WWII Vet Uncle dillema

[HOSS]

Tomorrow I am going to go see my uncle who is a WW2 vet of the North Africa, Italy, Normandy and Battle of the Bulge campaigns. He is one of those guys that hardly ever talks about the war but has opened up to me on a few occaisions. Even his wife of 68 years did not know of his 2 bronze stars until she finally collected his military records together for estate planning etc. about 15 years ago. He was awarded one bronze star for killing a german artillery spotter from over 600 yards with his M1 with one shot to the chest and then used the remaining rounds to kill the 3 man artillary crew at more than 800 yards. That was in the written record of his commendation. The other star was awarded for taking out a Nazi staff vehicle with a grenade in Italy killing a high value Nazi officer and yielding valuable intelligence.

After the war he drank heavily for probably 20 years. He finally opened up to my mother that the thing that he drank to forget was the German woman he killed who was manning a machine gun in a church steeple in Belgium. He didn't know it was a woman when he fired the shot from some distance. He was wounded severly during tha Battle of the Bulge. He was hit by a german 88 and to this day the VA is still plucking metal slivers out of him as they make their way to the surface.

Anyway.......I want to take my M1 over to his house and let him hold it. He has not held one in 66 years. I do not want to bring back bad memories but I think in a way he will be excited to get his hands on one again. He rarely fired a gun after the war but did not really avoid them either. If he got upset he would never show it or say anything bad to me........that is the way he is. He would just look at it and act like everthing was ok. Should I take a chance? I would like to get some pics of him holding it for the history and family memories of his service. Opinions?

 

[Jogeephus]

I think it depends on the person. You might want to just stick the rifle in your truck and broach the subject to him in a conversation and if he seems interested in seeing it I'd go from there. My dad was a corpsman and he only mentioned the war once but my uncle would talk about his stint all the time.

 

[MO_cows]

What Jo said. Have it with you, bring it up and proceed based on his reaction.

Is is good of you to remember and honor his service. There aren't that many left of "the greatest generation" anymore.

 

[highgrit]

My Dads a WWII Vet also, he loves to hunt and fish. But he dosen't talk about the War part at all. He has told me stories about boot camp, showed us pictures and his metals. He also has two Jap 6.5 and 7.7 sniper rifles and plenty of old Jap ammo that we us to shoot and one samuri sword. WWII vets are some tuff old MEN.

 

[Ryder]

Hoss, if you think it is appropriate, please tell him that some of us (me for one)still look up to his generation and appreciate what he did. My respect to him.

 

[HOSS]

Hoss, if you think it is appropriate, please tell him that some of us (me for one)still look up to his generation and appreciate what he did. My respect to him.

Will do Ryder.

One of my favorite stories that he told me was when he fought a big German soldier in hand to hand combat in a concrete bunker. Both my uncle and the German were big men and they struggled until both were wore completely out. They finally stopped, looked at each other and lit cigarettes. The German spoke some english and they discovered that they were both farm boys. After resting they agreed to just part ways out of each end of the bunker. Afterwards the GI's lost the area but took it again a couple of days later. He saw the german farm boy dead in one of the trenches.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Like Jo said, ask him first.
Also another thought record everything he says so his stories are not forgotten.

Family had a friend that landed on Omaha Beach he had a notch in his right ear from a German bullet. He would only talk about the war when he got roaring drunk. Nobody thought to write down his stories and they are lost in time.

We have a friend who was on Iwo Jima, he talks a little bit about it, but not much. I don't ask him even though I want to. His wife tells me the stories.

 

[hillsdown]

The area where we live used to be full of WWII heros. That is what they are to us, especially to my husband as he is from the Netherlands. Enjoy your visit Hoss and God Bless your uncle . :tiphat:

 

[HOSS]

Everything went great! I talked to my aunt first and she thought it was a great idea. He was like a kid in a candy store. The first thing he did was check the serial number in the hopes that it was his. He still remembered the serial # after 67 years. I will post a pic later.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Glad it worked out Hoss.

 

[fit2btied]

That's cool! Glad it went so well. Those are the type things we should cherish and stories that we should pass on to our kids and grandkids!!!

 

[Isomade]

That's great Hoss, glad it went well for you. As said before, WWII generation is the greatest left on the planet. I recorded my grandfather telling some of his stories when I was in 8th grade. Now I just need to find a cassette player so I can listen to them with my kids.

 

[andybob]

We need to record these last veterans' stories, I know how hard it is to get them to talk, my dad never once brought up his war service, I only knew he was wounded because he met my mom when she nursed him, when he died we found his medals and discovered he was an officer in the Royal Navy, we had always thought he was a Petty Officer!
Quite a few books on "my war" (Rhodesia 1970's) are being published, and we are all being encouraged to write some form of historical account while we still remember everything with a reasonable amount of accuracy. I haven't felt ready to share anything yet but realise I owe it to future historians to make an effort to record some of the more important operations.
Pleased you were able to bring a spark of interest back for your uncle, Hoss.

 

[HOSS]

We need to record these last veterans' stories, I know how hard it is to get them to talk, my dad never once brought up his war service, I only knew he was wounded because he met my mom when she nursed him, when he died we found his medals and discovered he was an officer in the Royal Navy, we had always thought he was a Petty Officer!
Quite a few books on "my war" (Rhodesia 1970's) are being published, and we are all being encouraged to write some form of historical account while we still remember everything with a reasonable amount of accuracy. I haven't felt ready to share anything yet but realise I owe it to future historians to make an effort to record some of the more important operations.
Pleased you were able to bring a spark of interest back for your uncle, Hoss.

andybob,
My uncle was telling me that his first stop in Europe was Liverpool, England and that he had a grand time there with the locals before shipping out for the Normandy invasion. He showed me a pic of him and 3 of his pals at a bar in Liverpool. Of the 4 in the pic he was the only one to make it back home.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Glad that went well, Hoss! Your uncle's demons must sometimes seem huge to him, but WAR is WAR. I hope you can get everything written down. Bless his heart, I pray for his clear conscience (you do what you have to do, in war), and it's great you've made this wonderful connection with him. Give him a hug for me! I have WWII uncles that don't want to talk. Vietnam vet fam/friends that don't want to talk. Recent, young, combat friends that can't talk. Our daily prayers are with all of them, and their families.

K

 

[HOSS]

I promised some pics....

Corporal Walter B. Smith looking through the sights of an M1 Garand for the first time in 67 years.

Telling about how he was ordered by his Captain to climb thru a window into a building in Metz, France to look for Germans. He surprised 6 sitting at a round table loading ammo belts. They saw him about the same time he saw them. He said he gave them all 8 rounds from his M1 from about 15 ft distance and he would have given them 9 rounds if he could.......he then dove headfirst back out of the window and landed on his captain breaking his captains collar bone in the process All 6 Germans were killed though he said he doesn't know how since he thought he had his eyes closed through the whole incident.

Some of his campaign medals, Purple heart, discharge papers and pictures. Note the captured German bayonet at the far laft of the case. He would not elaborate on how he got it but he said the German soldier didn't need it any more.

A picture of him with his M1 that he was issued before leaving Camp Shelby, Mississippi for New York City to sail to England.

I am proud of my Uncle and his service. He talked for 3 hours as I scibbled notes on places, dates and names. He remembered the names of his 11 squad members, their wives / girlfriends names and their hometowns. He said he avoided knowing anybody else if he could because guys were dying so fast he didn't want to know them personally.

 

[john250]

Great thread, Hoss. I appreciate meeting your uncle.

 

[VanC]

May God bless him.

 

[Brute 23]

Thanks for sharing. Glad he enjoyed it.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

That is wonderful history!! It's how freedom stayed/stays alive. Thanks for sharing these very personal moments from your family discussions. !!!