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Author
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Topic: Tis a passing era... and a sad thing
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Da Jug head
Pilot
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posted 10-25- 12:38 AM
   
Had something that sadly reminded me an era is fading away. This was the last year the survivors of the cruiser my Dad was on in the Pacific- The USS Astoria (sunk at salvo island) will be having a reunion. Why? Since the last reunion in 1996 over 250 of them have passed away. Considering taht there were only a liitle over 500 left in 1996, you can see what I'm talking about.Although I spent 7 years in the Navy, it can never match what they did or experienced. If you live in the US, go by a Wal-Mart and see if they still have the WWII memorial donation spots. Or go to www.wwiimemorial.com Thy only need to raise $8M to have the $100M needed. "Dying for freedom isn't the worst thing that could happen. Being forgotten is." Tom Hanks IP: Logged |
nealg
Pilot
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posted 10-25- 01:56 AM
That is a sad thing, indeed. We need to help as we can to keep these people going, and their memory strong. I'll do what I can at one of those places....thanks for the heads-up.
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nealg=FC= IP: Logged |
Jerry
Pilot
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posted 10-25- 10:42 AM
American WWII vets are dying at the rate of 1,000/day. If you know any, please thank them before they go. Tell them we won't forget.IP: Logged |
hip63
Cadet
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posted 10-28- 10:55 AM
My father-in-law was WWII vet, he died about 5 years ago. He was a medic in the Army & was shot in the head & had a bomb dropped on him a week after D-Day, they thought he would be lucky if he lived 5 years. He lived closer to 50. The bullet & shcapnel were never removed! I'll tell you what though, he was a hell of a guy. Honest, straight-foward & took shit from nobody. I really miss him, too. Even though I was a long haired hippie freak, he didn't care, he liked me for who I was.
PFC Elwood Williams was one cool individual.hip63 IP: Logged |
Da Jug head
Pilot
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posted 10-28- 05:10 PM
Yeah, I can relate. My Dad was at Coral Sea, Midway and was on the Astoria in the battle of Savo Island. He was one of the lookouts that reported seeing Japanese ships and was told it wsa the other half of th US fleet. When the shooting started he headed down to man his AA gun and was hit in the leg by machine gun fire from a Japanese destroyer (Yes they got that close before opening fire) He made it to his gun and survived when the the AA gun he was on took a direct hit & killed the other two guys. He went over to a Secondary gun that had lost it's auto feeder and was passing shells to the gun crew when it took a direct hit too & killed everyone but him. His right arm was full of shrapnel from that one and he had to have two surgery's in the 60's to remove pieces that had worked there way too close to the ligaments & got too painful. ( I found this out from another survivor that was on lookout duty with him that night ).
The other side of this story is my father-in-law who was part of the 2nd Marine division was on Guadalcanal. He remembers watching the gun flashes over the horizon and praying "the damn swabbies" would keep the Japanese from making it down the slot and shelling them again that night.Both of them saw a lot. (How my dad survived in shark infested waters with that many wounds amazed a lot of people, especially since he saw other men who were bleeding a lot less get taken by the sharks during the night). Both were like your father-in-law. Straight forward, down to earth and butt honest about everything. Both had backbones of iron and hearts of gold. We need to remember these are the kinds of men we're honoring when we contribute to the WWII memorial.
Like you- I miss them a lot. IP: Logged |
AGAS - 5
Pilot
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posted 10-28- 06:59 PM
I feel for the families of the ones that never come home - even when found. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2000/10/item20001029005939_1.htm http://www.smh.com.au/news/0010/29/national/national7.html It was Aust Govt policy that people KIA were buried in the country they died during WW1 & 2...an understandable policy back then...but all these years later, I just don't understand it. At least they will be given full military honours at their funeral.
[This message has been edited by AGAS - 5 (edited 10-28-2000).] IP: Logged |
AGAS - 5
Pilot
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posted 10-28- 08:41 PM
Did some research and found a pic of Flying Officer Edward Morris-Hadwell(top left)and Flight Lieutenant Derrick Stone (bottom left)  This pic was taken a few weeks before they died. 'At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them - Lest we forget' May they now rest in peace. IP: Logged |
Da Jug head
Pilot
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posted 10-29- 01:31 AM
My older brother has a friend that whose dad was a green recruit in the 99th division. Since they were a new division they were sent to the lines in a quiet area called the Ardennes in early December 1944, not far from St. Vith where the 106th was in place.I think you can figure out the rest. He was born only a couple of months before his father was sent overseas. He never saw his dad again. They never even found the body or dogtags. IP: Logged |
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