http://www.sc.edu/library/mirc/playVideo.html?i=37
http://vimeo.com/5645171
One of my grandfathers friends from the 78th Infantry Division sent these links to me earlier today. Grandpa and his friend Stu fought in Europe but both remember the days in these films very well.
Last April at a get together of the 78th almost every veteran was thankful that Truman had the stones to drop the big bombs. They were training for the invasion of Japan at the time.
Braden
Thanks to all those who have or do serve...we owe you more than we can repay!
pilotbraden wrote: http://www.sc.edu/library/mirc/playVideo.html?i=37 http://vimeo.com/5645171 One of my grandfathers friends from the 78th Infantry Division sent these links to me earlier today. Grandpa and his friend Stu fought in Europe but both remember the days in these films very well. Last April at a get together of the 78th almost every veteran was thankful that Truman had the stones to drop the big bombs. They were training for the invasion of Japan at the time. Braden
You are lucky: you have living history to talk to. You may have heard this before, but I'd give some serious consideration to sitting down with your grandpa with a tape/video recorder and talk to him about that day. Thoughts, impressions, ...you and your kids will appreciate it. And thank him for his service.
When I was in college, I had to interview a veteran for a project. I called my grandfather. Yes, very interesting stuff. Up until then, I never thought of him as a former soldier; he was just my grandfather.
I went to the USS Arizona as a kid when we visited Hawaii. I didn't understand the gravity of the situation until much later, but it was certainly worth visiting.
yeah, my grandpa was a vet (Korea), but I never really got to know him, he passed when I was a few weeks short of 2 years old. I am going to sit down with my Grandma and get on tape any stories she has of his service, or just stories of his life in general really. Its something Im really looking forward to.
A lot of the old vets do not want to tell stories. The pain and horror they went through is still hard to deal with. If you find one that will talk, great. My Dad served on the invasion of Iwo Jima. Two Purple Hearts, a belly that looked like tic tac toe, never ever told a war story.
We did some stuff for the Library of Congress by video taping WWII veterans telling their experiences. Some still had tears after all these years.
My grandfather never talked about his war years ever, until about 2 weeks before he passed. Then all he said was Austria was really pretty, and that the guys that were the most scared going over were usually the first to die. And that when they landed, (D Day) it was almost solid rock where they got dropped off and they couldn't dig fox holes.
He still had his uniforms in his closet though.
I wasnt there obviously and I never had to serve my country but WWII in the Pacific was simply horrific. Nothing was humane. Reading several books on the subject will cause anyone to have shivers and worse. Those guys went thru a lot and werent trained or equipped for it. They should be treated as royalty.
cwh wrote: A lot of the old vets do not want to tell stories. The pain and horror they went through is still hard to deal with. If you find one that will talk, great. My Dad served on the invasion of Iwo Jima. Two Purple Hearts, a belly that looked like tic tac toe, never ever told a war story.
^This My grandfather never wanted to talk about it. Finally about 2 years ago he sat down with his cousin and recorded all his memories and "stories" from the war because he did feel it was important to remember and to share what happened. His cousin was instructed that these tapes were private and he didnt want anything shared until after his death. Sadly he passed away this summer. Noone has brought up the tapes and Im sure they will come in time.
For that matter my father served in Vietnam and I have never heard more than basic training stories from him. Its just not anything he wants to talk about.
I'm glad as hell Truman had the stones, as my grandfather was slated to be one of the first on the beach for the Coronet invasion and if that'd happened, far more likely than not he'd a been a casualty and I wouldn't be here a'tall...
My father never talked about his experiences in the Philipines in WWII. He died in 1972. I strongly suspect that the experiences may have led to his drinking (but never to excess that I saw) which ultimately killed his liver at 46.
He did like to talk about his time in Korea after the war was over and they were waiting to be shipped home, because all they did was hunt and fish. He grew up in the swamps of east central GA.
I had a good good friend in grad school that constantly told stories about Vietnam.
BTW, many of the visitors to the Arizona memorial are Japanese.
Jay_W wrote: I'm glad as hell Truman had the stones, as my grandfather was slated to be one of the first on the beach for the Coronet invasion and if that'd happened, far more likely than not he'd a been a casualty and I wouldn't be here a'tall...
Same here.
I wish I had of been able to sit down with my great uncle before he died. He was in the first or second wave on Omaha beach. He had a silver star and purple heart.
Jay_W wrote: I'm glad as hell Truman had the stones, as my grandfather was slated to be one of the first on the beach for the Coronet invasion and if that'd happened, far more likely than not he'd a been a casualty and I wouldn't be here a'tall...
Unfortunately that's probably true. If the invasion had occurred, the world would have looked very different. Many, many Americans and most of the Japanese people would have died. I used to work with a guy that had been slated to be a kamikaze pilot. To hear him tell of the mindset then was chilling. The average Japanese would not have surrendered, with men, women and children fighting until the end.
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