My granddad got terrible frost bite and trench foot during the Bulge. He had to be taken off the front and back to England for treatment in January '45. As long as I knew him, he hated being cold. He kept his house warm, and always had blankets nearby.
Your Grandfathers War Stories
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Last: 1 day ago by one safe place
Those of you commenting on the cold your relative dealt with during the Battle of the Bulge, I cannot fathom going through that cold. Every winter when we have a cold snap, I think of having to be out in that cold, only much, much colder, day after day, night after night, in the clothing of that time period which offered a lot less protection than what we have now, and unable to have a fire to keep warm(er) by much of the time. Damn.
One uncle I was very close to fought in the Pacific with the 77th ID. It was primarily a division made up of New York recruits. Their shoulder patch was the Statue of Liberty. During the later years of the war, many Texans were added to the 77th.
He was enrolled in sheet metal classes in Houston when Pearl Harbor was bombed. He went to work in San Diego at Consolidated airplane manufacturing and was given a deferment every 6 months because the plant made B36 bombers & PBY planes. After 3 deferments he decided to join the army because it didn't feel right to him staying in the states. He was inducted at Ft Sam Houston in San Antonio and took his basic at Camp Hood. He had additional training at Ft Ord in Calif, Ft Lewis in Washington and jungle training on Oahu. His specialty was operating the BAR. His outfit shipped out to Saipan to help mop up Japanese forces on the island. He talked about seeing civilians jump to their death because Japanese troops told them they would be abused by GI's. Next stop was Okinawa. His division (the 77th) fought near the Sugarloaf Hill area. On May 27, 1945, he & 2 other GI's were blown out of their foxhole. He was wounded and suffered a severe leg and back injury. He was found the next morning laying in the mud several yards from the foxhole. He was shipped to a hospital in Guam for 6 months. It was in Guam where heard that the atomic bombs had been dropped. Later the military shipped him to hospitals in San Fransisco, El Paso and eventually the army hospital in Temple, Tx, where he had several surgeries to repair bones and perform skin graphs on his leg. He died at age 97 and the scars were still visible on his leg.
He was enrolled in sheet metal classes in Houston when Pearl Harbor was bombed. He went to work in San Diego at Consolidated airplane manufacturing and was given a deferment every 6 months because the plant made B36 bombers & PBY planes. After 3 deferments he decided to join the army because it didn't feel right to him staying in the states. He was inducted at Ft Sam Houston in San Antonio and took his basic at Camp Hood. He had additional training at Ft Ord in Calif, Ft Lewis in Washington and jungle training on Oahu. His specialty was operating the BAR. His outfit shipped out to Saipan to help mop up Japanese forces on the island. He talked about seeing civilians jump to their death because Japanese troops told them they would be abused by GI's. Next stop was Okinawa. His division (the 77th) fought near the Sugarloaf Hill area. On May 27, 1945, he & 2 other GI's were blown out of their foxhole. He was wounded and suffered a severe leg and back injury. He was found the next morning laying in the mud several yards from the foxhole. He was shipped to a hospital in Guam for 6 months. It was in Guam where heard that the atomic bombs had been dropped. Later the military shipped him to hospitals in San Fransisco, El Paso and eventually the army hospital in Temple, Tx, where he had several surgeries to repair bones and perform skin graphs on his leg. He died at age 97 and the scars were still visible on his leg.
One grandfather was in Army training in central Texas when the war ended. He was a dairy farmer from Wisconsin. He met a young coed and they got married and moved back to Wisconsin for a few years, but her polio injuries were exacerbated by the cold, so they moved back to central Texas, and he farmed there for 49 years until he died of cancer in 1994.
Other grandfather was an avocado farmer from south Florida. Joined the Marines and served on the west coast where he met a Colonel's daughter at a base function. They got married and then he transferred to be an officer with the Marine detachment on the USS Missouri when it left for the western Pacific. Was on board when the surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay. Moved to South Caroline to be paymaster and run the farm at Parris Island until retirement.
Other grandfather was an avocado farmer from south Florida. Joined the Marines and served on the west coast where he met a Colonel's daughter at a base function. They got married and then he transferred to be an officer with the Marine detachment on the USS Missouri when it left for the western Pacific. Was on board when the surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay. Moved to South Caroline to be paymaster and run the farm at Parris Island until retirement.
Cen-Tex, here is what Tokyo Rose had to say about Sugar Loaf Hill a few days after May 20.
"Sugar Loaf Hill . . . Chocolate Drop . . . Strawberry Hill. Gee, those places sound wonderful! You can just see the candy houses with the white picket fences around them and the candy canes hanging from the trees, their red and white stripes glistening in the sun. But the only thing red about those places is the blood of Americans. Yes, sir, those are the names of hills in southern Okinawa where the fighting's so close that you get down to bayonets and sometimes your bare fists. Artillery and naval gunfire are all right when the enemy is far off but they don't do you any good when he's right in the same foxhole with you. I guess it's natural to idealize the worst places with pretty names to make them seem less awful. Why Sugar Loaf has changed hands so often it looks like Dante's Inferno. Yes, sir, Sugar Loaf Hill . . . Chocolate Drop . . . Strawberry Hill. They sound good, don't they? Only those who've been there know what they're really like."
"Sugar Loaf Hill . . . Chocolate Drop . . . Strawberry Hill. Gee, those places sound wonderful! You can just see the candy houses with the white picket fences around them and the candy canes hanging from the trees, their red and white stripes glistening in the sun. But the only thing red about those places is the blood of Americans. Yes, sir, those are the names of hills in southern Okinawa where the fighting's so close that you get down to bayonets and sometimes your bare fists. Artillery and naval gunfire are all right when the enemy is far off but they don't do you any good when he's right in the same foxhole with you. I guess it's natural to idealize the worst places with pretty names to make them seem less awful. Why Sugar Loaf has changed hands so often it looks like Dante's Inferno. Yes, sir, Sugar Loaf Hill . . . Chocolate Drop . . . Strawberry Hill. They sound good, don't they? Only those who've been there know what they're really like."
He mentioned being in his foxhole at night and clearly hearing Japanese soldiers talking just yards away.Quote:
Artillery and naval gunfire are all right when the enemy is far off but they don't do you any good when he's right in the same foxhole with you.
An embarrassing rather than a heroic one.
Grandpa was an airplane mechanic in the Navy. After each job, he was required to have the pilot sign some paperwork confirming it. Well, one time he forgot until the pilot got in the plane, so he climed up on the plane's wing to talk to the pilot. Who didn't notice him. And began his takeoff roll. So Grandpa fell to the deck and broke his tailbone.
On the bright side, hospital patients got better food to eat.
Grandpa was an airplane mechanic in the Navy. After each job, he was required to have the pilot sign some paperwork confirming it. Well, one time he forgot until the pilot got in the plane, so he climed up on the plane's wing to talk to the pilot. Who didn't notice him. And began his takeoff roll. So Grandpa fell to the deck and broke his tailbone.
On the bright side, hospital patients got better food to eat.
Yikes.BonfireNerd04 said:
An embarrassing rather than a heroic one.
Grandpa was an airplane mechanic in the Navy. After each job, he was required to have the pilot sign some paperwork confirming it. Well, one time he forgot until the pilot got in the plane, so he climed up on the plane's wing to talk to the pilot. Who didn't notice him. And began his takeoff roll. So Grandpa fell to the deck and broke his tailbone.
On the bright side, hospital patients got better food to eat.
My grandfather was a WWII Army Corps of Engineers Captain. Stationed on Okinawa after the fighting stopped building the B29 runways. There was a Japanese holdout in a cave and the CO told him to get someone from his company (?) to get him out or kill him. So, my Grandpa decided he could not ask his men to do what he was not willing to do, and crawled into the cave to try and get the guy to surrender. He tried several times to get him to give up (in broken Japanese) and the soldier would not surrender. So, he took his .45 and shot him. I'd heard this story second hand a few times from my father, but only in bits and pieces and not much detail because my grandfather just never talked about it.
One Easter my wife and I were visiting and in the hallway of his home looking at all the photos of his grandkids on the wall right by his bedroom. His bedroom door was open, and he was looking for something in his top dresser drawer and there is a white piece of cloth on top. My wife asked him "what is that?". He pulls out a Japanese battle flag and proceeds to tell my wife, in great detail, about what he did in Okinawa. I'd never once heard him ever refer to that incent before, or after. But you could have heard a pin drop for the 10m he told that story. When he was done, he ended with, "we were at war, and I did what I had to do to protect my men". That was it. I have no clue if he ever told anyone else except maybe another Uncle who was in the infantry with Patton in North Africa that story.
One Easter my wife and I were visiting and in the hallway of his home looking at all the photos of his grandkids on the wall right by his bedroom. His bedroom door was open, and he was looking for something in his top dresser drawer and there is a white piece of cloth on top. My wife asked him "what is that?". He pulls out a Japanese battle flag and proceeds to tell my wife, in great detail, about what he did in Okinawa. I'd never once heard him ever refer to that incent before, or after. But you could have heard a pin drop for the 10m he told that story. When he was done, he ended with, "we were at war, and I did what I had to do to protect my men". That was it. I have no clue if he ever told anyone else except maybe another Uncle who was in the infantry with Patton in North Africa that story.
Was always told he had nightmares about ww2 and didn't like to talk about it. so didn't ask much and don't know much. Wish I knew more, but don't regret not asking
https://ts.la/eric59704
I have mentioned that after my father died, I got in touch with several Marines in his Company and some in his platoon. Most of them were replacement troops that came in after Tarawa.07ag said:
Was always told he had nightmares about ww2 and didn't like to talk about it. so didn't ask much and don't know much. Wish I knew more, but don't regret not asking
Two of them mentioned Camp Tarawa on the Parker Ranch in Hawaii. They talked of hearing some of the Marines who had been on Tarawa scream in their sleep at night when they had nightmares or night terrors. One of them, a replacement, told me he and others wondered just what awaited them given how Tarawa had impacted some of those who had survive that fight.
My dad enlisted in the Navy September 1941 and became a corpsman. He would have been at Pearl Harbor except he came down with an appendicitis and had to have surgery in San Diego.
His service was on tank carriers in the pacific at Tarawa and Attu. He only mentioned one time watching a torpedo go by. He also spent time in a rescue unit, Squadron 6.
He was recalled for Korea and serve with the 1st Marine Division as a corpsman and was part of the lost division.
Here is a picture of one of the carriers he served on. The USS Nassau.
His service was on tank carriers in the pacific at Tarawa and Attu. He only mentioned one time watching a torpedo go by. He also spent time in a rescue unit, Squadron 6.
He was recalled for Korea and serve with the 1st Marine Division as a corpsman and was part of the lost division.
Here is a picture of one of the carriers he served on. The USS Nassau.
I am only superficially aware of what happened during the Korean War. What is the lost division?
Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
I am only superficially aware of what happened during the Korean War. What is the lost division?
I'm sure there are better historians here, but my understanding is that they were cut off for awhile by the Chinese.
I believe you're referring to the battle of the Chosin Reservoir. The 1st Marine Division was cut off and surrounded by 100,000 Chinese troops in temps that reached something like 65 below zero.
As Chesty Puller said: "They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us…they can't get away this time. "
As Chesty Puller said: "They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us…they can't get away this time. "
I know he was in replacement in the infantry, carried a BAR, and had shrapnel in his arm for the rest of his life from a treeburst. he fought in the Ardennes/Bastogne, not 100% sure thats where he earned the purple heartone safe place said:I have mentioned that after my father died, I got in touch with several Marines in his Company and some in his platoon. Most of them were replacement troops that came in after Tarawa.07ag said:
Was always told he had nightmares about ww2 and didn't like to talk about it. so didn't ask much and don't know much. Wish I knew more, but don't regret not asking
Two of them mentioned Camp Tarawa on the Parker Ranch in Hawaii. They talked of hearing some of the Marines who had been on Tarawa scream in their sleep at night when they had nightmares or night terrors. One of them, a replacement, told me he and others wondered just what awaited them given how Tarawa had impacted some of those who had survive that fight.
unfortunately his records were lost in the 1973 fire, but it has been many years since i've tried to do alot of research,, maybe something else has come to light since then.
as for reaching out to members of his company, as far as anyone alive knows, he didn't keep in touch with them and never went to a reunion type event
https://ts.la/eric59704
Some similarities we share. My dad also carried a BAR, and he had wounds on his right side from shrapnel, seven places as I recall. One small piece was not removed and from time to time was an irritant when he shaved. He did get a Purple Heart for that wound. There was another BAR man to his right and he received shrapnel wounds on his left side, some near his heart and he wound up going home. Dad was hit in the face in Garapan on Saipan, a ricochet, but did not turn in the wound. I talked to the Marine who was beside my dad when he was hit. He took him back to an aid station. They cleaned the wound and back he went to the fight. From the way he described my dad, and what my dad said and how he said it before and after being shot, was just such a surreal story and obvious it was true. Nearly cried hearing him tell the story.07ag said:I know he was in replacement in the infantry, carried a BAR, and had shrapnel in his arm for the rest of his life from a treeburst. he fought in the Ardennes/Bastogne, not 100% sure thats where he earned the purple heartone safe place said:I have mentioned that after my father died, I got in touch with several Marines in his Company and some in his platoon. Most of them were replacement troops that came in after Tarawa.07ag said:
Was always told he had nightmares about ww2 and didn't like to talk about it. so didn't ask much and don't know much. Wish I knew more, but don't regret not asking
Two of them mentioned Camp Tarawa on the Parker Ranch in Hawaii. They talked of hearing some of the Marines who had been on Tarawa scream in their sleep at night when they had nightmares or night terrors. One of them, a replacement, told me he and others wondered just what awaited them given how Tarawa had impacted some of those who had survive that fight.
unfortunately his records were lost in the 1973 fire, but it has been many years since i've tried to do alot of research,, maybe something else has come to light since then.
as for reaching out to members of his company, as far as anyone alive knows, he didn't keep in touch with them and never went to a reunion type event
My grandfathers WWI records were destroyed in the 1973 fire. They later were able to locate one document to put in his file, his discharge record. Might be worth another try to see if anything has surfaced.
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