Posted: 4/27/2009 4:03:13 AM EDT
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Some of you might remember me talking about my grandfather in the past and I think some of you sent up prayers for him. He passed away last night in his sleep in Ocala Florida.
Since I dont want to look at the faces of my CO or chaplain right now I am gonna unload a little here so I dont cry in front of my boss. Allen Laurain was a man's man. He was a truck driver when he was 18 and Pearl Harbor was bombed and he did what a lot of 18 year olds did and went down to join the Army. They had a movie star whos name escapes me right now suggesting jobs after they took the aptitude tests and Gramps thought he should be a trucker. It seems though that his scores were higher than everyone elses and he showed a propensity for radios so the movie star suggested it and he took the job. After his basic training somewhere in Louisiana and his radio school he was shipped out to the Hawaii. He arrived to find himself the only e-2 in the commo unit and was instantly put to work to fix an array that noone else could make work. It seems they had crossthreaded some connector and were not making contact so he had it fixed and underway in 15 minutes. He walked back down to the NCOIC's office to find his billeting and got the third degree about shirking his duty by not completing his task. Seems that when he told the Ncoic that it was fixed he has sent to the commander for insubordination. When it did in fact turn out to be fixed he was promoted to Sgt on the spot and stayed in Hawaii for 2 months. While he was there he took every class that he could on every subject they would teach him to stave off boredom. One of them was how to run a film projector. Long story short they put him on a troop transport and 2 days into the trip a Lt came down into the enlisted compartment and asked who could run these projectors so gramps raised his hand. The Lt had a lot of training videos to show to a lot of shifts so he was moved into the Lts stateroom and had the same accomodations as an officer for the trip. He loved that. He fought on so many different islands that I dont remember all of the names. He was wounded on Saipan and recieved the purple heart and a bronze star. More than once he had his radio shot off of himself and had to go find a dead joe with a working radio or cobble one together from parts of shot up ones. He carried a carbine and liked it but he liked the Garand as well. He would not hesitate to take either into a fight. You didnt want to get him started on the 1911 and how many japs he saw killed with it. He liked the everglades because they reminded him of the jungles somewhat and while they hid the enemy they also hid the good guys. He took away some emotional scars from his time there as well and he talked to me about them before he deployed. He never had the dreams or the hatred of the Japanese he did have residual attitude problems. Mainly with officers who got men killed because they wanted medals and not because something needed to be done. He was proud of what he did and proud of the man it made him so that helped. He went from an e-1 to an e-8 in 4 years and had a promising career ahead of him but he knew that he would not be able to live the Army life for long so he got out after the war and got married. He had 8 children and uncountable grandchildren and great grandchildren by now. He drank a bit and fought a bit and he would have signed on the dotted line if America was ever attacked again. We need more like him and maybe one day we will have them. He even had the gall to thank me for serving. I felt so incredibly insignificant next to what I perceived as a giant of a man I could not handle it and broke down and cried with him on his hospital bed before I left Benning. Thanks for being my hero Gramps. |
It is our fore-fathers, like your grandfather; that were indeed REAL men who the new generation of soldiers need to understand and learn from. Because serving our country shouldn't be a job, it should be dedication of honor and dignity; much like your grandfather exuded....I'm sure. My grandfather was the same (Paratrooper).......keep your head-up soldier!! You've got alot to be proud of, now it's your turn to carry-on the legacy!! |
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Quoted:
I felt so incredibly insignificant next to what I perceived as a giant of a man I could not handle it and broke down and cried with him on his hospital bed before I left Benning. Thanks for being my hero Gramps. As I read this I was thinking how small I felt just hearing about people like this. The world is lesser of a place without him. Condolences Berzerker. 
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