The FReeper Foxhole Remembers "Little Friends" - USAAF Fighter Escorts - Dec. 11th, 2002

http://www.cebudanderson.com/europe.htm ^ | Scott Richardson

[Victoria Delsoul]

Cya later, Jen.

[Victoria Delsoul]

LOL! Good one, hahaha.

[nicollo]

Your story is beautiful. You are good to take those kids to DC. It's not an easy trip, and it can be frustrating for the chaperons, as for the kids its mostly vacation, and shopping malls are far more interesting than the monuments.

I'm a part-time DC City Guide. I do it for the love of it, and for the joy of inspiring a kid or two. The Marine Corps Memorial is my favorite among destinations. How wonderful for you to have fallen upon Mr. Bradley that night.

History is hard to convey to 8th graders. They lack proportion and time. 20 years ago is the same as 100 or 1,000. To bring is alive for them is an art. When it works, it's magic.

Last summer at our camp, my 10-year old son was leafing through a volume of Life Magazine pictures of WWII. As he came across a page of a Navy transport beached at Iwo Jima, my uncle happened to look over my son's shoulder. He exclaimed, "That's my boat!"

Right there, on a quarter of a page was two years of his life. He was a gunner. His only exercise was just that; he never shot at the enemy. It was always a possibility. His commander's job was to bring supplies in, and take mostly coffins back out. Now, we all gathered around. His brother was on a sub during the war. His other brother was in the Army. None had ever talked about their experiences, especially my submariner uncle. This night, my uncle spilled his stories.

This happened once before with another Uncle, a man who served in Korea and Vietnam. He was a flyer. Jets in Korea, helos in Vietnam. Some of us were trading speeding stories one night, a few years back, and he jumped in with a story of stalling at 20,000 feet over Alaska, and pulling out at 500 feet and as many miles an hour. Something froze, which, he said was common up there, and he was lucky to have escaped. His eyes lit -- forgive the cliche, but that's what happened -- and he proceeded to tell us of his war experiences. Vietnam was more vivid for him, and he told us of helocopter stalls and drops to get the rotars moving again (I forget what they call this). He told us of the soldiers he baled out, and the flyers he watched go down. During the conversation, I happened to look at my his son, who from across the room sat like the Medussa's snare, unbelieving -- he later told me his father had never once spoken of war.

Listening to his great-uncle's stories from the Pacific, my son leafed through the book. I watched him as he came across pages of the mangled dead. Aftewards he said to me, scared, "Daddy, I don't like war."

"That's the point," I told him.

Thanks for your story. I printed it out, and it's now at the top of my Iwo Jima file. Let me know next time you're in town. I give a killer talk at the base of the Washington Monument. That spot, Arlington, the Jefferson, and the Lincoln... all make me cry. I thank God I'm an American.

[Fiddlstix]

Thanks, Fiddlstix!

You're welcome J

[Fiddlstix]

Thanks for the Christmas bears and music! I love music so much. I'm singing along now (off key probably... hehehehe) to the Chestnuts roasing song. I don't think that's its real name, but you know the one.

You're welcome J

[nicollo]

Btw, my uncles who served in WWII were all sons of privilege. Their father married one of the richest girls in the country. They had no business enlisting. Like their father, and like my grandfather, they signed up no questions asked, no insistence made.

My father, from the other side of the family, and I both have grown up between wars. I pray my son shall have the same, and if he doesn't, I pray he has his uncle's and his great-grandfather's (and their fathers' before) manhood. It's not valor, and it's not courage. They were all scared. It's duty.

[SAMWolf]

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for sharing your family with us Nicollo. "Duty" is word you don't hear about much today.

[Jen]

It would be interesting to know if that over 30 million figure is accurate regarding huey/slick missions flown.

Yeah, I think so too. 30 million seems to be an incredibly high number of missions to me. But, who knows.

Anybody out there know if this figure is correct?

[Jen]

What a great patriotic Santa holding an American flag and Statue of Liberty. I'm jealous of your graphics sources! ;-) Thanks for your posts Gail!

[SAMWolf]

1st MAW helicopters flew a total of 490,000 sorties and lifted a total of 732,000 troops, besides performing evacuation, resupply and a host of other support missions for units in and out of combat.

This was just one air wing so 30 million sories may not really be too high.

[M Kehoe]

" When in doubt, make it sound convincing. "

Or, if you can't dazzle them with brillance, baffle them with bull$hit.

5.56mm

[Jen]

Let us never forget from the revolutionary War to the Gulf War and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our freedom. Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray for those still in murderous unrest around the world. STOP, and thank God for being alive at someone else's sacrifice. God Bless!"

<=== Click
"Some Gave All"

[Jen]

No wonder I'm banned from making the coffee.

I can make coffee. Can you cook? We may be able to work out a partnership... ;-)

[Jen]

Those are some beautiful aircraft pix you've posted today Misty! Thanks!!! I'm partial to those things with wings, ya know.

[Jen]

I'm glad you enjoy the threads. SAMWolf is the one who's done most of the work and deserves the credit for putting the threads together.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks exnavy. Military history is a favorite of mine too.

[SAMWolf]

You're welcome Trteamer. Glad you like the thread.

[Jen]

What an amazing account of your family's participation in WWII. It's stories like yours that I love most about the Foxhole threads. Thank you so much for sharing it. All your uncles are heroes in my opinion.

My grandfather served in the Army Air Corps in WWII but I never heard any of his stories. He never talked about the war and he died earlier this year, so I may never know what he did. My great-uncle earned a Purple Heart and another award for merit, but I don't know the particulars of it either. He's gone now too. I wish that I had taken the time to talk to them and hear their stories before it was too late.

[Jen]

Nicki Sixx is 44 today? No way! I'm getting old.

You're getting old??? Uhhhh, who is Nicki Sixx? ;-) Does that mean I'm getting older?