Veterans

[Donner]

I'm a son of two members of the Greatest Generation. My mother passed away 2 years ago this past January and my father (USN WW2 vet) will be 82 in April. I have picked his brain for all the stories that he is willing pass on.

A good friend of the family died last month. He was a medic who went ashore on D+1 at Normandy and then went on serve in Patton's 3rd Army. He kept alot of his stories to himself since he saw the horrors of war up close.

It is sad to see these men passing so quickly. I have been fortunate to have corresponded with many vets, American, British, and German. I was also fortunate enough to correspond repeatedly with Erich Topp and many other u-boat RKTs (Hardegen, Oesten, Lassen, etc). Herr Topp was a true gentleman and I miss him.

I continue to be amazed at the kindness of all the vets. I received a letter some years ago from Hans-Günther Lange dated "24.12." I was stunned that this man would take time on Christmas Eve, a time for family, to write to me. I am still in awe over it.

The most amazing things I have experienced are the unexpected phone calls from Germany from u-boat seamen and diesel mechanics whom I had written. They appreciate the fact that someone cared enough to try to locate them and learn from them.

If you ever have the good fortune of speaking with a WW2 vet, by all means take advantage of it. Soon the opportunity will be gone forever.

[Mylander]

Wow, it's great talking to all of you kindred spirits. Fin, I haven't read "With the Old Breed" yet, but it's on my list.

Yeah, Submarine! by AH was a great game. I think I bought it in '79, if I remember.

Great memories. Someone tell me how to post a picture here - I have some stuff to share.

Best,
Andrew

[XXi]

Salute to all veterans ! It`s so sad to see how they pass away, one after another. The divisions became battalions, companies became teams

On the other hand, in almoust complete silence, last living WWI veterans are passing away. There are the very last of them - for now, only about 60 are still among us, and they all are well above 100, like the last living founder member of RAF, Mr Henry Allingham, 110. Or Harry Patch, the last British soldier who actuall fought in the trench.
Just two weeks ago died Mr Robert Meier - the oldest German, aged 109, who served in the Western Front as an infantryman since 1915. He met Henry Allingham in England, in October 2006.
In the last year, over eighty have passed away while at the dawn of the century there were thousands of them. Would anyone care ?

[The WosMan]

Joe Foss was a great man, a great American, and a true defender of the Second Amendment (my dad served with him on the NRA Board prior to his passing).

My grandfather is a WW2 vet at 83 is still going but in recent years has gotten quite frail. He was in the US Army in Manila, New Guinea, Australia, and a few other places. Every once in a while he tells a story about something my dad and I never heard before. He as a whole box of pictures, money, and other items he brought home. One day I will scan the images and post them here for you to see. He was also one of the few guys smart enough not to throw the guns he took as trophies overboard the ship on the way home like some of the guys did.

He was nearly killed three times, once by malaria, second by a crazy japanese prisoner, and third by a venomous snake that decided a nice place to rest was in his bed. I think the snake scared him the most. He ran a prisoner camp for 2 months where he has some interesting stories on how they had to deal with Japanese prisoners although the Americans were far nicer to Japanese then they were to our POWs. When he was in New Guinea for some time the big problem was it was dry and they had no alcohol on down time. One of the guys with him who was also a friend had been drafted at the age of 39 and had been a bootlegger during Prohibition. This guy knew how to make booze. They were able to convert steel wash bins into stills and they got sugar and they distilled their own alcohol.

My grandfather also didn't care much for General MacArthur's wife (apparently she had been in the Phillipines or overseas at some point with her husband) because she used to buy many luxury items over there and then fill the ships with her things she was sending home to the States. Apparently they were quite wealthy and she would buy large quantities of items and furniture and it would take up space in the cargo holds of the ships that could have been used by the troops or for other supplies.