dellet
Gold $$ Contributor
With my limited understanding of the point system, If he was home by Christmas. He earned it the hard way.
June 6th, and the early influencers in life
- Thread starter dellet
- Start date
Movies and pics of the D-Day landings have been the principle visual reminder of WWII that is presented to posterity, to which is then added many, many more reminders and rememberences. The “ Doolittle Raid “,“ Midway “, “ Battle of the Bulge “; Iwo Jima; and
battles like them are just some of the big ones that are recalled. And there are countless others, where great things were accomplished GIs; whose bravery and selflessness went untold and unrecognized. My Dad was a Command Pilot flying B-25s out of Corsica in WWII. He flew 2 combat missions over the Anzio Beach area on his 26th birthday 05 Jun 1944….. the day before D-Day. That was just one of the 70 successful combat missions he flew. One pilot’s contribution to defeat of the Nazis, on one day. There were many, many others.
When recounting the history of WWII, and all that was accomplished by U.S. service members; the efforts, the sacrifices, the heroics; it is not possible to completely fathom the depth of commitment the US made to the effort in-support of its service members.
And even more… the incalculable contributions of the “ Greatest Generation “ to the defeat of the Axis powders; and to the post-war world mankind benefitted from thereafter.
God bless them all !! And, God bless America !!!
With regards,
357Mag
Steve Donlon
Gold $$ Contributor
I've been thinking about my uncle and all the warriors that gave all they had and more to protect our freedoms. They are the Greatest Generation and because of them, we are the Luckiest Generation. We have so much and our generation was given a country so blessed with everything we need. Our generation is so lucky to be here now and no other generation will see what we have seen. Every opportunity to be a success. The bounty of our country and the gift of all our freedoms given to us by the Greatest Generation. It makes no difference what religion, race or social status we have, they gave it to us.
There was a book written quite a while back called Brothers from Bataan.
The names of many survivors are listed in the back of the book.
It was loaned to me by a good friend and Bataan Death March survivor.
His name was Tom MacDill, from Custer, SD. Tom also worked the POW encampment mines for the Japanese.
He passed a few years back at the age of 94. Survived by his wife Ilona (Cameron) MacDill.
I still miss him.
Steve Donlon
Gold $$ Contributor
Thanks. https://www.west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/HudsonFast/BilibidRank.htm This is a list of all the prisoners of the Death March and what camp they were in until they were put on a "death ship" headed for Japan and when it left the Philippines for Japan. There were a lot of camps and a lot of prisoners. They are listed by rank.
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jmm03
Gold $$ Contributor
Dellet, my first real job was in an A&P foodstore back east in the late 60's. Most of the older department heads were Army veterans that had actually served together through North Africa, Sicily and Italy. A tough bunch for sure, but their wit and wisdom to a 16 year old then has stayed with me to this day. I think of them often with gratitude... Jim
dellet
Gold $$ Contributor
Since posting this and reading posts of others, more and more people I’ve been fortunate to meet come to mind. I’ve always had interest in peoples stories and probably just impolite enough to ask if there was a hint of something that sounded interesting. Sometimes ignorance and a slow brain to mouth filter payoff. When you can put a face to history, it changes your perspective, at least mine. So many influences, large and small.
There was the social blunder made before tattoos really became mainstream, of asking a long time customer about a tattoo I had caught a glimpse of on her forearm. She always wore long sleeves, even on the hottest days. Not something I expected to see on a gal pushing 80 years in the late 1980’s. Add in the giant clue of always addressing her as Mrs. Goldstein. Possibly one of the most beneficial social blunders of my early life. Her and her sister both survived the camps.
I’ve had the honor meeting veterans from every war since the Spanish American, pilots from WWI, the man who taught Eddie Rickenbacker to fly. Medal of Honor holders, a gal that delivered the aircraft to Europe during WWII. A guy who retired as a pilot after flying WWII, Korea, Vietnam. Said after counting up missions flown in combat in three wars, he felt he should make room for a younger guy.
The unrecognized heroes, an old Avocado farmer and whose answer to “what did you do in the war “was simply “drove a tractor”. If he liked you enough, he’d show you a photo of him on his bulldozer with “Welcome Marines“ painted on the blade, as landing craft approached a beach.
Guys who served Vietnam, many are more like older brothers, so there is a different influence than the older folks. You get the perspective of two generations talking with those guys. They are still current events, not exactly history yet. Maybe only because I don’t want to be that old. But some of these guys I have worked along side of, so their knowledge and experiences, just have a different feel.
Cold War veterans or covert. Grenada, El Salvador, Middle east, Bay of pigs, Somalia……
A common soldier who was stationed at Check Point Charlie and happened to be on duty when the wall was breached and started to be torn down.
I had a customer disappear on a bill. Abandoned his car. This was long before cell phones and in San Diego. I had often dealt with service men and knew if I could get ahold of his CO, I could get the guy to come in and work out the bill. I got stonewalled on this one. Finally left a detailed message of why I was calling, and basically just didn’t want this guy to lose his car for a bill of a couple hundred dollars. The return call and visit from his CO explained it all without words. I recognized the emblem of a submariner. Deployed on short notice not all that uncommon, no time to wrap things up. It, can a hard life even in peace time. At least I got a thank you about six months later. No good story tho.
Our youngest combat veterans who could be my children or grandchildren, if I had any. The rush of kids that signed up after 9/11. Those that stopped by my shop or wife’s classroom to say goodbye, and it was, leave a mark.
There are a lot of days like June 6, 1944, that we pause to remember. It’s good to do that. Better to step back and look at the whole.
It’s hard for me to imagine I’ve accumulated close to 150 years of personal stories from veterans. I wish I’d written them all down when fresh. All I can say is that the stories from the youngest to the oldest aren’t all that different. Mostly simple guys and gals stepping up to the plate and taking their best swing when it’s their turn.
For the old guys, there’s still time to pass on your experiences, help a young guy out. For the young guys, start collecting those stories. They will change your life.
“Never forget”, is a two way street. Can’t remember what I haven’t been told.
There was the social blunder made before tattoos really became mainstream, of asking a long time customer about a tattoo I had caught a glimpse of on her forearm. She always wore long sleeves, even on the hottest days. Not something I expected to see on a gal pushing 80 years in the late 1980’s. Add in the giant clue of always addressing her as Mrs. Goldstein. Possibly one of the most beneficial social blunders of my early life. Her and her sister both survived the camps.
I’ve had the honor meeting veterans from every war since the Spanish American, pilots from WWI, the man who taught Eddie Rickenbacker to fly. Medal of Honor holders, a gal that delivered the aircraft to Europe during WWII. A guy who retired as a pilot after flying WWII, Korea, Vietnam. Said after counting up missions flown in combat in three wars, he felt he should make room for a younger guy.
The unrecognized heroes, an old Avocado farmer and whose answer to “what did you do in the war “was simply “drove a tractor”. If he liked you enough, he’d show you a photo of him on his bulldozer with “Welcome Marines“ painted on the blade, as landing craft approached a beach.
Guys who served Vietnam, many are more like older brothers, so there is a different influence than the older folks. You get the perspective of two generations talking with those guys. They are still current events, not exactly history yet. Maybe only because I don’t want to be that old. But some of these guys I have worked along side of, so their knowledge and experiences, just have a different feel.
Cold War veterans or covert. Grenada, El Salvador, Middle east, Bay of pigs, Somalia……
A common soldier who was stationed at Check Point Charlie and happened to be on duty when the wall was breached and started to be torn down.
I had a customer disappear on a bill. Abandoned his car. This was long before cell phones and in San Diego. I had often dealt with service men and knew if I could get ahold of his CO, I could get the guy to come in and work out the bill. I got stonewalled on this one. Finally left a detailed message of why I was calling, and basically just didn’t want this guy to lose his car for a bill of a couple hundred dollars. The return call and visit from his CO explained it all without words. I recognized the emblem of a submariner. Deployed on short notice not all that uncommon, no time to wrap things up. It, can a hard life even in peace time. At least I got a thank you about six months later. No good story tho.
Our youngest combat veterans who could be my children or grandchildren, if I had any. The rush of kids that signed up after 9/11. Those that stopped by my shop or wife’s classroom to say goodbye, and it was, leave a mark.
There are a lot of days like June 6, 1944, that we pause to remember. It’s good to do that. Better to step back and look at the whole.
It’s hard for me to imagine I’ve accumulated close to 150 years of personal stories from veterans. I wish I’d written them all down when fresh. All I can say is that the stories from the youngest to the oldest aren’t all that different. Mostly simple guys and gals stepping up to the plate and taking their best swing when it’s their turn.
For the old guys, there’s still time to pass on your experiences, help a young guy out. For the young guys, start collecting those stories. They will change your life.
“Never forget”, is a two way street. Can’t remember what I haven’t been told.
Lucky Shooter
Gold $$ Contributor
I was 5years old on Pearl Harb0r Day and 6 when school started the the next Sept. You can safely say that I saw much of the war from a safe place at home.
Our country was balls to the wall in support of our military forces and patriotic
loyalty was byword.
A small Army Air Base was built at our small town and the mixture of military and civilian people was healthy for the place.
We sang military' and patriotic songs at school and even bought govt war
bonds by buying10cent stamps to post in s stamp book.
The entire state of MS was a 'dry state' and the bootleggers had t0 be very careful as they peddled their liquids.
One Sunday afternoon there was a knock at the front door and standing there where two real soldiers. Someone at the base (we suspected a civilian relative)
has told them my Dad had a big jug of homemade wine and might be willing
to share a little.
He was pleased to give them some wine and took a firm stand on payment----your money is no good here'
Some of these guys brought friends and a very close-knit group had begun to develop.
MYdad learned that a few guys liked to fish----he took them,not much
arm-twisting needed.
As the group developed, my mother was ashamed not to offer something to eat so she began to offer sandwitchesl
Thransportation was a sweet deal-------bus fare was a nickel each way.
WWII was cold and vicious operation and I wonder how many such friendly
events our GI's were treated to.
A. Weldy
Our country was balls to the wall in support of our military forces and patriotic
loyalty was byword.
A small Army Air Base was built at our small town and the mixture of military and civilian people was healthy for the place.
We sang military' and patriotic songs at school and even bought govt war
bonds by buying10cent stamps to post in s stamp book.
The entire state of MS was a 'dry state' and the bootleggers had t0 be very careful as they peddled their liquids.
One Sunday afternoon there was a knock at the front door and standing there where two real soldiers. Someone at the base (we suspected a civilian relative)
has told them my Dad had a big jug of homemade wine and might be willing
to share a little.
He was pleased to give them some wine and took a firm stand on payment----your money is no good here'
Some of these guys brought friends and a very close-knit group had begun to develop.
MYdad learned that a few guys liked to fish----he took them,not much
arm-twisting needed.
As the group developed, my mother was ashamed not to offer something to eat so she began to offer sandwitchesl
Thransportation was a sweet deal-------bus fare was a nickel each way.
WWII was cold and vicious operation and I wonder how many such friendly
events our GI's were treated to.
A. Weldy
My dad lived in a small farming community I think he was 5 years old , said every once in a while you would see a gold star hanging in a window. Everybody was in on the effort. Doug
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