Philosophy #1, Rule #1.

[Show-me]

I was at LAX. The guy that shook my hand and said "thanks" the day I finally got back from the Gulf. It was the coolest thing and I'll never forget it.

 

[Fivetears]

Thanks for sharing. That was some time period.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/ve-day/

...She told me that the “the War in Europe was over, that it was V.E.day.”...

 

[Tempest]

Do you have a memory?
.

Well no I don't. I was born in 1953 and my father didn't join the US Army till
1948.

My late mother who was German civilian saw more war then either myself or my father (he did 2 tours in Viet Nam). She was strafed one time and it was such a near thing she could hear the spent cartridges from the airplane falling near her as she ducked in a cellar. She told me everything about her experiences in Norway, Yugoslavia, Germany... it was like a movie only you were in it and couldn't leave and could get blown up, burned or raped.
She overheard a conversation at a nearby table in a restaurant one time between a party of SS officers and what she heard sickened her. They were discussing how many people they were killing at some place (concentration camp???). Her friend who was Swiss overheard the conversation and told her not to say anything to anyone.

She never liked talking about it and I recall her only talking twice about it-each time with tears in her eyes. I'm sure she was ashamed. To hear this and not do anything.


My Father-he was in a wagon being pulled by a mule carrying him and family members from church (Louisiana)when he heard the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor he worked in an aircraft plant, shipyard and a slaughter house (for only one week.) He joined up in 1948 since the integrated the armed services. My aunts husband was in the Navy was and served on a troop ship in the Pacific. He hated it-I mean really hated the experience. If you were an Afro-American the U.S. Navy was not a nice place to be in WWII.

Hmm my ex-wife's grandfather was hunting pheasant in Kahuku (North Shore )in Hawaii when a bunch of Japanese planes appeared overhead and assembled and headed toward Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th.

My father use to play golf with a guy when we lived in Panama in the early 1960's who survived the Bataan Death March (and whatever came after). I remember he was nice man, tubby and soft looking. Bachelor, never married, drove this old Ford

When we were stationed in Nuremberg in 1958 we had an upstairs neighbor who parachuted in during D-Day -he had a heel shot off his boot while in the air.
As a small child in Germany I remember seeing a lot of German men without an arm or leg.

I prefer to see WWII events from a distance and I'm glad I wasn't a part of it. But if it wasn't for WWII I would not be here-my Father first assignment was Germany during Occupation where he met my mother.
They were happily married for 41 years till her death in 1989.

There's a difference between knowing and comprehending. It's hard to explain but there were a few times in the past people told me about their WWII experience or there is some vivid story you read and the horror and ugliness somehow you comprehend it for just a moment- Really I am glad I never was in any war.

I just experience the ripples and echo's of WWII

_______________________________
A little remembered tragedy from WWII which many people do not know about.

http://www.rohna.org/

 

[Eldritch Flatus]

I think my earliest memory was as a little kid playing in the spring mud in Anchorage Alaska. Must have been 1947-1951. A B-36 Peacemaker bomber flew over very low and scared the hell out of the whole neighborhood. No one had ever heard of or seen such a weapon. I think we still need to impress on our children that WWII was the greatest single effort ever undertaken by mankind. It was truly enormous.

 

[wv-girl]

Was in Guam at the end of Viet Nam. Ex was in Navy and we lived off base above one of the bars. So what did I do? Went to work as a bartender during day time hours. Saw a lot of guys coming home. They would stop in for a beer while waiting for orders or transportation, etc. Never would card any of them. Some were walking wounded and it did not seem right to question their age, even if some of them looked very young, seeing how they were willing to serve for our country. They would be very brazen and rough, especially the submarine guys. I remember one incident in particular when a young man came in just as I was opening the doors, didn't say much until he had downed 4 or 5 beers, then he explained that he was transporting live bombs from the naval base to the airbase(they are on opposite ends of the island) when he overturned the truck right outside our door. God was on our side that day, as none of them exploded. Took most of the day to clean up and was the topic of conversation for quite a while. When you traveled the road around the airbase you traveled at your own risk as they had B-52's lined up along the fence, facing away from you. So if they were to take off you'd had better get out of the way. I have lots of other memories of that time in Guam, but prefer to tell these as they are the least(but just as important) as the gory ones. I still think of the men who were the walking wounded, lost limbs, etc. and it still brings tears to my eyes. I came back to the states, went to work for the Feds and have been here since. It certainly does not compare with the ones who went to war, but it was the only way I could serve my country. Ok. I'm done. Hope I didn't bore anyone.

Debbie

 

[Show-me]

Great stories and thanks for sharing everyone.

Here is one my Mom tells. My Mom survive WWII. one of my Uncles did not because medication was nonexistent. The story's that stick out the most is the one of my Mom begging her Uncle Fritz to take her with him to smuggle goods to our family on the East German side. He finally gave in and took her one night. I was very cold and snowy. They spotted a Russian solider patrolling and stopped to hide. I was so cold that my Mom started to cry because her fingers and toes hurt so bad. Needless to say they were captured by the Russian solider. Luckily he either had pity or did not want to bother with them or just wanted to take their goods and let them go.

Uncle Fritz never took her again.

 

[camper65]

(Just a bit of bar room humor while waiting for the market open!)


He grabbed me by my slender neck,
I could not yell or scream.
He took me to his dingy room,
Were he could not be seen!
He stripped me of my clumsy wrap,
And gazed upon my form.
For I was wet,
And cold, and damp.
And he was nice and warm!
His feverish lips he pressed to mine,
I could not make him STOP!
He drained me of my very self!
I gave him every drop!
He made me what I am today,
That’s why you find me here.
A broken bottle tossed away,
That was once full of beer!

 

[SkyPilot]

Was in Guam at the end of Viet Nam. Ex was in Navy and we lived off base above one of the bars. So what did I do? Went to work as a bartender during day time hours. Saw a lot of guys coming home. They would stop in for a beer while waiting for orders or transportation, etc. Never would card any of them. Some were walking wounded and it did not seem right to question their age, even if some of them looked very young, seeing how they were willing to serve for our country. They would be very brazen and rough, especially the submarine guys. I remember one incident in particular when a young man came in just as I was opening the doors, didn't say much until he had downed 4 or 5 beers, then he explained that he was transporting live bombs from the naval base to the airbase(they are on opposite ends of the island) when he overturned the truck right outside our door. God was on our side that day, as none of them exploded. Took most of the day to clean up and was the topic of conversation for quite a while. When you traveled the road around the airbase you traveled at your own risk as they had B-52's lined up along the fence, facing away from you. So if they were to take off you'd had better get out of the way. I have lots of other memories of that time in Guam, but prefer to tell these as they are the least(but just as important) as the gory ones. I still think of the men who were the walking wounded, lost limbs, etc. and it still brings tears to my eyes. I came back to the states, went to work for the Feds and have been here since. It certainly does not compare with the ones who went to war, but it was the only way I could serve my country. Ok. I'm done. Hope I didn't bore anyone.

Debbie

Thank you for your service!

 

[camper65]

Has any one read "How we Know What Isn"t So" The fallibility of human reason in everyday life. by Thomas Gilovich?
I do recommend it, as it has enlighten me anyway, to how we mannage to convince ourselve to believing what we want to believe. Something that is prevalent in market speak! Something to detect in others. Are they not convincing them selves to find the conclusions they seek?