Posted: 8/19/2006 5:21:41 PM EDT
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my dad's brother was in Vietnam, a Green Beret according to my father. my uncle is just this short stocky quiet guy who proudly wears his Vietnam Vet hat... i want to know about his military history. i want to hear the stories... but im not very close to him, i barely know the guy. me and most of my family dont see eachother much. everything i heard about my grandfathers military history i had to hear from my grandma. to the day he died he didnt have much to say about it to me... his case i can kind of understand, he survived a German sniper shot... to the head in Colberg Germany in 1944. shot hit im in the top of his ear lobe and exited his cheek the other side. he carried on a normal productive life after he healed. but i never got to hear the stories from him. i have copies of his release papers. should i ask my uncle next time i see him? or do i NOT ask him so i dont bring up bad memories...? |
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I would say no given that you don't know him very well. A few respectful questions however might open him up to you. If you think he would react bad to it then don't otherwise go for it. It's clear I haven't given you any answer at all but I've been at work since 0600. |
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well, i wonder if i could just as you said, start small... maybe- "what was the best part about the military for you? " maybe i should ask my dad first and see what he says. my uncle doesnt seem to be easily offended or pissed off, hes gotta a pretty good sense of humor and is a really nice guy, just keeps to himself alot is all... |
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My dad's a Vietnam Vet. My senior year in high school, one of our final projects in history class was to interview a war veteran. I asked my dad, and he quickly, and rather curtly, said "I don't want to talk about it." And that was that. I figure he'll talk about it whenever he wants to/whenever he's ready to. And I'd kinda think the same about your Uncle. |
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I would start by easing into the conversation by saying somehting like this: "I know we haven't talked much in the past, but I wanted to thank you for your service to this Country, and welcome you home." Let the conversation go where it may from there. It must, however, be sincere. If you are truly wanting to get to know him better, kudos to you! If you are just looking for some "cool war stories", move along please... I wish you luck if your motives are pure. 
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My FIL never spoke of his Korea in service time to anyone in his immediate family to include his wife and kids. One day I was just chatting with him and he started telling me some of the stuff that happened to him and his tank crew. Had 2 tanks shot out from under him. He then showed me stuff that his family members [polish] had taken from Germans in WW2 like daggers and the like. Just opened up, the wife had never heard any of it before. I guess he was ready to talk a bit about it is all I could figure, I know he had some "sleeping" problems with nightmares. My MIL said he has slept better since then. I think it has more to do with whether they feel comfortable around you and if you can be a good listener to let them unload. I think what got him talking was I had just got a M1 Carbine and that is what he carried. If you don't know him very well, I don't know if he'll want to talk about it. Respect that. |