your family's military history
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arek p. wrote: you all guys have a really great military stories, here is mine: my grandfather was killed fighting against SS squadron in Monte Cassino, Italy, trying to get the fookin hill with old abbey-fortress, WWII.
Very well known battle here. What did your grandfather do there ? I thought it was French army of Nothern Africa which had been "butchered" there...
great stories here of the enlisted 'just doing their job. wow. have a ton of respect for anyone involved. any history is a few generations back- & mostly w/ WWI. some Navy service & a field surgeon.
Great-grandad killed in WW1. Er...that's it, as far as military history goes, apart from some great uncles in WW2. It was the drink that killed him - he drank so much he couldn't hold down a job so decided to volunteer just for the steady wage in 1914. Perhaps not a smart move in retrospect. Got shot by a German sniper at Ypers. He was Irish and I don't think he even liked the British that much - great grandma was certainly of Irish nationalist persuation.
Maya wrote:
Spotnick wrote:
In fact I think I've never met anybody who had been in the army.
But you know me.
Anti Air Defence 2001 - 2003
Never again, ta very much
Let me put it this way... I never met anybody who told me they were in the military once ;)
I don't think it's "cool" over here ;)
But my best friend in high school did his military service... IN SPAIN! I guess he found a way to stay in the country of his mother for free ;)
Well here we go:
Supposidely Gen Sherman, of the civil war Union side, was my great-uncle. Not sure how valid, but have been told that by my father.
Grandfather was a Marine and stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima for WWII
Father was a capt. in the Marines during Vietnam, but never deployed.
Uncle was a Marine, deployed in the eighties, but forgot where. Think it Beiruit.
I've been a Marine for 9 years, been over in Ar Ramadi, Iraq for a 9 month deployment.
Other than that not too sure as I'm not too good at our family history.
JHC
I lost an uncle in WW2. My father also fought in WW2, North Africa and also helped train Tito's troops to liberate Croatia from Nazi occupation at the end of WW2 with my Dad's SBS squad.
my brother saw service in the Falklands, in the 1st gulf war and latterly in Iraq. my grandmothers brother was in the RAF bomber command and got shot down in Germany. I went to vietnam for a holiday in 2002 and it was jolly nice.
My great grandad, Captain T Dorrell was born in 1874 and was awarded a Victoria Cross for saving the lives of his colleagues in a trench in WW1.
He went on to father 22 children by the same woman; bizarre character all round.
Since then, fuck all.
im actually related to col bob stewart,current media fave with the brit press when asking for quotes ect,cousin in fact.
but on a cooler note i actually own a ww1 frying pan which some poor sod from the 13th inf had to lump around with them in the trenches.
best pan ive ever had,copper handle though so it does get a bit hot,ouch.
to add to before: my mother joined the department of defense as a teacher. she hadn't thought much about the vietnam war because she felt disconnected from it. however, her favourite cousin, fred, had joined a few months earlier. he wanted to do a tour of duty before he entered college. she didn't think much of it.
when she was in seattle preparing to leave on a military plane to tokyo for her assignment she called her mother to say goodbye. her mother was clearly upset. word had just come home that fred had been killed in action.
she sat on the plane for 12 hours no longer feeling detatched from the war and suddenly questioning her upcoming work for the department of defense--even as a teacher.
i'm glad she went though, as she met my father and they spent two years in japan, after which time they were married and moved back to the states as a civilian couple.
68 Pontiac wrote: I've been a Marine for 9 years, been over in Ar Ramadi, Iraq for a 9 month deployment. JHC
You're the most unusual of NO fans. I understand you were doomed to be in the military due to your glorious family tradition but it's hard for my mind to embrace these facts with a dark English band from Manchester :) Absolutely astounding 
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68 Pontiac wrote: I've been a Marine for 9 years, been over in Ar Ramadi, Iraq for a 9 month deployment. JHC
You're the most unusual of NO fans. I understand you were doomed to be in the military due to your glorious family tradition but it's hard for my mind to embrace these facts with a dark English band from Manchester :) Absolutely astounding
Curious to your meaning. Is it that everyone else "wants to turn it on by laying in bed?", or are NO fans more likely to be war protesters than being involved in one?
Interested in your thoughts
JHC
mum was in the brownies.
da was in the cubs. he got cub of the month twice. he served for four years and toured mainly north wales and shropshire. His main fighting was done in the food tent each morning over the baked beans pan. He discharged himself after getting the big panda badge. His service to God and the Queen was now complete.
:)
68 Pontiac wrote:
|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote:
68 Pontiac wrote: I've been a Marine for 9 years, been over in Ar Ramadi, Iraq for a 9 month deployment. JHC
You're the most unusual of NO fans. I understand you were doomed to be in the military due to your glorious family tradition but it's hard for my mind to embrace these facts with a dark English band from Manchester :) Absolutely astounding
Curious to your meaning. Is it that everyone else "wants to turn it on by laying in bed?", or are NO fans more likely to be war protesters than being involved in one?
Interested in your thoughts JHC
It has nothing to do with "war protesting", I believe it's more with life style. It's hard to hit clubs, buy records, etc., when you face a front. 
Aaahhhh. I understand. Yeah, I can see that. Actually most of those in the military listen to one of three things:
- Heavy Metal
- Country
- Rap
Alternative, NO; Smiths; Cure, type stuff is rare. If I ever meet up with one, we become almost best friends almost immediately.
JHC
J.A.K wrote: mum was in the brownies.
i wore my brownie, then girl scout, uniform to school proudly. beanie and all.
Uncle Liam wrote: you've still got it, havent you?
i left the girl scouts after i became a junior (that's about age 8-9 if i remember correctly). i've no idea what happened to my uniforms. my cousin is in his 40s and is still in the boy scouts. he's the head of some regional center in portland. that's devotion.
AgentWood wrote:
Uncle Liam wrote: you've still got it, havent you?
my cousin is in his 40s and is still in the boy scouts.
It's hard to judge him
I had one Grandfather joined USMC and served in the Pacific during WWII while the other was drafted into the Army and served in the European Theater.
My Dad was career Army and served in Vietnam.
Me...Lets just say I have parachuted into quite a few countries as a member of the U.S. Army.
