I was born in 1951, so grew up with many vets of WW II, but I don’t have a single story to relate because none of them would talk about what they did.
My knowledge of what my family did was sparse. I know my uncle flew bombers over Germany. My dad was a Marine and trained as a radio operator on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. He was on a an invasion fleet troop ship headed to Japan when the A-Bombs were dropped ending the war, so he became part of the occupation force. He brought home a silk parachute that my mom used to make her wedding dress in 1947. My grandfather (dad’s side) fought in WW I for the Germans on the eastern from and was a Russian POW.
I worked overseas for a few years in the mid ‘70s and there was one guy on the work crew on a job in China who served in WW II. It was the high point of his life and it was literally all he could talk about. Every single conversation with him quickly turned to his war experiences. The poor guy so alienated everybody with his stories that he couldn’t make any friends. Whenever a new person arrived on the job site, he would glom onto them to tell his stories. Then they learned and stopped talking to him. At the time it was really annoying, but I came to feel real sorry for that guy and feel a bit ashamed I didn’t pay more attention to him.
I forget what grade but the English teacher said we would do a segment on poetry. We are thinking roses are red, violets are blue.
Instead he leads with death of a ball turret gunner.
From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
Randall Jarrell
The whole class was mortified when we realized what this was about. The teacher had a big grin on his face.
Thank you Vets
I am secretary/treasurer of my ship association, so have access to a complete roster of shipmates, but I don’t like to make phone calls. As a result, I have missed opportunities to talk with shipmates who have now passed away.