My grandfather survived the Second World War. He was part of the Canadian Army. He joined in 1939 and after his training was picked out of his normal unit and offered a spot in the Special Forces. Needless to say he took it. It probably saved his life because his Special Forces unit was doing advanced recon at Dieppe and he had to witness the cock-up from a cliff top. Later he helped blow up an ammo dump at St. Nazaire, he mouthed to Patton once, he even met Intrepid in France (his asignment was to retrieve intel from him). His stories really make the war real for me and help me understand its horor better than any book. He was returned to his normal unit for D-Day and commanded a tank on Juno beach. My favourite story is about how his unit "liberated" a brewery near Caen and they filled their water truck full of beer.
His most touching words to me are "The worst shame of it all was the beautiful young men that never came home, that never got to live." When he dies I won't let people forget everything he has told me. I'll become the link to the past so that we won't forget.
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