Kardinal
Private
Oh Noes Ruskies!
Posts: 10
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Post by Kardinal on Jan 1, 2006 21:59:39 GMT -5
Just curious, who in your family served in the Military durning WWII? (Dont get to far off. I.E. Fathers, cousins, husbands, uncles, dad ect.)
Name: Relation: Branch: Rank: Division: Service Time: Combat seen: and Pictures!
I'll start.
Name: John E. Lestock Relation: Grandfather Branch: Army Rank: PFC Division: 17th AB and 82nd AB Service time: 1942-1946 Combat Seen: Operation Varsity (near Wesel)
Name: George E. Ballis Relation: Grandfather Branch: Army Aircorp Rank: Staff Sargent? Division: 9th Airforce Service: 1944-1947 Combat: None (Postmaster or somthing)
Name: Bill Lestock Relation: Great Uncle Branch: Army Aircorp Rank: Sargent ?? Not sure. Division: 405th Bomb Group Service: 194?-194? Combat: Pacific Theatre (New Guinea Area) Tail Gunner on a B-25.
I'll try to get some pictures up, if I can get my scanner to work.
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Post by Rainer Schmidt on Jan 1, 2006 23:34:53 GMT -5
Name: John Lahm Relation: Great Uncle Branch: Army Infantry Rank: Private Division: 5th Canadian Armoured Division, Cape Breton Highlanders Service Time: 1942-1944 Combat seen: Italian Campaign before being critically wounded by a Panzerschreck. Filled his chest and arm with shrapnel and he had to be immediately transfered to a field hospital.
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Post by CPL. Mills 2nd Rangers on Jan 2, 2006 8:06:03 GMT -5
Name: Donald Mills Relation: GrandFather Branch: U.S. Army Rank: Captain Division: 621 Quartermaster Battalion Service Time: 1943-1945 Combat seen: 0
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Post by phantom12321 on Jan 2, 2006 11:40:42 GMT -5
Name:Craig Metheny Relation: Grandfather Branch: U.S. Army Rank: Corprol Division: Signal Corps division unknown Service time: 1944-1945 Combat seen: two bullets just missed him and he was attacked by a jelly fish while coming onto a beach in the phillipines. Otherwise served as x-ray repair in France, Germany, the Phillipines and possibly a few other islands in the pacific
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Post by spitfire740 on Jan 2, 2006 14:02:58 GMT -5
Name: Eugene Degl'Innocenti Relation: Grandpa Branch: US Army Rank: --- Division: 9th infantry division Service Time: 1950-1954 Combat seen: 0 - he was a cook! Soldiers gotta eat right?
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Russian
Corporal
Magician
Posts: 923
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Post by Russian on Jan 2, 2006 15:33:19 GMT -5
Name:Dick Clark Relation: Grandfather Branch: US Army Rank: Private First Class Division: --- (Don't know off hand) Service Time: 1943-45 Combat Seen: He was a forward observer at the Battle of the Bulge. He actually was so far behind German lines that to avoid being seen, he jumped in a fox hole, then a cow sat on top of it, andhe and the man that came with him grabbed onto the cows legs to hold it down, so itwouldn't move, revealing their position to the Germans.
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Post by Guinness on Jan 2, 2006 15:36:04 GMT -5
hey, tell your Grandpa he did a great job with the New Years celebration this year and that he looks good after what he's been through this year. -G
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Russian
Corporal
Magician
Posts: 923
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Post by Russian on Jan 2, 2006 15:56:32 GMT -5
Ya, first time I heard a reference to Dick Clark, I ran to my mother and start shouting about how "granpa was gunna be on the tv!" But, alas, he is not the same Dick Clark.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jan 2, 2006 18:22:06 GMT -5
My Father: Fred J Robison SSGT (During WW2, later Colonel) COSSAG later SHAEF My Mother: Marguerite Doucette Capt Red Cross Liason London Chapter 1944-45
My Uncle: P-47 Pilot, US Army Air Corp Never left the states
My father enlisted in the 45th Inf Division which was a National Guard unit in 1939. It ended up being involved in more days of on the line combat then any other US division and suffered the highest percentage of casualties. In 1939 their patch was an Anastazi indian symbol which looked just like a swaztika! (I wish I had a few of those patches as I'm sure they're quite rare!) Needless to say the army changed it prior to american hostilities to a golden navaho indian on a red diamond.
After Pearl Harbor they asked all the troops if any of them knew how to type. My father said he did and he was immediately sent to England to join what would ultimately become SHAEF The Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. He was one of the first 200 American troops to arrive in England and by wars end had more hash marks on his sleave then anyone and was constantly challenged by MPs for proof that he'd been in the Theater that long. (You got a sleave patch for every six months overseas.)
His original boss was General Andrews until he died in a B-17 crash enroute to Greenland for an inspection trip. My father was supposed to be on that plane. He then got transfered to a little known Brigadier General named Eisenhower. He served on that staff through the North Africa landings, Scicily, and D-Day rising to the rank of staff sgt. He saw Eisenhower virtually every day and delivered documents on the invasion to Churchill on two occassions.
He met my mother in early 1944 where she was an officer in the WACs and served as the Liason Officer to the Red Cross in the downtown london Mosins Club. My father recieved a commision as a 2nd Lt in 1945 (I think so he could marry my mother.) In those days enlisted men couldn't marry officers. His commission was by direction of General Eisenhower who I'm sure thought he'd leave the Army following hostilities. He didn't and ended up retiring as a Colonel in 1969 with 30 years service. My dad was in London for both Blitzes and was in SPA hoping to see Marlene Dietrich when the German did their surprise attack during the battle of the Bulge. Spa is about 6 miles from Malmedy where the famous massacre took place (actually at Baugnez) That was the closest he came to combat. My mother was wounded by a V-2 rocket by flying glass and recieved the purple heart. I didn't learn that it was her purple heart or that my father had actually met Churchill until my son interviewed the two of them for a high school project.
My father hand carried one of the three treaties signed by what was left of the German High Command at the end of the war (General Jodl and Admiral Donitz) from Reihms to Versaille in a Jeep with just one other man. It was the treatie for the Low Countries and was signed by Montgomery and the existing German High Command. He was told that if anything happened to that treatie enroute he better just keep on driving. As he drove through the country, word of the armstices was spreading and he heard church bells ringing through the night. He was authorized to proceed to Paris and then fly to the English HQ in Bletchley Park, England. He was with my mother for the official announcement of the end of the war in Europe (VE Day) and saw the celebrations in Picadilly Square London.
Had my father not mentioned that he knew how to type he no doubt would have remained an infantrymen in the 45th (Scicily, Salerno, Anzio and the rest of the Italian campaign) and odds are would not have survived. Hence I and my six brothers and sisters wouldn't be here. Certainly he never would have been a direct witness to so much history.
He passed away of ALS (lou Gehrigs Disease) 3 years ago. My mother died two years ago. They are my heros and though I am rapidly becoming an "Old man" myself, I miss them and consider myself blessed to have been part of that heritage. That generation survived the depression and fought the noble fight, preserving freedom for all of us when darkness and wickedness was as flaggrant as it will perhaps ever be again. (At least on that scale)
I know my father always felt a certain survivors guilt about not being a front line soldier even though by all accounts was an exceptional enlisted man and officer. All who served are to be honored whether they saw combat or not.
I have great momentoes of their service including color film (a wedding present from Eisenhower) of their wedding at St James Cathedral in London in 1945.
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Post by Guinness on Jan 2, 2006 18:36:52 GMT -5
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jan 2, 2006 20:15:03 GMT -5
Guiness,
Thank you for adding the graphic so folks can see what I was referring to. As I had mentioned to you before my father grew up in Wellington Colorado and was the oldest boy out of 13 children. You can imagine that earlier division insignia would have caused some raised eyebrows! I'm anxious to hear more stories! Let's acknowledge our ancestors with their stories. Great thead!
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silencer
Private 1st Class
Spartan by blood
Posts: 407
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Post by silencer on Jan 2, 2006 21:00:27 GMT -5
Name: Leo Xydes Relation: Greek grandpa Branch: Greek..... i donno... he made bombs Rank: ? Division:? Service Time:1938-42 Combat seen: Captured by the Germans but didn't want to make bombs for them so he escaped to America to join his wife in Illinois
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Post by Capt. Zak on Jan 3, 2006 6:46:46 GMT -5
Name: Stanley A Fronczak Relation: Grandfather Branch: US Army Rank: Pvt. Division: 472nd Truck Rgmt. Quartermaster Corps. Service: 1943-1945 Combat: CBI Theater of Operations & some time in Egypt. While in the CBI he was part of Merrill's Marauders supply chain.
Name: James P. Majercak Relation: Great Uncle Branch: USMC Rank: Pvt. Division: 3rd Marine Division Service: Combat: KIA Guadal Canal (11-10-42)
Name: John Sieliga Relation: Grandfather Branch: Sheet Metal Fabricator (exempt from service) Rank: Division: Service: Worked 12 hour days, 7 days a week, stamping metal vehicle & weapons parts from '42 to '46. Combat: None
My "Great Great Uncle" (my grandmothers uncle, father's side) who served in the Russian Army. He was a Kossack. I don't have his info here at work but I do know he was KIA.
I also had a "Great Great Uncle" (My Grandfathers uncle, mothers side) who was an Austrian that served in the SS. He was an Oberscharfuhrer in the 3rd SS. He took his own life late in the war.
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Post by phantom12321 on Jan 3, 2006 6:58:03 GMT -5
Name: Cornelius Gallagher Relation: Grandfather Branch: Ground Beryllium for atomic bomb shells at University of Chicago (exempt of service Rank: Division: Service: Ground plates for the atomic bomb without knowing it and later got lung poisoning from the Beryllium and was forced to use oxygen until his death in 1988
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Post by stormy on Jan 3, 2006 12:26:19 GMT -5
Name: Clifford Feese Relation: Grandfather Branch: Army Air Corp Rank: Division: 25th Bomb Group Service Time: 1944 - 1945 Combat: None - worked for Group HQ at RAF Watton Name: Herb Feese Relation: Great Uncle Branch: US Navy Rank: ? /Electricians Mate Division: USS Asheville (PG-21) Combat: KIA - 3 March 1942 www.geocities.com/songkhla.geo/PG21-USSAsheville.html
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Post by polak on Jan 5, 2006 23:03:30 GMT -5
Name: Jerry Blackshear Relation: Grandfather Branch: Marine Corps Rank: Private First Class Division: Unknown Service Time: 1953-1957 Combat seen: Korean War
Name: Joe Bogucki Relation: Great Uncle Branch: Army Rank: Unknown, need to get ahold of discharge papers Division: See above Service Time: Throughout the entire war Combat seen: Pacific, World War II
Name: Robert Glovak Relation: Grandfather Branch: army Rank: Specialist 5 (Equivelant of Staff Sergeant at the Time*) Division: Unknown Service Time: 1953-1956 Combat seen: None, Cold War Veteran!
*During his time in the Army, there was no rank of "Buck" Sergeant. He would have made Sergeant First Class, though my Grandmother didn't want him going as an advisor to Viet-Nam.
I have more too, such as relatives from foreign services. Hell, I could put Admiral Horatio Nelson up there too, as he's some sort of uncle of mine.
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Post by Guinness on Jan 6, 2006 0:04:55 GMT -5
Name: Clyde Alvarez Relation: Father Branch: U.S. Army Rank: Spec 4 Division: Unk. Service Time: 1953-1956 Action Seen: Korean War- No shots fired in anger though, He was a Anti-Aircraft gunner. Name: Chris Alvarez Relation: uhh...me Branch: U.S.Air Natl. Guard Rank: E-5 Staff Sgt. Division: 125th Fighter Wing Service Time: 1981-1987 Action Seen: Cold War Veteran! Well there was that time the cows wandered onto the runway.... Is it bad I added myself? ;D
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