Some old Photos for your enjoyment

Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
That's a really interesting photo! The railroads put most canal/river transport out of business, the the highways put the railroads mostly out of business- compared to their glory days in both cases. Always seemed to me like we should have used each where they were most applicable and cost effective, but as I've noted before, I'm not in charge!
 
RicinYakima

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
My folks really like the electric street cars. For a dime you could get on and go anywhere from Dayton to Cincinnati; for $2 you could get a month pass. A car went each direction every 30 minutes.
 
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richhodg66

Well-Known Member
My Dad grew up in Denton, Texas and told me once that the town held a parade every memorial day (I think, might have been Armistice Day or 4th of July) and they had the town's confederate vets sitting in the reviewing stand the parade marched by. He told me in 1945 there were still three of them left but by 1946 none.

When we went up to see younger son graduate Navy basic, a businessman there (retired Army NCO, oddly) throws a big dinner bash for the families of the kids graduating and they recognize all the veterans in the crowd, which I always feel a little self concious, but OK, what was really cool was there was a WWII Vet in attendance who was still mobile and mentally sharp. I shook his hand and we chatted for a few minutes. As one might expect, he was real young when he enlisted close to the end of the war so didn't see a whole lot, but it was still sure humbling to stand in the prresence of one of those guys.
 
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PED1945

Active Member
richhodg66 said:
I wish now that for my whole young life, I had listened to more WWII veterans, not many left now and few who can remember much.
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I had a chance to hear some great stories from German WW2 veterans while traveling around Europe in 1973. They really opened up when they learned I was also a war veteran (1971 Vietnam). The only war veterans they knew were a generation older than me. It helped that I spoke their language.
 
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Jeff H

NW Ohio
richhodg66 said:
I wish now that for my whole young life, I had listened to more WWII veterans, not many left now and few who can remember much.
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Most of the ones I knew never talked about it.

I had one uncle who did a couple times, when it was just him and me - no one else around. The things he told me about being in the Infantry in the South Pacific made me understand why they didn't talk about it much. Took him twenty five years after to level off and lead a somewhat normal life.

I listened and didn't ask any questions or interrupt. I've also not repeated a any of it, because it was his, not mine.

Most of the NCOs above E5 were Vietnam Vets when I went into the Army. Almost all the instructors in any school were too. Most of them didn't talk about it. A few, whom I became close to did after time. I never asked, but once - a guy with a "Big Red One" on his right shoulder. I asked what his war had been like and he told me "go find your own f'n' war." And we were friends.
 
Missionary

Missionary

Well-Known Member
A member of our home Church PVT. Chuck Capps went in D-Day +3 in an anti-tank company. As they slowly moved inland they began picking up all the loose ammo, MG's, Bar's, trailers and functional vehicles they could beg, borrow and steal.
Had a few "minor clashes" until the Bulge.
By then his platoon was well equiped with 57 AT guns and ammo. Every foxhole had at least one MG caliber .30, thousands of rounds of ammo and at least a case of grenades.
They were on a hilltop in Belguim overlooking a main road at 600 yards. First lost all radio como with the company. Late in the day small infantry patrols began moving down the road. Within an hour the first light tanks came rolling along. These were easily "dispatched". Later a patrol was seen approaching "our hill." "We let them get to about 50 yards then every automatic weapon which could be trained on them cut loose." "We kept up random fire for some time so they would know to stay away."
"Later an LP on another side reported movement coming up". They returned to our perimeter and again we waited." "This time we let them get in close and pounded them with many grenades." Then the automatic weapons again took over." "I did not think anyone got back down." "Six different times they came at us." "Once from two different sides." "Each time they met enough MG and BAR fire to convince them we were well equiped and not leaving."
"As we had 2x our normal transportation we had plenty of everything. Food, and water would have been enough for 3 weeks. Ammo for the MG's was no worry. Once they mortared us with a few rounds before an attack. They must have not had much left."
"After those six attempts on our hill, they stopped coming. We could see them using another small road about two thousand yards away. They still watched us and we would fire off a couple burts whenever we saw them closer than we wanted."
"Nine or ten days later a small patrol came from the north and they were ours. We yelled the old password but they were slow coming in until they radioed to their company who we were and it got verified. Boy were we glad our artillery did not cut loose on us."

One thing Brother Capps related was how tired he got trying to tell none military people about his WW2 events. They only wanted to know how many Germans he had shot and didn't he feel bad about it all.
 
RBHarter

RBHarter

West Central AR
I had an adopted Uncle that was Corps . He landed 3 beach heads , Iwo Jima was one of them but he never said which one .
He was dubbed Bingo , or just Bing , which is a long way from Levi . It wasn't because of his slight build , voice , or White Christmas , I suspect it was more more the bang- bing or the slang for a solid hit or correct answer .

He related that the first shot on an enemy was hard and in hindsight far to close , as in there was no longer any doubt that if he didn't retire the man he was certain to be retired himself . So went the 2nd and 3rd..........at some point he made the conscious decision that this wasn't going to get any better or easier and began to visualize stacking fence posts . At least on the beaches he could choose 2-3 lines and pile them up as they came out .

I guess he ate beans at least once with Lee Marvin and held him in good stead . He didn't care for Capt' Kangaroo but I suspect it was an intra service thing about orders and using the service as a tool after the fact .
 
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Farmerjim

Active Member
My father talked a bit about WW2. Was on a LST on D day. I have his copy of the ships log. My wife's parents were killed when she was 9. Went to live with her grandfather. He told her stories of the WW1 trench warfare. He was gassed with chlorine, but survived. His youngest brother lied about his age to get into the war. He was killed the first day.
 
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Jeff H

NW Ohio
Been thinking about Veterans - American and German.

I was friends with a couple who were a bit older than my parents, but but not as old as my grandparents. He was a WWII vet. Quiet, kind, calm, composed and had the warmest smile. Took care of his family, never talked about the War.

His wife had a very prominent German accent, did not smile a lot and was always on guard, wary, worrisome, but kind too and very concerned for anyone around her. Even as a German civilian, she was a WWII Veteran for certain. She would talk to anyone who would listen and few did. No one wanted to hear that stuff.

She told me many stories, mostly how she and others had fallen under Hitler's spell as a child, collected money in a can on street corners for Hitler's Youth to support the cause. Shen ended up spent her "high school" years hiding from Nazis, running from place to place, hoping someone would put them up for a day or a week, constantly on the run and never knowing whom to trust. Apparently her father had figured out something she had not and wised up, which turned out to be dangerous.

Boy, she talked. She had dire warnings about trusting charismatic leaders and worried for American, always warning not to let what we have slip away. This was while I was in high school and I got an education no young high school history teacher could ever hope to provide.

She and he met toward the end of the war, married and she came home with her. They both passed within the last five years. I ran into their oldest son a few years ago and he had managed to get his dad flown to DC, either in an old military aircraft, or to go fly in one one lat time just before he passed.

She wrote/self-published a short book on the matter and I had a copy at one time. I remember how disappointing it was that it was so short. It was not much more than a travel brochure and he had so much to tell. She never hesitated to talk if someone would listen, as much as it pained her to relive it.

I've always felt privileged to have been able to sit and listen to her. Older people didn't want to relive it and younger people just didn't care.
 
462

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
The soon-to-be 93 year old neighbor lady lived through the Nazi era and war, on a farm in Friedrichshafen, Germany, very near the Swiss border. Other than the general hardships, of the time, she was unaffected till French troops arrived and she saw them killing civilians.
 
Rick H

Rick H

Well-Known Member
I never got the chance to talk with my Dad about his war experiences. He died when I was 13 and I guess Dad thought I was too young. I did overhear him talking with my uncle (Korean War infantryman) when I was supposed to be asleep. Dad was Navy, served on heavy and light cruisers in the 7th fleet, mostly South Pacific. Had one blown out from under him in the Soloman's. Those were some very tough days. That was the only time I ever heard him talking about his time in the war.

I would have given a lot to have talked with him before I shipped off to basic training.
 
Winelover

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
My father, didn't/wouldn't talk about his tour during WWII. He was a belly turret gunner on a B24 or B25. Can't recall which. All he said was they came down hard, once. He never flew commercial, after that.
 
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Hawk

Hawk

Well-Known Member
I've got a buddy on my deer lease that I've known for 35 years. He was in Vietnam.
It took 30 years before he started to talk about his tour.
He manned twin M60s on a gun truck that guarded convoys.
He said the only armour they had was what they could steal and mount themselves.
 
Wiresguy

Wiresguy

Active Member
My dad was the oldest of 5 boys, served in the Navy as an Electrician’s Mate on a Destroyer Escort in the Pacific.

His next younger brother also joined the Navy and served as an Aviation Machinist’s Mate on an Escort Carrier in the Pacific.

The next younger brother joined the Army and was killed in Germany in 1944, two weeks after his 19th birthday.

The next younger brother tried to join but was rejected as unfit as he had been kicked in the head at the age of 10 by a mule, the injury crushing the bones in his forehead. He had not been expected to survive his injury, but went on to outlive his 4 brothers.

The youngest brother was too young for WWII, but served in the Navy during the Korean conflict.

Dad and his brother met up in Hawaii when their ships were in port at the same time and the brother told dad about their younger brother’s death in Germany.

Dad never would talk about his wartime experiences. I only asked once, when I was about 12 years old. He quietly explained that it was something that was not up for discussion.
 
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