1 Great story!

I actually liked visiting the Korean War monument more, mainly because it was a little out of the way and like a peaceful, contemplation-friendly garden.

2 God love 'em. 

3 These men will never be truly gone unless we forget them and their accomplishments.

4 We should always remember those who served, lest we forget the cost of war.  Not all heroes die on foreign battlefields in their youth, some come home and honor those who did with lives well lived.

5 My Dad likes to tell a story about going to Lenoir Rhyne College after his stint in the Air Force during the Korean War. He befriended a bunch of other vets, including one who was a paratrooper who saw some godawful combat against the Chinese. According to Dad, some upperclassmen were going around threatening to haze freshmen just for the hell of it. Dad's paratrooper friend saw the potential hazers, picked up a desk, and said "Okay you sumbitches, haze away." Probably apochryphal but definitely relevant.

6 HOOOOORAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!

7

Thanks, Andy.

Our WWII Vets are leaving us at a rate of 1,000 per day. My father and hero, a Marine Sgt who spent 30 months in the Pacific (including Peleliu) died almost three years ago and I miss him every day. They are almost all humble about their service, as my father was. I was very lucky to have him as my Daddy.

Please, if you see one of these heroes, thank him for his service. It is an honor to meet these brave men.

8 A truly great American, WW2 veteran, and small business owner, who lived near me passed away just a few months ago.  We miss him.

9 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

10

One of my great regrets is that I was not able to get my Dad to see the WWII Memorial before he died.  He did not see combat, but was an Army-trained doctor who was about to be shipped out for the invasion of mainland Japan when the atomic bombs were dropped and the war ended.  He and my mom (a nurse) met in an Army hospital in Chattanooga, and were hastily married in the chapel at Fort Knox before he was sent to Tacoma to await his orders for Japan.  It was the only way she could go with him. 

My father-in-law served on a carrier in the Korean War.  One weekend when he was on shore leave one of his buddies invited him to come home with him.  He had a very pretty sister, who is now my mother-in-law. 

11 My Dad fought at the Battle of the Bulge.  His tank battalion was briefly attached to Patton's army during the battle.  After the war, he never lost a chance to tell the family how much he hated Patton.  But, his commander put him up for a bronze star after the battle.

About a month later he, and some of his crew, liberated some wine from a farmhouse and proceeded to enjoy the contents.  Later that day his Sargent woke up him and his crew - my Dad threatened to whoop the Sargent's ass.  Needless to say, he never received the Bronze star.

My Dad passed away on Oct 23rd.   He was a good and brave man.  Salute to you Pops.

12 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

Posted by: steevy at November 11, 2011 03:45 PM (7WJOC)

This can't be said enough.  Especially without the * replacing the u.
.

13 These men would be ashamed of what we have allowed to happen to our country.

14

I also went to church back in Virginia with a lovely old guy who flew B-17s in WWII and wrote a book about it that my husband helped him get published.  He had some amazing stories of heroism and survival.  Nobody went though more than those guys on the bombers.

Anyone who has not yet read Unbroken  is hereby ordered to read it this weekend.

15

My father-in-law served on a carrier in the Korean War.  One weekend when he was on shore leave one of his buddies invited him to come home with him.  He had a very pretty sister, who is now my mother-in-law. 

Posted by: rockmom at November 11, 2011 03:47 PM (NYnoe)

 

Wow!  What a coincidence.  Our warrior/SCOAMF is going to watch a basketball game on a carrier.  Now that's sacrifice. 

16 My Dad passed away on Oct 23rd.   He was a good and brave man.  Salute to you Pops.

Posted by: Racist, Right-Wing Terrorist in Midwest...Or Tea Party Member for Short at November 11, 2011 03:47 PM (F1JEL)

So sorry for your loss, and grateful for your Dad's service.  I know the first Veteran's Day after my Dad passed was pretty tough.  His service meant a lot to him and he talked more and more about it toward the end of his life.

17 My Dad was aboard the USS Wasmoth During the Pearl Harbor attack. He almost served his full 30 years. He died 3 months short.
I now see it as a blessing. He would have hated to see what has happened to his beloved nation.

18

My Dad passed away on Oct 23rd. He was a good and brave man. Salute to you Pops.

Posted by: Racist, Right-Wing Terrorist in Midwest...Or Tea Party Member for Short at November 11, 2011 03:47 PM (F1JEL)

 

My heartfelt condolences and eternal thanks for the men of WWII (and the women who served as nurses and in factories). Their service will never be forgotten.

19 One funny story about granddad who survived WW2 but was killed in a stupid car accident in Oklahoma after the war.  The ships guns were shredding a kamikaze which missed his ship but scattered parts all over the deck.  He rushed to grab parts of the aircraft and throw them overboard out of fear they would explode.  His shipmates ribbed him mercilessly for throwing souvenirs overboard.

20

My mother died earlier this year, and when going through her belongings I found some writings by her describing something she'd wondered about.  Her father, a doctor, had what at the time of WWII was a secret job.  He traveled around the world teaching other allied doctors about penicillin and how to administer it (I think it was a military secret at the time). 

One of my other grandfathers died in WWII, in North Africa.  He was wounded and died a few days later.  What I learned is that my mother wondered if the knowledge her father was spreading could have been used to save my other grandfather (if Dr grandfather had gotten to N. Africa earlier).  I don't know either, and found it an interesting bit of family history.  I'm very proud of the service to the country by both grandfathers, my father, and other family members.

21 I once lived across the street from an Air Force colonel who was stationed at the Pentagon.  He had commanded an air wing during the first Gulf War.  Great, great guy and his wife was one of the most amazing people I ever met.  Hated Bill Clinton and ended up retiring as soon as he made General.  I heard that a lot when I lived in Virginia. I can only imagine what is going on now with the SCOAMF as CinC.  My nephew is an Army sergeant and currently on medical leave from Afghanistan.  He won't even say the man's name.

22 16 My Dad passed away on Oct 23rd.   He was a good and brave man.  Salute to you Pops.

Posted by: Racist, Right-Wing Terrorist in Midwest...Or Tea Party Member for Short at November 11, 2011 03:47 PM (F1JEL)

So sorry for your loss, and grateful for your Dad's service.  I know the first Veteran's Day after my Dad passed was pretty tough.  His service meant a lot to him and he talked more and more about it toward the end of his life.

Posted by: rockmom at November 11, 2011 03:51 PM (NYnoe)

----------

Thanks for the kind words - it's appreciated.  Yes, my Dad wouldn't talk much about his experience until later in his life.  I think most of the WWII vets are that way.  But, we were able to get a lot of stories out of him over the last year or two.  Most of the stories are very horrible which is probably why they don't want to talk about them. 

23

>> There weren't a lot of dry eyes at that moment.

No kidding.  It was really sweet how Kevlarchick just started talking to him, asking him questions about who he was and what he had done, I think his name was Eugene.  Then he told us about the veteran who passed away before the trip.  She hugged him.  He said "more people have told me 'thank you' today than in my whole life."

I wanted to say it too, but I couldn't talk so good right then.

24 My dad was drafted during WWII...he was sent to Texas to train and was going to be sent to Japan to fight. When the bombs were dropped, he was sent to Japan for the occupation. He always said he wasn't a "real" veteran, and would point out how his brother, who earned a Bronze Star fighting in Europe, deserved to be called a veteran. Of course, his brother never felt worthy of any praise, either, and never spoke of what he did during the war. Btw, they were raised (along with 3 other brothers, two of which served in later years) by an immigrant father who never became a US citizen (which he greatly regretted not doing), and who had to sign a form every year during the war because his birth country was Italy, a country we were at war with.

25

Direst Ancestor, John Ramey, was a Private, from Virginia, at Valley Forge.

Ambrose Ramey, Volunteer, war of 1812.

Lt. John Ramey, Union Artillery, Civil War (I have his Saber)

My Grandfather, PFC in Artillery, WW1.

My Father, Signalman, USN, WWII and Korea.

Myself, USN Enlisted, Ret...

My Son, Electronics Tech 3rd Class, USN... today...

My Mom, who comes from Nebraska corn farmers, NONE of whom ever served, says 'it just goes to show some folks seem to look for a fight'... needless to say, we don't aggree....

26 @RealTimeWWII is a kind of cool project. An Oxford history grad is live tweeting the event of WWII over the next six years.

27 A great pictorial tribute to veterans (and it looks like they have representation from all wars):

http://tinyurl.com/8yhwhky

28 Dad was a P38 Lightning crew chief in California and then the Pacific.  Mustangs and B25s too.  He said they were all his planes - he just let those college kids fly them.  Dad was lucky; the only injuries were to his ears from too many V12 engines on the flight lines.  Lucky in another way, too.  No invasion of Japan.  Miss you, Pop.

29 My wife's father was a radioman on a B-17 in the Pacific Theatre.  He never once spoke of his experiences and everyone in his huge extended family knew better than to ask.  He passed 10+ years ago.

Ten years later his widow (wife's mother) meets a nice man at her retirement home.  Turns out he flew P-51s in WWII and Korea and spent some time as a POW in North Korea.  One of my wife's older relations is a professional pilot and of course took to the "boyfriend" instantly.  After hearing the full story he wrote it up and submitted it to the VA who belatedly (as in 55 years belatedly) granted benefits.  I've read the story, and it's not pleasant.

30

It always strikes me that when Veterans Day rolls around, most want to remember WWII or perhaps our veterans who've served or are now serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.  I guess that's only natural, since WWII was an overwhelming victory.  And I also find it sad that our WWII vets are passing at an ever increasing rate, although that's what life dictates.

But please remember too the guys who put themselves into harms way in the "unpopular wars"; Korea and Vietnam.  There's been some long-forgotten bitterness lately when I watch the spoiled brats at the #OWS protests.  They're the same people who demonized us coming home from Vietnam and in their own way, are still rubbing salt into old wounds.

I guess it's the reason that they call the Vietnam Memorial in DC "the saddest place in the world".  When celebrating this day, remember the 58,000 who gave their lives when no one here in the US really gave a shit.  That goes for Korea too.

 

31 Halberstam's "The Coldest Winter" is a pretty good account of the Korean War.. if you can get past his editorial jabs at Bush.  You can, they're not overwhelming, and the accounts of the battles are good.

32 On a lighter note, that picture is a hint of things to come. It's gonna be weird in 2040 when all the old geezers are sporting full sleave and neck tattoos.

33 Posted by: Soona at November 11, 2011 04:14 PM (pxMeh) I was living in DC when they opened the Korean War memorial and made a point of going to the opening ceremony since Dad was in the war. Blazing hot day -- I was in my 20s and was exhausted by the heat, yet here were a bunch of Korean War vets in their 60s who turned out because they were so happy to finally get some recognition. I asked questions and they bent me ear till I had to go home.

34 Korea gets even fewer mentions than Vietnam. Korea was a huge frickin war. But it's like it never happened.

And even the one major cultural item about the Korean War -- MASH -- is misremembered by everybody as a show about the Vietnam War.

(Of course, the writers meant it to be about Vietnam, so that's understandable.)

35

My father served stateside in the Army Airforce Reserve during WW2.  He is still alive at 95.

My father-in-law served in the Navy during WW2.  The destroyer he served on, USS Balch, was earlier at the Battle of Midway.  He served in the Pacific, Atlantic and later during the occupation of Japan.  He died in 2008 and is buried in a veteran's cemetary on Cape Cod..

Non-military service comment:  My mom was an airline stewardess in the early 1950s.  On a charter flight she served Jimmy Doolittle a scotch and milk.

 

36 My uncle died in Korea (moms' brother)...he was there during the war and drowned after the war had ended...it took two weeks to find his body and it just destroyed my grandmother...he died before I was born, sadly.

37

My dad was an Army aviator and my uncle was in the Navy during WWII. It's also interesting to note that the first of my family to come to the Colonies in 1750 was a British soldier.

But since my Dad died just before I was born (suicide) and Mom never remarried, a couple of my friends' dads sort of "adopted" me. One is a man I think of a lot, a WWII Army vet with a huge heart and a big set of balls: their first son was born with MD, and then they turned around and had two healthy kids, one of whom was my best buddy growing up in Alabama.

When I reached early adulthood, every time he saw me, he'd put his arm around my shoulder and proudly proclaim to anyone within earshot, "I raised this boy." That meant an awful lot to me. I still miss him.

And thanks to all our veterans. You are loved and respected.

38 My grandfather fought at Belleau Wood in WWI. He was apparently rather highly decorated, but we had no idea until he died in the 1980's that he was. He never talked about it. He wasn't ever "right", either, although he married my grandma and had five kids and plenty of grandkids who all thought he hung the moon. He had been an artist, but also had to be a farmer, and then ended up moving to Seattle from Wyoming when WWII came along and it became harder to farm. My dad was a welder in the shipyards in Seattle when he was 16--he got into trouble constantly for showing up at high school wearing jeans, which violated the dress code but which he needed for his work after school. Seems like another world entirely, but you have to admire everything about them, don't you? They are the reason we are free.

39 Wow, that picture reminded me of my grandpa who died recently.  He was shot down in a B-25 near the Philippines on a shuttling run.  He was flying in a stripped down aircraft, with no guns, so they had no choice but to ride it down.

He remembered the wings chopping trees 3 feet thick off as they went in. He woke up 40 days later in South Carolina.

I believe he was the only one who lived.

God bless and keep all brave souls who have given so much to defend our rights.

40 My dad flew a PBM Mariner in WW2. His crew called him "pappy" at the ripe old age of 26. He died in 1979. There hasn't been a day that has past when I haven't thought about him. I'm honored to be his son.

41 It was an honor to be there and talk to Eugene. I had to hug him, his pain was great. And the day was bittersweet.

42 My grandfather fought in WWII. 29th Division. Omaha Beach on D-Day, the hedgerows, the St. Lo breakthrough and more. I didn't know him well. He passed away in the mid-1970's when I was a kid, but the record of his service to this country lives on in my children. His widow (my paternal grandmother) married another WWII veteran about 7 years after my grandfather's death. I had the distinct honor of interviewing him for a military history course in college. He was in the Army Air Corps stationed in the Philippines. He was captured, escaped during the Bataan Death March and lived on the run among the native Philippinos for nearly a year until he was turned in to the Japanese. He was then shipped to the Japanese mainland where he was a POW for the remainder of the war. Brutal experience, but you would never know from his demeanor and personality. He came back and lived a rich life. A great man who forgave.

43

My mom's first cousin died in a sub off the coast of New Jersey by a German Uboat and him mom was asked to not say what happened so that the Germans would not have a propaganda victory and the US populace would not be alarmed.  She honored that request on behalf of her only child's memory.  She was released of that silence only decades later.

RIP Edward

RIP JAD - survivor of The Battle of the Bulge

RIP FAD - survivor of North Italy

I miss you Uncle Joey and Uncle Frank!!

44

My mother's brothers (Irish twins, 11 months apart) were engineering majors at the University of Texas.  In 1942, they both dropped out and enlisted.  The older one ended up in the Sea Bees, the younger in the Corps of Engineers. The younger claimed he never got a ride the whole time he was in Europe, that he walked the whole way to Germany.  He worked on a project to get fresh water to a liberated concentration camp.  He said the Russians liberated it and shot every German there, even the ones who surrendered.

My mother's brother in law was a flamboyant fly boy who was working as a crop duster in East Texas when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He ended up flying planes off aircraft carriers. 

My mother's other brother in law came from a large family that was very poor. His father took his three sons to the Naval recruiting office and lied about their ages, saying they were 16, 17 and 18, and enlisted them in the spring of 1942. They were actually 14, 15 and 16.  When the Navy tried to send them home, they begged to stay, explaining that their father was a drunk, couldn't hold a job, and they never had enough to eat at home. Somebody felt sorry for them and let them stay on. The oldest was assigned to kitchen duty (he claimed he peeled over a million potatoes between 1942 and 1945), the youngest rolled up maps for the navigators, and the one in the middle, my uncle, had a job getting spent shell casings out of the way after the big guns fired (apparently that job took a small, wiry guy to accomplish).  After the war, the youngest brother didn't have enough service credit to be discharged right away, but he was assigned to a base in Hawaii.  He fell in love with it and realized that his fellow soldiers would remember it fondly as well and, after they went home and married their sweethearts, would want to come back and visit, and show their girls where they were stationed. He started a boating excursion business kind of like the Skipper from Gilligan's Island. He turned it into a dinner cruise business which is still being run by his daughter.

My father's uncle enlisted in the Marine Corps once the spring planting was done in 1942.  He fought all the way across the Pacific.  He got malaria and was pinned down on Tarawa for more than a day. Anybody laying on that beach who metnally cracked and raised their head up got shot.  The other guys would pull their dead comrades up in front of them so they could hide behind them. I don't know much else about his service, and what I know I heard from my dad. My uncle went kind of nuts in the Pacific, and he only said three or four words to me in his entire life. He came back to his family's farm after the war and never went more than 8 miles from his home again, until he got sick and went to the hospital, where he died about five years ago.

I knew all of them as kindly old men. They're all dead now.  Now I wish I'd asked more, listened more, and realized they were once young and vibrant and brave and fierce.

45 I feel your pain Andy.

My father was a B-17 pilot in PI when Japan attacked. He lasted thru the Bataan death marh, hell ships and POW in Japan.
But........... what they had done to his body was to much and died in 1965 of liver failure.   I too miss than man. 
I went on to honor him as a Medic in Nam 57th (Dustoff)   1972.

46

I am extremely blessed to have TWELVE veterans in my family--my grandfather, father, stepfather, 5 uncles, 3 cousins, and a brother-in-law. 

Happy Veterans' Day to all who gave the best of themselves!

 

47

39,

Yep, Korea was big, bloody, and bad.  My uncle was a surgeon in a M*A*S*H unit.  I asked him if it was as insane as depicted in the film, and he said it was. 

48

Father was US Army on Omaha Beach, but a few days after the first day, because he drove a truck.  All the fucking way to the Rhine, and across.

Father-in-law was Royal Candian Navy as a radioman on a corvette in the North Atlantic during the Battle Of.  In addition to coordinating the attacking of U-boats, he handled the "traffic" concerning the sinking of some big kraut battleship.  "Bismarck", or something like that.

Jeebus, I am a veteran, but I feel like such a pussy.

49 I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thanks , I will try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your web site?

50 Excellent blog, thanks for the share. I'll be a regular viewer.

51
Wow i really found this to be an interesting read; thanks for sharing

52 You really make it seem so uderstandable with your presentation but I find this topic before really hard to understand. It seems too complicated and very broad for me.

53

Every Veterans' Day, I read posts like this where various people remember the one or two family members that were vets.  I meet people around my current community, and they tell me about the one family member that was in, back in the day. 

I've been in unform since 1984.  I officially retire from the Army at the end of this month. 

Since 1984, most of my friends and almost all of my co-workers have been "in the service."  Apart from the random neighbor, everyone I know by name has been a soldier (sailor, airman, Marine, etc.).  These have been some great people.  The grandparents all of you talk about, from WWII?  They taught my teachers.  The uncles you talk about, from Korea and Vietnam?  They taught me.  The sons and nephews that are overseas now?  I taught them.  I, personally, haven't done anything that qualifies as heroic.  I've had the pleasure of working with lots of folks who have. 

Now, I'm on the glide path out and running a small business.  I have a bunch of college kids working for me, some of whom are pretty good kids.  I deal with weasels every day.  Integrity is not as common as it needs to be. 

Where am I going with this? Not sure. First, the military life isn't that hard.  Almost all of you are capable of it.  Most of you would have done well at it.  (It's amazing what you can do when you have no choice.)  Second, it's your country.  If it's not worth your time to defend it, maybe it's not worth defending.  If it is worth defending, then man up and do it.  Don't leave it to the Greatest Generation or to the hoi polloi.  Get involved. 

Third, courage isn't that hard.  Man up and have some integrity.  That is what made America great.  That is what continues to make America great.  The great men that you talk about on Veterans' Day - they are your progenitors.  Live up to those genes. 

54

I guess we were luckier in that respect - my own WWII vet died the week AFTER I drove him down to the dedication of the WWII Memorial in DC.

Actually, his only complaint was that he was a little ticked about how his generation, for the most part, were the ones that wound up putting up the money for the monument.

Just make sure your WWII vets have been registered in the official online list for the memorial.

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