WW II Vets I have known (1 Viewer)

[Leadmen]

Wow- That is one picture never seen on the History Channel. Thanks for posting it.I had three uncles in WWll who fought in Europe. My Godfather just passed away was wounded by mortars in the BOB and limped all his life. My other two uncles fought in BOB and one wounded in shoulder and the other more serious wounds that put him in VA hospitals through the years. He died at seventy. This uncle was my favorite and took me fishing and stuff. Never had kids of his own. I am going to visit my aunt in Chicago this summer and see the medals that were sent 10 years after his death. He fought with the T patch Division (Texas National Guard) throughj Italy and Germany. They took Chicago and Texas men in wwll. The 36 Infantry T patches suffered heavy losses crossing Rapido River and my uncle was first wounded then.My other aunt's father was a Norweigan
sea captain and lost a ship torpeoded in WWl and another ship sunk in WWll where he lost a leg. He lived to old age but did not like German subs. Leadmen

 

[ROAN]

Wow- That is one picture never seen on the History Channel. Thanks for posting it.I had three uncles in WWll who fought in Europe. My Godfather just passed away was wounded by mortars in the BOB and limped all his life. My other two uncles fought in BOB and one wounded in shoulder and the other more serious wounds that put him in VA hospitals through the years. He died at seventy. This uncle was my favorite and took me fishing and stuff. Never had kids of his own. I am going to visit my aunt in Chicago this summer and see the medals that were sent 10 years after his death. He fought with the T patch Division (Texas National Guard) throughj Italy and Germany. They took Chicago and Texas men in wwll. The 36 Infantry T patches suffered heavy losses crossing Rapido River and my uncle was first wounded then.My other aunt's father was a Norweigan
sea captain and lost a ship torpeoded in WWl and another ship sunk in WWll where he lost a leg. He lived to old age but did not like German subs. Leadmen

Leadmen,

Thanks for the post-my uncle is still with us-and still hates German shepherds and always scrapes his plate clean! He and his fellow prisoners were forced to literally march across Germany in the terrible Winter of 44-'45 from their POW camp when eastern Germany was captured by the Soviets-many of his fellow prisoners died of malnutrition, exposure, other diseases.

Another vet that made a big impression on me was a sergeant in the 90th Inf. Div.”the Tough Hombres”-he fought from Normandy to Metz where he was badly wounded and sent home. His stories about that time enthralled me as a kid- by then he had become a USAF chaplain.

Best,

Geoff

 

[Louis Badolato]

Utterly amazing shot! I too am glad your uncle made it!

By the way, I have a K&C Douglas A20 Boston in my collection. If you get a chance, come by and see the plane shot out from under your uncle. I will show you two photos of my uncles who didn't make it out of 8th Airforce B17's over Germany.

 

[ROAN]

Utterly amazing shot! I too am glad your uncle made it!

By the way, I have a K&C Douglas A20 Boston in my collection. If you get a chance, come by and see the plane shot out from under your uncle. I will show you two photos of my uncles who didn't make it out of 8th Airforce B17's over Germany.

Louis,

Interesting that you should mention the model of the A20. About 25 years ago I made an A20 model from a kit(Revell, I think)for my uncle. He loved it! And it inspired him to start making models of WWII planes himself. He’s now pretty good at it and in fact he’ll make, gratis, the model of any plane, for any WWII flying vet that contacts him(his local newspaper did a story about this which shows him holding the plane I made for him!)

I really wanted to get the model of the A20 I did for him right-the cowling colors, invasion stripes, unit codes, etc. So I used as a reference “Camouflage & Markings United States Army Air Forces” by Roger A. Freeman(still have it too).

The only thing I got wrong was his unit code(he was in the 644 Bomber Squadron, 410th Bomber Group-but I mistakenly gave the plane the 645 BS’s unit number). I should have just called him and asked him-but I wanted it to be a surprise.

It looks like you’re also understandably very interested in the AAF and the 8th. I think you mentioned what squadrons, bomber groups your uncles were in on another post-I’ll go look for it. The AAF, and esp. the 8th has always fascinated me more than any other WWII unit so I’d like to see your collection some day.


Best,

Geoff

 

[Louis Badolato]

I will try to ask my mother about the units my uncles flew in. I only recently got photographs of them; one in sergeant's dress uniform, one in sheepskin flying gear.

 

[mitch292]

One of my grandfathers was a Staff Sargent in the 88th Infantry Division. He served in Italy then later in Austria because his division was assigned to be a peace keeping force. I do not know much about my other grandfather except that he was a yeoman 3rd class in the USN. My cousins grandfather also served in the 8th airforce as a navigator on a B-17.

 

[The Military Workshop]

Saw this old thread and thought I would mention most interesting WWII visitor to my shop.
It was several years ago when a lady came into the shop and asked if we could make a wooden model of her husbands WWII aircraft. At that time we used to import/sell a lot of handcrafted mahogany planes from the Phillipines.
I asked her what the aircraft was, thinking he was Aussie, and she replied Heinkel III with V1 rocket underneath !!
She then asked if I would like to meet him. Being from England it felt a bit strange to meet a guy whose job was to target London. Anyway said yes and he came in later that day.
Was 84 then and wife 30 years younger. We closed the shop for two hours as he talked about his experiences. This was the first time he had discussed the war as he and wife thought people would think he was a Nazi. Wife was in tears as he was talking so freely with us.
Came to Oz in 1949. Originally had been in Artillery Regt and volunteered for flying school. When passed flying training told the CO he wanted to go back to his Regt which was approved. However just afterwards a letter arrived from his mum congratulating him on becoming a pilot and saying how proud she was. So he stays in Luftwaffe. He says that letter saved his life as his Regt ended up in Stalingrad and only 6 guys survived the war.
Had interesting stories about his missions. Never mentioned the word London once ! On one occasion his V1 did not deploy as it was supposed to. They were operating out of Peenemunde (not sure exact spelling here !) and basic rule was not to land with the V1 still underneath. He asked crew if wanted to bail out over the Channel but they stuck with him. Landed safely and marched to CO who told him that if it had been earlier in the war they would have shot him. Since knew by then going to lose he got away with it.
He mentioned taking leave in Switzerland in early 1945 which is surprising considering how near the end it was. He is convinced that the Atom bomb dropped by USA was taken from the German's based on various rumours he heard.
He says 30% did not come back from each mission and he was put on gate duty near the end as he had done more than his fair share of missions. Says he has watched a documentary that said there were none of his unit still alive.
Very interesting guy. Still has his Iron Cross and Flight book etc. as was smuggled out to an in-law Denmark before the Allies arrived. Was still working aged 84.
Regards Brett

 

[wadepat]

Hi Brett,

The story you tell is quite an interesting one. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Warmest personal regards,

Pat