A couple of days ago, my 92 year old Father-in-law (PaPaw) related a war story to my wife for the first time:
70 years ago, March 30th, 1945, PaPaw was on a Mine-Sweeper off of Okinawa with a convoy of other ships when they came under attack by Kamikazes. One Kamikaze flew by their ship within 100 feet of him, but it was headed for a Destroyer. PaPaw said he could make out the goggles of the pilot.
With his freshly cleaned 50 Cal, he was so tempted to open fire, but they were under a no-shoot order because of the close proximity of other ships.
Fortunately, there was a Hellcat in pursuit which got the Kamikaze before it reached the Destroyer.
Lots of good posts with the personal element today. Thanks, all.