to get them. She is trying to submit it for publishing in September, she turns 80 and this is one of her bucket list items.

For her birthday we are taking her horseback riding. She said she wants to hug and ride a horse one more time. I kinda had to laugh, she will be 80 next month and is probably in better shape than I am!

Anyway, this is getting close to coming to fruition. I'll keep you posted and many thanks to those who sent her a story..

 

[chuck172]

My father was in the 5th Marine Division (spearhead division). He was a flame thrower. When they landed on Iwo Jima, there was Jap machine gun fire. My father was in the middle of two of his friends when they hit the beach. All three marines dropped in the water, both of them were killed. Till the day my father died he couldn't understand why or how he was spared, and he would cry.

 

[JRobyn]

My dad was so traumatized by his WWII experiences that he really never mentioned them - EXCEPT to my wife, and only when the two of them were alone. Then he would really spill his guts. I think it was quite therapeutic. She is a great listener.

 

[Garandman]

From my mom, Shirley Downs (Chicago).

"I was on a street car when we heard about Pearl Harbor. We weren't scared - we were angry. We didn't know what the war would bring but we knew we would win."

She met my father when he was sent to Chicago for Basic and Gunnery training. He enlisted December 1st, 1941. The Headmaster of his school [Marianapolis, in CT] got them all together before Thanksgiving and told them "We're going to be in the war soon. When you go home for Thanksgiving, enlist in the Navy if you can. Otherwise, you'll get drafted into the Army and probably wind up dead."

 

[oosik]

I was born in May of '42 but can still remember food rationing and folks saving & donating almost everything to the war effort. My father was in the Army and because of his education, he was involved in chemical & biological warfare. For a while he was stationed at Ft Dietrich in Maryland and then he was reposted to a base near Orlando, FL. Man, do I ever remember Orlando. The sweltering heat, the oppressive humidity and it rained almost every afternoon.

I remember when we heard that we had won the war - my dad was discharged and we were able to come home to WA state. My mother must have been very scared during the war because she cried all day when dad came home, he was out of the Army and we were a family- together again and able to go home.

My uncle came home with a very young East German war bride. Made my folks very upset that all the folks around town said bad things about her. There were obviously still very hostile feelings regarding the Germans and my aunt & uncle were simply caught up in all this. It took many years before my aunt was fully accepted by the town folks.

 

[PJ The Kid]

My grandfather was a twin 50 gunner on the tanker SS Stack in the south pacific. He never told me alot about what he saw but he would let a few stories slip now and then. The main one I remember was a kamikaze bearing straight at him and he was running low on ammunition when the pilot veered hard left and down into the water. He was close enough he could see the expression on the pilots face. He was also champion boxer on his ship with many a victory in the boxing ring at ports of call. His most memorable was against a grunt under Patton. He thought he lost the match until everyone picked him up and started cheering.