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Message
re: WWII: Would You Choose the Pacific or Europe?
Posted on 7/9/14 at 11:51 am to Spaceman Spiff
Posted on 7/9/14 at 11:51 am to Spaceman Spiff
My Grandfather, who passed away in 2007, fought with the 2nd Battalion, 309th Infantry Regiment, 78th IN Division (Lightning) through Belgium, Germany and was part of the occupation in both Berlin and Vienna. He never spoke of the war and it wasn't until he passed away, that my father and I were able to look in his foot locker that he kept stashed away in his closet. He was an infantryman with the Battalion and I was able to piece bits of information (called Morning Reports) to his whereabouts in theater each week. Unfortunately, his OMPF (official military personnel file) was destroyed in the St. Louis records branch fire of 1971.
I can understand after all these years why he never spoke of the war. He was an E-6 SSG by the time he was 19. 3/4 of his squadmates were killed or wounded during his tour. A room he was in was hit by a panzerfaust and killed many of his buddies. German artillery caused him many issues in later life as he couldn't deal with loud noises. His hair would eventually turn stark white at the age of 36.
My father and I opened the footlocker and discovered many, MANY photos of German and Austrian girlfriends that he had. And boy, were they some nice lookin' fraus. I have a photo of him framed on my fireplace mantle with his Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) positioned below it. In the picture, he's leaning against the door of his girlfriend's apartment in Berlin in the summer of 1945. He's wearing his "Ike" jacket and bloused boots. Whenever friends come over, they constantly ask if that's a photo of me as we are the spitting image of each other at 20 years old.
I have his dogtags, CIB, Regimental Crest and ribbons from his footlocker along with his SSG stripes and a German Knight's Cross that he looted off a dead German Officer. I just recently have his 78th Infantry Division Yearbook that was published after the surrender and during the occupation.
I'm military myself and have a ton of stuff in my man-room, from 1/18 aircraft models, to tanks, to 1/6 figures and my 1/350 Nimitz that took three years to complete. I'm also a civilian/WWII flight sim nerd
Yeah, I'd take Europe in a heartbeat given the quality of life. Your your time comes, it comes, but damned if I'm not going to do a little bourbon drinking and messin' with the fraulines
I can understand after all these years why he never spoke of the war. He was an E-6 SSG by the time he was 19. 3/4 of his squadmates were killed or wounded during his tour. A room he was in was hit by a panzerfaust and killed many of his buddies. German artillery caused him many issues in later life as he couldn't deal with loud noises. His hair would eventually turn stark white at the age of 36.
My father and I opened the footlocker and discovered many, MANY photos of German and Austrian girlfriends that he had. And boy, were they some nice lookin' fraus. I have a photo of him framed on my fireplace mantle with his Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) positioned below it. In the picture, he's leaning against the door of his girlfriend's apartment in Berlin in the summer of 1945. He's wearing his "Ike" jacket and bloused boots. Whenever friends come over, they constantly ask if that's a photo of me as we are the spitting image of each other at 20 years old.
I have his dogtags, CIB, Regimental Crest and ribbons from his footlocker along with his SSG stripes and a German Knight's Cross that he looted off a dead German Officer. I just recently have his 78th Infantry Division Yearbook that was published after the surrender and during the occupation.
I'm military myself and have a ton of stuff in my man-room, from 1/18 aircraft models, to tanks, to 1/6 figures and my 1/350 Nimitz that took three years to complete. I'm also a civilian/WWII flight sim nerd
Yeah, I'd take Europe in a heartbeat given the quality of life. Your your time comes, it comes, but damned if I'm not going to do a little bourbon drinking and messin' with the fraulines
This post was edited on 7/9/14 at 11:55 am
Posted on 7/9/14 at 11:58 am to NWarty
quote:
NWarty
This is something that might interest you then....
I'd be cool if you could find a full version and hang it up somewhere.
Here's a link that shows it blown up so you can read the details better....
LINK
(click on the image after it opens and it will expand further)
BTW.. .which unit crest looks like your Grandfathers?
This post was edited on 7/9/14 at 11:59 am
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