|
|
Posted by Chriscase on Friday, May 15, 2009 at 09:53:15 :
In Reply to: wc-53 posted by Dave K. Royal on Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 23:51:50 :
I saw a bunch of pics in our trash can. One of which was a GI posing next to a wrecked bomb truck- an International, not Dodge. I had seen that pic 50years ago. Dad had said "It rolled down a hill ersumtpthin."
Hmm, if Dad was throwing stuff away, I better dig through his things and make photo copies of his old military stuff. One of which was a standing order from Tinian,. It was a list of Soldiers Medals awards. Seems there was an explosion of the middle 500# mine on a trailer. It threw one of the side bombs into that truck- which Dad was driving. Didn't stop Dad from putting out the burning sodliers and gettin them to an aid station.
The Soldiers Medal is equivalent to a Bronze Star, for valor NOT in the face of the enemy. Steve McQueen earned one.
And I just lately found out that uncle Bruno was awarded the Navy Cross, as a Marine corp machine gunner on Eniwetok. Purple heart there too- a bullet to close to his heart to be removed. Then two more landings, Saipan and Iwo, where he was hit in the back by a dud mortar round. Next round wiped out his mates, but not him, he was unconscious on the ground. He only died a couple years ago, on his tree farm in Maine.
It's one thing to not be a braggart, But gee whiz, doesn't it occur to those old guys that we might be interested in what they did? who they 'were'? Or do they forget they ever were somebody?
Follow Ups: