If you had the chance to talk to a WWII vet......
 

If you had the chance to talk to a WWII veteran, what would you say? And not just any ordinary one, I'm talking about one that has been on Television. He has given his interview into several account of Marines in the South Pacific. He has his own book out as well. He has been in Guadalcanal and Battle of Cape Gloucester.

I guess what I'm asking is..... what would you ask him?

Veterans' stories
 

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=215233

You might like be interested to refer back to some of the war stories related here...

The US Department of the Interior had a project a few years ago where they were interviewing and recording WWI and WWII vets.

If they're sailors, I love to hear the wild shore leave stories.:()1:

I've never met a WW2 story I didn't like.

I got a chance to talk to Mularkey, from BoB, it was interesting to hear what points they changed from the actual story to the show.

If you want to hear the GOOD stories, get some whiskey in them, then enjoy.:up:

I posted not long back of meeting a vet from WW2 that flew Hellcats. He had great stories

That's cool. I met the cook from the USS Barb once, but sadly I wasn't in a position to talk to him.

I wish I had more time to talk to Mularkey, he seemed like a great guy, very friendly.
Our youngest pt boat vet has some pretty funny stories, especially his first shore leave in the Philipines.:haha:

Ask if he had any Pink lady? Those stories are always funny.

Royal Hawaiian?

Whom I'm going to go see is Dr. (Cpl) Sidney Phillips. He was portrayed by an actor in The Pacific in 2010. I went last year to go see him on 04 November (the birthday of Eugene Sledge.....wikipedia him :) . Him and Sledge were best friends but served during different times of the war. Sledge came back from the war without even a scratch. No purple heart. Sid Phillips was the same way. However a year ago, as I was approaching his home (there are several around his spot so it's not like he knew I was coming for him specifically), he was leaving to take his sister to a doc appointment.

I told him that I visit Mobile, AL on every 4 November. He invited me to stop by "in a year" and we'll sit down and get to know each other. Now, whether he'll remember all that or not, I'm not sure. But I am going to give it another try for a sit down with him. As time is approaching, I'm starting to panic as I don't have any questions written down as to what to ask him.

What we do have in common though, we are both prior Marines, and both are War veterans (OIF 2006-2007).



Other than a few basic (and obvious) questions, what do I ask this great of a man??? If you had the opportunity, what would you ask?? As a side note, he was an 80mm mortar man.

That.....is....awesome!:salute::yeah: After thinking about the OP, "Marine". "Guadalcanal." I'd ask him if he knew John Basilone.
Since I know who it is now, ask him about "The Pacific." What facts were true? What did they change?

If I were in your spot, bring a microphone and record the conversation, if he's okay with that. He may remember, tell you stuff he's never told anybody else. I'd ask him his recollections of the Tokyo Express.
I'd ask him tons of Guadalcanal questions.

My Grand Father was in WWII. Some of the stories he told will always burn bright in my mind.

Actually both of my Grandpa's

I never got to meet one of them :bless his sole. he is burried in pearl harbor. So i was told.

My Great grandma was supposed to have worked for Boeing wiring bomb bay doors on the super fortress.

Family says she wired the doors on the Fortress that was later known as the Enola Gay....
i havnt turned up much in terms of information

I'd want to know what he thinks of "us" present day. Does he think we need a "reset"?

I'd ask him how he dealt with coming back to the States and reintegrating into society.

I'd ask him similar questions to those I asked my own hero...my father.

God Bless Em ALL!! :sunny:

Here's a story + a whole pile of pics from a great encounter I had a couple of years ago :)

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=181795

I had about 10 minutes with him (maybe I kind of stalled him but I REALLY wanted to talk with him). I asked him about Tv is Tv but reality is of course what really happened. I asked what was completely fabricated in the show. He said if I recalled the point in the show where they were on the train in Australia and one of the Marines shot and killed a cow (a dairy cow)? Never happened. In fact, they didn't even have rifles. They had packs, but not rifles.

The other was the swearing. In 'The Pacific', they swore a lot. In reality, they rarely swore.

John Basilone was in a different unit. Albeit they were all in 1st Marine Division, Basilone was in a different Battalion. He knew who he was, just not on a personal level.