Relatives that served in World War 2

My great uncle was killed in Belgium shortly after his unit came in at Normandy after D-Day. He was left to guard an occupied village and was shot by a sniper.

My husband’s grandfather was a radio operator on a bomber. 18 years old. Never spoke of it much, despite our asking.

My grandfather was captain of a destroyer escort in the Atlantic. Protected shipping convoys. 27 years old when he was given his appointment. Crazy to think about.

Paternal grandfather and both of his brothers served in the Pacific. I can't remember the ship, but I believe it was in the Yorktown's task force. My maternal grandfather was in the Navy, but excused from combat. He was a farmer and plant worker with six kids.

My great grandfather chased Rommel from N Africa to Italy. He was a man’s man, with some stories that could be said about him. RIP to him and the greatest generation. We are all indebted to them.

My father served in the Pacific on the USS Enterprise CV6. He is still with us at 102.

Grandfather served in the Pacific, He died in an accident shortly after returning.

Grandfather- Pacific theater, destroyer escort.

His brother died taking Saint-Lo in France.

Step Grandfather- Northern Africa and Italian campaigns.

Grandfather was in the US Army at Pearl Harbor.

Grandmother's first husband won the Medal of Honor: Captain Arlo Olson. He was killed in Italy in 1943.

quote:

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Capt. Arlo L. Olson was born on April 20, 1918, in Greenville, Iowa.

He attended the University of South Dakota where he completed both a business degree and the Army ROTC program. He graduated in 1940 and received his commission as a second lieutenant in 1941.

Olson found himself serving in World War II.

Olson made 1st Lieutenant on February 1, 1942, and was made Captain on December 1st of the same year.

October 27, 1943, he began leading his company in a drive across the Volturno River in Italy. That very day found Olson under heavy, direct, and close enemy fire. For thirteen days, Olson led combat patrols, acted as company scout, and maintained unbroken contact with the enemy as he spearheaded the capture of a mountain position above the river on the summit of Monte San Nicola.

On October 27, Olson was conducting a reconnaissance for defensive positions when he was fatally wounded. Ignoring his wounds, he completed the reconnaissance and supervised the location of his men in the best defense positions. He ignored medical aid until all his men had received care. Olson died being carried down the mountain on October 28,1943. Trisolini, a witness of his acts, said “He was one who did not send any of his men into the kind of thing he wouldn’t walk into himself.”

Arlo’s remains were returned to the United States, and he was buried in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He left behind a wife and daughter.

His military honors and awards include the Medal of Honor and the Silver Star and the Italian Cross of Valor. His memory is honored with the naming of a transport ship, USNS Capt. Arlo L. Olson, and local Legion Post #81, which was renamed to the Erickosn-Olson Post in 1943.

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My grandmother's youngest brother, Flavious B. Martin Johnson, was a Gunners Mate 3rd Class (GM3C) on the USS Nevada BB-36 on the morning of 7 December 1941. He lost his life in the attack when a bomb hit directly in front of the forward battery of 14" main guns and exploded below decks destroying his battle station and the adjacent officers ward. It was one of four bombs (two more are suspected to have hit the ship for a total of six) that stuck the Nevada as she was the only ship to get underway that morning from Battleship Row.

She had been moored in front of the Arizona (BB-39) and had her engines up and running that morning to run a pressure check on orders of the captain who had gone ashore.

During the attack, the XO commanded that Nevada be cast off and moved underway to escape the flames of the oil slick burning from the heavily damaged Arizona. As she was making her way toward the harbor entrance, the Japanese aircraft took notice and targeted her to block the channel.

After being hit at least four times, she began to take on water. The XO directed her to be piloted closer to the shallow water at Hospital Point where she settled deeper into the water and rested on the bottom, leaving the channel open for navigation.

Flavious was one of 43 men on the Nevada to lose their lives during the attack. He was buried in Hawaii and reinterred in his hometown of Hickman, Kentucky at the war's end. He was twenty years old.

I have his Purple Heart and a few of his personal belongings that I will pass down to my nephew when that day comes.

Here's a photo of Flavious, and a photo of officers inspecting the damage to the forward deck where the bomb that killed Flavious and his crew mates in the forward battery exploded.