MONDAY, MAY 31, 2010


Thanx for the Memories!

Herman L. & Rose Ann

We have a lot to be thankful for and much to remember.

I have a different definition of the real meaning of Memorial Day.


They are called America's Greatest Generation. I’m not really sure the Greatest are truly any greater than those that founded this country. It is a good comparison to make. When they came home from war the outstanding things they did were appreciated by their elders.

On a day like today it is time to step back and make sure they are appreciated by their descendants.

Rosie and Hermie were my parents. They both served in the Big One.

Rose was a Lady Marine. She remembered; thankfully she never let us forget. There are still many “Yes, Ma’am, Sergeant, Sir” stories that I have to tell DakotaDawg.

Herm was some kind of a Ninety Day Wonder. He never really seemed to want to talk about his war years or the hardships he suffered to finish college and do his duty. In this way he was a lot like Elmer T. Ask and they would answer. Normally, they just lived their lives. There were always the subtle cues that it was alright to ask.

I regret that I was away at college when the Minesweeper that my dad served on during the war came into the port. He took my younger sisters down and toured the ship. I am going to try to get one of them to tell me his stories. I am sure there was some bulkhead where he had hit his head. Most of his life, at least I thought, he was still suffering from that collision. But that was how he was raised and that is how he raised us.

My brother has some of the family heirlooms including one picture of my father with a rifle shooting at the mine they had caught in the trawl lines of their minesweeper. Since I am operating from memory this is a bit sketchy. It might not even have been dad. It is though how I remember it because Hermie would never let us have guns when we were growing up. I always thought it was ironic that he was holding a gun trying to explode a German mine in that old B&W.

I do remember the photo was taken on his minesweeper in the Caribbean. There were a lot of bare chested shots of some of the crew going about the business of finding and destroying the enemy’s mines. They had not been advised about the risks of skin cancer.

The Germans had crossed the Atlantic in their U-Boats to the tropics to place mines in strategic locations so that the tankers of Venezuelan fuel would not reach England. There is not too much in the literature or even Google about German U-Boats laying mines around Trinidad nor how successful they were at it. Dad helped a little to insure they were not too successful.

Rose did a lot of typing as a Woman Marine. I know she had to type a lot of bad news that went to families of those Marines storming the beaches of islands across the Pacific. She also got to type a few good things like discharge papers. Mom did not tell us about the bad letters. Mom could type like a Banshee.

Occasionally she told us about Boot Camp. She had several amusing stories about a woman being in a man’s branch of the military. When she was older she belonged to a local group of Lady Marines and did not live to see the Memorial. My youngest sister did get a scholarship from that group of Lady Marines to help with college. Us kids still being around and remembering her is a special kind of memorial.

 

Elmer T.

ET was not mine growing up but he is now. He was a B-17 pilot and a very lucky one at that. We are pretty lucky too. We still get to visit with him.

There are a lot of mistaken impressions about the allied bombing campaigns in Germany. Most of those should be laid at the feet of the British who were doling out their revenge. Kind of a what goes around comes around in spades. Some things in war are just plain nasty.

I wrote a “Tribute to ET”. It was a small attempt to honor the man and what he did. It was self published and mercifully there are a lot of pictures and not too much text. Every mission flown by ET is listed and I even know from some of his old notes what he had for breakfast at 3AM before he went to the briefing. ET delivered bombs on military targets like ball bearing plants. He also dropped supplies to the French Resistance behind enemy lines.

The belly flop landing that he survived is a vivid memory for him and us. The whole family, all the way thru the nursing grand kids to the kids and their spouses went to Rattlesden in England for the Golden Anniversary of D-Day. We went to the old field that is still there; we even walked on the runway and visited the tower where they watched his flights take off and prayed for its safe return. Because of his skill as a pilot when the flak damage to his hydraulics kept his brakes from working he slid across a lot of beet fields and hedgerows. The plane they were about to paint “Sky Queen” became replacement parts. We remember and we are thankful.


Because of the wonders of Google I found that picture on the interweb with other information about the 447th Bomb Group with that special K on the tail. The B-17 G with the nose turret.


ET had some long days during the war. ET was a hell of a man then, as he is now.

So today is a special day for remembrance.

I reminded DakotaDawg that we were not racing to the stop sign. Today of all days we had much more important things to remember. For this I am thankful; so is DakotaDawg. We want to let the Greatest Generation know how much we appreciate them and how much we remember.

We have a lot to be thankful for and much to be remembered.


POSTED BY SRPLUS AT 3:57 AM 0 COMMENTS