Posted: 4/26/2008 5:03:21 AM EDT
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I thought I would share this as it really moved me. I was driving back from WLC (PLDC) that I just completed and stopped at a road side rest stop, I was still in uniform and when I walked into the rest stop this little old man with a cane came to attention (which was really hard for him) and saluted me...I was shocked and when I looked at him he had a WW II hat with a CIB on it.... So I stopped and talked with him for quite some time and he pretty much shared all his stories with me...Man I respect those guys. He told me about the buddies he lost his getting wounded and sent right back out...If you guys know of these men from WW II listen to them, there aren't many of them left... Theres a reason the sky is blue.....God loves the Infantry!! Hooah! |
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRunt  One of the most interesting I have met so far was in New Groton, CT. We were taking a tour of a WWII sub. This older fella kept correcting the tour guide. Come to find out the older fella served on the sub in the war. The tour was then given by the Vet with assistance from the guide. Scouts Out! |
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I spent several hours one time talking with a P51 pilot that flew escort missions in to Germany with B 17 flights. That guy had balls!!!!!!!!! Some of his stories would scare todays pilots to death. I have known some ground pounders also. Worked with a sailor that spent 4 years in the Pacific with two 15 day leaves in that 4 years(and he didn't get home for the 4 years). They were a tough breed!! Diamondback A 45 may not expand but it will never be smaller than .45!!  NRA Member |
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My grandfather jumped into Normandy and Holland. He lost an eye and had a plate put in his head as a result of shrapnel obtained near Bastogne. He passed last June taking the majority of his stories with him  All I know is that he received the CIB, two purple hearts, and a Bronze Star. One of the only stories he told me was he lost the majority of his gear on the jump into Normandy and spent half the night under an apple tree since he could not locate any friendlies. He is the reason I became a paratrooper. All The Way!!!! There are fewer and fewer of these great veterans left. 
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| My Dad, God rest his soul, served with the 3d ID in Operation "Torch" ( the invasion of North Africa Nov 1942 ) Kasserine Pass and on to Sicily and Italy. My Dad was the reason I enlisted for the Infantry ( he was not so keen on the Airborne deal :-) I wanted to be just like him. When I got to the Brigade on Okinawa I found that most of our senior NCO's were WWII Men, some of whom Jumped into Normandy ( as well as the Brigade and Battalion Commander ) and I have always considered myself Very Very Blessed to have been trained by these Men of Men and to have served with them. God Bless them all. AIRBORNE !! |
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That's great-I love chatting up the old timers, they were a breed apart. Some notables I've met were a Taccoa 506th PIR grunt in a 7-11 (he and I were wearing 101st hats and started talking) and a Merrills Marauder soldier at a supermarket (I complimented him on his tattoo of a 1917 Browning). Crowboy, I met SGM Okendo way back in 1989, not many triple CIB awardees around. He may have been in the Brigade after your time, though. WWII, Korea, and Vietnam...it was an honor to shake his hand. |
Hey Tim, You are correct, Okie was after my time. He is a legend in the Brigade ( he served with the 503d PIR in WWII and made 2 combat jumps on the Phillipines with the 503d and I believe 1 more in Korea with the 187th ) I had a very long telephone talk with the SGM back in 2000, what a guy !! When we went to RVN on 04 May 1965 the 503d PIR had 2 Inf Batts, they added the Aussies RAR in the summer of 65 as our 3d Batt and then in 67 they grabbed a 4th Batt from the 101st in Ft Campbell. Okie was in the 101st back at Campbell and he could have stayed home but he let another NCO stay and he went. He was at Dak To in Nov 67 and wrote a book about it, which he was kind enough to send me a copy of. We compared stories on the two biggest battles that the Brigade had in RVN, "Hill 65" on 08 Nov 1965 which I was a part of and Dak To in Nov 1967 which he was a part of. He is a prime example of the kind of Men I was talking about, a Triple CIB award and 3 Combat Jump Stars.. God Bless him and all the others. |
| Back around mid 1983 I came home on leave from Ft. Riley where I was stationed as a grunt with the 1st ID. My mom worked in the Time and Life building in Rockefeller Center, so I wore my class A uniform and met her for lunch. There was this older guy who worked the short order line in the cafateria that I remembered from visiting there over the years. He remembered me, but didn't know I joined the Army. I had no idea he was in the 17 Airborne Division and jumped in operation Varsity in WWII. Almost 40 years after WWII and this guy still looked tough enough to take someone out. Truly the greatest generation. |
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My uncle won the Navy Cross for leading his TBM squadron to sink the sister ship of the Yamamoto battleship...Mira or something like that. He later shot down a Zero above Manilla Bay....in a TBM!! Later he was the leader of the Blue Angels circa 1960. He is 87 now, just broke his pelvis and probably on his way out in the next few months. I once knew one of the survivors of the Bataan Death March. We had a guy here in Utah who worked at the local Surplus Store; he was a 101st AB vet whose first action was the Bulge. Had a metal plate in his head. He brought his memory book in and we looked at it together. Around the time Saving Private Ryan came out. My favorite was meeting one of Rommel's Desert Fox tank commanders. He was very anti war and told stories of cooking eggs on the tank metal...it got so hot in the desert. |
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My grandfather flew B25 Mitchell's during the war. He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down a Zero in a dogfight... from his bomber. The medal was awarded almost 50 years after the war, his copilot became a congressman from Colorado who was on the late awards committee. He found out that the XO of the squadron claimed to have shot the plane down, but he knew that my grandad had done it instead. He made it happen and applied for the award. |