~Tribute to M1911A1's Father-WWII Veteran~

Freeper M1911A1 | October 24, 2004 | M0sby

[M0sby]

Please see below:
Thiswas writen by my husband, FReeper M1911A1, about his father Jack, who passed away this morning.

He was 84 years old.
 

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We have come to refer to the survivors of the Great Depression and WWII as “the Greatest Generation”. This phrase honors those, who like my father, were participants in some of the most difficult and pivotal moments in American history.  Yet, as all labels do, it masks extraordinary individual stories in a generalization.

 

My dad’s story is the sort that captures a boy’s imagination.  As a young boy himself, he confessed to mischief that I could never hope to match, including filling a mean old neighbor’s basement with water via a garden hose inserted secretly through a window, and launching ball bearings with a giant slingshot through the walls of his house.  As a young man, he went to Alaska, the last frontier, and explored wild lands.  He told me of hunting big game with Sam the Indian guide and a Winchester ‘94 while he scouted and surveyed for the Army constructing the AlCan highway.  I remember a picture he kept in his closet, not on display, of a rough young man wearing a cowboy hat, buckskins and brandishing six-guns.  There is a self conscience but proud look on that bearded face, as he lived the life of the frontier legends of his own youth, Tom Mix in the flesh.

 

And then came the Last Good War, and even though he was deferred due to his Alaska job and deterred by his mother’s concern over the awful casualty lists, he volunteered to be drafted, so he could justly say to his mother that he hadn’t enlisted. 

 

He fought with the 28th Division as an infantryman, and only another infantryman can understand the grim realities of that humble position in a World War.  As a child, this idea of my father as warrior held high romance, and only later did I begin to realize the enormous suffering and perseverance that this entailed.  He became a survivor of some of the most merciless bloodlettings since the Civil War. Names like the Hurtgen Forest and the Bulge, soon to become the sole possession of historians as time swallows living memory, were reality for my father.  It is true that he was part of the great Crusade in Europe, where brave men with rifles smashed the evil of Nazi terror, yet it is equally true that he was a small, shivering, filthy refugee from war’s terrible law of averages. The constant misery and horror of death avoided and dealt temporarily took his reason from him after the slaughter of the Hurtgenwald, but he soldiered on and helped save Bastogne.    He was a Prisoner of War, and the events that people my age viewed through the comic prism of “Hogan’s Heroes” he knew as harsh times of hunger, anguish, despair and determination to live.  

 

He then came home, put the war away, got a career, got married and had six boys.  This, as they say, is where I come in.  My father was, to me, first and foremost my father, not the boy, adventurer, soldier, husband and businessman that others knew him as.  I remember a man who taught me how to conk a trout on the head with a jackknife and to  love reading, who whistled the same tune over and over, harassed my mother over the relative weight of the flatware, danced with her when we kids dug out those quaint old 78’s, shoved all those sons in a Galaxy 500 and drove what seemed like forever to go see my cousins, showed me the right way to play poker, went to see me play football, corrected me, reluctantly tolerated my errors, and always forgave them.  I was very conscience of his faults, sometime without thought for the furnace that forged them, especially as my own manhood approached. I often masked my affection for him, as men do, with sarcasm and humor.  My own son knows him as “Grumpy Grandpa”, and we boys were quick to joke about the irascible old man and some of his politically incorrect ways. Yet, for us and for his times, he and his kind were truly indispensable.

 

At a life’s end, our humanity demands that we who remain try to measure it and the yardstick we must use is our own experience.  My father helped explore the last American frontier; I explored the woods next to our house.  My father saw more of real soldiering in less than two years than I have seen in more than two decades.  He raised five boys; I struggle mightily with just two.  He did this not as a part of some fable from a “Greatest Generation”, but as an individual man, with all the shortcomings and virtues therein, and that is what made him remarkable in my eyes. 

 

My father’s story is the sort that captures a boy’s imagination, and as a time has brought me experience, if not wisdom, it has captured my respect and admiration. If my own sons can know a little of him through me, I will be glad for it, and I truly believe that they will be better for it.  I cannot offer him more heartfelt praise than that.

 

Thanks dad

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[austingirl]

What a wonderful tribute. Prayers for your family.

[Issaquahking]

Thanks for the ping Tonk.

Prayers for the family of a man who wa an American Patriot. So typical of the greatest generation, they never gave it a second thought they just did what needed to be done at the time - small things - like saving America.

Your father will be in good company, as he will be there with my father who was in the Pacific theater, and the disarming of China after the war. Went to Alaska a year after he got out.

Rest in Peace, Jack.

[Alamo-Girl]

What a beautiful tribute! I thank God for your father-in-law, a hero to our country and for all who love him.

[Diver Dave]

A wonderful tribute. Thanks for sharing Jack with us.

[Soaring Feather]

Thanks so much for sharing your Father-in-Law's story with us.


Prayers for all.

[SandRat]

An old soldier has rejoined the members of his unit that have gone before him. Know that when 1SG St. Peter calls his name at company roll call in that muster formation above he'll bark out again a resounding and youthful "Here!"

[katnip]

Daughter of a deceased WWII Vet bump.

I'm sorry he's gone from you. I love the Grumpy Grampa name.

[StarCMC]

God bless you all in your loss. May he rest in a hero's peace.

[OldSgt.]

What your Husband has written, though saying goodbye, knows how lucky he was to have his Father. And his sons will know, and become the men that Grumpy taught his son to be!!

God's speed.

[HiJinx]

God Bless our heroes...

[brityank]

My condolences to you and your families, and a sincere thank you for sharing the story of your father.

Thanks for the ping, Tonk.

[Fawnn]

May Jack rest in God's peace. A grateful America thanks Jack for his service to our country -- as a soldier, as a father, and as another unsung hero: a father who cares (on many levels) for his wife and family.

Prayers and condolences to M1911A1, MOsby, and your family and friends for your loss.

[The Right Stuff]

That was a beautiful tribute to a man who sounds outstanding. Condolences to the family and give your husband a hug!

[blackie]

Great tribute ~ Bump!

[Kathy in Alaska]

RIP Grumpy Grandpa Jack
Thank you for your service to America

[Kathy in Alaska]

RIP Freesofar's Father
Thank you for your service to America

[NanaDory8]

How blessed you are to have "grumpy grandpa". May the Holy Spirit send you hugs and comfort as God takes Jack in His arms.

[Euro-American Scum]

Thank you for posting this. It is a topic of ongoing interest, and such tales need to be told.

This summer, I had the singluar privilige to visit spend a month in Europe for the 60th anniversary of the Normandy invasion. This included an extended tour of many of the battlefields of western Europe.

If I had to pick one aspect of this experience that stood out, it was the veterans themselves. We had a tour group of about 800 at its peak, 300 of which were WWII veterans. A more exceptional group of Americans I've never met.

As it turned out, we had two veterans of the 28th Division with us. Veterans of the Hurtgen and the Bulge (both of which we visited). Strangely enough, it was a 101st Airborne paratrooper who gave our group a brief talk in the town square at Noville, Belgium who mentioned the importance of a massive firefight that took place east of there in on December 17, 1944 by the 110th Infantry -- a regiment of the 28th Div.

The 110th had been hit hard by the initial German advance, as had the other two regiments of the 28th. They were pushed back through the center of the German advance, and near the town of Wiltz, I believe, turned and made what amounted to a last stand. Outnumbered and outgunned, the 110th Infantry fought almost to the last man. It was a 20th century Alamo. But they bought 12 precious hours with their blood. Time, without which, the 101st Airborne would have been hard-pressed to make it into Bastogne to set up a defensive perimiter.

But for a few obscure history texts, this crucial clash of arms has been ignored. One of our tour guides -- a military history professor from a school in Missouri -- is starting research on a book chronicling the sacrifices of the 28th. I will look for it with interest.

We had a substantial contingent from Easy Company/506th Parachute Infantry Regiment with us. A group from the now legendary Band of Brothers, thanks to HBO and Stephen Ambrose. Several more wanted to come, but, due to failing health, were unable to make the trip.

Coming home from Europe, it occured to me that, as these men pass on, I will not merely not the passing of historical figures, I'll be losing a friend.

As one whose interest in WWII has always been keen, I come away with a newfound appreciation for what these men endured, and the tremendous service they performed for their country, and the world in general. After visiting the Auschwitz death camp, later in June, I can say that any American who fired a shot in anger to destroy the Nazi nightmare deserves a special decoration made of solid gold.

And on the passing of you father-in-law, I can offer you the Scripture verse of II Timothy 4:7. . .

"I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.

Your father-in-law definitely kept the faith.

[TASMANIANRED]

My tribute to your Father in Law as well.

Reading this brought up memories of my own Father and my Father in Law, both WWII Vets and both sadly gone from this earthly life.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Oh M0sby, what a BEAUTIFUL tribute to your father-in-law. What a wonderful man he was. I pray for your family, that they know his passing from this world, takes him into his Father's arms.

We all love you. Tell your hubby we're here for him.

God bless you!!!!!