[Heibges]

My mom's brother, Robert Davis, was a gunner in a bomber during WWII. He was shot down over Europe and spend several years in a German POW camp. The War really messed him up, and he was kind of ostracized by the family because of it. A very sad story actually.

My dad was in the Army National Guard in the 172nd Infantry Regiment. He joined in 1938 because he figured a war was going to start soon, and he wanted to make sure he was surrounded by the best soldiers possible, in this case Vermonters, who made up a large part of the Regiment. (Put the Vermonters Ahead! is a saying that goes back to Civil War). Also he wanted to get away from his old man, who was a real prig by all accounts.

My dad had great respect for the Japanese. He had very little for US Army Officers.

On the way do Guadalcanal, on the Presidential Liner Calvin Coolidge (the President from Vermont), they hit a mine, and the boat sunk, and the regiment was stranded, without any equipment, on an island.

They eventually made it to Guadalcanal, and fought with Big Mac across the Pacific all the way to the Phillipines. He won a Bronze Star, and his unit received a Presidential Unit Citation for the Battle of Ipo Dam in the Phillipines.

My dad never talked about his experiences in combat. He was very relieved when I didn't have to go to the First Gulf War, but I can't help but thinking he may have talked to me about combat if I had gone.