TheOriginalMexicanBob
Ultimate Member
My uncle went ashore in the first wave on Omaha Beach...he was a platoon leader. The only time he ever talked about it was when I asked if he saw "Saving Private Ryan". He looked at me and simply said "That's just Hollywood" and it was obvious that's all he would say on the subject. He did talk about the funnier parts of Army life during the war...he had been in ROTC in high school and when in basic training the Army wanted him to go to officer's school. He said he had already seen the stats on the life expectancy of junior officers in combat so he declined. He then said that about midnight that night when he was cleaning latrines with a toothbrush he decided to rethink that position.
The last time I saw my uncle before he passed away (in his 90s) he suddenly started talking about his combat experiences...the hedgerows and when he was seriously wounded outside of St. Lo and invalided out of combat.
When he was wounded it was thought he wouldn't make it so all his personal belongings were sent back to the states. He was unconscious for days...a Catholic Chaplain didn't know what to say over my uncle since he was a Jew as far as last rites. There was a Jewish medic there who volunteered to say Kaddish...or Mourners prayer...over my uncle. As he was saying it my uncle awoke and finished saying it and recovered. Some years later a different uncle was visiting NY for business and while there another said to him he knew someone with the same last name...my Mom's family has a very unique last name...never heard it anywhere else...it turned out to be the medic that saved my other uncle! Strange things happen.
All four of my mom's brothers served during the war and all saw combat...two in Europe and two in the Pacific...and all four came home. Her family was very fortunate. Only one is left now...and he's another who doesn't talk about his wartime experiences other than he was a loader on a 40mm mount on a destroyer. In a letter to my mom I found after she passed I found he wrote his destroyer was in Tokyo Bay for the surrender and was anchored by a half-sunken Japanese battleship.
While it's understandable veterans don't like to talk about what they experienced...we've lost a lot of history due to that unwillingness to open up. Such men should be revered and I'm afraid that is lost on many today.
The last time I saw my uncle before he passed away (in his 90s) he suddenly started talking about his combat experiences...the hedgerows and when he was seriously wounded outside of St. Lo and invalided out of combat.
When he was wounded it was thought he wouldn't make it so all his personal belongings were sent back to the states. He was unconscious for days...a Catholic Chaplain didn't know what to say over my uncle since he was a Jew as far as last rites. There was a Jewish medic there who volunteered to say Kaddish...or Mourners prayer...over my uncle. As he was saying it my uncle awoke and finished saying it and recovered. Some years later a different uncle was visiting NY for business and while there another said to him he knew someone with the same last name...my Mom's family has a very unique last name...never heard it anywhere else...it turned out to be the medic that saved my other uncle! Strange things happen.
All four of my mom's brothers served during the war and all saw combat...two in Europe and two in the Pacific...and all four came home. Her family was very fortunate. Only one is left now...and he's another who doesn't talk about his wartime experiences other than he was a loader on a 40mm mount on a destroyer. In a letter to my mom I found after she passed I found he wrote his destroyer was in Tokyo Bay for the surrender and was anchored by a half-sunken Japanese battleship.
While it's understandable veterans don't like to talk about what they experienced...we've lost a lot of history due to that unwillingness to open up. Such men should be revered and I'm afraid that is lost on many today.
