How far removed?

[BaldEagl]

I was reading ARSNishi's thread about losing his grandfather who fought in WWII.  I know many of us had parents, grandparents and great-grandparents that fought in that war.  I thought it would be interesting to hear about those individuals.

My own father fought in WWII, first in the infantry (1938-1942) in Europe then, after being discharged, he joined the Merchant Marines (1942-1946) where he was an AA gunner.  I know little to nothing about his deployments as he rarely spoke of them and I was too young to be very interested other than constantly looking at the four book pictoral history of the war in B&W that was always located in the attic.

After the war he worked in the CCC camps, eventually working in the open pit strip mines in northern Minnesota where he was caught in the back of a pickup truck during a blast.  It crushed his leg causing a limp that ended up with him being disabled with back issues for most of my lifetime.  Despite the fact my parents were poor, my dad would do anything for me even if it meant hardship for himself.  He died in appoximately 1979 at the age of 65 due to complications of a life spent smoking and drinking.  

I still have a 20mm Hispano shell complete with casing but emptied of powder that he brought home as a souvenier.  I wish I still had those books but I'm afraid they're lost forever.  I think I'm going to have to gather together some photos before my mother, now 95, passes.

Let's hear your stories.

[Karnak]

My paternal grandfather was in the merchant marine in the Pacific ocean.  My maternal grandfather was a combat photographer in the Pacific, landing on the beaches with the first waves, but armed with a camera instead of a gun.  My paternal grandmother built Liberty Ships in Sausalito, CA.

[Soulyss]

To the best of my knowledge I had 3 relatives that were serving during WW2.  Both grandfathers and an uncle.

My grandpa on my mothers side was in the Navy he died when I was very young (I only have very vague memories of him).  From what I've been able to tell he was an armorer in the Navy serving mostly in the south pacific and was ground based.  We have some of his old photos, a few from WW2 but most of the paperwork and pictures are form his post WW2 service in the reserves.  I know he was on Bougainville and may have been attached to VF-17 at one point.

My dad's father enlisted, he was a bomber pilot but he kept getting transferred and as a result was never deployed overseas.  By the end of the war he was fully checked out in the B-25, B-17, and B-29 and he was an instructor at one point teaching Chinese nationals to fly the B-25.

His brother was also a B-25 pilot and he flew in the MTO.  He was assigned to the 447th BS, 321st BG. He is still alive but living on the other side of the country, my dad has talked to him on a few occasions and we have some of his stories down on paper.  He also stayed in the service after WW2, he went on fly in the Berlin Airlift and flew combat in Korea.  In many ways I really lucked out the 321st is part of the 57th Bomb wing that has a really great website with tons of info including mission logs

http://57thbombwing.com/index2.php

Going through the website I was able to find some pictures of his aircraft.  I've posted these before in other threads but what the heck.

[Ack-Ack]

Didn't have anyone in my family that I know of serve in WW2.  My fiance though had an uncle that was a B-17 bombardier in the 360th BS/303rd BG (Hell's Angels) stationed in England.  His B-17 was forced to crash land in Switzerland after receiving flak damage to the wing for their B-17.  He was interred along with the rest of the crew and escaped back to England.

This is a picture of their B-17 in Switzerland. 


And the story of his last mission and escape from Switzerland.
Charles Cassidy and is escape from Switzerland

More info from the 303rd BG website.  His crew is the 3rd one listed, 1Lt Paul H. Long Crew.
303rd BG(H) Switzerland Internees

ack-ack

[Rogue9Volt]

I never had the chance to be close with my paternal grandfather so I'm not sure about him..  However, my maternal grandfather served on a pt boat in the pacific, and if I remember correctly he was on rescue duty on a ship during the occupation of japan right after the war.  I will see if my mom can dig up some pictures later this week.

<S>

[Tilt]

My father joined the RAFVR as soon he was old enough in 43 (aged 18). He did'nt get active until he was assigned to  RCAF 408 Goose Squadron in late 44 as a flight engineer to a Canadian crew flying Halifax MKVII's.

He was demobbed in 46, met mother in 49. They were married in 52 living with my mothers mother until 59 when they were able to put savings together with his demob pay ( not touched since 46) to buy their first home.

He is pretty frail now at 89 ( 90 this year).

I now have his log book and training manuals plus a picture of him with his crew.

I look at them now realising that at the time he ( the man who has been the father figure throughout my life) was little more than a boy, uncertain of what the next mission will bring let alone what life would unfold before him.

[HighTone]

My great grandfather served on the USS Guest in the Pacific. He loaded ammo for the forward 5 inch gun turret. Fought around Guam, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

One of my great uncles was the engineer and top turret gunner on a B17. 325BS/92BG withe the 8th air force over Europe. 1943-1944. The name of his plane was the Buggs Bunny.

My other great uncle served in the Navy, but I don't know much about his service except that he drove a landing craft on D-Day.

[Tilt]

Both my Grandfathers were "drivers" in WW1. Although in very different capacities.

My paternal grand father drove horses pulling a gun carriage. I don't know how but he ended up being gassed in 17 and was removed to light duties. He was unfit to return to the foundry he worked at prior to joining up and so spent the rest of his life as a night watchman passing away in the mid 60's.

My maternal grand father was a staff car driver / batman for an infantry general, for whom he served through out the war and beyond , finding employment with him in his families business after the war. He passed away in the late 40's. I never knew him yet if I go out to my work shop many of my old " familiar" tools  bear his mark and his pocket watch given him during the 14-18 conflict sits before me now below the screen.

[branch37]

I dont think I have any direct relatives that served in WWII.  I think my maternal grandfathers oldest brother was on a destroyer in the pacific at one point, but I do not know if it is true or not.  My maternal grandfather was in the USAF in the 60s through the mid 80s and retired a Lt. Colonel.  He was a navigator on an RB-47 and later a RC-135.  He has lots of very interesting stories, many of which were just recently declassified.  He flew over the Soviet Union out of Okinawa testing Soviet radar capabilities, and chasing Soviet communication satellites listening to what they had to say.  He once told me a story of having no less than 10 SAMs fired at their plane while flying over Vietnam and disabling them in flight with electronic countermeasures.  Afterwards intercepting the radio transmission confirming 1 SAM fired and 1 aircraft shot down.  His most interesting sortie was flying very close to Soviet radar installations out of Turkey on Nov. 22, 1963.  He said they were shadowed by 20-30 MIGs, various models, and had no idea why.  They learned when they landed that Kennedy had been shot.

My paternal great grandfather served in the infantry during WWI.  He died long before I was born, but my grandmother tells stories about how he would never eat carrots after the war.  It had something to do with being stuck in the trenches in the middle of a carrot patch sometime in 1918.

[colmbo]

Dad was working as a telephone lineman when he was drafted in '42.  He was put into the Signal Corps as a "steel tower rigger".  His first unit was the "1st Signal Service Platoon, Special"….which was in fact the first electronic counter-measure unit in the US military.  Dad's part was to build steel towers for radar jamming equipment.

When the Japanese invaded the Aleution Islands his unit was rushed to Alaska to counter the Japanese radar….as it turned out they didn't have a radar station in Alaska.  From Alaska they went to the Med where they were on Corsica, again doing the radar jamming stuff.  From Corsica he went west, way west to Iwo Jima.  Iwo was the toughest duty assignment for them combat wise.  In Oct/Nov of '45 he was able to hitch a ride on a B-29 heading to the states.

[Butcher]

My grandfather was a mechanic in Budapest, Hungary. During the war he was forced to mechanic on vehicles. After the war he serviced soviet vehicles as well, in the 1956 hungarian revolution he helped sabotage dozens of vehicles he worked on. Knowing which ones had cracks or problems, he exploited this to immobile them. He was going to be arrested, but fled the country with my father on a train.

He didn't like the Germans, but they actually took good care of him giving him rations and such for how quick he fixed the vehicles whether it was a motorcycle or a tank. He had no good words for the Russians at the time. My father wishes to go back to budapest to see his family, especially my grandfathers side of the family but does not want to take the chance.

[kilo2]

My great-grandfather served with the Sixth Marines on Okinawa. He made it from the landing to the end of the battle. He carried a B.A.R and in the last couple of weeks a Flamethrower.

He didn't talk about it till the last 6 months of his life. He passed away almost 2 years ago.

[stealth]

My grandpa was a yomen aboard the USS Enterprise, I'll ask my father about it and give a more in depth story on him.

[Nefarious]

Similar Oclub thread with more pics.

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,357789.0.html

[mensa180]

I was born to middle-ish aged parents (36 and 46), so I feel like I grew up a lot "closer" to recent history than other people in my generation with younger parents. (I'm 21)

My maternal grandfather was somewhere in the pacific, but that's all I really know.  He died well before I was born.  My paternal grandfather tried to sign up, but was medically unable, however his brothers and cousins fought in the pacific as well.  I know at least one of them was on a PT boat.  After my maternal grandfather died (young, my mom was only 23, so that would have been 1979), my grandma remarried.  The person I grew up with as 'grandpa' didn't fight in WWII, but was in the airborne during Korea.  I don't think he ever fought; he broke his back during a jump in training.

Unfortunately only my maternal grandmother remains today, the rest having past away in the last 5-7 years.