re: Spinoff: Where did your relatives serve in WWII?

Get as much information as you can. I recorded the entire conversation, but it got deleted somehow. Really upset me. He never liked to be recorded about it, and he told me the reason he never talked about it was because it was his demon, not ours. He lived it so we didn't have to know what it was like. That's one tough SOB

Grandfather was in Paupa New Guinea

Great Uncles were in France, Germany, Italy, and Africa.

One was at the Bulge.

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Get as much information as you can. I recorded the entire conversation, but it got deleted somehow. Really upset me. He never liked to be recorded about it, and he told me the reason he never talked about it was because it was his demon, not ours. He lived it so we didn't have to know what it was like. That's one tough SOB

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That's good advice and I actually did that last summer. I flew back to Louisiana and was able to spend two full days with him talking about the war and his coaching career. He was only 30 when he took over as the head basketball coach at West Point and also pulled double as an assistant coaching football under Red Blaik and was on the same staff with Vince Lombardi for one year, and Paul Dietzel for a few. His mind is sharp and he can recall things very vividly. He once interviewed to be the head basketball coach in the late 50's, but LSU had already hired away their football coach, Paul Dietzel. In my grandfather's words, Dietzel helped set up the interview, but the AD at the time, didn't think it was a safe play to have two coaches both hired from the same place (Army).

He's a great man and accomplished more by the age of 25 than I will my entire life.

Again, that's awesome that you took the time to record his experience in WW2. I'm still in awe of the things our grandparents went through...

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My other grandfather was a bomber and he was in Nirth Africa, Britain, France, Germany and the Pacifix Theater. He told us stories and made it seem like a grand old time.

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Funny you say that - I've gotten the same impression from books and from talking to those who were there. Besides the actual combat (which was probably ten times deadlier and more terrifying than anything since), it seems like they really did have a lot of fun, especially compared the modern wars like Vietnam or Iraq. Fighting insurgencies is a fricking grind, and today's zero default military doesn't help.

Father was a medic in Army. Wounded twice, Purple Hearth Recipiant. Was on Okinawa,

My dad's dad was injured at Iwo Jima, serving in the Marines. My mom's dad was a little young for the war, but moved to New Orleans at 16. At some point, he was building PBY bombers at the Consolidated Vultee plant.

Both my grandfather and his brother served in Vietnam in the Air Force as rescue helicopter pilots. Flew the Jolly Green Giants.

My grandfather actually got some kind of commendation, I think it's the Aviator's Valor Award, during the 70s.

Also not WWII related but oh well.

Father a stenographer for JAG in New Orleans.

One grandfather was a cook in France at Army HQ. Cush job

Other grandfather was a B-24 co-pilot in San Giovanni, Italy. He flew bombing runs in Europe (Ploesti Oil Fields, Linz, and others) They had to crash land in Yugoslavian territory. They were taken prisoner by German forces nearby and held in a barn overnight but were freed by Yugoslavian Freedom fighters early the next morning and eventually led to safety. My grandfather would have died from his crash injuries if it wasnt for the Yugo's saving him. He was transported to England and was hospitalized for 3 months recovering from several reconstructive surgeries.

Here is his bomb group patch

He is top row 2nd from the right. He was a 1st Lt. at the time and retired as a Colonel.