Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: 1pLUs44 on September 26, 2008, 06:27:28 PM
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I never actually knew my Grandpa, as he died before I was born. But I know he was in WW2 from start to finish. Starting at North Africa, going to Anzio, then Southern France, and I think Germany.
Well, if you read up on your facts about Anzio, you probably know about where the Germans attacked and how (which I'm not too sure of myself)
But here's some things I do know of, (and one of these you'll find interesting)
My grandpa:
Rollie 'Buddy' Snell- Company G, 180th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion.
My grandpa was on the front lines when the Germans attacked him. (apparently, from what I know, they held the road that I think like 3 German Divisions went down through) One of his good friends had actually gotten the Medal of Honor who went by the name of Jack Treadwell.
But that isn't the completely cool things about it. His company (refer to the top) Company G of the 180th Infantry Regiment had gotten a Presidential Citation. (which is a huge deal, especailly to a company, of only about 250-300 men when usually, a division can bragg on it if they are lucky enough to get one). My grandpa got 1 of his 2 silver stars in Anzio.
I cant seem to find too much information on him, anyone know where to look? :salute
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well if you would hold still long enough...
good place to start
http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/topics/ww2.html
(btw, my last name is Treadwell, so I'm interested in looking up Jack and see how or if he could be related to our family.) My grandfather was in Europe, tank mechanic in the 3rd Army.
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Cool 1plus, always interesting to find out stuff on family from that era...
My Moms Dad, Clarence Denver Lamp, Flew the entire war, and I mean the whole friggin thing.
Denver flew B24's, B25s, and A26s... The earlier two he flew over Sicily/Italy, and I even think North Africa - But not too sure.
When Germany was defeated, he was shipped to the South Pacific, and stayed there until the 2 Big ones were dropped. He flew the A26 there, and did some crazy night missions into Japan, as my dad has a still shot from his A26's gun cam laying around the Hanger...
He later ended up Dying when I was around 5, from a rare Lung cancer... My family thinks it's from the nukes dropped on Japan, but the Doctors wouldn't say conclusively... I believe he was on Okinawa when they hit.
:salute to all the Veterans of every military actions.
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My grandpa also served in the war, although he never saw combat, he ran an orphanage for the children who's parents died and such. He never saw action, but his brother did, flying f4u's in the pacific. He was shot down though, and died, but I still love to hear the stories about my old grandpas brother sailing through the skies on bent wings. My grandpa is currently in the hospital, It seems his heart has a bad valve, and is currently on oxygen. He's eighty two years old, and I hope that whatever happens will always be remembered by the people who love him.
:salute to all who served our country
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A BIG :salute to all of you guys grandpas. really..
its cool to read stories like this. Ive from Brazil so i dont have a cool grandpa story, beside the fact that my grandpa was the gollie for the team Pele played for..
but a BIG :salute to all of your grandpas
and crazierthanu hope your grandpa gets better :pray
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my uncles dad landed on d-day 6th wave. he was supposed to jump in but broke his finger in training so he was assigned to beach landing. My neighbor was also a seabee and he was at d-day and his ship was sunk. Thts my familys/neighbors war storys.
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Here is my grandpa's story, my gramps was captain in the 364th bomber squadren 305th bomb Group (H) His group commander was Curtis Lemay . He flew 29 missions over Europe from 1943 to 1944. the last 15 missions he flew as wing lead. He came home with the DFC and the Air medal with 3 oak leaf clusters. He said two of his toughest missions were Brunswick and Oberofaffenhofen. On the Brunswick raid "over 67 Forts were lost" he had 4 crewman wounded on different missions and it used to be a running joke that the bombardier always got hurt. He told that on one raid the german fighters up in swarms stight though the flight ,firing so hard that it looked as the whole wing was on fire. After firing this burst they flipped on there backs and dove out of range. He went on to say it was an awful sensation to sit and watch and do nothing but fly your plane and stay in formation.
R.I.P. Lt Col Hamel Goodin 1915-1982 <S>
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My Grandpa was at anzio too..
He was in command of a flack Battery
he never talked about it, but i found a poem he wrote called "anzio bloody anzio"
I think he lost a few good mates there.
<<S>> To the heros of old
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A BIG :salute to all of you guys grandpas. really..
its cool to read stories like this. Ive from Brazil so i dont have a cool grandpa story, beside the fact that my grandpa was the gollie for the team Pele played for..
but a BIG :salute to all of your grandpas
and crazierthanu hope your grandpa gets better :pray
I hope so too.....................
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My grandpa was fighting against russians. He was mg section commander. He awarded couple medals from bravery (i have those nowadays) and was wounded several times. If i remember correctly, other bravery medal was earned by killing enemies with an axe and saving his section when russians make surprise attack to their bunker. He was also in secret patrols behind enemy lines. Too bad he died when i was 8 yrs old, but i have carried his memory in my heart whole my life.
In Finland almost everybodys grandpa has been in war because here is compulsory service for over 80% of males.
Medals or not, i think every man who has been in combat is a hero.
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i been trying to find info on my mom's dad, he was in WWII, she said he used to talk about germany and normandy. she is unsure of what he did in the service however my aunt has all his records and shes pulled away from the family due to her drug problems and no one talks to her. i have contacted the american legion and they was unable to give me much info on him. i'm still looking though. hopefully i will find something on him :(
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My Grandfather was a machine gunner for the British in WW1.He spent 5 years in the trenches and survived the war with only a dented helmet from a bullet.My father was training as a Beaufighter pilot when then war ended. :salute
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My Grandpa was at anzio too..
He was in command of a flack Battery
he never talked about it, but i found a poem he wrote called "anzio bloody anzio"
I think he lost a few good mates there.
<<S>> To the heros of old
Well, I've been looking up on it more, and from what I know, I think he was one of like 17 that were unhurt. And there were like 300 guys. I'm still not too sure though.
I've been trying to dig up his old letters, but I'm not too sure about what I could find.
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My dad was too young for WW2 and my Grandfather to old but my Great Uncle (Grandfathers elder brother) was an engineer in WW1. Dug tunnels under the German lines at Ypres and others. Broke his leg In a cave in, recovered and was transfered spending the rest of the war mounted, towing guns.
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My grandfather (Peter Mack) flew in the airforce ( ill say the squad later cause i cant think of it now. But he flew over 100 b26 and b25 missions during ww2 and the korean war. He was a gunner and shot down a 190 and 109. He was also on a mission to bomb aldolf hitler. The plane was called "package for Adolf" lol. He past away last month but he was a true hero! and so are all your granfathers, uncles, and brothers <<<<S>>> :salute
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Whilst we are it,
My Grandad fought in N.Africa, never talked about it apparantly, a relative is currently awaiting his army records so we can find out what went on. He died when I was 5.
My other Grandad died before I was born, he served on countless Merchant vessels many of which ended up sunk in the Atlantic by U boats.
Two other great uncles one served as a mechanic at Tangmere keeping the planes serviceable, the other got shot twice, once at Dunkirk, by the time he recovered he got hit by a German sniper two weeks after D-day spent most of the war in a hospital bed.
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My Uncle was with the 27th Division on Saipan, got shrapenel on his leg, and got shot. The doctors thought it pierced the artery, so thought he wasn't gonna live. So they drugged him up and put him outside the tent. That night, Japanese Raiders went inside the tent and killed everyone inside the tent, but left the outside where the dead were at alone. My uncle died when I was about 8.
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I never actually knew my Grandpa, as he died before I was born. But I know he was in WW2 from start to finish.
Both my grandpas fought in WW1. My dad was in WW2. I suddenly feel very old.
It's good to know about your ancestor's military history. My maternal grandad died before I was born but dad's dad spent many hours telling me as a young boy about the conditions of trench warfare.
Made me appreciate how lucky I've been.
Regards :)
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Well, my sister's grandad (different dad than my own) had flown P-51s during WW2. There is actually a very famous painting depicting when he got shot. (20mm flack nearly shot his arm in half when he was flying low over a farm or something)
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My Old Grandad (Dead now) landed on Sword Beach with the 9th Brigade, 3rd Division, used to tell me stories about how wide some of the German Tank tracks were etc. He was in the 1st Batallion, Kings own Scottish Borderers.
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My father was a Sherman driver in the 10th Armored at Bastonge during the Battle of the Bulge.
This is a letter I posted a while back. http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,219564.msg2639812.html#msg2639812 (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,219564.msg2639812.html#msg2639812)
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He later ended up Dying when I was around 5, from a rare Lung cancer... My family thinks it's from the nukes dropped on Japan, but the Doctors wouldn't say conclusively... I believe he was on Okinawa when they hit.
Interesting point you have here, my father who was in the Australian army was stationed at Hiroshima as part of the occupying forces soon after the war & was stationed there again during the Korean war. He ended up having some rare kind of skin cancer & the authority's as well said it could not be linked to the radio activity. I always thought it smelled of a cover up so they would not have to pay benefits. That is my father in my avatar.
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One of my grandfathers (Nicholas Hengels) was a navy seabee he was supposed to go in on the 8th wave at Iwo Jimo and ended up going in on the 2nd wave. My mom tells me he saw everything on that happened at Iwo and to this day he wrote down everything that happened to him in the war but will not show anyone. My other grandfather (Robert Ivan) was a on an LST the Amphitrite i think thats how its spelled. He went a lot of places like saipan. My grandfather (Robert Ivan) actually had three other cousins still living in Austria and they were drafted by the germans one was killed on the russian front, the second was captured by the british in Italy, and the third was part of the waffen SS he was the rear guard and never left Austria.
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Great Grandfather was a Union Major in the Civil War (U.S.)
One Uncle flew B-17's for the 8th, txferred to MAC and died durin Berlin Airlift (was told he spun in flyin thru heavy fog near Templehof)
Another was in 1st Marine on Guadalcanal, shot in the butt by a 50-cal and sent home, his CO told him 'enjoy it while you can until the Japs get there' ..no one thought the Allies had much of a chance back then.
Dad was fwd artillery observer for Patton's 3rd, crazy bastage.
Lied about his age to get in, had a date to show up for Army Air Corps when he got his draft notice.. he got pissed off whenever he talked about it, which was rare.
Went ashore D-day just after his 17th birthday.
Had a jeep crushed by a Tiger (!) ..him and his pal were careening thru a French town at hi speed, made a corner, ran right into the back of a Tiger. Street was too narrow for the turret to traverse, they bailed outta the jeep, the Tiger backed over it. LOL.
He said it took him 3 months to find his outfit again, they were pretty far behind enemy lines when it happened .. crazy bastage for sure :)
Said the most fun he had was welding a huge plate of armor they got off a blown up Sherman under a jeep, stickin a metal pole up thru the middle, and hangin a 50 cal off it they got from a wrecked P-47. He said their 30 cal jeep would keep the snipers heads down, and the 50 cal would chop the church steeples down ..just cuttin 'em right off the church. He also said you couldn't fire the gun at more than a 30 degree angle off straight ahead or the jeep would tip over from recoil. He laughed his butt off watchin Rat Patrol ..said the jeep they had was so heavy it would never get air like that :)
It's career ended runnin over a mine .. blew all the axles and wheels right off it, but no one was injured .. LOL .. armor is good.
He was there in the Bulge, with his Springfield 30-06 ..he was all about one shot one kill.
Didn't care for the Garand at all, said it was for people who didn't know how to shoot.
He taught me to shoot.
My Dad.. he really was a crazy bastage.
-Frank
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One of my Mom's brothers was in Vietnam, and saw some BAD stuff, which he never told a soul (I think he was at some of the very big battles of the war.) and he committed suicide in 1973 or 1974 :salute
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My father was in the US Army in Hawaii before WWII, I had several uncles that served in one way or the other during WWII. None would talk about except one uncle that drove a gasoline trailer on the red ball express. The thing about it is that where ever one served be it Allies or Axis war is hell & leaves the participant & their family changed for ever. I salute all vets & their families, past & present. {USAF 1960-1966} :noid :salute :salute
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Both my Grandfathers and 2 Great Uncles all served in the Pacific Theatre. All four of them were Island hopping Grunts.
One of my Grandfathers wouldn't eat chicken because of something he saw. He told me when I was about 15 y.o. that when they hit one Island in particular there were a bunch of dead Imperial Soldiers from the Naval Prep work and chickens were feeding off of them. MMmmmm....Yummy.
On a side note: Mr. Blue. De onde esta voce no Brasil? Minha esposa e Brasilera de Ipatinga, M.G. Eu visitei familia dela tres vezes ja. Eu gosto ali muinto. Nos ficarmos em Porto Seguro, Bahia por Carnival.
A BIG :salute to all of you guys grandpas. really..
its cool to read stories like this. Ive from Brazil so i dont have a cool grandpa story, beside the fact that my grandpa was the gollie for the team Pele played for..
but a BIG :salute to all of your grandpas
and crazierthanu hope your grandpa gets better :pray
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Interesting point you have here, my father who was in the Australian army was stationed at Hiroshima as part of the occupying forces soon after the war & was stationed there again during the Korean war. He ended up having some rare kind of skin cancer & the authority's as well said it could not be linked to the radio activity. I always thought it smelled of a cover up so they would not have to pay benefits. That is my father in my avatar.
That is interesting...
<<S>> to you and your father Lyric
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One guy told me interesting story. He said his grandpa fought against russians in finnish army, grandpa´s other brother fought against russians in Waffen-SS, third brother fought against Germany in USAAF!
Reason: there were finnish volunteer battalion in SS-Wiking division, and lots of finnish immigrants in USA.
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My Grandfather was a Radioman in the US Navy during WWII. I have a bunch of his old photos from his tour that took place from Northern Africa, to Spain, France, and Italy. He also did a tour through the pacific. When I look at those pictures and I see the destruction that was all around them, I'm amazed. Mostly I'm amazed at the fact that in most of his pictures he is not miserable and seems to be enjoying himself. I guess you only take pictures when it's quiet. That may also explain why he re-upped to fight in the Korean War as well.
When I went to my "A" School in the Navy I was actually bunked in the same building my Grandfather had been in when he was in Wakegan for Radioman school. Talk about feeling like you are in someone else's shadow.
I sometimes wonder what my grandpa would think about me playing pretend WWII.... I don't think he would like it.
(http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq322/Rockdog_Hayduke/image4.jpg)
(http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq322/Rockdog_Hayduke/image6.jpg)
(http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq322/Rockdog_Hayduke/image7.jpg)
(http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq322/Rockdog_Hayduke/image3.jpg)
(http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq322/Rockdog_Hayduke/image2.jpg)
(http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq322/Rockdog_Hayduke/image1.jpg)
(http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq322/Rockdog_Hayduke/image0-1.jpg)
(http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq322/Rockdog_Hayduke/image5.jpg)
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Great pictures
<S>
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a good plac to look would be in book on your family chack a library i :salute your grandfather
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Great photos Rockdog, it's nice to know people still have those kinds of things.
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Well, I've been looking up on it more, and from what I know, I think he was one of like 17 that were unhurt. And there were like 300 guys. I'm still not too sure though.
I've been trying to dig up his old letters, but I'm not too sure about what I could find.
Have you read the book Anzio: Italy and the Battle for Rome? It is a very well written book by a British author named Lloyd Clark. You're right about your grandfathers unit having the crap beat out of them. The 2nd Sherwood Foresters (a British regiment) went into one battle in the "wadis" around Anzio. They went into that battle with over 250 officers and men. They came out with just 30. You should read the book, it mentions your grandfather's regiment by name several times. And :salute to your grandfather and everyone else who fought in WWII.
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I found a few letters, and I found him mention this guy:
JOHNSTON, WILLIAM J.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company G, 180th Infantry, 45th Infantry Division.
Place and date: Near Padiglione, Italy, 1719 February 1944.
Entered service at: Colchester, Conn.
Birth: Trenton, N.J.
G.O. No: 73, 6 September 1944.
Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. On 17 February 1944, near Padiglione, Italy, he observed and fired upon an attacking force of approximately 80 Germans, causing at least 25 casualties and forcing withdrawal of the remainder. All that day he manned his gun without relief, subject to mortar, artillery, and sniper fire. Two Germans individually worked so close to his position that his machine gun was ineffective, whereupon he killed 1 with his pistol, the second with a rifle taken from another soldier. When a rifleman protecting his gun position was killed by a sniper, he immediately moved the body and relocated the machine gun in that spot in order to obtain a better field of fire. He volunteered to cover the platoon's withdrawal and was the last man to leave that night. In his new position he maintained an all-night vigil, the next day causing 7
German casualties. On the afternoon of the 18th, the organization on the left flank having been forced to withdraw, he again covered the withdrawal of his own organization. Shortly thereafter, he was seriously wounded over the heart, and a passing soldier saw him trying to crawl up the embankment. The soldier aided him to resume his position behind the machine gun which was soon heard in action for about 10 minutes. Though reported killed, Pfc. Johnston was seen returning to the American lines on the morning of 19 February slowly and painfully working his way back from his overrun position through enemy lines. He gave valuable information of new enemy dispositions. His heroic determination to destroy the enemy and his
disregard of his own safety aided immeasurably in halting a strong enemy attack, caused an enormous amount of enemy casualties, and so inspired his fellow soldiers that they fought for and held a vitally important position against greatly superior forces.
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:salute Kin AYe
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My grandfather died about six months ago. Since he was alone, we (my dad, his sister and her husband, and me) had to empty the house.
In the papers that were there, we found a document signed by president Trumann and Winston Churchill where they thanked him for his work in the resistance during the war...
He never talked about it during his life... To bad, would have liked to know more about it...