Went and visited my Grandpa this weekend. Had a great time and listened to a few stories. I don't know what questions to ask him to really get him to open up about the war though. He was part of Merrills Marauders, in Burma. He showed me a few things that he snuck home. He showed me the compass that he used while in the jungle. Still in perfect condition, and in the little pouch that attatched to his belt. Then he showed me an old .38 revolver that his brother Joe had used in the phillipines. He said that his brother had written home and said he didn't like the side arm that he had there, so they sent him the revolver. He told me it had killed a few japanese soldiers. It was also in perfect condition. Then he told me a story that I have heard before, but it is always a good one. He said that they were told to walk down to the river and wash up, and that they were to be back at a certain time, and that they would be served Ice cream. They asked how much they were going to get, and they were told a spoonfull a piece. He told me, " We told them they could shove that up there a$$." They went down to wash up anyways, and there were 6 of them he said. Two P-51 mustangs thought they were japanese and tried to strafe them. Nobody got hit. Him and his brother each picked up a brass shellcasing and kept it. They hid them when they were leaving so as not to get caught with them. They both made lighters out of them. It is one cool lighter. He also showed me a diploma he got when he came back. He went to intelligence school to be a map interperator. He said they could look at the gravel or dirt on a road, and could tell you which way a truck turned based on the shadows from the dirt or gravel piling up when the truck turned. Kind of cool I think. Next time I go down, I will have to take a camera and get some pics of these. Sorry about the long run on story.
Thanks Broke, you werem't too long. Actually you were too short. Anything you wish to add concerning your grandfather would be welcomed.
I find it equally hard to get my grandfather to open up. Once when he was ready to tell all. I had to ask myself why doesn't he say more. The answer that I give myself is that he is trying to forget. It took him several years to be able to sleep well at night and so I left it at that. He will tell me about his job and several stories that no one gets killed in, but every now and then he will add a little gem. For example one time he asked me how my school was going. At the time I was modeling an Me 262 in a 3d Graphics program and I told him about it. He responded that he remembers when "that jet came down to strafe us as we were crossing the Po river. He had a good time until some P-38s came along to shew him off. It was an impressive airplane."
I will have to try and get some pictures next time I go down in a few months. Anyone have any ideas as to what questions I should ask? He also told me that when they were told the war was over, that he was converted over to driving for higher ranking officers. I forgot what the name of ther person he drove around was. He also talked about that a guy where he lived (pittsburg, ks) used to fly his B-17 low and buzz his dad's house(not far away from my grandpa's house. He would come in low and buzz the house then land at an airport a few miles away, and his dad would come pick him up. Aparently the buzzing was the way the dad knew when to come pick him up. He said that sometimes he would come in at night and he would flip on the search lights and it would light up the whole country side. He also said that he was so low that the trees would bend as if they were trying to follow the plane after it went by.
I don't think it's that he has a hard time talking about it. He is a very opionated person. He doesn't have a problem talking about it, I just don't know what to ask him. It's almost like I get overwhelmed. He tells all kinds of stuff, I just usually forget pieces of it by the time I get home. Here is something I found about him on the internet. 4 State Heroes - Hero Information Page And his brother 4 State Heroes - Hero Information Page
You might consider sitting down with him in front of his computer or your laptop and start creating his memoirs. Start with how, when and what he was doing with his life when he entered the service. Document everything you can down to the name of the trains he rode and the dates. Put everything in a time line. That's what I'm doing with my father.
I will have to try that. I do know that he enlisted on his 18th birthday, and that his mother was pissed off at him. And somewhere online I had found his enlistment date and serial number.
I will try to have some questions ready to go and maybe write this stuff down or get a voice recorder. I don't have a laptop, and he doesn't have a computer. I will try and do what I can.
Hey broke! Great stories! I can give you a tip on asking some questions, as I had a thread about that subject just a few days ago. Here is what I was advised to ask: Start with before the war, what was his life like, circumstances leading up to his enlisting/drafting. If you start there and just follow the progression thru his experiences from the war you should be able to put together a pretty good personal history of his life in, before and after the war. I brought a digital voice recorder to my interview, you may want to video, that would be awesome to save!! Anyway if you just follow a time line of his war life, he will fill in the blanks for you. Sounds lie he enjoys talking to you, treasure these moments with him!! hope that helps, i'll be waiting to read more!! thanks!
Thank you for all the stories. I'm so glad that your Grandpa will talk openly to you brokenhatch. It probably means a lot to him that you are interested. Thank you as well tikal and White Flight. It was hard getting my Dad to talk. The rare thing he shared that wasn't possibly something humorous had to be related somehow to something happening in my life that he felt had a connection. I could relate to being careful waking your father-in-law. You always woke Dad carefully and never, ever crept up behind him - even as a small child!
Awesome, someone else who was there that recognizes what he was saying!!!!! I love talking to him about it, I can't get enough of it. Im hoping he digs up all his medals sometime and lets me look at them. He said he still has his old uniform somewhere too. I may have to talk with his brother too. They both live on the same street. There family has been in the same area since 1913. In fact, the house and farm where my grandpa lives is where he was born. They all used to work in a coal mine that wasn't very far from the house. In fact, he claims to have the worlds largest septic tank. It drains into an old mine, lol.
