Posted on 10/03/2007 7:19:09 PM PDT by richardtavor
Our WWII Veterans are dropping like flies. I lost my Dad in February. I thought I would pass on some of the information that I found when I inherited a photo album of his experiences. He was stationed on Guam in 1944 and 1945. He arrived on the day the Staff declared the island won, when there were still 5000 hostile Japanese on the Island. This album is amazing--it shows an accurate picture of that conflict (about 300 photos.) He was a SeaBee and apparently spent most of his time at Agana. There was a poem that he posted at the front of the album, which I would like to share with anyone that is interested. I am not sure that he wrote it as he did not credit it (remember, it was written in 1945, so it might be a little corny.) I thought it might be of interest to anyone else that had a Dad in the Seabees: THE LIFE OF A SEABEE
You can have your khaki but I'll take my navy blue For there's still another fighter That I'll introduce to you.
His uniform is different. The best you'll ever see. The Japs call him a Seadog But his real name is Seabee.
He was trained in old Rhode Island, The land that God forgot, Where the mud is 14 inches deep and the rain will never stop.
He has set many a table and many's the dish he's dried He also learned to make a bed, A broom he sure can guide.
He has peeled a million onions and twice as many spuds. He also spends his leisure time Washing out his duds.
Now sister take this little tip That I'm handing out to you, Just grab yourself a Seabee For there's nothing he can't do.
And when he gets to heaven St. Peter he will tell, "Another Seabee reporting, Sir, I've served my hitch in hell."
Again, thanks to all of these veterans that have paid the price so that we can live in freedom. If anyone else had a family member in WWII that was a Seabee, I would like to trade stories of what I have found out.
A good friend of mine lost his father last year. The man was piloting a landing craft on D-Day in Europe. His lasting memory of that day started on the third wave. He said there were so many bodies floating near the shore line that he had to bear straight through them.
We carry on their heritage. Our fight is much easier but no less important. The new enemy of our nation is within; within this nation, within our states, within our nation’s capitol.
Unfortunately he died in 1970 and I was too young to get any stories from him. My mom died in June and I still haven't gone through all of his stuff that she had saved of his.
There is paperwork with all of his locations though.
I plan on putting together a time line of all of his visits. I did find a picture of him shaking Robert McNamara's hand during a visit. McNamara was an assistant to Curtis LeMay (I think) and they were visiting to check out bombing tactics and missions on the islands.
Both my mother and father were WWII Navy veterans. I miss them both.
I know what you mean. They truly were “the Greatest Generation.”
The freedom that generation secured is all around us.
My father played a small part in that.
So they live on all around us in that way.
16 million American men and women were in uniform during World War II. 3 million are still alive today. God Bless them all, those that are still here and those who are not.
At the time of the War, America had a population of 130 million. The equivalent in the present day with our current population would be 40 million American men and women in uniform.
What is the deal with “God” being posted so often here on FR as G-d”???
My Dad was a pre-navy seal. He was the first group of what became the special ops teams. In those days they were called frog men. He was in the Pacific...fighten the Japs.
The sad reality is that their progeny...the boomers....are on the verge of destroying the nation that their fathers spilled their blood to save.
Virtually everywhere I turn I see anti-american values, hatred, bias and one world thinking. Save for most of talk radio and FR it is manifested openly and with venom.
The 2008 elections just may be this nation's Waterloo moment, the star burst when our country dives headlong into Socialism. After that it is only a matter of time until we crumble from within.
I wondered that, too.
Bookmarking for tomorrow....
I agree with you.
I've watched a little bit of the "WAR" series on tv and it makes me sad that my parents were not around to FINALLY be recognized for what they did..
they again, to see the Brittany, Osama, Obama, Hitlery, Anna stuff going around, and to know that they served their country proudly to protect it, maybe its better that they went on to the perfect world...the world they fought for is in a cesspool...
I was proud and happy for him when Congress declared Merchant Marines official Veterans back in 2001.
He is 81 and still going strong.
I’ve been reading a WWII novel called “The Rising Tide,” by Jeff Shaara. It covers the period from just prior to El Alamein through the invasions of Italy. The Big Red One was just introduced as a group character after the invasion of North Africa. This part is from the point of view of a tank driver, although it switches back and forth from many different characters obscure and famous. I suspect it gives a fairly good impression of what people like your father went through. I wish I could find a similar yarn set in my father’s theatre - New Guinea and the Philippines.
The very best to you and yours.
Semper Fi
Texican
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