Anyone remember WWII?

[Coginchaug]

My father in law still has all his "V" mail from when he wrote home, great stuff to read. He drove an ambulance for the American Field service.

 

[tcartwri]

My Dad joined the Merchant Marine at the age of fifteen with two buddies, running convoys to Europe out of Halifax. His two buds were killed by a U-boat within one hour of leaving Halifax on their very first outing. My son is fifteen now, and it's hard to imagine him in the same situation.

 

[MRSDOUGLAS]

My mom is the family historian. She recorded stories from all the family members and has made a great book for each of the kids. I love going back to find the story I don't quite remember. What got her started on this project was an assignment in a writing group she joined. She realized that there were many more stories documented by and about people who were IN the war, but not so much about what life was like ion the home front.

It is all good, thanks to all who have shared their stories. I may send a PM to some of you to ask for your name so she can give credit where credit is due if she ever does get her collection published.

 

[farm88]

Great thread. My grandmother (who will be 90 later this year), was a VA nurse for 30 years. Talk about a lot of great stories (and very sad ones, as well).

And vets from so many arenas that our American troops have been in. She retired in the mid/late 70's, think about the old vets she took care of in the beginning of her career. Civil war, Spanish-American war, WWI, WWII.

It's amazing how fortunate all of us are. :thumbsup:

What part of Virgina was your granny a nurse in?

 

[DKCDKC]

My uncle went down to volunteer after Pearl Harbor, but they wouldn't take him because he was blind in one eye. He went to work for Wright Brothers Aviation as an engineer and several times volunteered to fly new bombers or other aircraft from the US to England... He said they followed a route over Canada, up near the Arctic Circle and down to England to avoid interception. He had long had a pilot's license, but the military just wasn't interested in him... One of the big disappointments of his life was not flying bombers over Germany.

Another uncle was also refused entrance to the military but was taken in military intelligence and got into cryptology and breaking Japanese codes during the war. He was apparently good at it and spent the rest of his long life in the field working for NSA and CIA. We never knew what he really did, but, when he died, he had a number of Presidential citations on his walls for major contributions to the nation... But with no details as to what the contributions were.

Both men passed away in their late 80s.

 

[mjarrels]

Uncle was a B-29 aircrew stationed in the Philippines and flew a photo mission over Japan right after the nuke bombings. Died of old age in his mid 80's.

mark

 

[RobertN]

An interesting place to find out info, is go to one of the museum ships. I have taken Boy Scout to CV12 USS-Hornet for merit badge programs and the overnight programs. Met WWII vets that served and were still docent's. Was interesting to hear them talk, and the descriptions of the changes in the ship over the years. Met one Vet at Palm Springs Air Museum at their Corsair F4U display; he had flown those planes off USS Hornet in WWII and Korea.

This video is from a docent on the USS Hornet. One Corsair making bouncy landing was the guy from the Palm Springs Air Museum; this is post WWII, but ships and at least prop planes are same config as flown in WWII(note ships still had straight deck; angle deck conversion came later). Julie from Palm Springs(cant remember his last name) flew in WWII thru Korea and the transition to jets)

Carrier Operations 1953-54 - YouTube

Interesting article about WWII Vet who crewed on bomber shot down over Germany

Remembering the war: WWII vet recalls combat and liberation Mountain Democrat

 

[2LaneCruzer]

My mom is collecting stories from the home front during WWII and asked if I knew anyone at work that may have a family member who remembered. I struck out there but thought some folks here may remember or have family who did.

Here is my mom's request:

************************
I was Thinking that stories of the home front during WWII are being lost by the thousands every day. I hope tht some of you would share your stories. My goal is to collect enough stories to make an anthology, publish and all proceeds go to Alzheimers research. Here are a few ideas to help bring up experiences you may have forgotten as well as stories you have heard from others who actually lived through it. If each says there isn't enough to make an entire story can have group stories. Some stories are reported long after the war so are reported by children & grandchildren. They can be given to me, e-mail or mailed. Please remember, when with folks who may have lived during that time, to ask them about their experience. Every one is different. It takes time to bring up these memories, and takes some thought over time.


Thanks,

Jackie Penning

jackiepen @ cableone . net

Will do phone interviews for those who would rather talk than write. A group can get together and share stories, making a group event out of it, "The Birthday Club," or any group you get together with. This is fun!

TO START IDEAS FLOWING ----

What were you doing when the war started?
Who did you live with, where did you live?
Who were your neighbors?
How were these lives changed by the war?
Was your diet influenced by the war, travel, occupations, health, clothing?
What were you doing when the war ended?
What happened when those who were away returned after the war?

****************************

Thanks for reading.

dawn

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.

 

[dmccarty]

My Dad joined the Merchant Marine at the age of fifteen with two buddies, running convoys to Europe out of Halifax. His two buds were killed by a U-boat within one hour of leaving Halifax on their very first outing. My son is fifteen now, and it's hard to imagine him in the same situation.

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:

The Massacre of the SS Jean Nicolet
The Liberty ship SS Jean Nicolet was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on July 2, 1944, off Ceylon (Sri Lanka). She had a 41-man crew, plus 28 Armed Guard, 30 passengers and an Army medic. All survived the explosion. They were taken aboard the sub and their lifeboats and rafts were sunk. With their hands tied behind their backs they were forced to sit on deck. Japanese sailors massacred many with bayonets and rifle butts. Thirty survivors were still on deck with their hands tied when a British plane appeared. The sub crash-dived, washing the survivors into the sea. Only 23 were rescued.

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

 

[J F]

What part of Virgina was your granny a nurse in?

Sorry, VA is for Veterans Administration. My family did live in Chesterfield county Virginia for a few years when my brother and I were kids. Beautiful state.