aggie1944, whatever you do, take the time to tell you kids about what you experienced in the war. My grandfather fought in WW1 and never talked to his sons about it, even though both served during WWII (my uncle as a pilot flying the hump in Burma, and my father as an air cadet). When I was in the Army, I did get him to talk about it once, but he never did again. But that one time, I realized what a true hero my grandfather was.
My Dad and Uncle (85 year old twins) were class of 46. I do believe I recognize my dad in one of those pics. I'll have to show these to him and my Uncle.
My father grew up in Grimes County, graduated from Navasota HS in '37 and began A&M. He, too had his education interrupted by the war. He joined the Air Corp and flew B-25s out of Corsica. Married my Mom (a Grimes County Girl) in '42 while on leave. He returned to A&M and graduated in '48. He remained in Bryan as a Highway Engineer (Resident Engineer) until the early '60s when I was born in Bryan.
He very well could be in some of those photos. They brought a great deal of joy to my heart and a tear to my eye. My father has passed but my Mom is still alive. I can not wait to show her these pictures. She so loves BCS and A&M.
I know there are a ton of responses on here, but I just wanted to ask again if you were okay with me copying some of these pictures. If not I understand. Thanks.
1944...First and foremost, thank you for your service, and thank you for taking the time to post your pictures. As all of my grandfathers served during WWII (including one to land at Normandy at around H hour plus 5 or so), I have always been fascinated to see images/movies/etc from the War. I do not know you, I will never know you, but seeing pictures taken by a fellow Aggie makes me feel like I am looking at pictures from a member of my own family. There is sense of ultra-realism that you do not get from looking pictures in books or those shown on television.
Also, I am always in awe of the modesty that your generation exhibits. "We just did our job." "Everyone else would have done the same thing." "I'm not a hero, but I served with a bunch of them." Never have I met a veteran of WWII who wanted any of the tremendous amount of credit that they deserved. And that just goes further to cement with me the sentiment that you sir are indeed a member of the greatest generation that our country has ever and likely will ever know. As an active duty officer in the US Army currently, I am proud of our soldiers today. I am proud of the young men and women that I serve with. But I am fully convinced that many of today's soldiers would not be able to stand up to the rigors of the European or Pacific Theatres, myself likely included in that statement. Furthermore, I am fully convinced that America will never again respond to ANYTHING the way She did to the attack at Pearl. I don't mean this to be an indictment of any person on this board, but more so of today's society in general. At least my little piece of the world right now is inhabited with people who don't have enough respect for their fellow man to stop texting while driving 80mph on the highway, to hold open a door for someone behind them, or to even acknowledge that another human being other than themselves has a need in this world, much less to go to war for their country. The sense of self entitlement and of being "owed" something simply because you are alive in America sickens me.
Thankfully, you kids in 1941 were raised differently and thought differently. You went half a world away from your friends and family, many of you before you were legally able to vote or buy a beer. You lived through a hell that no one else will ever know or could ever imagine. You fought. You fought for your country. You fought for people all across your country. People you did not and would not ever know. You kids over there doing your job did something that will likely never be done again, not because of lack of conflict, but because of lack of people who care enough to do what you did. You fought. You won. You did nothing less than save the world. And for that, I will eternally be grateful to you and your fellow WWII veterans.
I found a couple of old pictures from aTm during this era that I purchased a while back. The pictures were taken sometime in the 40's (I think).
I'm only adding them because they have the same "ELKO" mark that was discussed a little earlier. I thought I had that mark in some old family photos, but it was "FOXCO". I have no idea what either one of those means.
[This message has been edited by powerbiscuit (edited 1/28/2010 9:44p).]
[This message has been edited by powerbiscuit (edited 1/28/2010 9:45p).]
Thank you sir. I wasn't expecting this thread to be one of the best I've ever seen on TexAgs when I opened it. We need more of these threads! My grandfather served and died when I was 15 so I wasn't to interested in his past. Now I would bug the heck outta him to hear about his experiences. If I was your family I would be interested in anything you had to share.
I guess votes is one way to look at it. I choose to look at 310 replies and 26k+ views in only 3 days as proof of the positive support for this thread.
aggie1944 - I sure hope you have more, I have really enjoyed seeing them!! Thanks!!