New Member! :)

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Welcome on this fine forum, I hope our members will be able to help you.

 

Thank you ghost, and I totally understand what you are saying. I think that site is more of what I was looking for, I wouldn't want to try and get someone's contact info and just write them. I of course would love to talk to a veteran, but really I just want to write a thank you, just to know it got to someone that was a part of it. Ultimately just glad to be here, talking about the war I study so much-- because my husband and friends all think I'm insane for being interested in it!

Thanks for the welcome, Kommodore!

 

Hi Gretchen - welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome aboard, Gretchen. Hope you enjoy your time here.

 

Welcome to the forums, Gretchen

 

Hello and welcome to the forum Gretchen.
I have recently had the pleasure of meeting a 93 year old Veteran called Wilf Shaw who started his war at the battle of El Alamein.
I spent a happy afternoon chatting with him looking at old photographs and talking about his life and war years.
One thing that struck me was how unassuming he was, a lovely man who didn't think he was a hero-he was called up, did his job and that was that.
If you are interested, you can read his diary here:
(www.fightingthrough.co.uk/#/wilf-shaw-4/4556286864)

with thanks to paulcheall who posted his diary

 

We all probably think your husband and friends are a little nuts not to be interested.

I find that if you talk to people casually about the war, especially people of the right generation, you'll find veterans. Keep your eyes open. They're out there and you run into them from time to time. Octa/nonagenarians wearing military caps are often a good bet. If you see someone with a hat you might ask if they served. Even if they didn't you're likely to get an interesting story, since there's almost always a story behind the hat. My grandfather still wears either a red Marine Raider hat or the hat from his fatigues on a near daily basis. My landlady's husband is generally to be seen in an LST hat. My late friend Harry Stone was usually in his army issue job.

Volunteering at a local nursing home or retirement apartment can be a good way to meet veterans. At least one of the local ones here even has a list of veterans on the wall. (I do know some people who would be darned uncomfortable with that, but they would probably just move elsewhere.)

Anyway, welcome and good luck.

 

Hi Gretchen, welcome to the forums. I'm new here myself but everyone here has made me feel so welcome. I know you'll love it. Good luck in your search!

 

Welcome, Gretchen!

No offense intended, but I find it rather sad that someone would think you were insane for your interest. People fought and died for our freedom, and while everyone has varying interest in the details, the sacrifices made by those people were important to all of us.

Maybe your interest will wear off on them!

 

Hi Gretchen, it's me again.
Since my last post I've gone back and reread your initial post and it got my brain cells ticking. Memorial Day is right around the corner. In my life I have been very fortunate to have many veterans in my life. I grew up in a military family, I married a Navy man. When I was growing up, Memorial day was more than just a day off of work and a good excuse for a barbecue. It was a special time to take a pause from your own life and remember the men and women who made sacrifices to make your life possible.

When my husband and I were stationed at Pearl Harbor Navy Base in Hawaii we were fortunate to attend many events that honored vets. We lived just down the street from the Arizona Memorial. During those 5 years we were there we met countless WWII vets, some of them Pearl Harbor survivors. Perhaps this Memorial Day, instead of going to a BBQ, try instead to gather your husband and friends, take a drive to the nearest national cemetery and volunteer to place flags at the gravestones of the vets no longer with us. There will be a good chance you will meet survivors there, but more than that it will give you a chance to show the gratitude you so clearly feel. By bringing your family and friends it gives you a chance to show them what drives you. If you go, bring tissues with you, I promise it will be an emotional event. If you would like to volunteer more than just on Memorial Day, try contacting your local chapter of the VFW, Veterans Of Foreign Wars, and offer to volunteer. The USO is also a wonderful opportunity to volunteer and show your support for the men and women currently serving their country.

Good luck with your goals. If you achieve them you'll have memories that will last a lifetime and stories to pass down to your children, stories which will let those survivors live on in our memories.

 

Although your interests center on WWII(as mine often do) for the vastness of the way it has changed our whole world, I can only tell you that some WWII veterans will probably see things like your first post and that will make them happy... so I hope you find those you are looking for soon as there is not a great deal of time left. In time if you become knowledgeable about WWII,..... you may consider studying all of the conflicts and find there are veterans of many wars that also contributed to the preservation of our freedoms....something my father who served in WWII always wanted others to remember.

 

Welcome to the Forum, Gretchen. It's refreshing to see someone of a younger generation with so much enthusiasm and appreciation for our WWII veterans. You have been given some excellent advice, especially by Otto, Erin and SymphonicPoet.

 

Thanks for the welcome, and I'm so glad I found the right place! I just felt like I had to engage..do something, be a part of something to show that WWII is remembered. It was my love of books (that I got from my mom) that lead me to my passion for WWII, because I read "Night" by Elie Wiesel. It truly changed my life. Going to Lutheran school my whole life, the Holocaust was never mentioned. Not a peep. I couldn't believe I'd never heard about it. From there, I never stopped learning. The more I learned, read and watched..the more I understood why it was important to do so. I really feel like the entire world has two lives..before and after WWII. With such great advice, I know I found the right spot.

 

Thank you, I will definitely post about what I decide to do. I'm really excited that this forum exists!

 

I often find myself thinking this too, that I shouldn't forget the veterans of WWI, the Korean War, The current wars, ect..and I think at some point I will study those as well. For me, WWII pulled me in because of the Holocaust. Going to Lutheran school, I never knew what it was. It truly shocked me to my core. I was never interested in learning about the military side of it, until I happened upon a documentary from a military standpoint. Learning about what our boys had to go through was so humbling for me. Currently I'm watching a pretty in depth series about WWII from a military standpoint-- there were so many different battles going on in so many parts of the world it seems impossible to understand...just when I think I get it..there's a wrench in the mix! Right now the movie is talking about Tarowa (spelling?), and I'm trying to keep it all straight! You said your father served in WWII, and I'm glad to have this opportunity to thank you for your family's sacrifice. I've heard a lot of vets say they don't believe they are hero's-- they were just doing what had to be done, but they were heros. Thank you.
Gretchen

 

No offense taken, sometimes when I can tell they are just hoping I will shut up already with my newest speel about what I learned in a WWII documentary..I'm thinking in my head.."How could you not want to hear this? Know this? Talk about this?!!"..Usually I just shut up and rejoin the small talk..but at that point..I just can't wait to go home and read my books It disturbs me on a deeper level because I don't believe that men and women have fought for our freedom, sometimes with their lives; so that we could forget their conquests, and ignore the lessons learned. If my generation doesn't read up, we're going to be starting over!