My father was in the US Army 1st Cavalry, trained in Texas, & as a Filipino he naturally participated in the liberation of the Phillipines. He was wounded by shrapnel, captured by the Japanese, and fortunately escaped.

My father (almost 85 now) lied about his age in 38 and joined a merchant ship (Euphorbia) that ran guns to the Spanish Government in the Spanish Civil War.

I believe they were the first British merchantmen to be bombed (Barcelona Harbour) by the German Condor Legion.

http://lacucaracha.info/scw/diary/1938/may/index.htm

He made numerous trips to Dunkirk evacuating Allied troops and was aboard the last ship to leave Marseille before it fell, taking off some French Admiral (the Royal Navy left 24 hours earlier).

He was in the only convoy to sail to Murmansk without an escort (these were held back for duty in Operation Torch).

12 or 13 ships set out and only 4 or 5 returned (thankfully he was on one of the survivors).

For this he received the princely bonus of £50 and was honoured/rewarded approx 20 years ago by the Russian Ambassador in London who presented those still living with a medal.

It is only in the past 5 years or so the feat of these brave seamen was recognised by the British government who gave them a crappy little lapel type enamelled badge.

On D-Day his ship beached at Courseulles-sur-Mer to offload heavy vehicles at Juno Beach in support of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade about 2 hours after the initial landing.

My father was luckier than a lot of our loved ones......especially when compared with his own father (my grandfather) who sailed as a 2nd engineer and whose ship went missing without trace whilst carrying every seamans favourite carge....Ammunition.

My grandfather was the radio operator Sheffield (participated in the Bismark attack).

And my dad's friend's grandfather was Albert Speer.

Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, commonly known as Albert Speer :hmm:

Interesting :yep:

Was he assigned directly with 1st Cav Div or was he assigned to a higher until such as the many specialized units utilized by 6th Army during its campaign in the Philippine Islands.

My Paternal grandfather was a naval steward and retired after giving a good amount of his health life to the US Navy. Back then that was all filipinos were allowed to be. He's buried now back in San Marcelino, where he was born.

My maternal grandfather was stuck in occupied Philippines and participated in guerilla activities. After the war he worked at Subic Bay Naval Base and retired after more than 30 years. He's now buried here in San Diego.

My wife's maternal grandfather was part of the new Philippine Scouts which were reconstituted upon the liberation of the islands and was involved in occupation duties in Japan. He later became a member of the PNP and retired doing so, and was eventually buried in Anao, where he was born.

I have no idea about my wife's paternal grandfather.

My father was a SeaBee in WWII in the Pacific. He was an aerial photographer who took pics of island invasions while they were taking place. After the war he went into government service, eventually rising to head of the visual department of the U.S. State Department. He took pics of many visiting dignitaries, treaty signings, etc. I have some sweet pics of the Bikini atoll H- bomb tests(picture a cruiser getting swept UP into the stem of the mushroom cloud), as well as signed pics of JFK and Jackie, as well as Hull and a few others. The best souvenir though is one of the original seven copies of the Declaration of War with Japan, that rests on my mother's living room wall.

A few years after his passing I was watching the History channel and got a glimpse of him in an old newsreel when the shot panned accross the press gallery at National Airport during a visit by a foreign head of state. There he was in the front row.


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WELCOME ABOARD!:sunny:

Good story.

Welcome abooard Kaleun CrushDepthCarl http://www.psionguild.org/forums/ima...ies/pirate.gif

You've obviously got some excellent keepsakes there http://www.psionguild.org/forums/ima...s/thumbsup.gif

My grandfather was initially trained as a medic and assigned to be deployed to Italy. The night before he shipped out, however, he came down with a kidney stone. As a result, he was reassigned to an army hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

My great-uncle, Tech5 Don Most, fought with the 100th division in Europe. He was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart in the push through France. He spent some time in occupied Germany and survived the war but after getting home was clipped by a drunk driver and killed while on his motorcycle in 1947. His father (my great-grandfather) fought in World War I as a new immigrant from Russia attaining the rank of corporal and earning his citizenship through service in the Army.

That must have been a great moment for you and your family. Don't forget to insure that document . . . and have you thought of having it professionally preserved so that way it doesn't begin to deteriate more then it probably already has? Loaning it to a museum?