My dad served in WWII. A Veterans Day story.

[JohnnyRingo]

So, I grew up in the Boomer era like so many Greatest Generation children. Popular shows on TV were "Combat!" about a fighting patrol in southern Europe led by Sgt Saunders (Vic Morrow). Another show that was must see was "12 O'Clock High" about a B-17 squadron flying missions deep into Germany. Then "Baa Baa Black Sheep" based on a real misfit island hopping squadron of Corsair fighter planes. Finally, "Rat Patrol" about a pair of rugged dune jumping Jeeps in North Africa with 50 cal machine guns mounted (who wouldn't want one of those?). And then there was Hogan's Heroes, but 'nuff said there.

Obviously, we were taught the history of "The Big One" at an impressionable age. There was no blood in those b&w days, and it seemed the storyline always ended in a moral of sorts, but the horrors of war were pounded into us (Kirby's been hit!). We didn't play cowboys and indians like the older boomers. We played war games. I once took my dad's inert war souvenir hand grenade to school to play with at recess. I noticed that a real grenade soon attracted some attention from teachers until they sent the WWII veteran gym teacher over to look at it. I think they kept it until end of the day so no one would got conked on the head with it, but such was life in the late '50s.

My dad seldom spoke of his own action in WWII, but when he did, he punctuated it with "that hellhole of an island" that stole two years of his life. So I had quite the image of his struggle on a jungle Island swatting tse tse flies and rooting out the enemy in underground bunkers as P-51s strafed from overhead. He also mentioned the B-17 airfield on the island so I figured they were loading up bombs for missions to Iwo.

It was about when I was in the 4th grade near the end of the school year that a classmate complained that his parents were going on a vacation and leaving him with a relative. Out of curiosity I asked where they were going and he replied Aruba. I can only imagine the shock on my face as I exclaimed "Aruba!? That hellhole of an island?". I know I confronted the old man when I got home and all he had to say was that Aruba was different back then and the Germans could have attacked it. Then I recalled all his war pics were of him dressed only in khaki shorts playing baseball on the beach. He still had the same suntan he got during the war years when we buried him in 2003. He is still my hero because all he wanted to do back then was ride his Harley and drink beer but he still stepped up to do his part when he was drafted, even though it was as a gas station attendant on an island paradise.

This is Stacy on the right conducting a gun safety class on that hellhole of an island. Happy Veterans Day Dad.

[img][/img]

[flamin lib]

1. .

[TexasProgresive]

2. The big tell that someone is lying about combat experiences is

They talk about it. All the combat vets I knew/know would tell stories about weird or funny things that happened seldom any stories about how they killed the enemy. An example of one that was close to combat that my Dad told me was on the anniversary of VE day. He said, "I will always remember VE day. I met up with a friend from early in the war. We were hitching a ride on a tank. He turned to me and said, 'Charlie, it's been one hell of a war.' and then he rolled off the tank, dead by a sniper who hadn't heard the war was over."

Mostly it was about the hijinks he and his comrades got up to. The same was true of my grandfather.

Anyone who brags about their heroic war deeds is suspect to me.

Glad your Dad survived, lots didn't.

Funny thing about my other grandpa. He served as a Marine in WW I and swabby in WW II without ever seeing action. And he was the postman in both wars as he was in civilian life.

[lucca18]

3. Thank you for your post.❤️

[NameAlreadyTaken]

4. Thank you. Both of my parents

served in the Marines during WWII (that's how they met). My Dad also served in the Korean Conflict. My grandfather (1886-1944) served in the Marines during WWI. Yesterday and today would be big days for all of them if they were still living. My Mom:

[brewens]

5. When I was a kid looking at model tanks, I wondered what the Russian tanks were all about?

Up to that point, I thought the war was all about America and Great Britain. The Russian front was just a cold place you got sent if you screwed up on Hogan's Heroes. I had no clue the Russians had done the bigger part of fighting the Germans. Our media didn't want to tell us anything good about the commies back then.

My dad told us some combat stories. He was a PB4Y crewman. That was the navy designation for their B-24 Liberators. They were mostly long range reconnaissance and had quite a few go missing with all hands. They were out there in the south Pacific in 1943. Known as "The Buccaneers of Harry Sears", they regularly had to fight off Japanese fighter attacks on their own. A movie about those guys would be really cool, but like most WWII movies these days, they'd ruin it.

[BlueNProud]

6. We used to celebrate The Greatest Generation, now our CIC says that actual Nazis are good people

[KT2000]

7. Wonderful story!!

thanks for sharing!

[marked50]

8. Good story on your Dad- Thanks

Mine too served in WW2 and was in the artillery. 69th Division. The first one that linked up with the Russians. He also didn't talk much about it all and always said he wasn't a hero.

Your TV show list is pretty complete. We also had the "Gallant Men" and "McHales Navy". The one thing we worked off of when we had our kid battle re-enactments was the comic books of the era. There was "Sgt. Rock" and "Haunted Tank".

Thanks for the memories. Dad's Mom's and all Veterans.

[JohnnyRingo]

9. Sgt Rock! The original Rambo.

You're right, I did forget about him and McHales Navy. I still want an Elco PT boat to this day, but the Sgt Rock comic books were a memory. I recall the machine guns that went budda buddabudda and bombs explodjng just feet away.

It's a wonder, given all the conditioning we got as kids, that when our turn came in Vietnam, we grabbed protest signs instead of rifles.