My Grandfather on my mothers side, Kyle was in the infantry and took part in the Normady invasion. He passed away in '88 but lived on the other side of the country so I didn't see him much. But I got a few stories second hand from my parents. He never talked about combat, but said he got a major case of sea sickness waiting to hit the beaches, and that he enjoyed the french wine and grateful French women.
I'm skeptical about this one. Mom said that he hated officers, and twice he was promoted from Sergeant to Lieutenant. Both times, he promptly slugged the first green 2nd Lieutenant that he could find, and was busted back down to Sergeant. According to Kyle, the CO liked him and the fact that he wouldn't leave his buddies from his unit and also got a kick out of the reactions of the shocked Lt's. A good story I like repeating, but I'm not sure about the truth of it. But he did have that type of personality.
I'll give another example of his off the wall behavior. My Dad and Mom have sworn that this is true. He lost his leg just above the knee after the War in a car accident. There was a tiny one level hospital in the town where he lived and Kyle knew the doctor that treated him, who was a vet of the war also. He talked the doctor into letting him take his leg home with him! It was kept in a freezer in the garage.
It was standard procedure that when one of his daughters had a boy come over, he would send them to the freezer to get him a beer. The girls would always warn the boys but they never took it seriously. And there in the freezer was the leg. That caused most of them to just get the hell out of there. When his time came, Dad was horrified when he saw the leg, not believing Mom's warning. Mom said Kyle rolled with laughter as Dad stumbled in pale as a ghost, before telling him that he forgot to bring the beer in.
I really wish he had visited him more in my late teens so I could have heard those stories, and probably a few more. Mom's not so sure that would have been a great idea. She's says I'm too much like him as it is.
