WWII Marine , my dad

[crumpmd]

I have been trying to get some video of my dad telling stories about his life. My sons had some questions written for him and in this video he is reading the questions and talking a little about his time in the Corps. He was in the battle of Saipan Island.
He is 86 and every time we see him I want to try to get some more video. But time is short. He and the others like him who are still alive are getting older and will soon die.
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[JRose]

Re: WWII Marine , my dad

He is a great American, Dave. I can see now why you're such a stand up guy.

 

[E3C3H3O3]

Re: WWII Marine , my dad

My grandfather was a Navy radioman back in WWII, a couple years back, for christmas he gave me a 3-ring binder with copies of all his papers and stuff saying where he had been and all that jazz, he also included a short "book" with all of his experiences in it. He was also at Saipan among other places, without trying to steal this thread I will just say that this was the best christmas present I have ever recieved.

 

[Parallax]

Re: WWII Marine , my dad

I can't but stand in awe of any WW2 USMC combat Veteran...

 

[crumpmd]

Re: WWII Marine , my dad

Thanks guys.
Like many who have served in intense comz my dad, for years, would not discuss the battle at all. I heard him talk about the 16in naval guns going overhead but that was it. He says in the video about the dead japanese. But there were a lot of fallen Marines there too, but he remembers it in a way that is good for him. The Air Warning Squadron-5 was little more than a footnote in this great battle in which 12,000 Marines died. But they were noted to have done an excellent job, not letting a single enemy airplane through undetected. My dad was a 19 year old Sergeant when he was on Saipan.

 

[ThreeDub]

Re: WWII Marine , my dad

My dad was in the 6th Marine Division; he was stateside most of the war then was a Forward Artillery Observer as part of the big shootup on Okinawa.
He, too, told very few stories of his experiences.
I wish he had lived long enough to do something like this video for my kids but he dies before they were born.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Re: WWII Marine , my dad

Something like 1500 WW2 vets are NOW passing on each DAY in the USA.

Though I have read WW2 non-fiction since I was a kid, I mostly read about the European theater. Recently read several books about the Marines and their assaults across the Pacific in WW2. Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo... many others... Really started to dig into the Island-hopping campaign.

The bravery and sacrifice was unreal. Tarawa alone was indication that these Marines were a special breed.

One of my closest friends' late father was a WW2 naval aviator. He flew PBY's and carried Marine casualties out of Tarawa and several other islands. His descriptions were sobering.

Today's Army, Air Force, Marine and Navy warriors are awesome beyond my comprehension. But when I read about the deprivations, primitive conditions, demands on their lives... and consider the fact that in WW2, all service personnel were there for the duration... it is amazing.

These are people who demonstrated a dose of 'The Right Stuff' that I can't even begin to live up to.

Not long ago, the last WW1 veteran passed. Before that last WW2 veteran moves off Earth, we should all take the time to recognize their sacrifices and understand that w.out them, the world would be a very, very different place.

Pardon my rambling here. It's hard to put into words the respect I feel for these Americans, Brits, Canadians, ANZACS, Indians, Russians, etc, etc, etc.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[Switchblade]

Re: WWII Marine , my dad

Ohh RAH! Semper FI!
To the Marine:
I thank you for treading a path that I follwed much later. Your hard work, blood, and sweat made my path ten times easier. Your service to God, Corps, and Country will always be remembered.


I have to wonder if he ever ran into my great uncle Bill Burns. Bill was a 'Tarawa Marine'. Can't speak to his bootcamp, or duty assignments stateside, but this is his 'war story':

"Well, sonofabitch. We floated out to the South Pacific from Hawaii, and were detailed to hit this little island called Tarawa. We landed hot and heavy with artillary and everything we could throw at it. The God Damned Japs were giving it all back too. I hit the beach with my squad, and within 50 yards had a big shell blow up behind me. It threw me face down with a big hole in my ass. Son, that's my war story. I woke up on a stretcher heading to a Hospital Ship, back to Hawaii and that was my war."
Bill has always had a fondness for those old cool Jim Beam Limited Edition bottles that looked like faces or movie actors and stuff from back in the day. He is currently retired and living in the lower desert of Idlewild, So-Cal in a small 'cabin' he built from the ground up while working as a machinist for some air craft company down in Long Beach...can't remember which one, but they were all there at one time or another.
My Pop said I was the first one to get that war story out of him because he never talked about it. He din't see any point in it, adn only told me because I was a Marine. Regardless of the amount of time he spent in combat, he went forward, leading his Marines into the dace of certain destruction on a shitty little piece of sand and rock. That is volumes more than many have done and he will always be more than just Uncle Bill to me.
Semper Fiiiiii!

 

[John L]

Re: WWII Marine , my dad

Dave,
I dont want to hijack your thread. Something Switch said realy struck home. 2 years ago at a Thanksgiving dinner my Uncle and I were sitting in the garage talking. He just opened up and started telling me what it was like to live through WW 2 in Holland. He was just a kid but the stories were downright horrifing. My Aunt could not believe he was telling me this stuff as he had never spoke of it before, not even with her or his children. How any of these men managed to live a reasonably normal life after the things they saw and had to do is a testament to their courage.

 

[h4everything]

Re: WWII Marine , my dad

Thanks for sharing that with us. Anyone that has ever been part of something like that is pretty special.