Good-bye to a Hero

[BoldHighlander]

It's amazing to me that so many of these men went to the other side of the world and committed such acts of heroism but don't brag about them. I had an uncle who recently died and, although I talked to him quite a few times and knew he was a Marine, I never knew until after he died what he did in the Pacific. He was on a little island called Midway when it was attacked by the Japanese. Even though he was telephone man, he manned an anti-aircraft gun and brought down 3 planes. After that he went to Hawaii for a while and then had to help establish communication lines whenever the Marines invaded an island. So he was on a little rock called Iwo Jima and saw the flag go up. But he never told any of us family because he had a job to do and he did it. He didn't want any extra recognition for what he did.

As I mentioned earlier & in this previous thread, my cousin (a 3 war vet, starting with Merrill's Marauders), told me very little of his time in combat.
His favourite saying, when asked, was "whomever said war is hell, only scratched the surface."

I do know that the last ten years of his life he spent in Florida, he'd get together a couple times a week for breakfast with other former WWII vets who also served in Merrill's Marauders & the Rangers, where they recounted tales of combat etc.
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall!!

[Bill aka Mole]

It's amazing to me that so many of these men went to the other side of the world and committed such acts of heroism but don't brag about them. I had an uncle who recently died and, although I talked to him quite a few times and knew he was a Marine, I never knew until after he died what he did in the Pacific. He was on a little island called Midway when it was attacked by the Japanese. Even though he was telephone man, he manned an anti-aircraft gun and brought down 3 planes. After that he went to Hawaii for a while and then had to help establish communication lines whenever the Marines invaded an island. So he was on a little rock called Iwo Jima and saw the flag go up. But he never told any of us family because he had a job to do and he did it. He didn't want any extra recognition for what he did.

As I mentioned earlier & in this previous thread, my cousin (a 3 war vet, starting with Merrill's Marauders), told me very little of his time in combat.
His favourite saying, when asked, was "whomever said war is hell, only scratched the surface."

I do know that the last ten years of his life he spent in Florida, he'd get together a couple times a week for breakfast with other former WWII vets who also served in Merrill's Marauders & the Rangers, where they recounted tales of combat etc.
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall!!

The majority of those who have seen combat will likely say something along the line of this: "I am not a hero. I had the honor of serving with heroes. I was only doing my job." Then they may tell you about someone who did something extrodinary.