Today we buried my hero, he passed Sunday. He was 90 years old and tough as nails.
I became so passionately interested in history and WW2 because my Granddaddy lived it.
He drove an M3 in the 42nd mechanized cavalry, fought under Patton in the Battle of the Bulge among many others. I had the honor some years back of taking a video camera over, and in essence, interviewed my grandpa about his experiences in ww2 for an hour and 45 minutes.
He told me in vivid detail of how he narrowly escaped death in the Battle of Luneville... matching almost word for word the version recounted here by his Lt. :
http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=53316 The first shell fired by the Panther exploded close enough to my grandfather to knock him unconscious for a time and ruined his hearing for the rest of his life. When he came to, German soldiers were surveying their victory and the only fellow Americans around him.... were dead. He got up and ran the fastest he's ever ran in his life.... back to friendly lines as a hail of bullets whizzed by him.... Thankfully he made it or else you wouldn't be reading this today because I wouldn't be here to tell it.
Hearing "Taps" today in honor of my grandfather was one of the hardest things I've ever had to deal with... but it was also one of my proudest moments.
R.I.P. James Earlon Killette aka Granddaddy
Thank you for reading and honoring his memory.
