We're in the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month right now.

[Captain Hilts]

My grandfather had his leg blown off with the Fighting 69th three days before the Armistice.

My great uncle Richard was with a highland regiment and was killed at the Somme.

[WCGreen]

1. My grandpa was a captain in the war,

But I have no idea where he served only that he was a dentist and that he was decorated.

He never talked much about the war.

[redwitch]

2. My Uncle John died at Guadalcanal.

Navy pilot, friendly fire.

My dad was Merchant Marine, just missed the days of the Murmansk run where the Merchant Marines lost close to 90% of their ships.

[Captain Hilts]

4. I have a friend whose dad was on the Murmansk runs. Yes, he lost a ship

out from under him and was a POW at the very end of the war.

Friendly fire is thought to have sunk some of our subs also.

Damn.

[redwitch]

17. My Uncle John and his flying cat.

"I thought you all would enjoy this story..............
During WWII 2Lt John Tedder of the 44th FS returned from rest leave in Auckland with a pet cat. He had figured that it would be easier to look after rather than a dog. Tedder's flight was scheduled to take their 4 P-40s up to Guadalcanal from the Quion Hill Airstrip on Efate. Not finding a C-47 to take his cat up to Cactus, he decided to bring it up with him in his P-40. During the 2+ hour flight the Lts P-40 seemed to have a hard time maintaining straight and level flight and much activity was noted in the cockpit. After landing on Ftr. 2 the Lts P-40 made a fast taxi to parking where the canopy came back and the cat came flying out of the cockpit. The cat was none to worse for the wear but poor Lt Tedder seemed to almost in a state of shock and had numerous stratch and puncture wounds. He was off flying status for a week to recover! It also took the ground crew quite a bit of time to clean up the blood (the Lts) and de-fur (the cats) the cockpit. Eventually they made up but sadly Lt John Q. Tedder of Trenton, NJ was KIA on June 16, 1943 over Guadalcanal when he and a Navy VF-11 F4F collided while attacking a Zero".


My brother found this story on a veteran discussion list. It made me laugh and feel like I got a glimpse into the kind of person my uncle was.

[Captain Hilts]

18. What a joy to find something like this. Thanks for sharing the 'human' side of the war. nt

[orpupilofnature57]

3. Should have been called ' Arms is us ' day ,a big jump toward NWO

at the expense of soldiers lives and limbs , God Bless men like your uncle and father serving their country out of honor and sense of duty. My grandfather fought in France,was a carpenter and built barracks out of trenches.

[Scurrilous]

5. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Ohio Joe]

6. K&R - nt

[shraby]

7. My grandfather was a messenger..rode a motorcycle

to deliver them. I've had relatives in every war this country has been in, including the Revolutionary war...23 in that one.

[Captain Hilts]

8. Did you see the obituaries for Adm. Morrisson? They were interesting. nt

[shraby]

9. No I didn't...where are they?

[Captain Hilts]

10. He got some detailed ones that discussed his relationship with Jim.

As a Navy kid living in Navy housing in the late '60s early 70s, Jim was a God to us.

Take your pick:

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS347&q=admiral+morrison+obituary&aq=1&oq=admiral+morr&aqi=g5

[orpupilofnature57]

16. It was a strained relationship because of a criticism of Morrison's musical.

talent.His father was decommissioning his first ship as an Admiral while his son was over dosing to death ,July 3 1971.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. "The War to End All Wars". If only it had been true.

[Captain Hilts]

13. For that reason, my grandfather cried when my uncle joined the USN after Pearl Harbor. nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

12. Technically, you may have been about six hours late

The eleventh hour in Paris should have happened in the fifth hour in New York. The guns had been silent for a while, and gone stone cold, by 11:11 EST.

I only wish they'd have stayed quiet and cold.

:hi:

[Avalux]

14. One grandfather was an army engineer; went into Germany. The other was a marine, fought at Tarawa.

Both survived; although my marine grandfather suffered mentally from what he witnessed and participated in.

They are both gone now; I am proud of their service and love them dearly.

[Captain Hilts]

15. Tarawa, and the fighting in the Pacific was a mindfuck. Exposed on the beach, flamethrowers, etc.

[Avalux]

19. Yeah. He went through hell; suffered a lot of guilt because his buddies died and he didn't.

There was a documentary on PBS years ago; included about 30 seconds of footage of two marines, shirtless, pulling dogtags off of dead marines.
My grandfather was one of them.

[Captain Hilts]

21. Oh, dear. At least the military recognized 'survivor's guilt' a long time ago.

It doesn't make it any easier. I see the same thing at Bethesda Naval. Guys with missing legs that want to re-join their units. It's good to see that sort of thing isn't an instant muster out, as it used to be. I think it helps them cope.

None of my kin fought in the Pacific. Except for my uncle, who was radioman on IOWA. Not what your grandfather went through.

I remembered IOWA taking some huge shells from a land-based railroad gun, once, while playing 'war' for some congressmen.

He also told of - off the Philippines - the crew waking up one morning to find the ship surrounded by floating bodies. It upset them so, they got the fire hoses out to blow them away from the ship. The hoses just blew the bodies into smaller, less manageable parts. All before the age of 22.

[Bobbie Jo]

20. K&R