Anybody know any war heroes?

[BeerMoney]

Any family members, or close friends?

Being Memorial Day and all... I'll start: No.

[wacki]

My grandfather and his brothers were in WWII.

I have a bunch of friends that are in Iraq and my brother is overseas right now.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

im pretty sure my grandpa fought on the itialian side in WWII

[Jakesta]

My grandpa was in WWII, but he didn't fight in any battles. He worked stateside as an intelligence officer and interpreter.

[Dynasty]

[ QUOTE ]
im pretty sure my grandpa fought on the itialian side in WWII

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope he didn't shoot at my grandfather (or vise versa).

[gunt]

i had an alcoholic grandfather who was in the navy during WWII... just like everyone else.

[chesspain]

My late father was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in the Korean War--although he rarely talked about his war record, and I didn't even find out about his medal until his funeral.

Curiously, since he was "only" a medic, I assumed that everyone who was in a combat zone received the Bronze star, although I was corrected about this by a patient of mine who served in Vietnam.

So, my father must've performed some act of bravery...although I have no idea what, since the records of his military service (along with the records of tens of thousands of others) were destroyed in a fire before the computer age.

[beta1607]

Medic is actually one of the most dangerous jobs in the military. I know they had one of the highest causilty rates in Vietnam not sure about Korea though.

[beta1607]

A friend of mine was a captain in the Army Airborn during Vietnam. My late grandfather was in the Russian army during WWII and was wounded and taken prisnor by the Germans.

[SackUp]

My grandpa was in WWII, uncle in Nam, 2 cousins in Iraq and several friends serving right now.

Thank god for all of them, b/c it is certaintly something I would never want to do.

[Wes ManTooth]

My grandfather was in WWII as a tank batallion commander and uncle in Vietnam.

[wh1t3bread]

My grandfather was a "Frogman" for the Navy in WW2. These were the precursors to the Navy Seals. His specific job was "Underwater Demolition". Which meant that his group was sent into a Japanese infested harbor or beach and set charges to dismantle underwater mines.

One night him and a buddy were captured while completing a mission in the Philippines. He was sent to a prison camp for about a week.

Then the Japanese guards lined all the prisoners up in front of the Japanese flag and ordered the prisoners to "salute the flag of the rising sun".

NONE OF THEM DID.

One of them was pulled out of line and had one leg tied to the top of one tree and the other leg to another tree. The trees were pulled down and then let go. It ripped the prisoner apart.

That same night my grandfather and a few others had seen enough so they successfully escaped into the jungle. A couple days later they met up with a group of Filipino Guerrilla fighters. My grandfather fought with this group of Filipino's until the end of the war.

He was awarded 2 purple hearts.

[Jakesta]

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im pretty sure my grandpa fought on the itialian side in WWII

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I hope he didn't shoot at my grandfather (or vise versa).

[/ QUOTE ]

He said WWII, not the Civil War.

[jakethebake]

Yes.

[jakethebake]

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Curiously, since he was "only" a medic, I assumed that everyone who was in a combat zone received the Bronze star, although I was corrected about this by a patient of mine who served in Vietnam.

[/ QUOTE ]

Marines rarely think much of sailors. The exception is the Navy "doc" assigned to their units. The docs sweat and bleed right beside them.

[rusellmj]

My uncle received the Bronze Star in WWll. My dad said he never spoke of why it was awarded.

[Jakesta]

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Marines rarely think much of sailors. The exception is the Navy "doc" assigned to their units. The docs sweat and bleed right beside them.

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The Marines wouldn't be able to get anywhere without the Navy. Do you see them walking across the ocean to Iraq?

[ThaSaltCracka]

bronze star (http://www.americal.org/awards/achv-svc.htm#BronzeStar)

Thats quite an honor.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
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Marines rarely think much of sailors. The exception is the Navy "doc" assigned to their units. The docs sweat and bleed right beside them.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Marines wouldn't be able to get anywhere without the Navy. Do you see them walking across the ocean to Iraq?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well actually most of them were flown over there. But my usual response to this used to be that unlike the navy, Marines have to swim qualify so we could just swim wherever we needed. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

(I always thought it odd that the navy didn't require swum qual in boot camp.)

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Marines rarely think much of sailors. The exception is the Navy "doc" assigned to their units. The docs sweat and bleed right beside them.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Marines wouldn't be able to get anywhere without the Navy. Do you see them walking across the ocean to Iraq?

[/ QUOTE ]of course, the Navy is their chauffeur.

[jakethebake]

I've met a number of Medal of Honor recipients.

One old biker that was a Vietnam-era Marine hung out in this bar (Charlie's Attic) I frequented in Austin. Charlie got him to bring in his MOH for the Marine Corps B-Day one year. VERY cool!

One of my cooler experiences in the Marines was escorting a bunch of the old WWII Navajo code-talkers around the base.

I also met one of the Iwo Jima flag raisers once.

[Jakesta]

That sounded rather insulting.

[BruceZ]

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Any family members, or close friends?

[/ QUOTE ]

My father fought in WWII in New Guinea and later became a full colonel. His brother fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was nearly left for dead under a pile of shrapnel. He received a purple heart and several oak leaf clusters (one for each injury sustained in battle on different occasions). His other brother served in the navy in Europe in WWII, and he was nearly killed when his ship was torpedoed.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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That sounded rather insulting.

[/ QUOTE ]why?

[jakethebake]

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That sounded rather insulting.

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Oh come on. A little interservice rivalry never hurt anyone. All in good fun. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Jakesta]

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That sounded rather insulting.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh come on. A little interservice rivalry never hurt anyone. All in good fun. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

In that case,

Q. Why does the Navy put Marines on board ships?
A. Because sheep would be too obvious

[rusellmj]

Since i'm into photography, I perused a coffee table book where a guy photographed our remaining living Medal of Honor recipients. If it wasn't for the fact that these events must be witnessed, you wouldn't believe them. Amazing stories. Oh, and you can read here (http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/Moh1.htm) the stories of just about every recipient. Take the time to read a few. The stories of the two snipers in Black Hawk Down are worth a read. It also appears that the two things that seem to qualify everytime are: if you're the captain of a battleship that gets sunk and jumping on a grenade (there are quite a few of these).

[ThaSaltCracka]

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That sounded rather insulting.

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Oh come on. A little interservice rivalry never hurt anyone. All in good fun. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]precisely.

[CCass]

Yes. My grandfather. He served during WW2 as an Army Field Medic. He did nothing extraordinary. But he and all others who answered the call of their Country are Heroes in my book.

Also had an Uncle in 'nam, a cousin in the Navy during Desert Storm, and others.

[tbach24]

I have a couple uncles, a grandfather and some other relatives who were ex marines. My cousin is in the Navy right now.

[BeerMoney]

[ QUOTE ]
I've met a number of Medal of Honor recipients.

One old biker that was a Vietnam-era Marine hung out in this bar (Charlie's Attic) I frequented in Austin. Charlie got him to bring in his MOH for the Marine Corps B-Day one year. VERY cool!



[/ QUOTE ]

I've never asked anyone for their autograph. I think if I met a medal of honor recipient, that would change.

[Slacker13]

My Grandpa. He was shot in a plane during WW2 in Burma. As a matter of fact earlier that day him and a buddy flipped a coin on who would go on which plane, Grandpa got shot and his friends plane crashed and everyone died.

[Myrtle]

Hero is such an overused word in America today, I fear that we’ve lost its’ true meaning somewhere in the rhetoric of it all.....

Be that as it may, today is Memorial Day....a day that we set aside to honor those who have served us.

You asked about family members..........

Grandfather – Served in the Ardennes in WWI. Purple Heart recipient.

Father – 101st Airborne in WWII. Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart with 3 clusters. Battle of the Bulge survivor. Did you see “Band of Brother’s”? That was my father. Didn’t like talking about it much. Came home with a rage that he could never extinguish. War does that to people. May he rest in peace.

Me – Navy Aircrew Member – Vietnam...in & out for 3 years. Thankfully, no Purple Heart.

My Son – APC Driver – Gulf War – from beginning to end, and again thankfully, no Purple Heart.

[miajag81]

Was your father portrayed in Band of Brothers?

[Myrtle]

no....sorry if my statement was unclear.....

Just trying to connect with anyone who had seen the series.