Day of Infamy Remembered

[dfkrug]

My Father-in-Law flew Catalinas in the South Pacific during WWII.

My FIL was a WW2 pilot in the S Pacific also.....USMC combat air transport in
R4D2s. The same outfit as Richard Nixon. He is still around, at 88, but
you have to work to get stories out of him.

 

[Marveltone]

My FIL was a WW2 pilot in the S Pacific also.....USMC combat air transport in
R4D2s. The same outfit as Richard Nixon. He is still around, at 88, but
you have to work to get stories out of him.

Interestingly enough, we all knew my FIL (Levern) was a pilot for a long time, but he didn't speak about it much, as he put it all behind himself to become a business teacher... until a couple of high school girls interviewed him for a class project. He was a little taken aback that anyone would even care at first, then he thought about it for a moment and apparently realized the incredible teaching opportunity this would make to another generation. A huge grin crept along his face as he said, "Sure, you can interview me. Let me get my logs and charts."

As time went on and the interviews continued, Levern and the girls grew quite fond of each other and looked forward to the meetings at the farm. His stories ended up in a very nicely done notebook full of stories, photos and charts, with a black and white photo of Levern in his flight gear, taken during WW2 entitled,"Lt. Col. Levern Mellstrom, USMC".
After the project was graded, (they got an A) the girls gave it to Levern, who proudly showed it to everyone who would visit.

As he was actually my wife's step father, the book now resides with his children, where it belongs.

Joe

 

[jonyyuma]

A lot of the vet's here will talk, but defintely not overbearing in any way. They paid a terrific price for our freedom...Glad I did not have to face it that way...Jy.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

My father was a member of the 82nd Airborne.

He jumped in France expecting enemy fire. All was silent and there was no enemy in the area.

He marched in the victory parade in NYC and spoke of all the young servicemen that filled in for all the troops that we lost.

To me, that generation built America to be what America should be. Such a shame to see this progressive movement of today.

And now it is their Grandsons and Granddaughters fighting in Iraq and Afganistan.

I salute them all.