Calling out bloodline of WW2 Veterans

[colonelcross]

Both of my grandfathers were Marines and fought in the Pacific. Apparently they were both on Iwo Jima together. My one grandfather apparently grabbed a flame thrower, jumped down a 30ft cliff and destroyed his ankle in order to attack a cave that was hammering other Marines. Wish they were still around so I could know more, I feel like they would be more willing to talk now that I'm a vet too.

[Pheint]

Grandfather was a Royal Marine, but I don't know much about it at all - my father reckons he served as part of the SAS in some way at some point, but it's all extremely vague even to him. That, or he doesn't care like I do. Haven't seen my grandfather in a good three or four years and back then I didn't have much interest in asking about any of it. Not sure if he's old enough to have fought in WW2 though, but would have definitely been around for Vietnam and Korea. Most probably was in service throughout. Will be seeing him again shortly after New Year, and hope to be able to find out about this kind of stuff from him.

As for WW1/WW2 vets, I had a great uncle (this one Australian) whom was an HMG crew member - he was killed in the Battle of Fromelles on the 19th of July 1916, if I remember correctly, along with 5,533 other Australian servicemen (on that same day). One of my existing uncles is putting together a family tree for my mother's side which includes this bloke, and he has a copy of the letter his family received from his CO following his death, along with military enlistment and profile documents etc. Pretty fukking incredible the stuff you hear about the Lost and Greatest Generations. Will inquire with my grandfather about his history thoroughly / 10.

[Market_Pantry]

Grandpapa was a tail gunner aboard a B-24 from like 42-44 before his plane failed mid air and somehow survived the crash. Was later picked up by friendly submarine after floating in the water for about a day on a raft with 4 other guys.



Tens of millions of people participated in WW2, everyone on misc should have a story

grandfather almost died in ww2 when an ammo storage facility he was delivering to was bombed. he was 200 yards away driving there at the time.

[IsThisRealLife]

My grandfather on my fathers side was a P.F.C. in the 7th Infantry division. He made 2 of the 3 major pacific landings, missing Okinawa because he was recovering from being shot and bayoneted during the Battle of Leyte. That was his second purple heart, the first he got when he was bayoneted in the Aleutian Islands. I never really knew him well, because he died when I was pretty young, and thats one of the bigger regrets in my life.

[TonyTriangles]

Grandfather used to fly b2 bombers in ww2. he never told me what he did, everything i knew was from my grandmother. Everytime i asked, he just said he flew. from what my grandmother told me, he flew over europe, dropping off army air borne units. He stopped flying because his plane got hit and he blacked out from oxygen deprivation. His co-pilot landed the plane...

[fuuuu123]

[shanks1992]

Great grandfather fought in the Spanish Civil War with the international brigade(srs) then came home and served in the Royal Armoured Corps, killed in France in late '44

[dino_cheese]

Both my Grandfathers fought in WWII, against each other.

Lolsy story, but mum's side grandad was a Luftwaffe pilot, my Dad's side, an RAF pilot.

Apparently they actually fought a few air fights against each other, both survived miraculously.

They sat down at my parents wedding, finished a bottle of scotch laughing with each other.

Hope was restored that day.

Interesting story! Any other stories like these where vets from other sides meet?
Repped

[Sharky8975]

Didn't even know my grandfather was a WW2 vet till his funeral. He never mentioned it.

Would have been nice to hear some stories.

Holy **** same. Saw grandpa's medals at his funeral, said wtf grandma..purple heart, all kinds of chit. Worked on subs in the Navy. Had a great grandpa in the SS also, same side of the family. German bloodline of peace.

[methxs]

Both my grandfathers served in the navy during WWII, but on opposite sides (one was Australian navy the other Japanese) and fought against each other in the same battle. They used to joke and be thankful that they weren't better shots as my parents would never have met.

My Japanese grandfather was very physically fit and a competitive swimmer and initially was chosen to be a suicide bomber. Interestingly enough, this job was seen as the most honourable and so only the strongest soldiers were chosen for this task (seems a little wasteful no?). Luckily for his sake when he was having physicals done it became apparent that he suffered nosebleeds at hight altitude which ruled him out of being a pilot.

He was then chosen to be a tor**** boat captain which was essentially a suicide boat with explosives in the nose for ramming American ships. However his leadership skills were noted and instead he was promoted to be a captain of a PT boat similar to JFKs. The thing he remembers most from the war was one day his was standing on deck with his two 2nd in commands adjacent to him when an American plane opened fire and killed both of the men on either side of him. Always thought he's had someone watching over him since then.

[ramsgoldberg61]

Grandfather was a PFC, was numbered among those who stormed the Normandy Beach, ended up being one of three survivors in his platoon.

[SpicyCurrie]

I never was told this by my great grandpa as he died when I was too young to understand.. But my dad was the only one my great grandpa told his war stories to.

He served in the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry unit (not sure the years). He told my dad that one day, his unit was marching up a hill spread out in a line, when they got to the top German machine guns opened fire and mowed the line down. He was one of a handful of survivors and suffered two bullet shots to the upper torso. I learnt about the battle in history class, but I can't remember the name of it.



I have a Russian medal that he somehow got.. Never learnt the story behind it, my dad just says he took it off a Russian soldier.

It's the "Order of the Patriotic War" medal. The medal was created 20 May 1942 and given to all survivors in 1985 for the 40th anniversary.

[Torpeda]

Grandpa died in a concentration camp. Fell off the guard tower.

[Azzurri]

Grandpa was a PoW of the Americans.

[MotoBrah]

This past summer I talked to my grandpa about his WWII experiences. It was really fascinating. If you have the opportunity I recommend it because you never know when they wont be around anymore.

[Forest239]

Grandpa died in a concentration camp. Fell off the guard tower.

I lost it while eating, FUUUARK MY COMPUTER SCREEN....

[drunkracoon252]

I know my both of my grandpas well enough to question the authenticity of any of their stories. Both fought in Guadal Canal, but both are MAJOR bull****ers. Could give a feck about the war. Both went on to be successful entrepreneurs and that's what I really respect. Swear to god, whenever they get drunk they cry and tell how much they wish it would've never happened and how horrifying it was. When they're gone, I'll remember them more for how hard they cashed out then how well they fought a pointless war.

[InfinityThor]

Grandpa (Australian) fought the Japanese in Papa New Guinea, WW2. Till the day he died, he harboured such a deep hatred for the Japanese, I've never met another person that has displayed such genuine hate, even all the way in the year 2000 he couldn't be anywhere near them.

Told me that he was shot in the back but it hit a frying pan in his pack... whether it's bs or not we will never know.

[shanks1992]

Grandpa (Australian) fought the Japanese in Papa New Guinea, WW2. Till the day he died, he harboured such a deep hatred for the Japanese, I've never met another person that has displayed such genuine hate, even all the way in the year 2000 he couldn't be anywhere near them.

Told me that he was shot in the back but it hit a frying pan in his pack... whether it's bs or not we will never know.

My dad told me about a lad he worked with in the 80s who was 18 when he fought in the Asia theatre. Got captured and worked on the Burma railway. Barely survived and was tortured, beaten, even raped daily (srs)

Well basically one day on his way home from work he walked up to the top deck of the bus (Double decker buses where I live) and there were a group of Korean or Japanese or Chinese (He didn't know/care) students behind him about 4 rows back. After about 15 minutes of them talking loudly and laughing he literally snapped.

Went fukking apeshyt and started punching them, kicking and biting (srs). Guys and girls.

Fukked up story but it really puts into perspective the horrific shyt these guys went through, and the scars they were left with for the rest of their lives.

[Ted Nugent]

grandpa was a navigator/bomb aimer on a b-52's during WWII didnt live long enough to tell me any alpha stories but the few ive heard from my parents were pretty cool

[IsaacEK]

My grandpa was in the Navy, and his brother (my great uncle) was in the Army. They met up in Pearl Harbor. I don't know much more than that.



Both have passed away. There aren't many WWII vets left these days, sucks.

[1Dolla]

Grandfather was a soldier in the Waffen-SS.
One day he was crossing a bridge with his comrades and he was hit by a grenade, which resulted in him falling down the bridge onto the frozen river beneath.
He suffered from a bad shoulder injury. During the operation, the doctor removed his SS tattoo on his arm.
This saved his life later on, when the Americans were surrounding his house and shouting his last name. He tried to flee through the garden over the wall but didn't get far. They questioned him but couldn't prove that he was in the Waffen-SS because he didn't have the obligatory tattoo on his upper arm.

My other grandpa was a soldier in the Wehrmacht. At one point, he got shot in the eye. He survived but suffered from unbearable pain. Eventually, he hanged himself when my mom was 1 year old.