Uncle on Moms side, 77th Division, Okinawa. They "cleaned up" after the Marines. The Marines, see S Roche above, those guys were the best of the best of the best. Uncle respected them a lot.
Uncle wouldn't talk about combat there, except to say, "They made us kill them all."
And after a few minutes of saying nothing, "They needed it." And that was all he would say.
Uncle Sam kept him after the war, and he was one of the guys unc put on the atoll under the bomb, AND every single person he knew in that unit died of wierd cancers after being V.A. guinea pigs to cancer treatments. He died late 60's, early 70, cancer killed him. I never really knew him without cancer or in and out the V.A..
He let me shoot my first real pistol, my grandfather's 1911 that was born in 1917, that's still in the family. We shoot it 11/11 at 11am...
Storekeeper, Joe, in the farming community I live in, 77th, same time. He NEVER talked about combat, to anybody, and all he would say about WW2 was, "I was in the army, until they let me come home". His brother was a BAR gunner in ETO, and said of Joe, you really dont want to know.
Joe never missed a church service, never prayed in public there, never stayed around after, in and out. Quiet man, never cursed, worked every day, sun up to after dark, 12-14 hours. Raised a family, good people, never told them anything either. Wasnt until after he died and the keeper of his footlocker gave it to them and we all learned about Joe. Quiet man, quiet hero. Never asked for a thing except to be able to go to work, raise a family in church, and make a living.
His only time youd see him start to get "not quiet" was disrespect to the Flag and soldiers, and even then he wasnt loud, but you knew it wasnt gonna be good, there was this 38 revolver always in his pocket. He was another one of our DADs. Just another Dad that was always there in the background covering you. Making it safe to be a kid. He was 100-101 when he died, and there was another hole in our world.
His ETO BAR brother is gone too. Another story for later.
In the place I live, there is one ToughHombre 93 year old still living, purple heart and two bronze. Another story.. hes in a couple of the cotton field pics I've posted in ViewII. Still gets on a 200 horse tractor and pulls his load. He's the last one in my life from childhood and the last one in our community. Hes a year younger than Pop. Every time I see him, he brings Pop back.
Last 10 years he's been my replacement Pop, another of our DAD's...
His story is much like Joe's on raising the family of 5 children and making a life.
His Battle of the Bulge story is pretty much the same as Pops.
Not a single one of the soldiers I speak of in these posts didnt come back and be something. Every single one of them raised a family, not a single one of their children went bad, ZERO.. Every one of those soldiers worked every day, worked a couple of jobs, whatever it took, always paid their bills, respected their wives, stayed married until death parted them, went to church, raised their families in church, raised some hell too... Every one of them was a business success in their own way, if one business tanked, they started another one... they were the most go-getting-est people I've ever seen.
When ToughHombre leaves us, he's the last of his breed. And when his sister (91) dies, she's the last of their generation in my world.
My parents, 9 aunts and 10 Uncles, are all gone, 10th uncle died at Remagen Bridge, not enough left to bury, never married.
ToughHombres son and I talked today, we still got cotton to pick, neither one of us is ready for that generation to be gone. I'm still not ready to play adult.
There is a HUGE fucking hole in our world....
But, people like 1J and PowdaHound stepping up like for StrykerVet and things like that tell me the Greatest Generation left their DNA, genetics, and their mark, and while their leaving leaves a hole, 1J, PowdaHound, and a few others turn the light on in it.... showing theres a way, America isnt gone yet as long as we are here...
Here's to them who went before us, and paved the way...
Oklahoma cowboys, sharecroppers, hillbillys, moonshiners, country farm people, couple of them walked into induction barefooted.... they stood up when, "Greetings. Your friends and neighbors have selected you..."... Pop said that was his introduction to a different world... meet strange people, and .....
