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I’m thinking a collection of stories like the two of you have would make an interesting documentary on the History channel.

Well thanks for that FRiend, beyond the story of my Uncle Tommy the welder, I don't have too much to offer, but I freely share the following additional 'stuff':

My GrandDad (who served in World War I with his brother, my Uncle Lee), wanted to enlist again after Pearl Harbor but my Grandmother pleaded with him not to go, as she had a new son (my Uncle Bob, now 75 yrs old), and my Dad had already graduated high school and had left for basic training, Pacific bound. So in order to 'do his part', my GrandDad went to work at the Anacostia Navy Yard, helping build torpedoes after finishing his full time day job as a government electrician.

Prior to going into the Army, my Dad had an after school job as an elevator boy at the U.S. Capitol and actually met then Senator Truman on a daily basis, taking him up to his office. My Dad was shot in the arm by a Jap sniper in late 1944, which ended his time in the Pacific, and after the atomic bombs were dropped, he wrote to President Truman just to say "you probably don't remember me, but I wanted to thank you and commend you for dropping the bombs on Japan and winning the War". Amazingly enough, Truman remembered my Dad, wrote him back, wished him the best in recovery from his wound, and I have the letter to this day, safely locked away. I will never part with it.

Dad went into electronics engineering, and continued to work for the Department of the Army as a civilian, and while he never spoke of his work, I am convinced that he witnessed more than a few nuclear tests out west (not sure about the Pacific testing), he developed thyroid problems later in life for which he was on medication, he did have a fierce respect for the power of nuclear weapons, saying that we HAD to keep the peace (translation = staying strong) because the alternative was unthinkable.

My mother who grew up in Central Florida south of Orlando, told me of 'blackout raids' on a regular basis, and seeing B-17 bombers flying overhead from a training base reportedly in Sebring, Florida (my own research determined it was the 384th Bomb Group flying B-17Es).

On a side note, as a young kid, I remember talking to my Grandmother about my Dad being shot by that Jap sniper, and asked her how she felt about it (a stupid question but that's what kids do sometimes), and she told me very seriously that she prayed for that sniper and his family every night, and when I asked her "why?!?" she told me that the NEXT sniper might have shot my Dad right through the heart or head, and he would never have come back.

My Grandparents and parents are now all gone, but I was blessed with a pretty good memory and recall many of the conversations I had with them, and the things I heard just being in the 'right place at the right time'.

Have a good weekend FRiend.