leatherneck, thank you for that personal story. Your dad was one member of an elite group of Americans with the intangible qualities the likes of which I am not sure we will ever see again.

 

Getslow, I am looking forward to your posts and pictures.

My grandfather on my dad's side was an Army medic. The majority of the action he saw was when he landed in France on D-Day +3 (three days after the Normandy invasion). He also took part in the liberation of Paris. He did admit to having witnessed some of the horrors of war, although he said his knowledge set and schooling as an accountant ended up putting him in charge of managing the stocks, supplies, equipment, and work schedules at a large makeshift allied "hospital" in France for the majority of his service time.

 

My grandpa on my mom's side, who only died days ago, was in the Navy, and served on a destroyer that saw action in Pacific, from the south Pacific up to the Aleutians. He saw many battles, the most significant of which was Gudalcanal. His ship, the USS Meade (DD-602) was the only US Destroyer to survive the battle. As a fire controlman he was responsible for aiming and firing one of the four 5" caliber guns on the ship. He told me once about the horrors of watching the US Marine invasion on the shores of Guadalcanal through the viewfinder of his cannon in between firing shots during the battle. One of his most guarded stories, however, was regarding the battle of Tarawa. His destroyer, along with the USS Frazier had been hunting a Japanese submarine (this one) on the final day of the battle, and after the crippled submarine surfaced, my grandpa was responsible for firing the final shots that sunk the submarine. There was one single survivor - a man who had been forced up onto the submarine's tower to fire a lone machine gun once the boat had surfaced - who was rescued from the water by my grandpa's ship. The man was very badly injured following the final shelling of the submarine, and once off duty, my grandpa spent the hours between the end of the battle and the point where they offloaded the injured man, sitting with him in sick bay and praying for him, as well as for the souls of the Japanese sailors who had perished on the submarine.

 

I have many other stories I recall from my grandpa. I need to write them all down - badly.

My grandfather was in WWII and Korea in the Army, he died when I was little, but when my grandma died we found boxes and boxes of old war stuff and things that my mom didnt even know about. I have it all in about 10 big plastic tubs in my spare room of my house, I cant wait to go through it all one day.

Through my involvement with the Korean War Veterans Association, I know quite a few, though the numbers are dwindling rapidly.

 

My father (85) served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. After applying for the Navy and being rejected for color blindness, he was drafted into the Army and spent the first 32 months of his active duty aboard ships. He was in the Army transportation corp at the end of WWII serving aboard the SS Pomona Victory, the Marine Devil, and the Hospital Ship Hope. In Korea he spent 281 days on line with the 31st Infantry as a squad leader and platoon Sargent (Inchon, Chosin Basin). In Vietnam, he was CSM for the 78th Division Training Support in Fort Dix, NJ.

How many veterans can say they served in 3 wars? That is awesome swamprat. We put athletes and movie stars on a pedestal but it is men like your dad who are the true American heros.

My Dad(USMC) and Uncle(USAF) both served in World War II, my dad is still alive and will turn 92 this month. My uncle passed away years back. I go to the VA hospital twice a week and talk with several WW II vets but most of them are Vietnam Vets. I as did leatherneck and my two brothers served during Vietnam all (USMC). Thanks for everyone who has posted love to read and hear these stories. JD

Edited September 6, 201214 yr by JOHNDUNHOFT
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Very handsome man . Clark Gable -ish.

 

Thanks, many people have made the same comparison.

 

I forgot to mention my dad was a Major in the Air Force.

My late father joined the Navy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to the USS Honolulu , a light cruiser(8 Battle Stars, Navy Unit Commendation).He was a gunners mate on the anti-aircraft guns and had seen plenty of action in the South Pacific. His ship fought at Midway,Kiska and screened the initial American landings in the Aleutians at Adak.Then the ship was ordered to the Solomons where 0n Nov. 30, 1942 fought the battle of Tassafaronga, in which the NORTHAMPTON was lost and NEW ORLEANS,MINNEAPOLIS and PENSACOLA were severly damaged.The HONOLULU had been hit in the bow with a dud torpedo that caused little damage. The ship was repaired in drydock and after 4 months was again fighting in the war.The ship then went to the Philippines, where the HONOLULU was hit by an ariel torpedo. Sixty officers and men were killed.Before the wounded cruiser could move away from the area,she was hit by "friendly" gunfire and five more were killed. On 17 Nov 1949 the HONOLULU was sold for scrap.

My late father joined the Navy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to the USS Honolulu , a light cruiser(8 Battle Stars, Navy Unit Commendation).He was a gunners mate on the anti-aircraft guns and had seen plenty of action in the South Pacific. His ship fought at Midway,Kiska and screened the initial American landings in the Aleutians at Adak.Then the ship was ordered to the Solomons where 0n Nov. 30, 1942 fought the battle of Tassafaronga, in which the NORTHAMPTON was lost and NEW ORLEANS,MINNEAPOLIS and PENSACOLA were severly damaged.The HONOLULU had been hit in the bow with a dud torpedo that caused little damage. The ship was repaired in drydock and after 4 months was again fighting in the war.The ship then went to the Philippines, where the HONOLULU was hit by an ariel torpedo. Sixty officers and men were killed.Before the wounded cruiser could move away from the area,she was hit by "friendly" gunfire and five more were killed. On 17 Nov 1949 the HONOLULU was sold for scrap.

 

My grandfather's destroyer was up in the Aleutians at the same time as your father's ship. His ship fought in the battle for the island Attu, and then was stationed briefly at Kiska immediately following that island's takeover by the Allied forces.

"I met a very nice gentleman at the WWII Memorial in Washington, DC this summer. I introduced myself to him and asked him if he served in WWII. His son told us that he had served in the US Navy, and was from Missouri. His son swelled with pride when he told us his dad was there on D-Day when we stormed the beaches at Normandy. This Veteran was humble and polite throughout the whole exchange."

 

 

My boys and I shook his hand, thanked him for his service to our country, and left him with his family to his remembrances.

 

It made me wonder how many WWII vets are left in our own communities and how many of us take the time to thank them and recognize them for their significant contributions to our lives as we know it.

 

Do any of you have any family members that served in WWII? If so, please mention them in this thread, post a picture, tell their story. We need to recognize these veterans.

 

My Grandpa O'Hara was in the Navy and was on a Scout sea plane. He loved to tell stories about their deployments. I really liked going to Pearl Harbor w/ him and listening to the Vets share their stories. He passed away in 2006 one day AFTER my Grandma. 56 years together, 24 hours apart.

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My Grandpa O'Hara was in the Navy and was on a Scout sea plane. He loved to tell stories about their deployments. I really liked going to Pearl Harbor w/ him and listening to the Vets share their stories. He passed away in 2006 one day AFTER my Grandma. 56 years together, 24 hours apart.

 

One of the harder stories for my grandpa to tell was about a Scout sea plane that flew off of the USS San Francisco. His ship and the San Francisco had been patrolling Ironbottom Sound (so-called for the 47 ships and countless planes that sank there during the Guadalcanal campaign) for survivors in the vicinity of Savo Island in the days following the battle of Guadalcanal. My grandpa, having a good vantage point from his fire control deck, had been in direct radio communication with the pilots of the San Francisco's Scout plane all day as they would locate floating survivors and casualties and radio their locations to the pilots of the Higgins and Yard Patrol boats that were actually plucking them out of the water. As the operation was wrapping up for the day, the Scout plane pilot took the plane on a run down the side of the boat in order to wave thank you to my grandpa. Just as the plane passed the end of the ship, it inexplicably dove immediately down into the water. They were able to recover most of the wreckage from the plane, but the bodies of the men on the plane were never found.

My father, who passed away one year ago this Sunday, served in the Marines during WWII. He was involved in several landings in the Pacific as part of the 6th Marine Division. Carried a flame thrower for the first couple of landings and then switched to carrying an air cooled machine gun for the Okinawa landing. Suffered a pretty severe head wound on Okinawa and "sported" a metal plate on the side of the head the rest of his life.

 

Even though I also served in the Marines, my father would never share what he experienced, but I sensed it wasn't, as they say, pretty because of his refusal to discuss his experiences other than to cryptically say " in the Marines, you do what you are told to do". Years after I'm off active duty, my eldest son has to interview a WWII veteran as an elementary school class project. Asks if he could interview Grandpa. I told him I doubt that Dad would agree to it, but I'd check. Called Mom to see what she thought, as I didn't want to put Dad on the spot. She checks with Dad and to my surprise, he agrees. We go up and I listen in as my son interviews Dad in the next room. Learned a lot about his experiences during a 30 minute interview. For whatever reason, the interview loosened Dad up. When he and I were alone on subsequent occassions, I'd get the unsanitized version of what he had told my son. I came to realize why he had held back for so long. War is brutal and I'll leave it at that. Dad joined the Marines when he was 17. To do so, a parent had to sign the enlistment papers. If you had known my Dad you wouldn't have been surprised to learn that he forged his Mother's signature. Dad went on to live until he was almost 85 years old. Life wasn't always easy but he thoroughly enjoyed life as he knew it very easy could have ended when he was 17.

 

My father in law is also a WWII veteran and served in the Army. Fortunately, he didn't have so serve in combat and have the experiences and see the things my Dad did.

 

Thanks Toots for starting this thread. If you are fortunate enough to meet a WWII vet, please let him/her know how much you appreciate their sacrifices and service. There aren't many WWII vets around anymore unfortunately and most of them that are, don't have many years left.

 

There were vietnam vets in my National guard unit. I know one was a medivac chopper pilot, and one other was the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.The story of the latter was, he and his platoon was under heavy machine gun fire and this soldier ran up and threw a granade into the nest killing the gooks saving many lives. I learned this through other members of my unit, as this soldier would have ever said anything about it.

 

LN, like your dad, my dad said little about the war. What information I got from him, I had to pry it out of him. Almost every vet that I have known is the same way. Maybe some vets don't like remembering the horrors that they saw,or some just don't want to seem like they are bragging. Either way we are very proud of the ones that have served and the ones that are serving now. God bless them all!

Well said hoosierbirdfan

. Dad joined the Marines when he was 17. To do so, a parent had to sign the enlistment papers. If you had known my Dad you wouldn't have been surprised to learn that he forged his Mother's signature.

Great story, Leatherneck. I just recently learned that my dad had a similar story. He enlisted in the Navy at age 17. He lived in a small town, 2 hours away from the bigger city recruitment place. He was at first turned away because he needed his mom's signature. So he hitchhiked the 2 hours back home, got the signature, then hitchhiked back.

 

The Greatest Generation.....

I have a few friends with WWII veterans in their family. My grandfather was a WWII veteran as well and passed on his birthday in 2002 at the age of 83. I miss him greatly and cherrish the time that I spent with him and listening to his stories doing the many things we used to do. The same is likewise whenever I get to see and talk with the others that I know.