World War II

[Mergie Master]

Good stuff Bolt. You have a right to be proud. You may want to go to a library and get some historical books also. Libraries still have a purpose even with the internet around. If nothing else they have things categorized which makes it easier to find the good books.

Jimmy, I was wondering how your grandad was doing. I don't see him out on the porch as much as I used to. He is a definitely a good man. My family has known him forever because his wife, your grandmother was related to my grandmother. I have never heard a bad word said about Mr. Pinson. I liked your uncle Penny too, another good man lost to soon. He had some cool old cars he used to drive around out here.

[PBiz]

Papa lied and enlisted early at 16, saying he was 18.. He got kicked out, changed his name and re-enlisted.

They only found out when he went to get his benefits later that he had changed his name after being kicked out..

Guess I know where I get my inner "Jackass" from..


White sash in the middle.. BAMFs


Jacket

[PBiz]

The famous "Cricket" saved his life in Bastogne, after a Kraut didn't answer back. He took a .45 to facial area..

[swampknob]

Good stuff, was just reading about Distinguised Unit Citation last night. Pretty cool to see pictures of it on uniform the next day.

[bbhntr48]

There are many a story of men enlisting early to serve, heroes all. Thanks to all that have served and continue to do so.

[Highstrung]

I was given my Grandfather's bayonet.



20170425_112348.jpg

[Simple Man]

Wonder what he'd say about them socks?

[Highstrung]

Hahaha, I heard he was stern... but he looked dapper.

[PBiz]

My Papa was dropped on the wrong side of the Rhine river on Christmas Day.. He and the two other guys with him decided to swim back across it..

About halfway back a boat came rolling around the corner, Oh Shit!!!

Turns out it was a US Boat, and they scooped them up and got them warm..

When he got back, he divorced his first wife and married my Grandmomma.

That's when they figured out the guy that pulled him out of the river was from Cross, SC and was related to his new wife..

Pretty friggin awesome..

[Highstrung]

That is. The only thing my grandfather ever mentioned to my father was the noise, he said he'll never forget the sounds of the tanks leading into the Bulge.

[Glenn]

Those are the softest looking hands I've ever seen. And I know accountants and dentist.

[quack head 11]

And Simple, those are some cool pics. Wasn't trying to hijack, I just think this is one war that most folks know little about and wanted to add to it. Vietnam and after there have been a lot of pictures and video. WW2 and before not so much.

Pops has never mentioned the war to me but I know plenty of other things about his past, but when he did the honor flight you could tell there was plenty of old wounds buried deep in his soul

[Highstrung]

20170425_142636.jpg


Just manicured

[Highstrung]

On a serious note, That's some great stuff from some of the greatest men that have walked in our world.

[2thDoc]

whatever....my damn hands are rough as hell

ask your wife.

[Relentlous]

PbiZ that's cool stuff man! Heck all y'all's stuff is! Keep it coming. This makes me want to watch band of brothers again

[Swamp Rat]

Attachment 25879

That thing intrigued me and I had to look it up. T28E1 anti-aircraft halftrack. Twin .50's and a 37mm. That had some whomp to it.

My Dad was in a USMC air defense artillery unit during the invasion of Okinawa in 1945. He was the OIC over a group of 90mm anti-aircraft guns (M2's, or possibly M1A1's) on a ridge. A few tales, a few photos floating around that I need to scan. A few of his tales:

- They got their water from a stream at the bottom of the hill. They used a gas powered pump to move the water up the emplacements and camp area. They went down to tend to the pump one day and smelled something decaying... a short walk upstream revealed a dead Japanese soldier lying half in the water, in an advanced state of decomp. So, they'd been drinking dead Jap for a few days.

- The infantry units nearby were taking fire from Japanese caves in the side of the ridge opposite his battery. They put the 90's to work doing direct fire missions into the caves. The flat trajectory was a blessing to get the rounds accurately into the holes. But, he was most proud of ONE shot... They had a Jap float plane come flying down the valley between the ridges. It was so low, they couldn't depress the gun enough to get a shot (the guns were in "pits"). There was a gap in the sandbag pit wall where the crews would come and go. They tracked the plane with the director - where it looked, the one gun they assigned to the task would follow. The gun slowly turned and tracked - when it got to the walk-through, it dropped enough to engage and they immediately fired. One shot, direct hit, float plane gone.

- He went to see a friend in an infantry unit during a brief lull in the action. He was approaching the guy's unit and saw the Marines all laying behind a dike (rice field, I'm thinking). He waved, they waved, he started ambling across the field in no particular hurry. There was no gunfire going on there. The more he walked, the more urgently his friends waved, so he moved a bit faster. When he got to them, they were a bit amazed. They told him he was the first guy to get across that field without getting shot in three days.

Being in the unit he was attached to, direct action against ground troops was rare, but he got into a couple of firefights while doing patrols around the battery. The front lines were fluid, so the Japs popped up in the rear regularly. After one fight, he recovered two of the Japanese flags from a couple of enemy bodies. These had writing on them, many times from family members. He took them to USC and had a Japanese language teacher try to interpret the writing. Through this, they were able to identify one of the soldiers - my Dad sent the flag back to his family in Japan. I don't recall what their reaction or response was. The other one, no luck. I still have it.

[Glenn]

whatever....my damn hands are rough as hell

ask your wife.

[Mergie Master]

Correct. And what followed for the citizens that collaborated with the Nazis was brutal. Beaten, hung, women's heads were shaved, stripped down and run out of town if they weren't killed.

It's a shame Soros didn't get caught.

[rp]

My father served at the end of WWII in Germany as a physician. Straight out of med school.

My best friend's dad was in the Battle of the Bulge.

I grew up listening to men, now deceased and some names y'all would know, talking about WWII and the Korean War. The stories these men would tell us.

Nowadays, I have friends that were in the Sand Wars and the current middle eastern mess. The stories they tell now. Unfortunately, this stuff does not end.

And ya know, I believe Glenn was serving for us too. Under seas but still serving.

HS was serving too. And more will come to mind later.

Being in Columbia, I have known and met a bunch of guys and McEntire Air Base. People just don't realize all that they do.