The second world war affected people everywhere in the world. In the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, the South Pacific and Australia and everywhere else families went to war. Young men and women enlisted in the armed services. Men served on ships, men and women worked in war industries. It seems that every family has its own war stories to tell.

What was your family's story of the war? Did you have a father, Grandfather, mother or uncle who served in the war in one way or another? (or if there are any old timers reading this, perhaps yourself?)

I will begin telling my father's story.

My father had enlisted in the Montana National Guard in 1940 right after high school at the age of 17. The following year all National Guard units were incorporated into the regular army and he was enlisted in the 42ed Division, 163rd infantry. He was sent to Ft Lewis Washington and was there at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. After briefly staying at Fort Lewis Washington, his unit went to Australia and was finally sent to fight the Japaneese in Papua, New Guinea. His war experiences there were undescribable. He saw corpses rot to almost nothing in a matter of days. In New Guinea, an infantryman's worst enemy was the insects. One can see huge ants, centipedes which grew over 6 inches and wost of all there were mosquitos. There were also a wide variety of snakes. Cloaths rotted off of ones back, people's head were covered by lice. Food consistem of Australian bully beef which was awful but it could be traded with the natives for locally grown fruits. Like all other men he got malaria.

My father did get one lucky break. After the unit was returned to Australia to prepare for another campaign in New Guinea, he was selected as one of two men from his unit to take part in an exchange. He was to be sent to another unit in Europe. Before going, he was to return to the states. After he arrived in San Fransisco he was given a medical exam and because of his malaria he was classified as being unfit for combat duty. He spent the remainder of his millitary career serving as an orderly at a millitary hospital in Atlanta Georgia.

My grandfather was in the Navy and was shot up pretty bad while manning an AA gun on a supply ship in the Pacific. I've seen his Bronze Star and the scars in his stomach, but he's never actually talked to me about it. What little I know about it are pieces my Dad has relayed to me, but apparently he never really told anybody about it.

My Grandfather on my Mom's side (He's not around anymore), was a member of a tank crew for several years in Europe (I have a .32 Mauser handgun that a German officer use to wear that he wanted me to have ... he came back with it). My Grandfather on my Dad's side and my great uncle (my Grandfathers older brother) were both in the war. My Grandfather on my Mom's side never said anything about the war (he died when I was around 20), I've only heard my Grandfather on my Dad's side say a few things about the war, He said in a letter he got from his brother (his brother is dead now), his brother was in North Africa and the fighting was fierce.... Hand-to-Hand he said (My great uncle was very smart, very big, and very mean ..... my Grandfather did not go into details but he said Albert was probably not being very nice to the people he faced). I also remember my Grandfather telling me about a conspiracy ... something about a famous person who died over there and .... hell I cannot remember what it was, and He said Paris was a nice place, he liked Paris.


Oh .... they were on our side of course

Not a family member, but one of the most influential figures in my life was a Vietnam War veteran. My eighth grade US history teacher, Mr. Hill. I know Pat and Cody really thought highly of him, too. He unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago. We pour out a beer for him whenever we remember. He told us some funny stories and some very, very scary/disturbing ones.

GREAT topic.

Ive got two, kinda. ill make them short.

My grandfather.
Was a young 17 year old in the old Russia, more specificly Kiev in the Ukraine.
Well, it was 1917 and the Reds (the commies) were at war with the whites. His family was accused of giving the whites food and shelter and they apparently were going to kill them except my grandfather and his brother into the red army.
They snuk out a window and hid somewhere
Then one night, when the waters were low, him and his brother paid a man to guide them out of the country, where they later stowed away on a boat and went to Canada.
All of this without a penny or any possessions to their names.
He never spoke to any of his relatives in Russia again, it is probable they were executed.
And we think we've got it rough!
Theres a lot more to it, but I wanted to keep it short.

My father in law.

He received the Silver Star in the Vietnam war.
He was a Seargant and apparently their mission was to mark places for bombing, but they were under a massive attack by the commies. Apparently he just snapped, grabbed two pistols and just ran around at VERY close range, like 3 feet in some cases, and killed a shitload of them, all the while marking the targets for bombing.
One could only imagine.....

Scary, eh. I mean, today, we think of wars in the sense of Desert Storm and Mogadishu and the current actions against Afghanistan. What, we've probably suffered a total of less than 500 KIAs from all three actions? Man, sometimes I just get slapped in the face with the fact that our military, as much as some might complain that we're not spending enough money on it, is so far superior to anything else out there in the world right now. It lets me sleep better, that's for sure.

Originally posted by Powerboss
GREAT topic.

Ive got two, kinda. ill make them short.

My grandfather.
Was a young 17 year old in the old Russia, more specificly Kiev in the Ukraine.
Well, it was 1917 and the Reds (the commies) were at war with the whites. His family was accused of giving the whites food and shelter and they apparently were going to kill them except my grandfather and his brother into the red army.
They snuk out a window and hid somewhere
Then one night, when the waters were low, him and his brother paid a man to guide them out of the country, where they later stowed away on a boat and went to Canada.
All of this without a penny or any possessions to their names.
He never spoke to any of his relatives in Russia again, it is probable they were executed.
And we think we've got it rough!
Theres a lot more to it, but I wanted to keep it short.

My father in law.

He received the Silver Star in the Vietnam war.
He was a Seargant and apparently their mission was to mark places for bombing, but they were under a massive attack by the commies. Apparently he just snapped, grabbed two pistols and just ran around at VERY close range, like 3 feet in some cases, and killed a shitload of them, all the while marking the targets for bombing.
One could only imagine.....
Now that is interesting. Particularly the Ukrainian story. I do know one interesting story from my mother's side of the family. I have two distant relatives, cousins of my Grandmother, who were in the Italian Army and fought in Mussolini's army in Etheopia. I even saw their picture in the ornate Fascist Italian uniforms (wide brimmed calvery hats with feathers, riding boots and sabers at sides). All I know about them is that one of them died there.

I also heard a rather funny story about one of my mom's relatives who did not like Mussolini. He worked in a factory and all the workers there were given these medellions of Il Duce himself. Well he defaced his medellion. Later on the factory was to be visited by none other than the fascist dictator in the flesh. All the workers were then told that they had to wear their badges. Boy was he in a world of hurt!!!!

Originally posted by Criminal
The second world war affected people everywhere in the world. In the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, the South Pacific and Australia and everywhere else families went to war. Young men and women enlisted in the armed services. Men served on ships, men and women worked in war industries. It seems that every family has its own war stories to tell.

What was your family's story of the war? Did you have a father, Grandfather, mother or uncle who served in the war in one way or another? (or if there are any old timers reading this, perhaps yourself?)



Great stories everyone. Here are some from my family...

Well, when we entered WW II in December 1941, both of my grandfathers were married and had children. My mother’s father was 31 and had two small girls, and my Dad’s father was 25 and had two small boys.

Mother’s father…
J.R. went to enlist shortly after Pearl Harbor occurred. His “Irish” was up and he was ready to fight. However, the Army rejected him (listed him ineligible) for two reasons: his eyesight was poor and the fact that he had two small children to provide for.

Dad’s father…
Frank received a deferment from the Army shortly after the war began. There were two reasons: he – like my maternal grandfather – had two small children at home AND his boss needed him to stay at FMC/Link Belt and be the head gear cutter (for tanks). So, that’s what he did for the majority of the war. Then, in May 1945, the Army called him up and sent him to France, and then into Germany. He spent most of his time doing “clean up” as the war in Europe wound down and ceased. He returned to the U.S. in May/June of 1946. What he remembers so vividly about his time there was the enormous amount of bodies all over the ground throughout the railroad yards around Berlin.


Now, my great uncle (my father’s uncle – his mother’s brother) was in the Army in Europe. Sorry, I don’t know the details (what division, etc.), but Charles escaped Nazi prisoner of war camps TWICE. I really need to find out the details of his service. It’s an interesting story no doubt…

And there was my Dad’s mother’s uncle (her mother’s brother). I know that’s confusing. His name was Bernard. He was an Army AirCorps combat pilot who fought in the South Pacific. Tragically, while as an instructor back in the U.S., he was killed in an airplane crash in Pennsylvania while towing a glider back to Florida for fighter pilot training. The crash was caused by a violent thunderstorm they encountered en route. Bernard is listed as one of 100 greatest combat pilots of WW II, and was Gen. MacArthur’s personal pilot many times.

This is good stuff.

The world was indeed a different place back then.

My dad was showing me some pics xmas day of my grandfather when he was a young man. Its funny, not a penny to his name, and yet before he bought the farm and had a family, it was a priority to have a nice shirt and bowtie to play in a 4 man band.
He played the trumpet. This was when he was working at a russian soup kitchen in Canada.

People just had so much more , um whats the word?, back then. They busted their asses to learn to speak the languages, unlike today where we now have to accomodate them. They worked long days, and didnt complain...it was work! Well you know what Im getting at.

Originally posted by Powerboss
They busted their asses to learn to speak the languages, unlike today where we now have to accomodate them.


Yeah, my grandmother (my Dad's mother) tells me that when her mother's parents emigrated from Sweden in the 1880s, they told the kids that they weren't going to speak Swedish anymore; they were Americans now and it was English from there on out...

My father rec'd two purple hearts, served with Patton in the Lightning Dvision. His uncle was a general and could hve gotten him in the paratroopers as an officer but he was afraid of heights.He had the bronze and silver stars with clusters. He rarely talked about it, but later before he died my brother and I talked with him and wrote a lot down. We ressearched his old outfit, and corresponded with a couple of men who served with him. Like all vets, he rarely spoke of his esperiences. I had two uncles that were generals and one cousin a retired Col in the AF. He did three tours in Nam, I visited with him at Bien Hoa many times. I liked my time which is strange because I am a born rebel. But I figured out long after, that in peacetime I could not have stood it. Although I swore I would never do it again, I tried to enlist (be called up) in Sept. I wouldn't even know how to work a radio in todays army though. I am anti war now, but believe if you have to fight, then you fight to win. No quarter given. I earned a liveing with a .308 and was good at it. Sometime I can tell some funny stories, there is a brotherhood in battle that can't be explained. I'm writing a lot of it down now, I had the thought to do a book one day, but wil probalby donate some photos and letters to one of the groups that archives these things.