re: Relatives that served in World War 2

My grandfather was in the Army Air Forces. His overseas service was in Egypt, British Palestine, and Iraq. He was involved in some technical stuff that we were sharing with the British, so he was USAAF but was attached to RAF units.

My grandmother (no pics) had five brothers see service in World War II. Two were in the Army Air Forces, two were in the Army, and one was in the Marines. One of them was a pilot - flew B-17's with the 385th BG. Did his 35 missions, including two on D-Day. The one who was a Marine said he was kind of lucky - he was in combat for only a few hours. A Jap grenade messed his leg up at Iwo Jima, and he said he got to spend the remainder of the war chasing nurses in Guam and Hawaii.

My grandmother (no pics) worked for Pacific Telegraph and Telephone in Portland, Oregon. They were civilians but were contracted by the Army for communications. She learned morse code and translated messages as they came in into plain English. She remembers when the message came through that the Japanese had agreed to surrender.

We also had some close family friends who served. My grandparent's neighbor served on the USS North Carolina. My neighbor who lived on one side of us drive Sherman tanks in Patton's Third Army. Our neighbor on the other side served on the USS Mississippi. A friend of ours from church served as a B-24 gunner.

Every one of them is gone now. I am very fortunate to have known them. I am fortunate that they were willing to share stories with me.

On the wife's (no pics) side of the family, I know she had a great-uncle who was in the Royal Australian Air Force. Her grandfather had some kind of kidney issue that kept him out of the military, but did some time in Australia's version of the home guard. Her great-grandfather from her mother's side served in Yugoslavia with the Waffen SS. He was captured by Communist partisans near the end of the war and executed.

My grandfather's fourth cousin was Baldur von Schirach, who was head of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1940, and as Reichsstatthalter of Vienna. He got 20 years at Nuremburg.

Through my mother's (no pics) side of the family I am 4th cousin to Audie Murphy.