re: Relatives that served in World War 2

My dad served in the Pacific. It's the main reason I grew up in the SF Bay Area. He saw, he liked.

My MIL and FIL BOTH served in the Pacific. She was a WAC from New Orleans, he was US Army from Seattle. They met in Papua New Guinea and later married. We still have their uniforms.

My father drafted six months before Pearl Harbor. US Army. Infantry in Italy, invasion of southern France and Germany. Sixth Army I believe. Rarely, and only after I served, did he speak of his time overseas.

Did tell me the most afraid he ever got was on a troop ship in the Med being attacked by German fighters. Pass after pass of cannon fire. Helpless.

Five of his brothers also served. One in merchant marine. One a gunner on B-17 in Europe. One flew P-51 in Europe. One in Navy not sure where and one in Marines, severely wounded on Okinawa.

Marine one of the nicest and funniest men you would ever meet but hated, I mean hated, the Japanese with a passion the rest of his life.

All gone for years. Our country needs their kind more than ever.

Edit.
Father near the end of the war was able to trade his BAR for a clerk job, someone discovered he could type. He was in Berlin with the first American units after the surrender. Saw what the Soviets did to civilian population. They, the Americans and Brits, were told to stay out of it. Had fought the Krauts for two years but liked them more than Russians, our allies.

My father was in the South Pacific, US Army Signal Corps (Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, Philippines, Okinawa, and Japan).

My uncle was in Europe (anti-aircraft artillery, then anti-tank artillery, then infantry (England, France, Belgium, Germany, Czechoslovakia).

Another uncle (my dad's brother-in-law) was a waist gunner in a B-26 bomber (I believe he was with the 9th Air Force in the Mediterranean AOR). Dad's other brother-in-law was in the Navy on a ship in the Pacific, but I don't know what type of ship or the name of the vessel.

Two of my dad's cousins, both bomber crewman, were lost during the war. One was shot down over Germany and the other was shot down over the Pacific. The latter is still listed as MIA. Two more of his cousins were at Pearl Harbor, one on the USS Maryland and the other in the USMC. Another cousin was badly wounded at Kasserine Pass and left for dead by the Germans until he was saved by a British patrol. He was patched up and participated in the Invasion of Sicily where he contracted malaria and was finally sent home. He spent the rest of the war working at the Standard Oil Refinery in Baton Rouge.

My late brother-in-law's dad was a B-24 pilot whose plane was badly damaged during a bombing raid over Europe. He managed to get his plane safely back to base despite losing massive amounts of blood. His copilot was killed as were some of his crewmen.

Additionally, may late aunt's high school sweetheart was a submariner and is "still on patrol" with the USS Growler.

Had an uncle who served in the Army in Europe during WW2. When I was a kid he retired on disability due to having gray lung from working in cotton mills his entire life. His being retired allowed him to have plenty of spare time and allowed me to spend as much of that spare time with him in a 14 foot jon boat. He only talked about the war in terms of friendships he made and things they would do when they weren't getting shot at or shooting at people...for instance fishing in France, going to brothels when I got old enough to hear such stories. He was a great roll model for an impressionable young man.

He had a commendation framed in their house for having participated in the invasion of Normandy. He never talked much about it but he did, from time to time, mention being in Normandy. He told me about the landing craft he was in breaking down and them having to bail out in about 10 feet of water with all their gear, for example. Fast forward to 1994 and the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landing and I call him up and thank him for having gone through that hellish experience so we could all enjoy freedom. He asked what the hell I was talking about. Confused, I thought maybe he was suffering from dementia or something. I reminded him that he was there on the day of the landing. He asked me where in the hell I got that idea from. I told him about the commendation letter he had....he said "hell, the invasion lasted about a month, I was in the hospital with a bad ingrown toenail on the actual day of the invasion and did not get to Normandy for at least a couple of weeks after that". He never claimed to have "invade" Normandy, just that he had been there, which he had indeed been there just after the invasion. When I asked him about the landing craft he said "how the hell you think we got to the beach??? You think they build a damned dock out to the ships?". Apparently they were shuttling folks and supplies on landing craft for months afterwards....and one he was on had engine trouble and they were told they could either swim or go back to the ship and wait on another one....and the ship was a nightmare so swimming to shore was the better option LOL. I felt bad about this for a while afterwards, thinking that it somehow diminished my idea of him. It did no such thing. If he had not gotten lucky and had an ingrown toe nail he'd have been there and could have been killed and I would have never known him. We was willing to be there. And was there a few days later LOL.

My grandfather was a pilot on DDayv.. flew a spitfire with the RAF. I’ve posted about it and his pics before.

Super proud granddaughter here.

My Uncle Art was a Radioman in the Army Air Corps. He served in Europe and when he returned got an Engineering degree from Loyola. He took a job in Tampa and eventually started an Engineering firm that is about to be passed down to the third generation.

My grandfather was on the HMT Rohna when it was sunk in the Mediterranean in 1943 by a guided glide bomb. More than 1100 were killed, mostly Americans. My grandfather floated at sea for more than 12 hours before being rescued. Purple Heart. A true hero.

Here is the story if you want to read about it

quote:

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My father was in the navy in the Pacific. An uncle served in the army also in the Pacific. Both hated the Japanese until they died.

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Same as my Dad. "Those son-of-a-bitches stole four years of my life."

The funny thing is my uncle actually ended up liking the Germans, but disliking the French. I've read this was not uncommon for soldiers, postbellum, in the ETO.

Grandpa was army air corps, gunner on bombers.
Flew missions in the South pacific.