Relatives who served.

[J0313]

I think it would be cool to see if anybody else out there had a close relative who served in the Silent service during WW2.

[Sailor Steve]

That's a great question, but a little to specific to include me. I had two uncles who were at Pearl Harbor, but I never knew in what capacity and never got to ask them. My dad was a surface sailor, but just too young for the war. He served as a gunner's mate on the cruiser USS Columbus from 1947 to 1949.

[Luno]

Like Steve here, no one in the Silent Service, or even the United States for that matter.

One of my great-grandfathers fought on the side of the USSR against the Germans and later, the Japanese.

[Cybermat47]

My Grandfather (my Father's father) served on HMAS Norman, an N-class destroyer.

[J0313]

This is good stuff. I personaly think that the generation who fought in WW2 is the greatest generation.

[magic452]

I had 5 uncles that served but all were ground pounders, 3 Army and 2 marines.

My brother in law was on a diesel boat but in the 1960's.

Magic

[Sharkey]

My dad served on a destroyer in the North Atlantic during WW2, I believe his ship took part in sinking a u boat but I dont have the boats details. :salute:

[les green01]

had a great uncle serve in the navy in the pacific not sure surface or subs I know he had a lot of respect for the Marines,had another great uncle that was a scout in Europe to keep the germans from capturing him he jump off a cliff and after that didn't have a stomach,two friends that serve one in the same outfit as Audie Murphy from Africa to all the way he told me stories for hours the other friend was a pow in Germany after his b-24 was shot down.

[Jimbuna]

My old man served in the merchant navy, lying about his age (I believe he was 15 at the time) he was aboard the first British merchant vessel to be bombed in Barcelona harbour during the Spanish civil war.

At the outbreak of war he was aboard the last ship to leave Marseilles before capitulation and had the French Admiral for the area as a passenger.

His convoy scattered (can't remember the number atm) at the breakout of the Bismarck and he could hear the gunfire exchange from her (or so he believed).

Sailed on numerous convoys to Russia, one of them being the only one to go unescorted because of the call on the Royal Navy for the Sicily landings...less than half of the convoy returned to the UK but every man was on a £50 bonus which was a hefty sum at the time.

On D-Day his ship beached at Courseulles-sur-Mer (JUNO) carrying Canadian troops and their equipment.

His two worst memories as told by him to me was a) Sailing past seamen in the cold arctic waters without being able to stop and help (orders from the admiralty passed on by the escorts and b) Witnessing the sinking of a hospital ship on D-Day and the following massacre of dozens of nurses floating in the water wearing lifebelts by machine gun fire or aircraft (he was never 100% sure which).

All in all though I thought he led a charmed life and was lucky to survive, so many others didn't.

As a child I would tell him how brave he was and his response was always something along the lines of...."Never brave son, we were just youngsters who were all scared but took strength from each other and do what we had to do".

He was decorated by the Russian Ambassador in November 1987....approximately twenty years before he received a small enamel lapel badge from his own government and I suspect that is largely down to the fact the then Foreign Secretary was an acquaintance of mine.

[J0313]

My Grandfather. Raymond Grant Leslie. Served aboard the following ships. USS California BB, USS Parrot DD, River Gunboat in China, USS Defense AM, USS Boxer CV ( Korean War ), S-36, USS Dolphin, USS Grenadier ( WW2 ), USS Saratoga CV ( Ship he retired from in 1960 ), He also ran away and lied about his age and joined the Cavalry at age 15. Much like Jimbunas Dad. He was dicharged about a year later when his Dad caught up with him and disclosed that he was only 16! A different time and a different society. I was born to late.

[Sailor Steve]

Battleship, gunboat, submarine, carrier...that's quite a career! I wish I had been able to talk to my uncles about their experiences, but I found out too little too late.

[J0313]

Battleship, gunboat, submarine, carrier...that's quite a career! I wish I had been able to talk to my uncles about their experiences, but I found out too little too late.

I guess you get to do awhole lot in 26 years and 2 wars. It was different back then. Alot more transfers. I know guys who I was with at Ft Campbell who had been there for 12 years. That just wasnt done back then. You got moved around alot.

[fireftr18]

3 uncles that served in Europe during WW2. They never told any stories about it. One uncle, when the Army changed his weapon from the Springfield to the Thompson, was allowed to keep his Springfield. He hunted with it. I don't know what happened to it after he passed, I guess it's still in the family.
My dad served at Pearl in the 1950's. He was land based the whole time.
My brother was at the Naval Air Base in Bermuda, then the Base in Jacksonville.
I have a cousin that retired from the Navy. He did serve on a submarine. He later was assigned to Cheyanne Mountain Complex. He works there as a civilian consultant now.

[TorpX]

My oldest uncle, was deployed to the ETO in the army as a mechanic. Don't know the details; he didn't talk about it much.

The middle uncle was in the army, and deployed to Korea at the end of / after WWII (before war broke out). I remember he said guerrilas would snipe at them, and everyone over there knew it was only a matter of time until war broke out.

The youngest uncle, was in the army postwar, and was not deployed overseas. He did machinest work.

My dad was drafted into the army, and was in the infantry in Korea.

Also, I have a cousin who was in Vietnam. I don't know much about it, though.

[ETR3(SS)]

I have quite a few in my family it seems. Paternal Grandfather was a truck driver for the Army during WWII, he was also present for D-Day coming ashore after the main force. Paternal Step-Grandfather was Navy not sure about the exact time or vessels he served on but I do know he was on the Surface Fleet. Maternal Grandfather joined the Army around the Korean era but never left the States, I believe he drove trucks as well. He would tell me about how he would drive soldiers out into the Nevada desert for the atomic bomb tests. One Uncle was in the Corps for 23 years and served in Operation Desert Shield/ Storm. My Dad was in the Navy as an Engineman aboard the USS Barnstable County during the late 70's. 2 cousins were in the Corps, one was part of truck company and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan the other is an Ammo tech and hasn't left the states. Another cousin was an Army Combat Engineer in Iraq. So yeah quite the family of servicemen, almost half of which drove truck. :hmmm:

[Armistead]

My Great Great Grandfather served with the 22 NC infantry during the "War of Northern Aggression":D

My Grandfather was on the Yorktown during Midway, got blew up and placed in the dead pile, but was later found alive. He had a thick scar from his privates to his heart. Not wanting to move him, he was still on it when it was attacked and sunk by a Jap sub, luckily they got him moved.

My mother had 8 brothers, one died in WW2, two served in N Korea, one highly decorated, the other was killed. Mom being the youngest, was two years old when her brother was killed in WW2.

[Sailor Steve]

Wow! Good thing your grampa survived. Sad about your mom's brother, though.

My Great Great Grandfather served with the 22 NC infantry during the "War of Northern Aggression":D
Well, if we're gonna go back that far, my great grandfather and his brother both served in Hood's 1st and 4th Texas regiments in the "War of Southern Rebellion". :O:

Oh, and my great-great-great grandfather had a brother who served in the War of 1812, so there!

[Armistead]

Wow! Good thing your grampa survived. Sad about your mom's brother, though.


Well, if we're gonna go back that far, my great grandfather and his brother both served in Hood's 1st and 4th Texas regiments in the "War of Southern Rebellion". :O:

Oh, and my great-great-great grandfather had a brother who served in the War of 1812, so there!

Lucky for us, my gg grandfather returned to the old homeplace after the war, or sometime in 64 after being wounded. He put most his stuff, guns, sword, writing desk and other stuff in a closet, where it basically remained.
More interesting he kept a fairly detailed journal during the war. I guess sometime in the 80's, most of his stuff got split up, but my father did get his sword, which he gave to me. We had his journal better defined and copied, so we all have it, but my uncle has the original. He partook of Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, but lucky for him he was with Scales and more to the rear. He wrote "it was evident we would soon be running back." Not clear how far he got, but several in his company were killed.

Picture of his sword. http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/Armistead1424/sword_zps269c6807.png

[desertstriker]

Personally I have family that served with the Germans, all the allies and possiblely the Russians considering the conscription. mind you both my parents where adopted so i have a slightly larger family. My adoptive grandfather was a medic in the battle of the bulge and got a bronze star and purple heart. my other adoptive grandfather was infantry but in what i am not sure. I need know little of the others because they either died or don't want to talk about it. I don't think any served in any navy but my father is still adding to the family tree and digging so there might be one family member that was navy.

[Sailor Steve]

We had his journal better defined and copied, so we all have it, but my uncle has the original. He partook of Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, but lucky for him he was with Scales and more to the rear. He wrote "it was evident we would soon be running back." Not clear how far he got, but several in his company were killed.
That is so cool to have, both the journal and the sword, and to know something about his service. The info I gave is all I have, and it comes from a pamphlet put together years ago by another family member and something I found online. The online information may have come from the pamphlet, since the lack of certain details seems to match. I don't have any more than that.

Persmy father is still adding to the family tree and digging
That's good to hear. I think for me the worst part of being adopted wouldn't be the fact in itself, because your family is the family who raised and loved you, not the ones who bore you; but not being able to trace an actual ancestry. Not a great loss, but to those of us who are interested in such things it can seem important.

[desertstriker]

That's good to hear. I think for me the worst part of being adopted wouldn't be the fact in itself, because your family is the family who raised and loved you, not the ones who bore you; but not being able to trace an actual ancestry. Not a great loss, but to those of us who are interested in such things it can seem important.
we have contact with the birth mothers though and have been able to get quite a bit of data on the naturals and have incorporated both in the family tree as they are both family in our eyes. currently just asked dad since it is important to him have 12k traced and that goes back to approximately 800 C.E and without him looking he cant tell which branch it is.

[sharkbit]

My wife's dad served on a Net Tender in the Pacific during WWII with the US Navy. Not as glamorous as a sub, destroyer, battleship, or carrier, but he saw some neat stuff, including Iwo Jima, had some good stories, and some neat pictures. I've never been able to confirm it in any source, but he says they dropped some frogmen off the beaches of Iwo Jima for UDT work. He never saw them again afterwards.

His brother was in the US Navy as well an served on destroyers in the Pacific IIRC.

My dad served as a waist gunner on B-17's out of Bury St. Edmunds, England with the 94th Bomb Group and my step-dad was a mechanic on B-17's.

Unfortuneately, all have passed on. My dad died when I was 7 and before I took an interest in WWII. I would have loved to have heard some of his stories.

A salute to them all. :salute:

:)

[Red October1984]

I think I'll post here even though I have no Navy family members.

I've got a family military tradition. There are many that I don't know. These are the only ones I know for sure. My Grandma (Dad's Mom) has her side of the family traced back to the Mayflower which I apparently had relatives on. Let's start.

I had a Great Grandfather in WW2-Theatre Unknown, I was 3 when he died

Great Uncle who was in WW2 in the Pacific. Apparently he had BAD PTSD when he came home. My Grandma told me a lot of his stories.

Grandpa who was a West Point grad in the same class as Norman Schwarzkopf who served in Vietnam and as Defense Attache in many different embassies.

Dad who went to West Point, eventually ROTC, but didn't get a slot in the Regular Army.

Uncle who started in Tanks, either commanded or was with (Can't remember which. He commanded the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division in Iraqi Freedom) the unit that got Saddam Hussein, and now holds position of Commander US Army Europe.

Uncle who was a PA with the Wolfhounds in Iraq. They made a Discovery Documentary about his unit while he was there. They had the most casualties out of all the units in Northern Iraq IIRC. He worked on them all being a PA. There was even a kid from my local area who was shot in the neck while on guard duty who my uncle worked on.... Sadly, there is now a road named after this kid about 30 minutes from my house. This uncle has some very good stories. The documentary is called God's Soldier for anyone interested. You can find it on Youtube in parts.


I know for a fact that there are a lot more than this but these are the ones I know for sure. We're a big Army family so if I join the Navy my entire family line will roll in their graves. :O:

I plan on going to either the Army or the Air Force. I haven't completely made up my mind yet.

EDIT: I forgot. I have a friend who is joining the Navy. That kind of counts right? He's going to be a rescue swimmer and then he hopes to become a pilot.

[sharkbit]

We're a big Army family so if I join the Navy my entire family line will roll in their graves. :O:



LOL! :har::har:

[Capt. Morgan]

My Great Uncle, Ernie (Earnest) Miles served in WWII in the Silent Service.

Photos I have seen of him show an extremely self-possessed young man, the kind of guy you would expect to serve in subs. I can post those, but it'll take a while to track them down & scan/post them.

My side of the family lived in Canada (in Southern Quebec, just North of the Vermont border). There is a story of Ernie coming to visit after the war on Victoria Day. He was invited to join the family for the towns celebratory fireworks display (a big event in a town of 2500) but he declined, telling my mother that he had already seen a "more than a life-times worth of fireworks".

I'm Canadian, so I have no idea how to obtain American WWII service records - but I would really like to know which boat he was on. If anyone could point me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it.


...he says they dropped some frogmen off the beaches of Iwo Jima for UDT work. He never saw them again afterwards... sad.

[Sailor Steve]

I'm Canadian, so I have no idea how to obtain American WWII service records - but I would really like to know which boat he was on. If anyone could point me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it.
Start here:
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/#cost

Note that if he was still in after 1951 it will be harder, but if he got out right after the war his records are archived and available to the public. Also if you explain that you do not fall under their "next of kin" standards but you are close, they might let you have them anyway.

[Armistead]

Great Uncle who was in WW2 in the Pacific. Apparently he had BAD PTSD when he came home. My Grandma told me a lot of his stories.


PTSD wasn't known back then and sadly men that displayed such were often looked down upon. My uncle that served in Korea was a highly decorated combat soldier. When he left, he was a mild mannered religious type person. I don't know all his history, but he was a squad leader, often rose in rank, later to be booted down due to fighting and other issues. I know several stories, one, about every man in his company was killed but him, another of him saying he was on a heavy machine gun and mowed down the enemy like cutting grass. He even once went behind enemy lines and captured an officer.

When he returned home, he stayed with his mother, my grandma. She said he was crazy, he drank heavily. She couldn't walk by him when sleeping, because once he woke up and had her on the floor almost choked her to death. He often called out orders in his sleep. As a child, I can remember a few of his drunken rampages, fights, getting arrested. Still, I remember him as a favorite uncle, he was fun when not drunk. He killed himself in 69.
He was found in his small home, had all his pictures, awards, etc., out. He had his uniform shirt on, placed his dogtags to his temple and shot himself in the head.

[fireftr18]

Sad story Armistead. A more recent experience, about 4 years ago, I made an emerbency medical call for a soldier with PTSD. He was being treated for it, but his story after getting home was much like your uncle. The call we made was unfortunately also a suicide. PTSD is nothing to fool around with. It took me about 3 months after retiring to realize I had it.

[desertstriker]

sorry to hear that Armistead

[Red October1984]

That is a very sad story. My uncle who was with the Wolfhounds has PTSD too.

He isn't that bad...but it's enough that you can tell. I hope it never comes to something like that. I hope he can get through it. He's out of the Army now. The only family members I have still in the Army is my Commander USAEUR uncle. I also have some distant ones on his side of the family related by marriage that I don't know if you can count.

[TorpX]

That's really sad, Armistead.

[Capt. Morgan]

Start here:
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/#cost
... Big thanks S.S.:up:

PTSD wasn't known back then and sadly men that displayed such were often looked down upon... Sorry to say, but that attitude still persists today - at least in the treatment that Canadian veterans of Afghanistan receive. From what I hear, it's not any better for U.S. veterans of Iran.

[Archer7seven]

My mother's father was a German paratrooper who fought in Crete, Leningrad and Normandy.

My father's father was in the signal corps with the allies.

Therwe was a also a U boat commander that shares a very rare German surname in my family, but His place of birth isn't anywhere near the rest of my German family.