On Memorial Day

bflynn

bflynn

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Apr 24, 2012
Messages
10,213
Location
KGIF
Display Name
Brian Flynn
Today is Memorial Day. I pause today to remember my great-uncle George who was in the third wave at Normandy, I think at Sword beach. He was an EOD specialist and died in a non-battle accident about two weeks after the landing.

I do not remember our fallen veterans for their "sacrifice", but for their willingness to brave the danger. None of them wanted to die, none of them would choose it, and I suspect very few knew they would die before it happened. But all deserve to be honored.

IMG_1101.jpeg
 
Just came back from Normandy a week ago. We had two fellow travellers, one whose father had been at Omaha beach (and survived) and another whose relative had perished there.
 
I'll remember my father, who served on a destroyer in the Pacific and survived the war, and his cousin Ray who was a B-24 pilot who didn't make it back from the disastrous Ploesti raid.
 
My dad entered France a few days after D-Day and was part of the Normandy "Hedgerows" fighting, culminating in the capture of the submarine pens in Brest France. There, he was on top of a pillbox which was booby trapped with explosives. When it exploded, it killed most of the men from Company I of the 2nd Infantry Division who had been near it. My dad was hurled through the air on a chunk of flying concrete, and survived because he was still on the topside of the concrete when it landed. He had a pretty massive concussion but was back in action after a brief hospital stay. He always reminded me that the vets don't just "sacrifice" their lives for us, they force the other side to sacrifice their lives. They didn't just die for us, the killed for us.
 
Two men passed one day on 15th Street, Washington DC.

The one in civilian clothes did a U turn, as be realized that the other had an Indianapolis cap on.

He asked if the cap wearer was Indianapolis crew, and the answer was affirmative. The civilian responded "I was on the first ship to the scene".

The wearer of the cap said "You have to come with me, this is the annual convention of survivors, there are guys that will want to meet you". At the hotel, he was introduced to the leaders of the reunion, they took him to the stage, and announced his presence, and he was soon surrounded with men who had been saved by his ship. They insisted that he stay for the banquet, and give a speech about how his ship happened to be there at that time. His ship had heard the PBY radio message on the distress frequency, and without orders turned direct to the Lat/Long given.

That night, the crew of that rescue ship had no bunk with their own men in it. They had Indy sailors everywhere, and regular sailors hand feeding Indy crew soft foods, slathering them with oils to protect their sunburned skin, and helping them drink real water.

That Navy Gunnery officer said that was the most emotional day of his life, including when his own ship was torpedoed and sunk.

Later, his wife forced him to write a memoir of his WW 2 time in the Navy for his children, so they would understand why he was never home for them, and she several times left them with neighbors, while she traveled to the port where he was. She could not tell them or the neighbor where she was going, for security reasons. Most of his time was commander of the Navy gun crew on a civilian cargo ship crossing the Atlantic. Every convoy he crossed on lost ships to U boat attacks.

His wife loaned me copy of that memoir, copies of which had been given to each of his children and grandchildren. They should be immensely proud of him. Unfortunately, he died 20+ years ago, and I have forgotten his name.
 
I didn't know this was a thing. Hiking a State Park trail over the weekend I passed a guy wearing a huge backpack, and if that weren't enough, he was carrying a large cinder-block. I assumed he was training for something. I should have pieced together it was most likely a tribute to the fallen. Impressive. Wasn't an easy trail.
 
Mahneuvers said:
I didn't know this was a thing. Hiking a State Park trail over the weekend I passed a guy wearing a huge backpack, and if that weren't enough, he was carrying a large cinder-block. I assumed he was training for something. I should have pieced together it was most likely a tribute to the fallen. Impressive. Wasn't an easy trail.
Click to expand...
A cinderblock? I'm confused. :dunno:

There aren't a whole lot of veterans in my family, probably because they were farmers and food is an important ingredient to any war effort. But, it's important to me to learn about what history there is.

In WWII, my maternal grandfather served in the 45th Infantry Division, 157th Field Artillery Regiment, from late 1943 through the end of the war. He survived the war (and good thing, too, or I wouldn't be here to type this), but he was a radio operator and died in 1968 at age 48 from brain cancer, possibly related to his service, just a few weeks before my parents were married.

Some relative on my mom's side served in the Civil War, and their rifle has been passed down on my mom's side ever since. I wish I knew more about the history of whose it was and their role.

Going back even further, and a crazy story to go with it: My great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Johan Conrad Bittenbender, was born in Germany in 1716 and emigrated to the US in 1738. While searching for stray horses near his home in Hamilton Township, PA on May 2, 1757, he was massacred by Indians, leaving behind his wife Anna Maria and kids George (10), Christoffel (6), Jacob (5, my great^5 grandfather), Anna Elizabeth (1), Conrad (1), and Mary (2 mo). A year later, Anna died, leaving the six kids as orphans. It's unknown what happened to the kids at that point, but all four boys later served in and survived the Revolutionary War.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top