Please tell me your story's about your father, grand father.. in the military

Wyatt earp

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2012
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I will go first my grandfather landed on Normandy, it was Ohio beach, it was the third wave , he got hit in the fore arm and made his way up..

He was a tank mechanic during the rest of the war

When he died I was there so was the US military and gave him a 12 gun salute at his funeral.

I loved my grandfather alot.. we used to play ball together he took me to a bunch of Chicago cubs games ..one heck of a man.
 
I will go first my grandfather landed on Normandy, it was Ohio beach, it was the third wave , he got hit in the fore arm and made his way up..

He was a tank mechanic during the rest of the war

When he died I was there so was the US military and gave him a 12 gun salute at his funeral.

I loved my grandfather alot.. we used to play ball together he took me to a bunch of Chicago cubs games ..one heck of a man.

HHC 508th PIR 82nd AB

Normandy, Holland, Germany.

RIP 2015
 
I will go first my grandfather landed on Normandy, it was Ohio beach, it was the third wave , he got hit in the fore arm and made his way up..

He was a tank mechanic during the rest of the war

When he died I was there so was the US military and gave him a 12 gun salute at his funeral.

I loved my grandfather alot.. we used to play ball together he took me to a bunch of Chicago cubs games ..one heck of a man.

HHC 508th PIR 82nd AB

Normandy, Holland, Germany.

RIP 2015

2015? Wow , my grandfather died in 92.
 
I will go first my grandfather landed on Normandy, it was Ohio beach, it was the third wave , he got hit in the fore arm and made his way up..

He was a tank mechanic during the rest of the war

When he died I was there so was the US military and gave him a 12 gun salute at his funeral.

I loved my grandfather alot.. we used to play ball together he took me to a bunch of Chicago cubs games ..one heck of a man.

HHC 508th PIR 82nd AB

Normandy, Holland, Germany.

RIP 2015

I remember finding my grandfather army jacket when I was a teenager trying it on he was small back then and it didn't even fit me. ..
 
I will go first my grandfather landed on Normandy, it was Ohio beach, it was the third wave , he got hit in the fore arm and made his way up..

He was a tank mechanic during the rest of the war

When he died I was there so was the US military and gave him a 12 gun salute at his funeral.

I loved my grandfather alot.. we used to play ball together he took me to a bunch of Chicago cubs games ..one heck of a man.

HHC 508th PIR 82nd AB

Normandy, Holland, Germany.

RIP 2015

2015? Wow , my grandfather died in 92.
Mine passed in 1977.
 
My father was an Army Air Corps belly gunner on a B-17 stationed in the Philippines during WW2. His father was a cook in the Italian Army during WW1. He was a POW, but since they liked his cooking, they let him keep his machete/sword to use in the kitchen. I now have it.
 
Dad. Navy on an LCI. Every beach landing in North Africa and Europe. Boat got blown up at Utah Beach. Purple Heart. Was awaiting deployment to Pacific when the Bomb was dropped.

GrandFather won Silver Star in France

Uncle a survivor of the Bataan Death March. Died young, just couldn’t take remembering that.

Father in Law was Army. Wounded at Battle of the Buldge. Never spoke at all of his time in War.
 
I will go first my grandfather landed on Normandy, it was Ohio beach, it was the third wave , he got hit in the fore arm and made his way up..

He was a tank mechanic during the rest of the war

When he died I was there so was the US military and gave him a 12 gun salute at his funeral.

I loved my grandfather alot.. we used to play ball together he took me to a bunch of Chicago cubs games ..one heck of a man.

HHC 508th PIR 82nd AB

Normandy, Holland, Germany.

RIP 2015

2015? Wow , my grandfather died in 92.

Yeah 1922-2015. He hid is uniform from himself in a corner of his Victorian's attic. So we bought him another at an antique store and buried him in that. A few weeks after we found his uniform and brown leather jump boots. Ended up donating them to a local county museum.

The man was small. His see-oh said he'd never be a paratrooper; he ended up a Pathfinder. The man could climb a tree with a running chainsaw in one hand. One time he was in a hurry, the saw kicked up and he split the brim of his own hat. The man was immortal to me.
 
He doesn't talk about it much ... but I'm almost certain I have siblings in England.

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My father was in the army and stationed in Fort Richardson Alaska where he froze his balls off.

His dad, my grandfather, was in the air Force stationed with Ted Williams in Florida during the Korean War and worked on Williams car all the time. Unfortunately he died in a hunting accident when my dad was just a baby and my grandmother later remarried the grandfather I knew, who served in the Navy during the Korean War.
 
Dad was a grunt in the Pacific, serving at Guam, the Philippines, and Okinawa.

My StepDad was a Marine in the Pacific, serving at Tarawa, Saipan, and Okinawa.

The were Purple Heart and Silver Star recipients. My StepDad had a Bronze Star with Valor while my Dad received the Bronze Star as well.

An uncle flew a glider into Normandy in the pre-dawn darkness on D-Day.

My Mom's fiance was shot out of the skies over Italy and was killed.

My Mom's Dad was an Artillery officer in the Big Red One in France in WWI.

His father was a Sergeant in the Philippines during the Insurrecto in 1900 and 1901.
 
My father joined the Army as an infantry soldier during WWll and fought in North Africa, was on the 1st wave beach landing during the invasion of Sicily, and then went on into Italy, and fought the Germans from the south of the country, all the way to the Po River in the far north when the war ended. (His brother joined the Marines and fought the Japs at Iwo Jima and a few other islands)

He stayed in the Army, reached the rank of Sargent, and was in the Korean War from the start of the hostilities. When the Chinese joined the fight in a surprise winter attack that overwhelmed U.S. forces. His artillery position was completely over ran by the enemy, and all of the Officers and ranking NCO's were killed. My father was the only soldier of any leadership rank left alive. So he organized the remaining troops and they fought their way back to the American lines.

He was awarded a battle field commission to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant for his leadership under fire, and Gen. Omar Bradley of WWll fame, personally pinned the Lieutenant bars on his uniform. Which I have a photo of the pinning ceremony.

He stayed in the Army and reached the rank of Lt. Colonel and retired after 26 years of service.

Going thru his stuff one day, I happened to find a small box that had his Bronze Star with V attachment and a Purple Heart medal inside. Typical of his generation, he never mentioned the medals, so I don't know if he was awarded them during WWll or the Korean War.
 
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Both of my Grandfathers served in WWII. My paternal Grandfather was a mechanic in the Army during the war, but died when I was 4 so no stories. My maternal Grandfather was in the Navy and did not talk about his experiences much. He did tell me he saw some of the Nazi concentration camps. I'm not sure why a squid was visiting the death camps. After the war he transferred to the Air Force were he served in Korea and then Vietnam. He retired after 26 years of service.

My Father served in Vietnam in the Army and was a door gunner on a medevac Huey he also did not talk about it much.
 
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One of my grandfathers was in the army and went to Japan. The other grandfather was in the air corps. He went to France with 2 of his brothers. They didn't talk about it but they drank for 20 years afterwards. My Dad was at Fort Sill and then went to Vietnam. My Dad talked more than my grandfathers.
 
I forgot to mention my step-dad was in the Army Rangers in Vietnam. He said he was a driver for Colin Powell when the jeep was hit with an explosive and rolled over and they got into a fire fight. He was kind of a tool though, so I don't know how much I believe of what he says. I've seen his patches and medals, but to be honest I'm not sure what to believe.
 
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