This is my dad upon graduation from US Marine Corps boot camp (circa 1958).
He spent his entire 4 years in Japan as a radar control officer. He told his recruiter he wanted to work with airplanes. Unfortunately, he couldn't even pass the eye exam to be a mechanic, so they sat him in front of a radar screen for 8 hours a day.
My granddad was in WWII. He joined the army as a railroad engineer, but the vagaries of the military got him transferred into the combat engineers. He went overseas to the beautiful island of Attu Alaska, where he built roads and an airfield.
Attu is the single piece of US property ever to be invaded. May 11, 1943 the Japanese invaded Attu. During the two weeks of fighting, my granddad (a sergeant) led his squad on a flanking manuever that broke the back of one of the last Japanese charges on the island.
He was wounded (slightly) with some grenade fragments in his foot. Note: he was of sufficient rank to be allowed to use a M1 carbine as a weapon, but he stuck with the M1 rifle for its better range.
He was transferred back to the states in the casuality transfer and (having served his overseas duty) was looking for something to do. He wanted to get as much money as possible (being the kind of guy he was), so he volunteered for parachute duty and ended up being the instructor at Fort Benning Georgia. He basically trained the guys that dropped behind enemy lines at Normandy.
Anyway, he got a regular 5 day work week, jump day, instructor pay and extra ration cards and fuel for being 'essential'. He traded his cigarette ration for additional fuel and ration cards and him, his wife, and my mother had a grand old time.
Curiously enough, I now work with a man who's dad was trained at Fort Benning and then went on to jump with the 17th airborne into Europe.
Anyway... thanks guys. I love you both!!!
He spent his entire 4 years in Japan as a radar control officer. He told his recruiter he wanted to work with airplanes. Unfortunately, he couldn't even pass the eye exam to be a mechanic, so they sat him in front of a radar screen for 8 hours a day.
My granddad was in WWII. He joined the army as a railroad engineer, but the vagaries of the military got him transferred into the combat engineers. He went overseas to the beautiful island of Attu Alaska, where he built roads and an airfield.
Attu is the single piece of US property ever to be invaded. May 11, 1943 the Japanese invaded Attu. During the two weeks of fighting, my granddad (a sergeant) led his squad on a flanking manuever that broke the back of one of the last Japanese charges on the island.
He was wounded (slightly) with some grenade fragments in his foot. Note: he was of sufficient rank to be allowed to use a M1 carbine as a weapon, but he stuck with the M1 rifle for its better range.
He was transferred back to the states in the casuality transfer and (having served his overseas duty) was looking for something to do. He wanted to get as much money as possible (being the kind of guy he was), so he volunteered for parachute duty and ended up being the instructor at Fort Benning Georgia. He basically trained the guys that dropped behind enemy lines at Normandy.
Anyway, he got a regular 5 day work week, jump day, instructor pay and extra ration cards and fuel for being 'essential'. He traded his cigarette ration for additional fuel and ration cards and him, his wife, and my mother had a grand old time.
Curiously enough, I now work with a man who's dad was trained at Fort Benning and then went on to jump with the 17th airborne into Europe.
Anyway... thanks guys. I love you both!!!
