Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: 8thJinx on November 07, 2018, 03:50:43 PM
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Seventy six years ago tonight, on a transport ship off the coast of North Africa, my grandfather made his peace with God and entered the second world war. Like his brothers and friends in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan, he had set his blue collar job aside in 1942, kissed his wife of 3 years goodbye, and picked up a rifle. With the 20th Engineer Combat Regiment (later the 1340th Engineer Combat Battalion), he landed in Fedala, North Africa, in early November 1942 as part of Operation Torch. His unit promptly captured and secured the city's police station. That humble success would lead him straight into the maw of World War II:
Kasserine Pass - relieving the 19th Combat Engineer Regiment immediately after their massacre at the Pass.
The Assault on Tunis - acting as one of many forward observers scouting out road networks and road conditions at the front line, in support of the French Africa Corps' line of attack.
The Invasion of Sicily
Omaha Beach 6 Jun 44 - landing on LST 460 at Easy Red Beach, one hour after the first wave, as part of a gap assault team.
Normandy Operations - helped construct a Bailey Bridge at night, by hand, under heavy fire, the night of 9 Jun 44.
Battle of Vossenack - rushed to the front as ad-hoc infantry, his unit repulsed several attacks from the German Army, 8-9 Nov 44.
Bastogne - he spent the first night of the Battle of the Bulge on the front line with nothing more than a rifle, facing the 2nd Panzer Division, while a buddy sat back to back with him, facing west, making sure that their relief didn't shoot at them as they took up their positions. His entire unit - every cook, every engineer, every officer - was paired off in this manner, covering the forest northeast of Bastogne, until the 101st Airborne moved in. A few days later, he would help hold a small stone bridge in a Belgian forest outside of Bastogne, against a night attack by 4 German tanks.
Okinawa - in a quirk of fate, given his age (32) and experience, he and a number of other engineers were re-assigned in the spring of 1945 to prep for Operation Olympic and the invasion of the home islands. He would land at Okinawa in early May 1945, and spent the battle blowing up gun positions and the tunnels inside the cave complex along the Shuri Line.
After 3 straight years of this, he returned home that fall with no physical wounds, but he was emotionally shattered. He spent the next 40 years inside of a bottle. I have no memory of my grandfather sober. He never ate at the table with us. Never came to a ball game. Rarely left the house. He never once spoke about the war, except for one night in the late 70's when he broke down in tears during a family gathering and howled in a drunken stupor "war is hell," 35 years after holding that little stone bridge outside of Bastogne. My grandmother sat with him in the living room and held his hand, as we sat a few feet away and ate in total silence.
There was no treatment for PTSD back then, no idea of what it even was. No counseling. He never once set foot inside of a VA hospital. He returned to the same job he had before the war, as an elevator operator in Manhattan. But to this day, my mother and her brother can't make it through a conversation about their childhood without getting emotional, and even then the conversation doesn't get very far. I never knew exactly why that was until very recently, when we got our hands on some answers, giving us all a clearer picture of his time in the Army, the things he went through, and the price that he paid.
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:salute
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God Bless
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That's a wonderful write-up, Jinx. He'd be proud of you.
- oldman
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:pray
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"ANSWERS"? If I can ask? My Grandfather on my Moms side was like this for SOME time. I will NEVER forget when we drove up to his house in a TOYOTA! His whole countenance changed in an instant! He wasnt quite as afflicted as YOUR Grand Father, but it did show up every now and then. He RARELY mentioned anything about his war time experience. Only 2 times I can remember...As I understood it, he was a Machinists/Gunners Mate in the Navy. He briefly mentioned some things he saw while "Going through some destroyed/discarded items scattered on the Beach Heads at Saipan and one soon after, cant remember exactly. It was VERY BRIEF, then he came back as it was not suitable because of my age(14). I asked him to continue but he sort of just zoned out a bit! I also will never forget his reaction at coming across an Oriental in the local Kroger's Grocery....it scared me a bit(think I was around 10). I thought I had done something wrong. He grabbed me by the neck and sort of threw me behind him, while muttering some INTENSE CURSE WORDS. I was fortunate to have MANY memories of him! Groundhog hunting and Shooting Skeet/Trap. He is STILL the finest long range marksman I have ever met! I like to think that I could take him, now! Last time we had a shoot off..I was 1 year into having my OWN Marlin Model 60 .22, and challenged him to a shooting contest. I shot GREAT....5 shots you could cover with a Quarter(50 yrds). He went into the house and came back with his Sears and Roebuck, single shot .22 his Father bought him when he was 8. Iron sights no less. He didnt even walk up to the bench I had shot from...he took a rest from the Back door of the house..a solid 20 yards from where I had been. PEW...and the target fell off the fence post....HE SHOT THE TACK holding the target...said"We Done" :O Guess who had to help pick beans :rofl The only other time he EVER mentioned anything about his time in the Navy, was in reference to his "Jap piece of **** Rifle". It was an UN SURRENDERED rifle and bayonet. As I came to understand it..the Rising Sun on the rifles receiver wasnt scratched out..not sure if that was a actual proof though..he said it was? All he said was " Promise me you wont EVER try and fire this,Son". Then he went on and told me its history. A sailor friend and he were going through some of the scrap on one Beach Head(not sure which one) when 2 Jap soldiers came out of hiding...one of them fired but his gun EXPLODED, killing them both!The rifle he had was the OTHER Jap's Rifle :uhoh Granddad said that if not for that, I wouldnt exist...so it sort of sticks with me :uhoh
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My grandfather wasn’t quite like yours, he kept to himself for awhile until I started asking questions about the war when I was a teenager. He landed on Omaha Beach, Dog Green Sector with the second wave of the 29th Infantry Divison. Went all the way through war without ever getting wounded, and then stayed for a year in Germany during the occupation.
:salute to your grandpa and what he went through
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Not all wounds are visible. It doesn't mean that the Veteran wasn't injured, you just can't see it. Combat is not fun or friendly and will cause injury to those involved. Thankfully many recover well but some do not. We still owe them a debt that cannot be repaid.
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Not all wounds are visible. It doesn't mean that the Veteran wasn't injured, you just can't see it. Combat is not fun or friendly and will cause injury to those involved. Thankfully many recover well but some do not. We still owe them a debt that cannot be repaid.
Well put :salute
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Jinx, that is a fantastic biographic summary of your Grandfather, fantastic. :salute
I was adopted from a German orphanage by an American couple ten years after WW2. My adoptive Dad was in the Army with an EOD removal team when he landed on Omaha in '44. He never spoke of his time or campaigns. He was pockmarked with shrapnel wounds and all I ever got from him was that he was in range from mine explosion that a mate of his was defusing.
He was a gruff, quiet guy, a bit emotionless and I rarely was able to see through his shell until 1967. I had left home and enlisted on my 17th birthday and he did not believe I was in the service at all. My sister drug me to a family dinner when I was on leave in '67 and it was the first time I ever saw the old farts shell crack. I went to dinner in uniform just to prove I really was in the Army. When I stepped through the door and he saw the Screaming Eagle 101st Airborne patch on my shoulder and jump wings he actually grabbed me and just gave me a hard hug, no words. Unknown to me at the time, his outfit had worked closely with the 101st in '44.
After he passed I received his medals including his Purple Heart and placed my Purple Heart next to his as the only thing he ever said when I came back from overseas was 'trying to show me up huh?'.
Your Grandfather saw and accomplished so many things at a young age. War ages boys and young men at an unbelievable rate and makes them old before their time. Living through and seeing things at that age that no young man should ever see. His biography you so proudly and skillfully wrote is a great tribute from you to him.
:salute Jinx
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Well done Jinx. :salute
No one understands the paths another takes unless we walk it together.