Veterans Day Salute

[Andy1237]

A special salute to our Veterans on 11-11-11!

In February 1942, during World War II, Dad joined the Navy as a Lieutenant (j.g.). He was assigned to LST 548 as Commanding Officer and served two and a half years overseas in the Mediterranean, North African, Atlantic and Pacific Theaters. In 1946, he was placed on inactive status as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserves.

 

[arknoah]

My Dad was an NCO in World War II. First in Europe, he was sent to learn more Italian, and served as a foreman in a bakery near the leaning tower, supervising Italian workers. This was obviously after the Allies took Italy. He also attended commando school in Florence, and later served in the Pacific in demolition, primarily clearing areas and building roads. He left the Army in 1948 after five years of active duty.

Not bad for a Black high school dropout from Philly!

 

[zeehag]

my dad's dad was ww1-- he sed horse marines, my bro said he had a short career as a pilot then, .. dad was ww2, 76 div army band, was mp's in europe, behind enemy lines until d-day--his group liberated the berlin ss hq and got flag to prove it....my bro don was usn, AWAKS, viet nam with medal, my dad's brother was cpt in army in nam as an md in 1964, his dtr inlaw is major in usaf, leader of medical group(is an rn) getting jessica lynch out of iraq.
and the kid who sat behind me for 6 yrs in homeroom never made it to the beach--us marine corps, died easter sunday, 1967, viet nam.
my mom's dad was a civilian inventing and creating stuff for usgovt for mass destruction to end ww2, but that was made obsolete by bombing of nagasaki and hiroshima.

 

[Ross]

There are many who have served and many of those served in harms way and to those that went into harms way I salute them. I was six years in peaceful places making sure that the stuff that they needed for going into dangerous places would work when it was needed.

 

[Tommy T]

Thanks Ross. I was Navy during the Vietnam era.I made two crusies to Vietnam. I was there for Tet. We saw lot of action during Tet. Being Navy we didn't have it no wheres as bad as the troops on land. We did see lot of action. We used at least 4000 rounds of 5" shells. I salute ever one who server. It makes no difference if they were in actual combat or support. Every one played an important roll.

 

[richk]

my Dad

A special salute to our Veterans on 11-11-11!

In February 1942, during World War II, Dad joined the Navy as a Lieutenant (j.g.). He was assigned to LST 548 as Commanding Officer and served two and a half years overseas in the Mediterranean, North African, Atlantic and Pacific Theaters. In 1946, he was placed on inactive status as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserves.

..was retired US Army; died in Sep at age 92. Airborne Field Artillery...participated in Market Garden. Bought his second 'vette, brand new, bright red at age 86.

Rich

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

I too am an "Army Brat"

Dad was a career officer in the Corps of Engineers, passed away last January at age 95, proving that it is true that old soldiers never die, they just fade away.

(Most people think McArthur wrote that line...he just quoted it.

"'Old soldiers never die: they simply fade away' has been extracted from the British Army's C20 parody of the song 'Kind Thoughts Can Never Die' and the tune adopted from it . . . This immortal ditty appeared in John Brophy and Eric Partridge, 'Songs and Slang of the British Soldier: 1914-1918,' 1930, and has been preserved in 'The Long Trail,' lamentably out of print in Britain, but to be reprinted in the US. It was 'given its first familiarity in US in a speech by General MacArthur on his recall from Korea; still not forgotten' (Prof. John W. Clark, 1977)."

 

[richk]

Being an Army brat's not too bad...we lived in places like Alaska, Maryland, Arkansas, Washington and met lotsa interesting folks. The WWII generation was really a special one.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Desert Shield/Storm, OIF, Somilia, and a host of other dry sandy places with the 5th Special Forces, 2nd Bn, ODA 553
Why can't the bad people live in nice places?
Hated every minuet of it, if i had the chance to do it over I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
God Bless America and all her men and women in harms way and those that support them.

 

[arknoah]

There are many who have served and many of those served in harms way and to those that went into harms way I salute them. I was six years in peaceful places making sure that the stuff that they needed for going into dangerous places would work when it was needed.

One of my friends was in the Quartermaster Corps for two tours in Vietnam. Service like yours is certainly appreciated. Don't think for a minute that you didn't do important work.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

"Not too bad???"

Being an Army brat's not too bad...we lived in places like Alaska, Maryland, Arkansas, Washington and met lotsa interesting folks. The WWII generation was really a special one.

It was a great way to grow up! I was 10 years old before I found out that anyone could get to BE 10 years old without ever moving...I was not only flabbergasted, I felt sorry for 'em...'cuz I'd already lived in 6 states and 3 countries by then and some of them hadn't even been to a city only 75 miles away yet. By the time I was 16, I'd already seen--but not necessarily lived in--16 countries. The only lifestyle today that could ever come close to providing that much education, resourcefulness and self reliance is a family that lives aboard and cruises the world.

 

[Stu Jackson]

+100

The more you move the more open your mind is to new things.

 

[Indysailor]

My dad is a Cold War vet. He was stationed in Mass., getting his radio certification and was on duty in 1957 when Sputnik's beeping came into his headphones. Reported it up the chain and as it turned out he was the first person in the military to detect the thing. Got to talk to Ike on the phone- highlight of his service. After that, he was in Japan at Brady AFB, basically listening to Chinese and Russian radio transmissions. He was CIA before there was such a thing, he says.

I always give him a call on 11/11 to say thanks. Cold War vets don't get much ink.

 

[Allan12210]

+100

The more you move the more open your mind is to new things.

Well then mine is open to anything.....From kindergarten to my third year in college I went to one school two years in a row. I went to 4th and 5th grade at Mong Mong School on Guam. Then we moved on an island that was only 30 miles long and I had to go to a different school for 6th grade before we went back stateside. My dad was a military contractor after being a merchant marine in the war. He was living in Canada as a US citizen at 17. He joined the Canadian Merchant Marines in 1939 so the war started early for him. In 1941 he came back to the US and served on Liberty ships. Bad eyesight kept him out of the military.

 

[Bill Roosa]

YMMV

 

[kpgraci]

I don't know much about what he did but in 1915 my grandfather ran away from the farm in Kansas to join the Marines, lied about his age...he was 16...ended up with a field commission to 2nd Lt. before it was over, those guys were tough all around back then.

My dad was in the Navy just after WWII, he watched 'em blow up atomic bombs on Bikini, had some cool photos of it.

I was in the Marines back in the late '70s, never any conflict, but once me and some of my buddies were stopped by this old timer and he shook our hand and thanked us for serving...we told him we had not really done anything to deserve his praise (which was true) but he insisted.

Many years later I now know what he was talking about...and it's how I fell about all the young folks serving out there now (in some real conflict I might add). It's not so much that you did anything, the point is you were there just in case, and would do whatever was asked of you - that's service.

 

[Mikem]

My grandfather on my father's side was a Navy doctor in WWI, my Mom's dad worked at Mare Island Naval Shipyard form 1931-1951. My dad was a corpsman in WWII and later became a surgeon for his Marine Corps Battalion. My father in law was a Catalina PBY pilot in WWII. I was a navy helo pilot from 1973-1995 (US Naval Academy 1973). I commissioned my wife as an Ensign aboard USS Constitution. My daughter is an Army Captain, West Point class of 2007. My brothers in law both served in the army and my nephew werved with the 24th Mechanized in Desert Storm. I make it a practice to thank vets for their service because I know how much it means to me when someone says thanks.

 

[Tom]

Viet Nam, 68-69.

tom s/v GAIA

 

[pogo2]

US Navy 1963-68
My Father was US Navy South Pacific WWII
My brother US Navy 1967-71
many cousins, uncles, nieces, US Navy, US Coast Guard, US Marines