Memorial Day 2011

Posted on May 30, 2011 | 5 Comments


Remember.

(h/t Tam)

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5 Responses to Memorial Day 2011

  1. Kyrathyel | May 30, 2011 at 16:57 |

    My Dad did not die in WWII, but he was a machinegunner on a tank. I did not know this until after he died, because he refused to talk about it. He was 19 and 20 when he killed hundreds of men. He never got over it. He hated himself. He was sullen, silent, angry, and hated himself. He never talked to any vets or anyone about the War. His soul was wounded. I’m sorry I didn’t know or understand.

  2. Pat Hines | May 30, 2011 at 20:15 |

    Both my father and mother were in combat in World War Two.

    My father flew 65 combat missions over France, Germany, and Yugoslavia. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for returning over his photo recon target on one engine on his P-38 photo recon aircraft to complete his photo mission. He once told me that he wasn’t sure which mission this award was for, it happened several times.

    My mother was an Army nurse. She relieved the POW nurses the Japanese had kept at Santo Tomas University Hospital near Manila. During the ongoing Siege of Manila, the second largest urban combat during World War Two, only Stalingrad was larger. The Japanese decided to shell her hospital, so she and other nurses evacuated patients during the shelling. For that, she received the Bronze Star. A piece of shrapnel from the shells that landed at her feet sits in the box that holds her the Bronze Star.

    Those are my parents.

  3. Wills | May 30, 2011 at 21:15 |

    My father was a true unsung hero. Mom said he came back from the war a different man. He entered the European Theater as a paratrooper with the 17th Airbourne US Army during the Battle of the Bulge, Ardenne Forest. His only combat jump was after that during Operation Varsity March 24th 1945, the largest airbourne jump ever made. They were told to expect fifty percent casualty rates. When he landed at Wesel, he saw soldiers still drifting down, dead in their chute harnesses. Once on the ground he opened his map to find his staging point and realized it was printed in German and he couldn’t read it. After fighting all the way to Berlin he was transferred to the 82nd Airbourne because he didn’t have enough points yet to go home so he stayed there for the occupation until he was relieved. Like so many WW2 vets he tried his best to resume a normal life but his experiences haunted him all his remaining days . One of his neighbors after the war was in a unit the 17th relieved twice after the Bulge. They never talked about the war with each other or what they had experienced. I wish I had paid more attention to him while he was still alive. He and I both would have benefited greatly. May God bless you Dad.

  5. Concerned American | May 30, 2011 at 23:05 |

    Thank you all for sharing.

    Pat, can you share more about your dad’s POV? I am fascinated by the fact that there were many people who understood what Frank The Cripple was doing, and did what they thought they could to stop it.