Reply
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,758
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Both my father and father in law fought in WWll.  My father in law earned a purple heart and my husband has it.  I was explaining the meaning of it to my youngest last week.

Keep Your Face To The Sunshine and You Will Not See The Shadow
Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,752
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Catching Up On WW2

[ Edited ]

@drizzellla wrote:

My Dad was in the 98th Bomb Group. He and a bunch of his fellow service members worked hard and tried to find all the guys who served together, It was quite a group. They had reunions once a year, all over the country.

 

Yesterday I got back from my husband's reunion of his Vietnam Battalion. This was their 3rd reunion. And they are planning to get together next year. I never went to their reunions before but I am so glad I did. Met a bunch of wonderful people. I will gladly go to next years reunion. And Fort Campbell couldn't have been more accommodating. We even met the current members of the Battalion. What a fine group of men. 

 

Sadly I knew so little about WW2 from school. I have learned much more from traveling, documentaries, books and talking to my Dad and his friends. In fact I corresponded quite a bit with a guy from Belgium, he is writing a book about one of the missions my Dad flew.

 

Please give us more to the story


*********************************

 

Hi @drizzellla

 

Nice to meet you, I enjoyed reading your post, you have two close to you to be proud of, your husband and your dad.

 

My parents used to talk about WW2 and that began my interest.  There are so many facets to that time in history, I've done posts about several before.  San Francisco was highly impacted by the war, practicing blackouts, watching the beaches for possible invasions, shipbuilding, and the pain of course of our Japanese-American friends taken to nearby camps.  A family friend was born in one of the camps.

 

Those who fought were such heroes, and the women served in many ways, from nurses on the front lines to taking over so much in the factories.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,752
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Catching Up On WW2

[ Edited ]

@MyGirlsMom wrote:

Both my father and father in law fought in WWll.  My father in law earned a purple heart and my husband has it.  I was explaining the meaning of it to my youngest last week.


*****************************

 

@MyGirlsMom

 

Thank you, and belated thanks to your father and FIL, obviously a brave man, as were our close friends from the Philippines who fought for American freedom and their own, and the millions who are now patriot American citizens.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,758
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

I watched the "Victory at" films in high school, my husband had to watch them , courtesy of his dad. We both learned a lot about the war in the Pacific.

Keep Your Face To The Sunshine and You Will Not See The Shadow
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,229
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Oh my, I don't know if I should contribute to this grave conversation or not.

 

You see, my father and his brouthers and my mother's brothers and all other male relatives also fought in the war.  Some came back but others did not.  However, they did fight for Germany.  They also never spoke of it as far as I know.

 

But I think when that when the Allies fought against Germany they were not only fighting for their own countries, but also fought to bring freedom for us.  And for that I thank all those who sacrificed so much on the other side especially the Americans.

 

But war is hell.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,752
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@CLEM wrote:

Oh my, I don't know if I should contribute to this grave conversation or not.

 

You see, my father and his brouthers and my mother's brothers and all other male relatives also fought in the war.  Some came back but others did not.  However, they did fight for Germany.  They also never spoke of it as far as I know.

 

But I think when that when the Allies fought against Germany they were not only fighting for their own countries, but also fought to bring freedom for us.  And for that I thank all those who sacrificed so much on the other side especially the Americans.

 

But war is hell.


***************************************

 

That was brave of you @CLEM

 

You have a nice take on freedom for all.

Valued Contributor
Posts: 936
Registered: ‎03-12-2010

My dad got the equivalent of a purple heart medal.He was about 20 when he just started his military service in Italy.Then Hitler turned on us and he was taken to East Germany for 22 months.

He almost died of starvation and it took him 2 months to go back home near Venice after the war ended.

I worked for over 14 years in a beach resort near Venice renting apartments mostly to German tourists.I made friends with many German customers.The ones who served in the war told me that they had to fight.I even met a tall older man who was in the Gestapo.He was very nice and polite.My dad spoke German and he also became friends with some of my German customers.He never had any resentments against them.