Did Your Parents Serve In WWII?

[Chet]

I picked up the book Valiant Women which tells of the women who served in WWII as the men fought the battles. I had known previously that they ferried airplanes and also served as nurses. I've only begun reading it, and thought it would be a good topic for discussion.

My father had a job deferment. He worked in the coal mines and coal was a major energy supplier at that time. My mother remained a housewife.

 

[CallMeKate]

No, my parents weren't even teens yet during WWII... but my daddy served (Army) in Korea.

 

[debodun]

Dad was in the European theater of WW2. He was a PFC, but never saw combat duty. If I remember correctly, he was mainly a POW guard. He brought back some souvenirs, but I won't post photos of them since some have an emblem that still stirs up resentment and I've caused enough stir this week with my posts. But I will post a pic of him in his military fatigues.

 

[CinnamonSugar]

My dad was a cook on a battleship in the Pacific



My FIL flew planes with the Army Air Corp

 

[Lawrence]

My father served in World War Two in three of the major battles. He was drafted into the infantry and also worked in construction. He told stories of assembling the portable bridges use to transport military equipment and men as well as guarding the bridges over rivers from enemy destruction. He stayed in Germany after the war for a year or so helping to clean up the mess there. He had firsthand stories of the German Jewish torture and killing places that he only told to a verry few.

While he served as infantry, he also had storied of how he was on teams that would quietly infiltrate the German towns and go to German officers houses and capture the officers. Those were a bit hard on him because they would rip the officers away from their families with the wife and children observing what was going on.

One Uncle died there in the war, he was a tanker and his tank drove over a land mine and was disabled. The crew tried to escape and were later seen then reported as killed. The word is that his body was never found but there is a grave marker with his name on it in Europe in a US Military graveyard.

 

[hawkdon]

My oldest sister, I believe, served as a nurse, but details never shared or I don't
remember the details....

 

[Wayne]

my dad did

 

[chic]

Dad served in the navy in the European theater of the war from age 17 - 22. What should have been the best years of his life were spent fighting a war. But he would have been drafted if he didn't volunteer though it was hardly voluntary.

 

[Lawrence]

Hello chic, my father tried to join the US Navy when he was drafted and even showed then some skills that he had but the navy would not accept him.

 

[Michael Z]

My dad was in the Air Force. My simple country girl mom worked in a factory in Chicago making airplane parts.

 

[JustBonee]

My father was in the Army during WWII, and several uncles (7) and one aunt also served, in the Army, Marines and Navy.

 

[Old Salt]

My father was drafted into the German Army and served and went missing on the Eastern Front! We had him declared dead in the 1950s after all German prisoners had been released from Russian Camps!

 

[Jace]

A barber @ Fort Knox, Ky.

 

[Della]

My father enlisted right after Pearl Harbor and was immediately made a drill sergeant because they had far too big a privates-to-sergeants ratio at that point.

His main war story was grabbing a grenade out of one of his trainees hands after the kid had pulled the pin and then froze. His other big memory was being on a ship with his platoon, headed to Japan, when the war ended and how weird it was to watch the water as the huge ship made a U-Turn.

 

[Pepper]

4F. He tried to enlist at different places but they kept finding his heart murmur.

 

[squatting dog]

Pop was a Navigator and bombardier on a B26 Marauder and he flew 73 bombing missions over Germany. Received the DFC with 2 silver and 1 bronze Oak Leaf Clusters.

 

[jujube]

My dad was a Pharmacists Mate on a LST in the Pacific. He once had to perform an appendectomy during a typhoon with instructions shouted to him over the radio by a doctor on another ship. The patient lived.

 

[Old Salt]

Pop was a Navigator and bombardier on a B26 Marauder and he flew 73 bombing missions over Germany. Received the DFC with 2 silver and 1 bronze Oak Leaf Clusters.


View attachment 299805

No matter which side they were on, these men were brave and deserve our admiration!

 

[Pepper]

No matter which side they were on, these men were brave and deserve our admiration!

I strongly disagree

 

[hollydolly]

My father was only 13 when war broke out... and 19 when it ended.. he was born in '26... my mother was 5 when war broke out... My grandfathers were already too old to enlist

 

[Pinky]

My father joined the Canadian Army and served overseas. I have a shadow box of his medals that my brother
made.

 

[Murrmurr]

My mom was still a schoolgirl when my dad served.

Her class sent letters and small care packages one year. It was a class project.

Just remembered - the care packages included cigarettes and lighters. 4th-graders packed them up without any concern whatsoever.

 

[Avon]

I picked up the book Valiant Women which tells of the women who served in WWII as the men fought the battles. I had known previously that they ferried airplanes and also served as nurses. I've only begun reading it, and thought it would be a good topic for discussion.

My father had a job deferment. He worked in the coal mines and coal was a major energy supplier at that time. My mother remained a housewife.

I picked up the book Valiant Women which tells of the women who served in WWII as the men fought the battles. I had known previously that they ferried airplanes and also served as nurses. I've only begun reading it, and thought it would be a good topic for discussion.

My father had a job deferment. He worked in the coal mines and coal was a major energy supplier at that time. My mother remained a housewife.

Hi Chet, if interested another good read for a couple of bucks used is a book called "Operation Sealion" by Leo McKinstry. It amazed me how this little island which stood alone at that point in time prepared in weeks what now takes years for Hitlers invasion. Worth a read.

My father was stationed in South Africa and Mauritius eavesdropping on the German War Machine, after which we returned to the UK and he was killed on HMS Egret. This is the pair of us, when he did not have much longer to live.

 

[StarSong]

My father served in the ETO, including the Battle of the Bulge. He was a radioman (telegraph) with the Army. His brothers also served. Same with DH's family. My FIL and his brothers all served during WWII.

 

[Repondering]

My father was a navigator on a B-24 bomber in the Pacific theater. I don't know how many missions he flew but it was the required number before finishing his duties training more navigators in Kansas. He did mention that his squadron flew several bombing missions over Truk lagoon. I understand that the Japanese defenders there were quite vigorous in their opposition.