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Son's of old Sailors

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potluck73

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My grandfather was in the Navy during WWII. He flew as the back seat tail gunner of the dive bombers. I'm lucky he survived.
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What are some other stories out there?

Potluck
 
Thanks kinda funny, b/c my grandfather was a tailgunner/weather officer during WWII. He was in the Pacific. My dad is also Navy. So it's kinda in my blood.

Ben
 
My grandad served on LST 1 (Landing Ship-Tank) and was in on the invasion of North Africa and Normandy - I can't remember, but I think he also was in on the invasion of Sicily.

I went down to his ship's reunion this year in Tyler, TX. Being old sailors, they love to tell stories - it is pretty amazing seeing these guys in their mid-80's talking about bar fights and raising hell, giving the officers a hard time. My grandad still brags about how he got a good-conduct medal. They called him "Mac" (for obvious reasons) and from these other guys I learned he was the biggest hell-raiser out of all of them.

I took him to lunch outside a Naval Joint Reserve Base recently - he had a good time talking to some sailors on their lunch break - how he had made Chief in three years and what his pay was like compared to now.
 
My Best Freidn's Grandfather was a B-17 Ball Turret Gunner in WWII....
He ws shot down and taken prisoner, but later managed to Escape in a Luftwaffe fighter, and later was able to bring allied support in helping to free the POWs at that Prison Camp/ Airfield
 
^ That sounds far too ridiculous to believe. I'm raising my bull**** flag on this one.
 
My Grandpa served on a seaplane tender out in the pacific in WWII. In that time, he was also part of the Battle for Tarawa. I can't tell you what ship specifically right off the top of my head though.

~Nate
 
hey man, don't look at me, that wasn't my Grandpa....

Even I got my doubts there...
 
Originally posted by Ryoukai
^ That sounds far too ridiculous to believe. I'm raising my bull**** flag on this one.
Click to expand...

Considerin' he's saying a gunner learned to fly a single seater while in prison, or that he knew how to fly and didnt get into a pilot's seat(yeah right)...i agree.
 
Well my old man wasnt Navy but he's been running Merchant Cargo since 1960. When he was drafted into the Army he ran boats and did amphibious recon in the Delta, not to mention some hard hat diving somwhere along the line.
I'm the son of the Ancient Mariner. No wonder his crew calls him "Pappy"
 
Cool post, It is interesting to here everyones backround. My father was a enlisted Navy Seal for 10 years, my moms father was a secretary for the captain on a Aircraft Carrier, called the Bonhomme Richard in WW2. My dads father was a Marine Corps infintry officer, he has several purple hearts and other awards for serving seperate tours in Vietnam and Korea. I guess we had more family in the military way back in the day, Im talking Civil War times.
 
If anyone is interested in books about WWII, especially the Pacific Theatre let me tell you a book. This is most fantastic book I have ever read, its by E.B. Sledge and its called "With The Old Breed" This man is a former Marine and it is his personal account all the way from Boot Camp, through the battles of Pelilu and Okinawa. You will get sucked into it, I just can't describe the detail he goes into about fighting the Japanese and life as an old Devil Dog. It definitely gets an A+, 10 out of 10, 5 stars, 2 thumbs up, the whole nine yards.

Semper Fi
 
Originally posted by vegita1220
Originally posted by Ryoukai
^ That sounds far too ridiculous to believe. I'm raising my bull**** flag on this one.
Click to expand...

Considerin' he's saying a gunner learned to fly a single seater while in prison, or that he knew how to fly and didnt get into a pilot's seat(yeah right)...i agree.
Click to expand...

Not to mention the fact that the ball turret had few options other than prayer when going down...not only did he learn to fly, he learned to fly in a totally different language.
"Guns", you are officially off the talking list.
 
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