Well, yes. He got a small check every month. He always told us he got it because he got shot in the knee. He had a scar. But it was really from marching for so long without any "support"— a man thing. His testicles suffered somehow. I don't really know what you call it, but you know what I mean?
My Dad was on the USS Altamaha, a repurposed merchant marine ship that as done up in a hurry as an Escort Carrier after Pearl Harbor. My Dad never talked about it either. but he kept some of the ships logs and one mentions them seeing torpedo trails heading towards the ship but they all missed.
My dad peeled potatoes in Germany, never saw any action. He loved KP, he got lots of free food.
Just curious, did your Dad have any health related problems due to his imprisonment?
Well, yes. He got a small check every month. He always told us he got it because he got shot in the knee. He had a scar. But it was really from marching for so long without any "support"— a man thing. His testicles suffered somehow. I don't really know what you call it, but you know what I mean?
I know, my dad rarely talked about it. After they bailed out of their plane, the Germans marched them. Once my dad made a list of every town that he had marched through. There were a lot of towns.
Just curious, did your Dad have any health related problems due to his imprisonment?
Being a prisoner has got to be near the worst, if not THE worst. It's impossible to imagine, frankly: there's just no frame of reference in our (civilian) experience.
I know, my dad rarely talked about it. After they bailed out of their plane, the Germans marched them. Once my dad made a list of every town that he had marched through. There were a lot of towns.
My dad was in the Third Army during the war. They were not at the initial Normandy landings but they were deeply engaged in The Battle of the Bulge several months later. He wasn't eager to discuss it very often either, but he would talk about General Patton every now and then.
Wasn't this the Big Red One? Or am I thinking of another unit?
Having been shot down, my Dad was in a German POW camp on June 6, 1944. He also said he was scared shitless.
Being a prisoner has got to be near the worst, if not THE worst. It's impossible to imagine, frankly: there's just no frame of reference in our (civilian) experience.
My dad was in the Third Army during the war. They were not at the initial Normandy landings but they were deeply engaged in The Battle of the Bulge several months later. He wasn't eager to discuss it very often either, but he would talk about General Patton every now and then.
Had an uncle there...He went from Corporal to Second Lieutenant in one day via battlefield commissions. He always scared me to death.
I'm sure my Dad had a few hairy moments on his Navy aircraft carrier in the Pacific...
My dad was in the Third Army during the war. They were not at the initial Normandy landings but they were deeply engaged in The Battle of the Bulge several months later. He wasn't eager to discuss it very often either, but he would talk about General Patton every now and then.
