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Post by subdjoe on May 24, 2008 11:33:51 GMT -5
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Post by Mink on May 24, 2008 15:47:34 GMT -5
Amen! Thank you to all who serve and served.
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Post by bagron3 on May 25, 2008 22:29:04 GMT -5
Two years ago an old friend of mine died. He had served in World War II and the Korean War. It started me thinking of my father who served in WWII on Guam and Guadal Canal. My father hated war and was truly a war hero. When he came back from WWII he was never the same man. He became an alocholic and would babble about the truly aweful events he had seen. I don't wish to be macawbe on this site but I think it is important on this Memorial Day and all Memorial Days that we all understand the realities of war and what our brothers/sisters, fathers/mothers endured to keep the democracy intact and to preserve our heritage. Tomorrow I will attend a Memorial Day service and recall those who served and died. I hope you all will too. May Peace be with you.
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Post by subdjoe on May 25, 2008 23:25:29 GMT -5
Nothing macabre about it. Just a fact of life. Too many today have no clue about with it takes to guarantee freedom. And the more the vets talk about it, the more people may understand.
My dad made it back from WWII in good shape, thank God. Didn't talk to us much about it.
I didn't find out until after he died some of what he did. He had talked to my nephew about some of it for a school project. I got a copy of the report. I knew he was in the PTO, but didn't know how much action he really saw. He always downplayed it. Just like most of the men who were there.
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Post by Mink on May 26, 2008 0:09:15 GMT -5
My uncle fought in WWII and made it. When we were old enough, he taught us a few words in Japanese and gave each of us a globe bank encouraging us to learn languages. Observing him as we grew up, he couldn't stay in one place too long, carried a weapon on him (usually a pocket knife), in case he was being followed and he couldn't sleep in the dark. He also needed a drink. The only war story he admitted to was killing Japanese soldiers from up high in a coconut tree and the aim it took to drop a coconut on their heads, one by one.
A family friend who fought in the Vietnam War left Sonoma county a young, naive local. When he returned, he told us some strange stories and had biases we never thought he would have.
God bless them all!
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Post by subdjoe on May 26, 2008 0:47:51 GMT -5
Mink, I would bet that he had carried that pocketknife even before WWII. Many men, even today, see a pocketknife as an all around useful tool. I usually have at least one with me. My dad usually had one. My brothers all carry pocket knives. I also have a feeling that his story about the coconuts didn't tell the whole story.
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Post by Mink on May 26, 2008 0:58:33 GMT -5
The pocket knife wasn't the only weapon and I know the coconut story had more to it.......that was the story for little kids.
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