World War 2 Vets
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Have you ever met a WW2 veteran?
How do they feel about the modern world?, Did they tell you any story?
>>29570407
yes.
oh you know.
and yes
>>29570407
Grandfather is a WW2 vet. Met plenty of others as well. Grandpa told me plenty of stories and he definitely doesn't like the state of affairs in today's world.
>>29570407
>arranged the shoes at a supply depo
>"WW2 vet"
>>29570407
My grandpa. He's dead. He only told me some stories when I was younger and very vaguely.
>>29570407
>tfw most of us will live to see the day that all WWII/Korean War vets have died, along with most Vietnam vets
Shit makes me trip
>>29570407
For my degree I interviewed a guy that was a forward observer in Patton's 3rd Army. My grandpa served on an aircraft carrier in the pacific. other grandpa was a navy medic.
They all feel we take too much for granted and live in excess of our means.
Lots of stories from the first, not much out of the latter two.
My grandpa is a vet from ww2 who should have died in the russia offensive but was strangely saved by an artillery shell wich injured him so much that he got to go to a lacaret in berlin. Yes he was a Kraut, but damn, was he badass
>>29570546
did he leave you any funs?
>>29570407
Yup. My grandfather was a Major in the Airforce. Stationed in the Pacific in the early 40's then was sent to North Africa. Got strafed by a Zero on Wake but otherwise didn't see much action.
>>29570554
Well, hes still alive, but sadly got alzheimers and no, most likely not as he was kind of, dishonorally discharged as he would have had to go back to the eastern front but knew it was suicide to do so, so he walked home from northern to southern germany about 800km with a mate of his. I highly doubt he had any funs with him. Btw, he has still got shrapnel in his head, wich i find very unsetteling to think about. And sadly, i am nofuns either becouse im not old enough to get them here legally (legal age is 25 here, by a test you can get them at 21)
My grandfather both in both the winter war and continuation war as a machine gunner. He told me a lot of stuff. That man has seen some shit.
>Summa
>Wave after wave
>Eventually your hands cramp from pushing the triggers for so long
He told me once drunk that it wasn't killing people that fucked him up, it was seeing the frozen corpses on the battlefield.
He doesn't like the modern world. Too many commies.
>>29570407
Growing up in a military family as a dependant, I have met quite a few. More vietnam vets than WW2, though.
My great uncle was a tank driver who somehow managed to flip his tank on a 15 degree slope of soggy mud, and he once lit his commanders' ass on fire in his sleep for making them go the complete wrong way and shell an empty village "Full'ah'krauts".
Met one in a parking lot whome I thanked for his service and sacrifice. Then we talked about the M1 and he told me about how you can cut down a palm tree with 1 Em-Bloc clip from the Garand. He used to do it all the time to make bridges for his squad.
>>29570626
Meant to say served in both the winter war and the continuation war
>>29570617
>walked home
How was he not shot or at least put into a probation unit?
>>29570645
Close enough to the end, shit was pretty much falling apart.
>>29570626
>seeing the frozen corpses on the battlefield.
The pics I've seen are messed up enough, it's crazier to think that people saw that on a daily basis.
>>29570407
>Have you ever met a WW2 veteran?
>How do they feel about the modern world?, Did they tell you any story?
yea, my neighbor is a WW2 Vet. He was a waist gunner on a B-17 in the berlin bombing raids.
I have written up the cliffnotes of his memoirs, if anyone is interested
>>29570532
thank you fer service and defending my freedums
>>29570645
Walking by night and as he did so, there werent many able bodied men left to catch him as most of the men were drafted. But they just did it sneakily and over about many weeks
>>29570655
So he was wounded in '41, but wasn't released from hospital until a few years later?
I'm not doubting you, I'm just trying to imagine this better.
>>29570407
My mom's ex boyfriend's grandfather was in WW2 and his dad went to Vietnam. I didn't get to talk to them about their service.
My grandfather is of the age to have served in WW2 but he couldn't because of an ear problem. He cries about not being able to join the military when he talks about it :'(
>>29570677
My grandpa never really talked about it very much as he kinda had something like ptsd but he got hurt pretty bad so it is possible that he was in hospital very long. He had many operations and a ton of shrapnel (altough not very big) and i could really imagine it taking long time to heal. And about the date of his injury, i dont know exactly how far they were to russia when he got hit, so it could have been a little later...
I used to work as a certified nursing assistant for a homecare agency, and they'd usually put me with clients who where vets. I have a couple cool stories from them I could post later, if anyone's interested.
>>29570731
Please do.
>>29570731
*were
I used to work some weekends for a dude who sold shotgun barrels at gun shows. This old dude came up, we had a few guns out and he wanted a 28 gauge double-barrel. We had a semi-auto, but he made a face and said he had his fill of semi-autos in the war. I got him to sit down and tell me about it. He served under Patton, said his unit was the first to cross the Rhine. One story in particular stands out, said they were being bombarded by 88's (when he mentioned them his eyes got kinda big) and he was huddled next to this old British sergeant. He says to the Brit, hey man we should probably take better cover. The Brit assumed he didn't know what he was talking about cause we has pretty young, but was already a 3 or 4 year vet at that point. Brit says bullshiiiiiiit and a shell explodes on the far side of him, killed him but his body shielded the guy telling the story. If they had moved when he suggested, they both would have died.
>>29570407
I got one but i heard it a few years ago and im a little fuzzy on the details
>>29570766
my neighbor was liberated from a PoW camp my Patton himself
Grandma did air policing in womens volunteer corps, never really talked about it. Gramps who was a Winter and Continuation War vet died a long before I was born, but growing up with Finnish boy scouts in the nineties literally poured WW2 vets on you until you were as tired with their stories as they seemed to be with telling them over and over again.
>>29570722
It'd still be totally believable if it took a few years to heal; I've read stories that confirm that has happened.
If I served in the East, I probably wouldn't want to talk about it either...which reminds me: I saw a Stalingrad documentary yesterday, and when most of the German vets spoke of their experiences, they ended up breaking down/crying at the end...gave me some serious feels.
The lady who lives across the street (cut her grass and she is super nice over pays a little) her father was on a bomber crew for the RAF. Had to bail out over the channel after an engine malfunctioned or they got hit. Not entirely sure
>>29570804
Well, if that artillary shell had hit a few meters away i wouldnt write this as he probably hadnt survived the whole eastern war... makes me think a lot about what a few degrees can change...
Spoke to a few, they put it nicely but the general consensus was that we're cry baby faggots.
>>29570743
Only worked an hour long shift with this one guy. The agency mentioned he had been a wwii vet, and the wall in his room was covered in old stuff,including a swastika armband. So naturally I ask why he has both infantry and army air corps patches.
> be client
> enlist infant in wwii
> command asks around for people willing to train for air force, since "airplanes are the future"
> volunteer,go through training
> before making it to new unit, planning for d- day starts
> need more bodies for infantry, especially if they're already trained
> gets put back in an infantry unit
>>29570843
jeez that must've sucked.
>>29570407
My dads dad was a radio operator onboard some shit in ww2, some kind of merchant ship or something.
My stepdads dad fought in Europe and was wounded 3 times, once apparently on Christmas Eve
My great grandpa was an admiral in the pacific saved 114 men after a kamikaze attack sunk their ship and blew the superstructure off his
>>29570889
Especially since the armband was from when he was a pow.
> late in war
> captured by Germans
> group of sixty pows being marched towards American lines, away from the advancing Soviets
> client gets to talking with one of the guards
> not completely over the language barrier, but can still communicate somewhat
> one day, client is called over by the guard
> guard points out upcoming crossroads, and says his family lives down one of the side roads
> wants to go home, but he enjoyed talking with client
> asks if he wants a souvenir
>>29570634
>he told me about how you can cut down a palm tree with 1 Em-Bloc clip from the Garand
Oh i have to try this now
>>29570970
Man, these kinds of stories of good nazi soldiers. I don't know what to think of them, but it kind of reminds you some of them were people.
I met a partisan.
He survived the war by stealing a gun, then using it to steal food, and shoot at germans.
My grandfather was a seaman in WWII. Served on an Iowa class. He was deaf at the age of 19, and had horrific burns on his arms. Many people don't realize the scale and carnage that were naval battles before the 21st century. Monstrous guns firing projectiles the size of a small car, hundreds of .50 caliber machine guns, 20-40mm AA & AAA guns firing, fighting massive fires and flooding on the ship, aircraft strafing the deck with machine gun fire, the noise is so loud your ears and eyes are literally bleeding, everything is on fire and exploding, .... Not an environment I would ever want to experience.
>>29571025
I wish I had more shifts with him, my school schedule pretty much meant I only could do prn work. I mainly worked with Vietnam vets.
>>29570407
>Have you ever met a WW2 veteran?
My grandfather basically raised me in place of my father. He was an artillery air observer in WWII, he'd fly up in a little Piper Cub (pic related) and call in coordinates for artillery.
>Did they tell you any story?
He got shot at a lot less than you'd expect since the Germans were terrified of his little canvas and wood unarmed plane because they all knew that if he spotted them they'd get obliterated by an artillery strike within a minute. That said they did get shot down sometimes and on one occasion another plane in his squadron (battalion?, I'm not sure what the term was for US Army Air Corp) got hit by an artillery shell that went straight through the plane and the air observer in the back then exploded on the far side of the plane. The pilot managed to get back to base; but he had to fly back with his buddy cut in half in the back seat.
>How do they feel about the modern world?
He thought it was bullshit. He was a hardcore and very well spoken Republican (as well as a history teacher) and wrote editorials for the local papers. He died back in 2012, I'm glad that he didn't have to see how fucked up we've gotten over the past 4 years, still I miss him terribly, I loved that old man and I respected and identified with him more than anyone else I've ever know. He was the sort of man that I wish I was.
My grandfather died in the Holocaust. He fell out of a guard tower.
>>29571098
Grandfather also served in the Korean war and commanded an artillery battery. After Korea he was put in command of a tank battalion and stationed to the border with East Germany where his mission was to delay the Soviets for as long as possible in case of a full scale invasion and for that purpose he told me that they were issued the Davy Crockett nuclear mortar (pic related) which the Army officially states was never deployed. I realize you might call bullshit; but he wasn't the type to lie to make himself seem important or for that matter to lie under any circumstance and I already idolized the man so I can't imagine he'd lie to me about it.
>>29570407
No, but I met a holocaust survivor.
>>29571298
Holocaust survivors have a godly sense of humor.
>>29570541
But you posted as Anonymous...
>>29571438
...
>>29571438
>>29571471
Fucking captcha fucked up and didn't let me post pic related
>>29570407
>neighbour was a veteran from the battle of France
>first kill they did was on an armoured vehicle carrying a medic
>the whole crew died
>his wife still have the metal box he took in the tank
Welcome to world war 2.
>>29570407
I interviewed a bomber pilot that flew in the pacific for a highschool project. It was clear that the man still hated the japanese to that day, he was in a nursing home and all and still managed to teach me a few new slurs.
cant blame him, I imagine he saw some of his friends shot down by the japs.
I think i even used a direct quote that included the word jap in my paper because I could get away with it and it was a direct quote from someone who was there.
seemed like a based dude.
>>29571490
>battle of France
Which one? 1940 or 1944?
>>29571530
1940
>>29570407
Yeah. Met one. Real good friend of my grandfather. Too old and senile to tell me any opinions or stories.
My grandfather told me he fought in the battle of the bulge.
He also gave me one of his many euphoniums, so that's cool.
I remember him showing off his old Springfield rifle when I was around 6-7. Let me hold it.
Pic related: he's the old dude center picture with the double belled euphonium.
>>29570407
I met a guy who served on CV-2 until it sank at Coral Sea.
I asked him how the sinking of CV-2 felt, and he said something along the lines of:
>"I had to jump feet first into the ocean after eating ice cream. Shouldn't have done that."
When I asked what he meant by ice cream, he told me that he and some of his shipmates realized that the ship had awhile to sink. They went to the ship's galley and "rescued" some ice cream from a watery grave.
>>29571411
He did, it was a presentation at our school.
He talked about his experiences in the Warsaw Ghetto and it was either a concentration camp or a work camp, stuff like that, then at the end, because we're in PC Sweden, he told a racist joke, because he probably knew that we couldn't chastise him for it, or we'd be the badguys (in the PC equation), and everyone had to laugh awkwardly, shit was cash.
I think it was a joke about a guy's wife fucking a black dude.
Great grandfather was a translator for a german general in WWII. Never met him, and I only have one story where he beat the shit out of the general.
A few stories here and there but most werent from the war
>>29571411
My grandfather survived a concentration camp, he said he almost died there when he fell out of a guard tower.
>tfw found out grandpa was a vet from the 21 gun salute at his funeral
Not a day goes by that I don't wish I could've talked to him about it. Especially in his later years. He always used to love talking about cars and planes and all that. Found out the day of his funeral that he was part of the 2nd wave on Omaha. I just never knew...
>>29571681
>>29571100
That joke was old long before the first faggot brought into this thread, but there's always a second one that drives any remnants of humor into the ground.
My grandpa was in the RCAF, I believe a bomber crew
His speech is rambling Scottish nonsense though, so when he tells stories about it you literally cannot understand anything he is saying
>>29570407
I became a Life Member of the 11th Airborne about 10 years ago. They allowed me in since I was a combat vet of an Airborne unit. The 11th no longer exists though. Their numbers are quickly depleting. They conducted a combat jump in the Pacific during WWII. They earned the moniker, "Angels." for coming down from the sky and rescuing civilian captives.
It was a treat listening to those men tell their stories. Once the beer was flowing, the tales got going. I had forgotten the original paratroops wore brown boots and not black. Many of them showed up in their uniforms to the reunion. I aw original issue glider badges and old school combat jump wings.
One paratroop pulled me aside and asked me about two women he saw at the airport. They were wearing Army uniforms but they also had jump wings. He was puzzled about them having a badge that was for men only. I felt bad breaking the news to him.
I was at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans two weeks back and met a 90 year old Marine who was in Leyte. We had a fun chat for about 20 minutes.
As him:
> Volunteer with his buddies as soon as I can
> Joins the Marines because they're the best (his words)
> Get sent to Leyte
> Be up a tree after dark stringing phone wire, get shot at by a Pvt. Dumbfuck who thought he was a sniper
> Later "straighten out" Pvt. Dumbfuck
> Brother is a member of Carlson's Raiders, hear stories about the crazy shit he's up to
> Prepared to invade the home islands
> Sure I'm not going to make it back
> Hear about the bomb dropping and the surrender, feel like I got my life back.
He told me that he'll never forgive the Japs for what they did.
Also, while we were chatting, a woman comes up and asks him "What's the absolute worst thing that happened to you during the war?" We kekked about that once she left.
My great grandfather served in the European theater near the end of the war because of his age at the time. He hated to talk about it and most times be was asked about it he would say "it was shit" and nothing more. He would also wear a world war two vet ball cap an when people thanked him for his service he would say the same thing. He did share one story with me.
Near the end of the war and of his own service his squad and everyone were pushing through German territory almost unopposed. They get too far ahead and run low on supply's they try to barter with a German farmer for one or two of his chickens but they had nothing he wanted. So they go to a partially destroyed bank and bring him wheelbarrows full of german currency because at that point it was so inflated it was practicly worthless. He says that the farmer must of felt sorry for them because even with all that money they brought that chicken was probobly worth way more than that. So they got the chicken and a couple eggs and ate better than they had in weeks.
>how did he feel about the modern world
He had alot of the standard old people attitudes about things and really disliked the president
However he thought that IPads were the coolist thing ever. He had a hard time with it but he managed to do little things with it. Loved the thing so much but God forbid a app update or change he would get so frustrated. Oh man.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread, I read every post. Pretend this is your (You).
>>29570407
Yes, one if the guys in my grandmas rotary club was a ww2 vet and got the medal of honor. He used a flamethrower in Iwo Jima. Cool guy, looks great for 90. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hershel_W._Williams
>>29570766
>88's (when he mentioned them his eyes got kinda big)
every vet i've ever talked that mentioned 88's said they we're brutal.
US here
Great uncle is one. He recently broke his neck and is doing terribly. He enlisted in 1945 and saw service chasing the Germans back into Germany. He said he knows he never shot one. He said they were all boys and old men. he said he always aimed over their heads. Most of the time they just ran. He survived a buzz bomb explosion too and participated in the liberation of a concentration camp.
the husband of my grandmothers best friend is still around. He fought in the battle of the bulge and was beat to hell. He was shot like 3 times. Had a leg blown off and lost an eye. he was taken to a makshift field hospital in a recently liberated town. The towns people gave a fucking massive nazi war flag that flew over the town from the town hall. I recently acquired it after going back home for Christmas. They guy it came from really dosent like to talk about what he experienced.
>>29570407
I knew my great grandfather father for a while, He was 101st airborne. He didn't like to talk about the war too much, lots of bad memories I'm sure, He fought in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, He died in 2009, though he couldn't walk for several years before he died, because in the Battle of the Bulge he got frostbite and it caused him to have very poor circulation in his legs. I'm 19 now and I could talk to him now instead of when I was a 11 year old kid who really didn't know what he was talking about. It's hard to ask them questions when you are so young.
My Grandfather had a friend who survived the Batan Death March. He died about 3 years ago. The man absolutely despised the Japanese until the day he died. He said he could never understand what drove the japs to treat other humans like that. He spit on ever Japanese car he came across. He also had a daughter that adopted a child from japan and as a result he broke off all contact with her.
>>29572367
Wow. What a huge load of fabrication. You're either lying of your great uncle is lying. Those are nonsense lines straight out of Col. Grossbeck's books.
>>29572459
um, no.
>>29570407
Met a Japanese Hiroshima survivor once. Asked him what he thought about nuclear power plants. He was 200% for them saying that his country couldn't survive without them. I'm wondering if he's changed his mind since then.
My grandfather and great uncle were ww2 vets.
grandfather was a submariner and told sea stories. great uncle was a soldier in the battle of the bulge. he really didn't talk about it the war.
>>29570600
Air force wasn't a thing until 47
I'm a doctor in a VA hospital. Talked to tons of wwII vets. I've talked to guys who've stormed Normandy, served alongside Audie Murphy, fought in the battle of the bulge, island hopped in the pacific, been bombed by japs. It's hard sometimes to even focus on their medical complaints on office visits because I could just hear stories all day. Really amazing stuff and if you have he chance I would listen.
>>29570626
>>29572594
pwn3d!
Grandpa on mom's side fought in the Whermact on the eastern front, saw combat from the retreat through Poland and into Germany. I've heard plenty of stories of combat in Poland. He never said much about his time in Germany though, all he told me was that he was 20km outside of Berlin before him and some others fled southeast and waited out the war until I think mid July of 45', when they then surrendered to American forces.
Other Grandpa on my Father's side spent all of his time on a destroyer in the Pacific. His brothers on the other hand, one was killed in Italy and the other killed on Tarawa.
My wifes Great-Grandpa was apart of an AA crew stationed in the Philippines before the Japanese Invasion. He was lucky enough to leave the island I guess, because he claims to have never seen a single Japanese.
I got a bonus too, my German grandpa had a cousin convicted of war crimes after the war. Theres information about his trial available online. I might share it later but I dunno since he still shares my last name.
>>29572615
>served alongside Audie Murphy
Somebody filled your ear with baloney.
>great grandfather
>staff sgt in finnish navy
>serving on the flagship väinämöinen
>"it was boring as fuck"
>live untill 2004
>other great grandfather and his three brothers
>serving on the eastern front
>basic infantry cannon fodder
>all thee brothers die in a single week and parents die inna bombing the next
>come home
>get wife pregnant
>kill self
>>29570407
My paternal grandfather was an officer in WWII, and my maternal grandfather was a medic in Korea.
The one on dad's side, Grandpa Tom, made his way up to captain and did logistics or something. I don't remember much about what he told me, as he died when I was young. However, he did say that he was related to Eugene Esmonde, and told my father a story that involved blackmail and a man sawing another man quite literally in half with a submachine gun. I don't think he ever saw combat. He died in 2008 and is buried at Arlington.
My maternal grandfather was on a medevac helicopter in Korea. He was one of the medics on a Bell Sioux, and would essentially work as a stretcher carrier. He had some stories of jumping out of the helicopter under enemy fire, getting airsick the first few times he flew and bombing his pals with vomit, almost getting in crashes, and so on.
He then went to medical school and hung around southern military bases during the early '60s, doing mundane things like giving Werner Von Braun a vaccination and performing surgery. He died in 2014.
I live with/take care of my grandpa (94)
he was Army Air Corps/Air Force, retired Colonel. Flew beans n bullets over the Hump - China/Burma/India theater. He's done one of the "life of aviation' recordings for the EAA, I was there with my dad at Oshkosh when he recorded it.
One thing I recall more clearly was them taking off in modified B-29s (I think), modified to carry extra fuel, so they'd get fumes in the plane, when they switched on/off landing gear the spark would catch and they'd go kablooey. Also they'd have a runway in middle of dense jungle, downhill w slight upslope. Sometimes the planes wouldn't get enough altitude or they'd spark, see the explosion above the trees in the night.
If I can find his stuff on the EAA site I'll try to link it.
He gets along okay, watches the news constantly and has conservative/repub beliefs (same w me generally), hates Trump, a little surprised at the following sanders has since he's such an outright socialist.
>>29570407
>Have you ever met a WW2 veteran?
Yes.
>How do they feel about the modern world?, Did they tell you any story?
No. I was 9 years old.
I also posess a 2007 group photo of all the WW2 vets in my city, fully autographed.
>>29573391
Forgot to mention he also flew B25s, he flew The Strawberry Bitch back from North Africa, it's in the Air Force Museum in Dayton/Cincinnati Ohio,
Found the transcript for his interview
http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.68382/transcript?ID=sr0001
>interviewer - When you were ordered to India, did you have any say in that, as opposed to having been sent to the European theatre? Did you have any ability as a pilot to say I would prefer this theatre or that theater?
>(Grandpa):
>No, I had tried that during the year that I was ferrying B26s to Europe and to North Africa. Every time I took an airplane over there, I tried to get transferred to one of those organizations, but I was never able to manage it. Very few of our guys did, although a couple of them did manage to get into a B25 organization in North Africa, and there was an interesting story about them, too.
>They got into a bar room brawl in one of those North African cities at a French foreign legion post; they got into a squabble with some French Foreign legionnaires, and those guys were armed all the time whether they were on duty or not. But they were in this bar, and one of my buddies got a whole clip of .45 caliber bullets in his stomach, and he lived through it, and he went on to fly a good tour in North Africa in B25s.
>But the way the story went, after this Frenchman emptied his machine gun into what's his name's stomach, he jumped over the bar and just about killed him with his fists. But he's the only one that I know of that got out of Air Transport Command into a combat unit.
>>29573391
>>29573551
Found what I recalled
>Found what I recalled
>The bomb bays were filled with four 300-gallon tanks. We did nothing but carry gasoline over the Himalayas to the fighters and the bombers in China. After about three months of flying the B24s I was transferred to another base nearby, called Tezgaon. That base had the C109 transport, which was a B24 that had all of the armament stripped out of it and more fuel tanks added. It had additional tanks in the nose and fuselage, so that we were able to carry 2,400 gallons of gas in addition to the 2,000 in the wing. I flew those until the end of the war, in August 1945
>>29573551
Sry, B24
>>29571025
That's just because you're thinking them in the wrong terms
they're not nazi soldiers, they're german soldiers. If you were male, of the right age (later not even that), and healthy, you got drafted. Many believed the war was right, as the humiliation received with the peace agreements of WW1 was too deep of a wound for Germany. Not all of them were Nazis, most of them just did not care I guess, but in a dictatorship you can't choose to not be on the dictator's side.
SS was another affair, most were nazis, many were indoctrinated crazy fucks, but even there some were just people who got "redpilled" by the government and went along with it, it's not like they're not people, it's just that we all tend to trust to a point the leading political class, we'd like to think they're doing right, and in that period it meant believing in Hitler.
The Nazi Party was criminal, most Nazis were criminal, but the German people as a whole have no fault. What happened was just the consequence of the greedy allied powers punishing Germany in a way that created the right conditions for Nazism to take hold.
>some of them were people.
They were ALL people, and you should respect their sacrifice, as you could have been one of them, or could be one of them tomorrow. Don't you think that Americans who died in Iraq for no reason are different from Germans who died in Europe for no reason. That's war.
>>29570407
My grandfather was the engine room officer on DE-402 Richard S. Bull. Didn't talk about the war much, but he did do a several hour recording back in the 90's for a project my brother did in high school.
Joined the navy with his entire graduating fraternity in '42. Literally went from the ceremony with them all straight to the recruitment office.
Only really positive thing he had to say about the whole thing was the enjoyment of throwing empty coke bottles over the side while he and his fellow officers (failed) at trying to shoot them with their .45s. Saw quite a bit of action at Leyte - he was in Taffy 1, which took the brunt of the kamikaze attacks, although Taffy 3 was the one that took the Japanese surface force. Also at Okinawa and several other engagements.
Overall, he hated the Navy, because he was the kind of guy who hated having anyone tell him what to do. After the war he became the main insurance salesman in Astoria, his big business being for ships coming over the Columbia bar, which many of them were Japanese. He didn't hate them, though. Only when he got really old did he start becoming openly racist, and then weirdly pretty much only at Mexicans, not the people who killed his friends (for example, not all of his fraternity made it back).
Overall he was fine with the modern day. He really liked how people weren't taking as much shit in stride anymore and were speaking up more often, but didn't like social projects. Finally died two years ago from basically just old age.
My other Grandpa was too young to serve in the war, although he did enlist in the Navy in '45. He was slated for Downfall, but thank god that never happened.
My Great Grandpa had probably the best service life ever, though. Enlisted in the WW1 and got stationed in the US Virign Islands to "look out for U-boats". Never saw any of them, just got to be on a vacation island far from the war.
Pic related, DE-402.
>>29570541
>most of us will live to see the day
What did he mean by this?
>>29570722
>He had many operations and a ton of shrapnel
Venom Grandpa
>>29572327
to be honest "88s" are like "Tigers" and "109's" - many Allied soldiers just used the word for any big gun, tank, or fighter plane. Often there was no time to tell the difference, and most of them had no idea what one really looked like.
So it might have been 105's or some other standard german calibre for artillery, maybe even 75's, but still - all artillery is brutal.
>>29573391
>>29573551
>>29573560
Grandpa was down in Bolivia for a few years, thought this was a cool part
>"Che Guevara, one of Castro's Cuban revolution deputies, turned up in the middle of my second year there, and tried to establish a stronghold in the middle of South America, from which he intended to subvert all of those left-leaning governments in South America. He arrived in the Bolivian jungle with a band of 27 revolutionaries, mostly fellow veterans of the Cuban revolution. We organized a ranger battalion in the Army, and a counter insurgency squadron in the Air Force, where we had P51's, armed AT6's, and a couple of C47 transports, and trained together for about 6 months.
>Then they went after him and within another 6 months they were all killed except two that got away during the first night, and went all the way up across the Altiplano, and down into Chile. The President of Chile at that time, also a Communist, gave them passage across the South Pacific all the way over to China and back to Cuba. Anyway, those two guys were the only ones that survived.
>We finally got Che and his last few survivors cornered in a box canyon where there was no way out. So this air controller in a T-6, who had good communication with the ground troops, kept them tied down until the Army came in and wiped them all out except Che himself. He got hit with a .50 caliber slug in one of his knees and was scrabbling along the ground like a crab, but he didn't get away.
>We brought him back to the base and interviewed him for about 48 hours, and then he died of his wounds, which were inflicted by a firing squad. South Americans use a firing squad different than we do. We have seven men, one man has a real bullet and the rest have blanks. In South America they do it the other way; six men have real bullets, only one has a blank. So nobody knows who killed him, but anyway he died of his wounds."
Few years ago went through his albums & found a pic of Che just after they shot em
>>29570407
Yes.
https://mobile.twitter.com/DanScavino/status/696448689427083265
great grandpa was an Austrian born man inna Wehrmacht
Actually told me the world was the same in his eyes
Plenty
>>29572817
Meh here's the story on my Grandfather's cousin, Wilhem Breitweiser.
>Member of SS from 21 November 1939.. He served in Auschwitz till 20 January 1945. He was manager of the store of clothing and equipment.
He knew Polish very well and he was particularly dangerous for the Polish prisoners. He evesdropped them and made delations, under which prisoners suffered severe penalties.
Breitweiser often made the examination of prisoners, depriving them of food, and zealously benefited from stock of food for prisoners.
>He was sentenced to death in the Krakau Auschwitz Trial but was conmuted by the law of grace to life for Polish President. He left the prison in 1958.
>During the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial was charged with the throw of cyclone b to the gas chamber in Auschwitz..
He was acquitted.
>>29570407
Grandfather was a Sergeant in WW2. He arrived on Omaha beach 3 days after D Day and helped in retaking Orleans France. His brother was sent to the Pacific theater and never made it back from the Philippines. To this day, I wish my grandfather wouldn't have gotten mesotheleoma in the steel mill as he was a gentle giant (6'7" 280, all muscle) and I was apparently his favorite. He even willed me his firearms and my grandmother gave me his Marlin .22 for my 18th birthday. Would live to hear stories about the 40s and the war, but alas he faded away in 1993.
>>29570407
My great grandfather (moms grandfather) whom I was named after was drafted. Though he was sent back because he refused to shoot anyone and would just write letters to his wife all day. Very gentle man. Both of my great grandfathers on my dads side served in WWII but I never knew them nor heard about their service. I never have talked to any WWII vets about their service. Unrelated but my great grandma worked in a bomb factory during the war. She inspected the finished bombs.
One grandfather served on both WW1 and WW2 in air force, he died in 1984 when I was three years old and grandma only talked about nazis in her town and the names they gave to axis and allied planes jinking around Sa Zeppara base, like calling Macchi 202 Giuanneddu
Other grandfather served only during WW2,got trowed into Albania and Greece shithole,he hated them since then,told very few stories cause he had indeed seen some shit and even my father only knows about the story of him killing his captain as he wanted them to act as meatshields and get mowed down by the mg nest covering the hill they had to capture and how he managed to survive the mortar shell and the grenade whom chewed his leg.
He wasn't so happy about wars in general
My other grandma served as a nurse for both parties and again she wasn't so happy to talk about war,had plenty of stories but that's it.Her hometown nearby Pescia was burned down by the SS, and his brother told me some stories about spotting german K5 guns probably at Pisa or along the lines nearby Montecatini and some other occupation stuff but again he's a closed book
>>29573787
V has come to
>>29573959
sorry to hear anon
I've met plenty of WWII veterans.
I wish I could meet more. I love talking to anyone from the 'Greatest Generation'. Definitely my favorite group of people in the country.
>>29571063
>Monstrous guns firing projectiles the size of a small car, hundreds of .50 caliber machine guns, 20-40mm AA & AAA guns firing
>Not an environment I would ever want to experience
you are not my nigga
>>29570407
i met one once who told me how to kill a jap...stick'em with your bayonet and pick him and hold in the air til he stops screaming.
>>29572836
He was in the same unit, he didn't make any grand claims of being his bff.
>>29572615
>a doctor in a VA hospital
>uses 4chan
Nigger, you are the reason why the VA is beyond fucked.
I met one at a Trump rally. old dude had people all over him and media lining up
>>29570407
I met a Federal Judge who was a pilot in WWII. He thought it was a good way to improve America and bring people together. He liked lawyering more than piloting, though
>>29570407
My uncle (i think he's actually my great uncle, I just call him "uncle") was a Tuskegee Airman. He doesn't like all of this political correctness going on today. And no, he doesn't like talking about the past
>>29573759
I meant that some of you are fatasses that will die microwave oven potpie induced early deaths that will precede the deaths of some of the longest lasting WWII vets.
>>29570407
Great grandmother's cousin was in the SS. Told me a story about the bulge
>ran to rescue a friend shot in a field
>arty comes shrieking in
>dives down and feels shit hitting his legs
>freaks out thinking he lost his legs
>looks down
>dud shell lying a foot a way behind he's legs half buried in the dirt
>shits bricks and runs
>captured in a basement a few days later
Other side of the family I had a great uncle that was an engineer in a B24. He was in the 449th bomber group based in italy
>>29575761
>dives down and feels shit hitting his legs
>freaks out thinking he lost his legs
>looks down
>dud shell lying a foot a way behind he's legs half buried in the dirt
SHEEEEIT!
>>29575761
The guy in the SS was also put in a french prison camp.
To this day he vehemently hates the French because of how they treated the Germans (well you sorta asked for it)
One of my granddads was an infantryman during the liberation of Belgium and Holland. He got two Purple Hearts, one from shrapnel from a tank/artillery shell (his unit was getting shot at by both at the same time) which managed to make its way under his helmet and trace a four or five inch scar in his scalp, and the other from bits of a Jeep in front of his getting lodged in his arm after it hit a landmine.
He's generally okay with the modern world. Not a big fan of the Republicans anymore, and he especially despises Trump and Cruz.
He's generally willing to share any story about the war, save for those in which he/his company got shot at. He says that the Brits were rather decent soldiers and hosts (while he was in the hospital in England), but their officers/NCOs were undeservedly pompous. Also said that riding in two-and-a-half ton trucks sucked.
I met a Japanese-American US Army veteran at the museum in Los Angeles. http://www.janm.org/visit/
He was an artilleryman and we talked about how he felt when he enlisted (he refused the first round because he was pissed off about being interned in a prison camp). He said the drill instructors in basic treated them OK, but told them they were lousy soldiers to get them angry and motivated. I think he said he went to Italy for the mountain campaign. Was pretty deaf from the guns.
He only told his kids about it in recent years, and now volunteers for the museum.
Nisei was a cool dude.
I have a question
Did any family or known person of yours ever commited a ""war crime""?
My grandpa was in Mi-Lai, Vietnam
My dad was on a destroyer escort in the Atlantic in WW2. Late in the war it was a U boat hunter killer group. They captured the U-boat U-505 in 45. 65 years later we go to Chicago to see the sub and he leads the tour and the guide is asking him questions and people want there pictures taken with him. What a trip.
