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John Young
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Joined: 22 August 2004
Location: United States
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| Posted: 27 May 2018 at 6:43am | IP Logged | 1
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I am in my 50's and my Great Grandfathers were to young to serve, and to old for World War 2. Does any member of the forum have memories of relatives who served?
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Doug Centers
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 February 2014
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| Posted: 27 May 2018 at 7:09am | IP Logged | 2
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In a contrast of ages my Mother's Grandpa was in WW1 (or the Great War).
My Father's Grandpa fought for the Union in the Civil War.
Talk about a technology swing between Great Grandfather's!
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 27 May 2018 at 7:36am | IP Logged | 3
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My grandad`s brother served in the far east and was a
prisoner of war, he was offered money to write a book of
his experiences, but refused, he also spoke little of
that time as it was too upsetting.As that side of the
family are now all long dead, that`s as much as i know.
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Bradley Dean
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| Posted: 27 May 2018 at 8:33am | IP Logged | 4
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My great-grandfather was only 16 when he joined the navy. He needed special permission from his father to join.
Both of my grandfathers fought in the Pacific during WWII and my grandmother was part of the Red Cross. One grandfather died when I was 5 and the other when I was 12 so I never got to talk about the war with either of them. I have a pile of old photographs I like to look through. I am a teacher so I bring them in for my students when we learn about WWII.
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Byron Graham
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Joined: 19 September 2004
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| Posted: 27 May 2018 at 9:10am | IP Logged | 5
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My great-uncle William Thomas Graham served during the Great War. He was assigned to Company F, 348th Infantry, 87th Division, which was stationed in France and reported to Services of Supply. The 87th did not see combat, but they were on their way to the front lines when peace broke out. I never got to meet this uncle because he died in 1920, fifty years before my birth. My father is named in his honor.
Edited by Byron Graham on 27 May 2018 at 9:12am
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Mike Norris
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
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| Posted: 27 May 2018 at 11:35am | IP Logged | 6
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My grandfather served in WWI and there's a picture of him in full Doughboy regalia. Unfortunately he died before I was born so I never heard any stories.
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Rebecca Jansen
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Joined: 12 February 2018
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| Posted: 27 May 2018 at 5:04pm | IP Logged | 7
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There was a great-uncle on my mother's British side that got talked about as he experience chlorine gas. As he lived quite awhile after the 'Great' war there he was written about in letters to Canada, needed help sometimes breathing and had a hard time to travel to see a specialist. There was also another who was in Canada that had an artificial leg and hand I've only seen a couple photos of, the U.S. side (but also Britain if you go back further) on my mother's. Later another of the British side seems to have died in WWII but just a photo and a name, a Chippendale, descendant of the famous designer and his first marriage. I think he must've died as there aren't any post war photos. It was his sister who was one of the first Women's Police Constables. Unfortunately I didn't stop an entire suitcase of photos and letters from being thrown out in an estate clean out, some of the photos were from the late 1800s.
I did directly know a great grandmother who talked about the U.S. side of things a lot. I even 'baby sat' her. A hard life but lived a long time. She's where there was a semi-famous great-great uncle in the civil war for the Union side, had a song about him or something.
Various WWII and Korean vets in Canada hadn't really wanted to talk about such things but you would learn from others. They are thought of every November 11th. My own grandfather was missing one eye but worked at the shipyard during the war years. My father was born in occupied Holland and his mother married a Dutch-Canadian sharp shooter who was part of the liberation. My Dad saw some very bad things, and his uncle was beaten to death at a camp after leading a work stoppage protest when Jewish men were marched off in the night once. The coffin was sealed and under armed guard when he was returned, but some of his siblings risked going back and opening the casket to see what had happened to him and that he was indeed in there, he was.
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Michael Hogan
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Joined: 16 April 2004
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| Posted: 27 May 2018 at 7:02pm | IP Logged | 8
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Dad was in Germany at the end of WWII. Since the armistice was
signed while he was on his way across the Atlantic, he largely stood
guard duty for 18 months. Not uneventful, but no active combat.
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James Lansberry
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Joined: 11 February 2011
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| Posted: 27 May 2018 at 7:41pm | IP Logged | 9
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Grandfather on my mother's side served in WWII. Combat engineer that served in Patton's 3rd Army. Built treadway bridges and blew them up. He was in the Battle of the Bulge, and also stumbled across one of the death camps, I don't remember which one. My aunt has his war album with all the pictures, which also had pictures of Goering's private train car and of the Eagle's Nest. Grandfather on my dad's side served in Korea. I think he was one of the first one's ashore -- or on a ship, not sure. Two of my uncles served in Vietnam.
None of my relatives have ever talked about their experiences. (I know it affected the one who was in Korea, I think that led to his drinking problems later on.) I do remember seeing my grandfather who served in Europe get extremely upset on two separate occasions; once was something on the news about the death camps being staged. He was pretty upset about that. The other time was after getting a war book for Christmas. He went on tirade about how this author almost got them killed while being strafed by German aircraft...
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Mike Norris
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| Posted: 27 May 2018 at 7:57pm | IP Logged | 10
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Dad was in the Air Force for twenty five years, joining in 1947 at age 17. He has a medal for the occupation of Japan. He also did a couple of tours in Korea during the war there. He was in the Security Service for most of his career, so it was one of those "I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you" situation when it came to talking about work. ;)
My Uncle was in Vietnam as a Marine. One year he came back and gave us kids "boonie hat". When I bought a GI Joe itwas one in Marine uniform because of him. His son, my cousin, was in the Marine Reserve.
My brother in law was also a twenty five year man in the USAF. He served in Operation Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia.
Edited by Mike Norris on 27 May 2018 at 7:58pm
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Matt Reed
Byrne Robotics Security
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| Posted: 28 May 2018 at 2:41am | IP Logged | 11
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John Young wrote:
| Does any member of the forum have memories of relatives who served? |
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Memories? No. But my maternal great grandfather served in WWI and grandfather served in WWII. Both survived, 'natch, otherwise I wouldn't be here. Unfortunately, I never met either. The former died in the early 60s and my mom's dad died in 1959. I share a striking resemblance to my grandfather, noted every time I visited my mom's home town by those that knew him. My niece is currently in the Army reserves and just wrapped up a stint in Guantanamo.
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Robert Cosgrove
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Joined: 16 January 2005
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| Posted: 28 May 2018 at 6:03am | IP Logged | 12
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My father served in World War II, and was part of MacArthur's troops when he returned to the Philippines. During that war, my Uncle Roy was in the Coast Guard, and my Uncle Joe (who could not swim and was allergic to sea water!) was in the navy. My father's younger brother Bill served in Korea.
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