Ken Burns' "The War" and Our Family WWII Vets.

[MarianJack]

I spent the last 2 weeks watching, no absorbing, Ken Burns' the war. I thought it was remarkable. I believe that it is so important to get the testimonies of these men from 4 American communities and those of the "girls back home" because, as we know and as stated near the end of the film, 1000
of these people die EVERY DAY.

In today's climate, that means that there are 1000 fewer voices that can call people like o'rielley a liar when he makes claims like American GIs slaughtering those poor little SS at Malmedy (spelling?). 1000 fewer voices to counter the Holocaust deniers.

I realized now more than ever how blessed my family was. We had 4 men (my father, his brother, My 2 Uncles Joe, my mom's brother & brother-in-law) in HEAVY combat. None got a scratch.

My dad was a bombardier in Europe. He saw his best friend's plane fly into flak and every man on that bomber died. While I believe that all men & women who put on the uniform and serve honorably are heroes, none in my family was more of a hero than my Uncle Joe (my mom's brother).

There are too many stories to share now, but I have to tell one story about Joe. He was the top Sergeant of his outfit (even 40+ years after the war, I still heard men in the neighborhood call him "Top"). They were part of a troop that liberated a concentration camp.

He said that many of his men wanted to shoot the nazi guards who were caught. He told his men that THEY were not nazis and they would not only not shoot the Germans, they would treat them well and obey that "quaint" Geneva Convention.

He never told his men that it was all he could do to not set his Thompson on single fire and "shoot every one of those bastards" himself. They were GIs from the Philadelphia suburbs, most of whom had never seen a Jewish person in their lives. Most of them were just kids themselves, but they knew the unspeakable horrors of what they'd seen.

I think that one of the great things that Ken Burns did in this film was to get those who lived at this time to tell what happened to them. He realizes that history is what happens to everyday people, not just the General and Presidents.

These are a "very" few of the tales related by my family.

How about yours?

PEACE!

None

[MADem]

1. I know what you mean

Our family sent more than a half dozen to the war. All came back, one seriously wounded. He recovered, though, after almost two years of hospitalization, and lived to his mid-eighties with shrapnel less than an inch from his heart. They all married, had bunches of kids, who honor them to this day.

Sadly, all of them are gone now, with only a few widows, many of whom did their bit for the war, left behind to tell the tales of days gone by.

It's a great series, that.

[parasim]

2. Yeah, that documentary is very good, indeed.

It was quite eye-opening for me. It was realy great to hear from those who were the "boots on the ground".

My dad was infantry in WWII (fought in Italy) but he rarely, if ever, talked about what happened in the war. Well, except through his alcohol-induced flashbacks that I witnessed at around 10 years old.
Those times were grim and pretty much put me on the road to pacifism. He never wanted to talk about what he went through, never explained to me how he won all the medals he was awarded.

The two stories that stick out in my mind, was the one where, under heavy fire, he jumped into a foxhole and his best friend jumped into one next to him. Unfortunately, a grenade followed his friend. This was while he lead his troops to capture a hill or something and only a handful of his squad was left, although they were successful in capturing the hill. I;ll never forget him screaming and the look on his face when he would have a flashback of this incident.

The other story was when he and another of his buddies were walking alone down an Italian street that supposedly was clear, but suddenly a sniper shot and instantly killed my dad's friend and he all he could do was stand there and shoot in all directions as he dove for cover.

He also fought in Korea, but I never heard anything at all about that one.

Other than that, I never heard war stories from him. He was a pretty staunch Republican, but when I became of age, he did everything he could to persuade me to not join the military because he did not want me to endure the horrors that he did.

[bdamomma]

5. yea, my father served in New Guinea and I don't think I ever heard

him mention his experiences, too much pain perhaps and too much loss, but I did find pictures many pictures when he was stationed in New Guinea in our basement. These guys went through alot, and they were heroes. Great series I did learn alot.

[Captain Hilts]

8. That was tough stuff. I think the army, rather than marines, fought that one. nt

[Lasher]

3. Everybody was involved then.

My dad was in the Navy and didn't get a scratch because he was on 5 diesel sub War Patrols in the Pacific. It was pretty much all or nothing in that respect for them. He rested his oar a year ago.

Almost every able bodied man, and also lots of women, were in the active military. Everybody worked, and pay raises were against the law. Everything, including gas and meat, were rationed. People bought war bonds, some of them with their last dollars. Schoolchildren went on salvaging drives to get scrap metal, rubber, etc. for the war effort. Pennies were made of steel because copper was needed elsewhere.

I can remember one of my dad's sisters telling about how it was then. Everyone listened to the radio for war news. If they heard that a battle hadn't gone well for our soldiers you could step outside and hear people wailing and crying throughout the little community where we have always lived.

A lifelong local resident just died a couple of months ago. He was involved in the Marines, and saw a lot of heavy combat in the Pacific. He had done some things in his life that many people didn't think much of but I remember my dad saying about him, "You know, when I look at Charlie I don't see the same person most people around here do. I see a young man who had just had his leg shot off, and kept on fighting anyway."

[petersjo02]

4. This program affected me deeply

So much so that I've had to work to overcome a bout of depression that came along with watching each episode. I have recently had surgery on my lumbar spine that, while successful, has left me with a residue of pain that I'm still living with some 6 weeks later. Then, I have only one smaller-than-normal kidney that is failing fairly rapidly, so I'm near the point where my daughter will need to begin testing to see if she is a good match. My mood is often dark, and "The War" darkened it even more. The last couple three weeks have been hard all the way around for me. However, those stories needed to be told to younger generations who don't understand what happened in those days, particularly to the Jews, handicapped people, gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses. Then the Chinese suffered terribly, too, from the Japanese as well as POWs of the Japanese. Ken Burns does great work. He has his detractors, but I think overall he does important work that people need to see.

[murielm99]

6. I have related this before.

My husband's uncle was a survivor of the Bataan Death March. He and other survivors had annual reunions. He attended quite a few of them. His story was told in several books and a movie.

Uncle Herb was already a practicing veterinarian when he went to war in the Philippines. He was older than some of the men. He lived to be 91.

My father became one of the replacement troops for Merrill's Marauders. He was in combat at age 19. He was actually older than some of this fellow soldiers.

My dad, who will be 82 next month, seldom spoke of this combat. He was more likely to talk about his furloughs, and the things he saw in India. He also spoke about his time in China, where he served as an MP after the fighting was over.

He finally starting talking a couple of years ago. One of his fellow soldiers was writing a book. He interviewed my dad and other survivors for the book. They met in D.C. at the World War II memorial, and laid out their memories.

I wonder how many of those who saw combat kept their memories to themselves. I am grateful that there are some oral history projects and authors who are finally getting these men to open up.

Additionally, I used to work with a lady whose older sister had been an army nurse during World War II. She was also one of the first to arrive at a liberated concentration camp. Like some others who have posted here, she had never even seen a Jewish person. She was an Irish Catholic girl from a small town. It broke her heart that she could do so little to help many of the dying prisoners.

The soldiers wanted to line up the guards and others responsible and execute them. Of course they could not. Some units brought in nearby German townspeople who were elected politicians and prominent business men. The soldiers turned deaf ears to their pleas of "We didn't know," and "We were only following orders." They made the townspeople look at the dead and bury them.

My friend said that her sister seemed fine when she came home. It was several months before the sister began having nightmares and losing weight. Eventually her family found help for her.

This lady has passed, too. I wonder if anyone ever recorded her story. We are losing this living history on a daily basis.

[Captain Hilts]

7. All men in my family have been in the military, last one to be injured or die was at the Somme.

No kidding.

We were very lucky in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Cold War, etc.

Luck counts.

[TwilightGardener]

9. My husband's grandfather served in Europe, and got a Purple Heart

during the Battle of the Bulge. He came home and was never mentally healthy again--in and out of hospitals. He didn't just have his flesh scarred on the battlefield, but a large part of his sanity and spirit, too--for the rest of his life. What a cost, both to him and to his family. I am reminded of him when I see wounded or stressed veterans coming home the Iraq war, and it makes me sad. Such a price--for what?

[road2000]

10. Mobile Vets...

I have my share of family stories, but was most affected by the shared sacrifice depicted.

"The War" brought home the fact that not just the poor kids were affected. Many of those appearing in the documentary from Mobile -- my home town -- hailed from families of means. Inge, Galloway, Sledge, Phillips: these are "Old Mobile" names. As a young reporter for the Mobile Press Register many years ago, I was privileged to meet these leaders in covering the community. Little did I know what they'd been through.

The thought that any of these people would buy their way into the National Guard to avoid combat (and then go AWOL) is incomprehensible.