What did you or your family do in the military?

[Lionheart]

I thought I would start a thread on family that served in the military. Might be interesting to see who all did what.

To start, I wasnt in the armed forces. I wanted to join the USAF, but didnt.

Dad was in the WWII Army Aircorps (didnt have AF back then, branch of the Army). He was trained to be a carrier transfer pilot, never saw action, the war ended as soon as he was active.

Grandpa served in France, WWI, the main front, France, alongside of French soldiers as well as Americans. He was a telegraph operator. One day, the Germans shot mustard gas at their lines. Suddenly a gust of wind kicked up, and the gas went back to the Germans, sending them fleeing for their lives. He would watch dog fights from the trenches, and was horrified to see guys burned alive, screaming, as their planes, on fire, dove into the ground. Their crew ship was almost torpedoed, but luckily, the onboard guns were somehow able to take out the sub while it was at periscope depth. Oil slick appeared shortly after.

Happy Memorial Day! God bless you all for your service.



Bill

 

[pilottj]

My Granddad was a C-47 pilot in Europe with the AAF. He arrived after D-Day, participated in Market Garden. After the war he went into the Army National Guard artillery division as a reservist, retired as a Lt. Colonel. He passed away 3 years ago. After he passed, I scanned some photos he took during the war. Warhawk1130 graciously did a MAAM C-47 repaint in his honour. :salute:

 

[wbuchart]

I mainly went to different schools......

while in the NAVY n the 70s. Spent most of my time shore duty in San Diego! (Electricians Mate 3) My dad, however, had a much harder time in the NAVY, he was one of the guys who stormed the beach an Okinawa during WWII.......

 

[Jagdflieger]

A Family's Service

My wife's grandfather was a doughboy in France in WW I while my grandfather and his kin fought for the Kaiser.

My dad was with the Coast Guard in WWII and his brother (my uncle) was a P-47 pilot who had to medically retire as an LTC from a B-52 wing out of Guam during the VN War.

My mother was a WAVE (US Navy) and served as a code breaker in Washington DC during WWII.

My wife's uncle was also a pilot in the Army during WWII and is still Missing in Action somewhere in the ETO. Her father retired from the USAF after 20 years of service.

I'm still chugging along, drawing my pay and doing my duty for Uncle Sam.

A loud Hoo Ahh to all who have stood watch on the thin red line.:salute:

 

[CybrSlydr]

Both of my Grandfather's served. One in the Army in WWII in the Pacific, was also training to go to Japan for the invasion before they surrendered. The other was in the Air Force as a mechanic for B-29s in Korea.

I'm currently in an Artillery Battalion in Afghanistan doing infantry work. Kinda sucks, but it is what it is.

 

[Panther_99FS]

Dad=USAF
Uncle=USA
Godfather=USA

This is all that I know...

 

[Oglivie]

My Mother's father was in the Swedish Cavalry during WWI. The Swedish did not actively fight in either World War to my knowledge.

My Mother's brother served in an Army MASH unit in the Korean War.

My Father served as a cook in the Navy just after WWII.

My Father's brother-in-law served in the Army in WWII Europe. He was awarded the Silver Star. I wish I knew more of his exploits there, he is now deceased as my grandfather, father and uncle are also.

I was turned down for physical reasons (bad feet and what later was determined as Lupus) during the Vietnam era Draft, but have friends that served in Vietnam. They all returned home with all body parts and without a body bag.

 

[Tako_Kichi]

My late father was a Royal Marine Commando during WWII. He joined up in 1941 after being in a reserved occupation (coal mines). After basic training he was shipped out to India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka now) to await the Japanese but of course they never got that far. On his return trip to Blighty in 1943 he was acting as an anti-aircraft gunner aboard a Destroyer passing through the Med when he downed two ME109s during an air raid off Malta.

Once back in the UK he was re-trained for land warfare and qualified as a Bren Carrier driver, 3" mortar man and an explosives specialist. During training his team held the record (for a short while) for the most shells in the air at the same time, 21 mortar shells launched before the first one landed (all out of a single mortar tube)!

He took part in the D-Day landings in 1944. On D-Day itself he was back to acting as an AA gunner on board a Destroyer standing off from the French coast. On D-Day +1 he used his explosive skills to blow out the bottoms of the concrete block ships used to make temporary harbours. He went ashore on D-Day +2 and then fought his way across Europe before being de-mobbed in Berlin in 1946. He should have been at the infamous 'Bridge Too Far' but his unit was one of those trapped in the huge traffic jams along the Arnhem Corridor and he didn't get there until the fighting for the bridge was over. He also passed through the Belsen-Bergen concentration camp (the only one to be liberated by the British) two weeks after the inmates were freed and he said the scenes and smells were the worst experience of his entire war. Apparently the stench from the camp could be detected 3 miles away and there were still piles of bodies 6-7 feet high awaiting burial.

As for me the nearest I got to military service was in the Air Training Corps (the RAF cadet force) during my early to mid teenage years. My father wanted me to join the Royal Marine Cadets but I wanted to fly! I think he was proud I wanted to join the cadets but never missed an opportunity to call me a 'Brylcreem Boy' whenever I was in uniform! He certainly had a smile on his face when I returned from an annual camp one year sporting a brand-new pair of crossed rifles (a marksmanship award) on my uniform sleeve.

 

[Willy]

Grandpa (Mom's side) was a bit old to serve in WWII. He did lose a younger brother who was a tanker in the Army in Germany. Tank got hit, he was the only one not wounded and went for help. His wounded buddies were found by some US soldiers, but he was never seen again.

Dad was a career Marine. Served 24 years, retiring as a Master Gunnery Sergeant with a combat tour as a young grunt in Korea and two tours in Viet Nam.

Mom had 9 brothers. 8 served in the Navy and the youngest (my age) went into the Marines.

I messed around and did a career in the Navy. Had a great time and would do it over again if I could.

Great Great Grandfather on Mom's side served in the Louisiana Infantry during the Civil War.

 

[stiz]

my generation:-

none, i've looked but at the moment unfit for duty due to medical stuff, gotta wait till september at the earliest, if theres an army left by then that is!

dads side:-

dad = army signalers, not in the army now but works alongside the RAF as a civi
uncle = army sergent, infranty i belive
great uncle = tank loader/gunner, ww2
granddad = infranty, ww2
great granddad = infranty, ww1, won a donkey bare nuckle boxing down the seafront!
great great granddad = infranty, crimea war, present at the charge of the light brigade we belive, lost his toes due to frostbite as well during the conflict then bet the replacements he could take the wieght of a ammo cart drive over his toes .. he won every time!

we think it goes back a lot further, buts its all we've confirmed so far, but its pretty guarenteed that before 1980 theres been a barstow somewhere in the army during every conflict since the crimea at least!

mums side:-

granddad = infranty, ww2, singed in 39, left in 46
great uncle (i think) = new zealeand air force, ww2 till sometime in the 50s

we also have a mystry with me mums side, my dad remembers seeing some ww2 maps of north africa labeled "top secret" and dated around '42, however they went 'missing' during me nans move up here. Were not sure if she saw them and threw them out or if the movers took em, its also as far back as we've been able to go on me mums side, there was a murder somewhere along the line and me nan refuses point blank to talk about it.

 

[mfitch]

My paternal grandfather served in the Navy in WWII. He was a mechanic about CVE-73 who survived its sinking at Leyte Gulf.

My brother served as a Marine Reservist in Desert Storm. He was an MP with headquarters battalion and had to process the POWs.

 

[OBIO]

Starting with the most recent and working backward as far as I can go:

Nephew Donny....US Army, Infantry, Irag, 17 months. 4 years up and he's home

Cousin Nyra....US Navy, 8 years, let the Navy pay for her Medical School! Smart Girl.

Uncle Herman....US Navy, 28 years, been retired for quite a while now, Photo Intelligence.

Uncle Ray...US Army, Vietnam, still will not talk about his time in country

Uncle Terry....US Army, Special Ops, Vietnam, 3 tours..he talks about his time in country, but not sure just how much of it is real and how much of it is stuff he is making up to yank your leg...like a buddy getting ate by a tiger after falling off an elephant

Uncle Bobby....US Army, Vietnam, 2 tours, infantry

Wife's 3rd Cousin Richard Mehl, US Army, Vietnam, KIA

Uncle Clarence...US Army, Mechanic, lost two fingers in a Jeep radiator fan when an idiot started the engine while Clarence was replacing the fan belt.

Dad: USMC, 1956 to 1961, Started out as Combat Engineer but became Motor Pool Sgt. when the last Motor Pool Sgt. got killed in a drunk driving accident and Dad was the upped to Sgt simply because he knew how to work on cars and trucks. Wanted to become an embassy guard in Moscow, was interviewed and would likely have made it but he had two tattoos put on the day he first saw Mom...one was a red rose with Mom's name in a ribbon and the other was the USMC Globe and Anchor. Those kept him from becoming an embassy guard. Funny thing was....Dad had not even talked to Mom, just saw her from across the street but he KNEW that he would marry her and spend the rest of his life with her. Got the tattoo with her name on it, then went to her house the next day to introduce himself. They were married 31 years when Mom died from an aneurysm in her brain stem.

Uncle Forrest....US Army, Korean War, truck driver

Uncle Homer....US Army, Korean War, artillery and anti-aircraft gun.....Granny had 3 20mm shell casings Homer sent home from the war

Uncle Jim, US Navy, Korean War

Uncle Raymond, US Army, Korean War

Great Uncle Wayne (from whom I get my middle name)....either US Army or Marines, Korean War, KIA

Great Uncle Jack, US Marines, WW2....biggest man in my family...huge!

Another of my paternal granddad's brothers served in the Navy during WW2 and was killed in action....that's all I have ever heard...not even a name.

Can't give any names or confirmations, but have heard family histories of ancestors who were in WW1, Civil War, Revolutionary War.

OBIO

 

[Dynasaur]

My Father was in the British Army during WW2 - was in the medical corps (but not a doctor) Was in North Africa after the siege of Tobruk and then in France and Germany after D-Day (but was not in the D-Day landings).
My Mother was in the RAF and was part of a barrage balloon crew, then served in the ambulance corps.
One of my uncles was in the B.E.F. in France and had to be evacuated from Dunkirk.
All I did was a bit in the Australian Army Reserve a few years ago.

 

[Kiwikat]

My uncle was a Marine aboard the USS Saratoga.

One of my cousins is in the Navy and is on the ground in Afghanistan right now. I believe this is his second tour in the middle east. He was in Kuwait before.

Not technically family, but a best friend's dad was an Army radio operator in Vietnam. I've heard a lot of stories from him...


I know there are more in my family that have served but I don't remember who did what. Most of my family lives pretty far away and I don't get to spend much time with them.

Very cool thread! :salute:

 

[Francois]

My dad was a conscript when the war broke out. Sat in a German prison for a few days afterwards until all POW's were released. Dutch soldiers were rather harmless at the time :-(

As for myself, I am not at liberty to tell ya .... but suffice it to say, I support the 'forces'.

 

[Roger]

Both grandfathers were in WWI. My mum's dad was army in Mesopatamia but joined the RFC in 1916 and became a pilot instructor. Dad's dad was army on the western front and was gassed but survived and struggled on another thirty years.
My father was in the western desert from 1939 and was besieged twice at Tobruk and recalled both shooting at and waving to the crew of the Ju87s as they flew low after dive-bombing the docks. Owing to good mathamatical skills he was later drafted in to cryptography and spent the remaining years of the war in Basra, safe but blooming hot.
He died in his sleep in 2009 at the grand age of 88.
My generation was the first for 60 years that wasn't involved in a World War and conscription ended before I was 18 so my only experience of the military was in the Air Training Corps for 3 years.

 

[Crusader]

My Dad : 3rd Marine Div on Guam and Iwo Jima

Uncle : 101st Abn Div "Screaming Eagles" WWll , made D-Day jump in Normandy and later in Holland . To my British friends he told me he was at Up Pottery and left for Normandy from there .

Me: USMC(65-69, RVN 67) , retired from US Air Force Reserves with total 22 years

 

[Curtis P40]

My grandfather was a tall lanky man who loved his garden. He severed in the Pacific during WWII, but never talked much about it. At his funeral I learned that he was part of a early radar warning detachment. At one point his detachment was trapped behind enemy lines and escaped with the help of the local natives. While moving between islands his ship was torpedoed and he spent several days adrift before being rescued. This gentle man was awarded four Bronze Stars.

Uncle Don severed in the infantry with Patton...didn't have anything nice to say about him.

My father was part of the occupation force in Italy and later recalled to serve in Korea.

A relative named Upp was killed at Gettysburg.

I joined the Army at the end of Vietnam but severed my time in Germany. My Reserve Unit was called up for Desert Storm.

 

[Daveroo]

welp...myself....i became a volunteer/paid fire fighter instead of going into the military ( didnt seem important to go to the military in 1980)
my dad was the wrong age for both korea and vietnam...so he didnt serve
my grandfather was to old for wwII accually....he spent to war in idaho at a navy base constructing buildings....but there is a weird story to that..they had two shifts perday..one shift would work,,the other shift went UNDER a building and played cards or slept or did whatever they did....then the next day the shifts changed places....grandpa was "ordered" not to discuss it until "it was all over,for safty"....

my moms oldest brother,was is the seabees,he was an oiler on a pyledriver....one day they were working and he heard a "ping" and felt "wet"...he wiped his forhead and got blood on his hand..he thought he was hit..but looked up at the operaters seat and realised the driver was dead.....he pushed him into the water and got an instant upgrade in rank and job....

the youngest brother,,,he helped develope the ILS landing systems after the war....im not sure ecatly what he did...but he was a major player in it and traveled the world working on the systems

 

[Chacha]

My Dad served WWII when he was 17,
During this war he met my Mom.
They lived happily ever after...

He later joined the USAF in 1947.
He claimed he OILS the planes and
made sure they are parked safe!

(Thanks for starting this thread Lionheart,
this was Hannah homework last week,
she submitted last Friday!)