war stories?

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mountainpharm

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Not sure of the best place to put this thread so I will defer to the Moderators as to whether or not this should be moved to another location.

I know there are a LOT of veterans on here and I imagine each of you could provide a more accurate account of what really happened than any book ever could. While I have family members who served, I do not have military experience myself. I always enjoy hearing vets share their experiences for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the invaluable educational aspect. My grandfather would not (could not??) share his experiences in the Pacific Theater of WWII as I think he saw some pretty heavy stuff. As best I can tell from the government records he was a Purple Heart recipient in Company D of the 163rd Infantry, 41st Division. I have a very close family member who is currently with the Marines in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan and he can't share anything for obvious reasons. The rest of my veteran relatives served during peace time.

I'm not necessarily interested in the gory stuff, but rather descriptions of your mindset at the time you served, the political environment at the time, and your thoughts now looking back. For any vets that can share their stories, I would love to read them. For ALL vets, please accept my most sincere appreciation for your service.
 
Well I had a buddy in Bagdad about a year or so back and he wasnt afraid to tell anything when he got home. When he was overseas he couldnt say where he was, but did when he got home. He said his mindset was to basicly do what he had so him and his squad would survive. He was hit by a grenade( lucky bastard came away without loseing a limb). I had pictures and the whole story behind that but lost it when my computer crashed. I think this follow orders and do what you have to to survive is a common mindset between all combat troops.
 
I was a medic. Everyone knows about the Geneva convention, and that medics are non combatants. but there is Nothing that will stop me from firing back, I carried an M4, it stayd tucked between me and my MOLLE on my back, hard to see, but visible enough to keep the enemy from being able to Identify me as a medic. If you've ever heard about when we used to wear the red cross? it is a target to them, we haven't worn them in combat since early Vietnam for good reasons
 
As a Vietnam combat Vet I have found that some Vets have the need to discuss their combat time with others to be able to continue their every day life. To be able to discuss the experience serves as a relief for the terrible memories for some. Others never discuss their combat time because of a possible condition they might have that is called post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are not aware they have the symptoms. All combat Vets should visit the VA and get a free check up. It could possibly improve their quality of life.
 
I have several tours in Nam as a grunt I don't talk about the the combat experiences unless its to other vets because of the responses you get from those who don't know the experience. To others I talk about the good memories, the fellowship between my plt. members, which has carried on for more than 40 yrs., funny things that happened to us, the very beautiful women, R&R, and of course the ways we screwed with our officers.
I learned a long time ago that we all had different experiences in combat zones so I seldom call foul when I hear another vets combat stories, I know that some of the things that happened to me would be hard to believe, but you can tell most of the time when the story is BS. They usually start with "Now this ain't no bull sh#t".
 
I've been in a few combat zones, but was fortunate enough that the terrible things I've seen aren't as bad as those of your average grunt. That said, I will occasionally share stories with other vets, but I've had trouble sharing with civilians for the fact they couldn't understand. For instance, I will share this one thing only because it was a while back:

I came back from Somalia, and went on leave to see my family. My brother and I were driving to the house in a neighborhood, and I saw to kids tossing a baseball back and forth across the street. One of the kids was black, the other white. But when I saw the black kid cock his arm back, I instantly became defensive and alert, and I guess I flashed back. Is that a rock, a grenade, what is he doing?? It freaked me out a little at the time, and even afterward. Damn, did I just have a flashback? I tried to explain to my brother what happened, but I don't think he fully understood.

My grandfather and my dad would never talk about the wars they were in. I don't talk about alot of the things I've seen, except perhaps the more funny stories. Those are just my feelings on the subject.
 
My father served in a Underwater Demolition Team (U.S. Navy) during Korea. As a kid I sometimes pestered him to tell me about what he did in the war because I thought, like I guess any kid would, Navy Frogmen, well, that's really neat. He never did really want to talk though.
When the Viet Nam War was going on, the way the news would cover it would often infuriate my father.
He did recount one story that happened to him and his team in Korea. They were coming up on a beach and preparing to approach their target for a mission. All of a sudden, the sand started erupting -- bullets were beginning to hit the sand, and they beat a retreat. No one was hit, which they thought odd, so they tried to ascertain where the rifle fire was coming from.
It was coming from a nearby hill. A few children had a rifle or two and were taking potshots at them. God knows whether the enemy had given them a rifle and told them to do that, or they were just kids caught in a war and were doing things kids caught in a war who'd found a battlefield pickup or two would do. My father said they just approached the target from a different route and carried on the mission, but they were all relieved that no one was hurt, and that they hadn't returned fire.
That was one of the very few things about Korea my father ever mentioned.
 
The black label Iraqi reserve whiskey was safe to consume. The Yellow label stuff distilled in Lebanon.... Not so much. That's about all I'd care to remember.
 
thank you all very much for your service

i cannot serve due to a number of joint problems and injuries in had over 18 years but ive had a family member fight in every war since the revolutionary

my grandfather was an army medic in WWII stationed in the pacific, he recieved a medical retirement just prior to korea due to a heart attack and jungle rot he got in WWII he retired as a major and had a purple heart.

my great uncle bud was an air plane mechanic in korea and WWII im not sure what rank he left as i believe it was sargent.

my father served in the air force for 27 years did 2 tours in vietnam at ben joi(sp?) and sai gon(sp?) he earned a bronze start for valoure several others for meritorious service he retired in july 1990 (2 month before i was born) as a colnel

currently i have 2 cousins serving and a very good firend that i consider family 2 army and my friend is navy, my cousins have both done 2 and 3 tours and my buddy leaves for his first tour in iraq in 8 days

some where down the line is clair lee chennaulte the founder of the flying tigers i believe we are like 4th cousins or something idk we are related though he was a 2star at retirement and then recieved his 3rd a few years after that
 
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I was in the U.S. Army so long ago my issue weapon was the late, great M1 Garand. Did my service between '59-'61, so never served in combat.

One of my uncles, however, was in the USMC, from 1934 through 1938, served in China with the Fourth Marines, who shot their way out of Shanghai when the Japs started playing fun-'n-games there, thereby becoming what was called a "China Marine."

After he was discharged, he immediately went into the USMC Reserves. (It was the depression and jobs were few and far between, so the Reserve money came in handy.)

In late 1941 the USMC began calling up Reserves who had any kind of combat experience and my uncle went back into active service. His first actual WW II service was on a balmy, sunny, pleasant little island out in the South Pacific almost no one had ever heard of, called.......

Guadalcanal. (First Div.)

Afterward, he was in the invasion of Glouchster, New Britain, New Guinea, Guam, and Okinawa. Wounded twice.

I have his USMC records, and on going through them, ran across one of his qualifications which surprised me. He was qualified as a "USMC Combat Swimmer." I didn't know the Marines, at that time, had "Combat Swimmers," so I called a good friend of mine who had been a U.S. Navy SEAL (Vietnam service), asked him if he'd heard of it and he said that he had. They sometimes did beach recon work with the Navy's UDT men, the "Frogmen."

As this is a gun forum, in my uncle's records, it showed he was qualified with U.S. Govt. .45 pistol, '03 Springfield, U.S. Carbine, and M1 Garand. Guess he did a lot of shooting.

After the war, he wouldn't talk about it much, other than to say with a laugh, "Staying in the Marine Reserves was the biggest damned mistake I ever made in my life!"

FWIW.

L.W.
 
First hand accounts of history are so important. Now that we have this internet thing and forums to do so , there should be more of them for those interested to read it.
Our WWII veterans are in their mid 80's and up. Korea is right behind them. We can actually still see and hear our Civil War veterans from both sides on old recordings.

My Grandfather was in WWI, the Argonne Offensive. One eveing over a bottle of wine when he was about 81 years old, he told me of a "big fight he was in", Dutch was on the left with his rifle against a tree, another (name I forget?) was at the right corner of the trench. My position was in the middle . Dutch kept saying how his arm was hot all during the fight (which started around 2AM), When the sun came up Grandpa looked over to his right and that man was dead.. He called to Dutch and no answer so he went over. The Germans had shot at his muzzle flash and tore up his arm, which was the reason for Dutch sayng "my arm is hot". He had died from blood loss. Grandpa said he went back to his position and a German was there and they fought. Grandpa choked up and that is the all he said except "I don't know where he came from". Then he did explain how they were taught; "If you were wounded they told us to follow the purple wire back to the field hospital. You get that wire in your hand and don't let go and just follow it". From that fight Grandpa was wounded and had some bad scars I suspect was from knife fight on his arms and I think one on his stomach.

We all cannot be soldiers but we need to know more of our history. You veterans are the best of us.
 
Being a Vietnam vet, I learned right away not to even try to discuss it with any civilians at all and to be darn careful who you even told you had been in country. A lot of that is gone now but you still get a little whiff of it from time to time.

Also, it's sort of like you had to have been there. No amount of stories or descriptions can begin to convey what is was like, and even vets who shared the same event will relate it differently, everyone's war was their own cubbyhole so to speak, and no two perceived it alike.
 
For years our family only knew that my uncle was a B-29 navigator in the Pacific....a few years before his death he revealed at a family reunion what his role was during the war.

He was on one of the two photographic planes that flew the Hiroshima bomb run with the Enola Gay. Colonel Tibbets scared the hell out of every man in the group....they were all threatened with jail and courtmartials for any leaking of the mission not only during the war but for years after they returned to private life. Years after the mission the details remained highly classified.

My uncle stated none of them figured they would return from the mission, it was considered a suicide mission since no one knew what effect the blast would have on the planes. All wrote final letters and made their peace before taking off. He had the highest regard for Tibbets leadership ability and toughness.

Many years later my father told of his Navy service in the Pacific. He was a tail gunner on an SBD dive bomber stationed in the Marianna's. After the war ended he and other Naval personnel were involved in "Operation Crossroads", the first testing of the A-bomb on Bikini Atoll. His part was working with the farm animals used in the blast.

Strange that two members of our family were both involved with the introduction of the Nuclear age to warfare....yet neither knew the other was part of it for nearly 40 years.
 
damn shame

Being a Vietnam vet, I learned right away not to even try to discuss it with any civilians at all and to be darn careful who you even told you had been in country. A lot of that is gone now but you still get a little whiff of it from time to time.
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A couple of guys have posted similar sentiments. This absolutely breaks my heart. I was born in 1974 so I missed the Vietnam era by a few years, though I am very familiar with the history through my reading. It shames me to know that American patriots were castigated relentlessly upon their return by some of my fellow citizens. Simply unfathomable. What pains me more is the realization that the wounds inflicted on our veterans stateside over 30 years ago are every bit as painful as the wounds suffered on the battlefield. I am so sorry that you were, and still are in some cases, treated with such disdain. I have to believe that the critics were/are the clear minority. Please know that there are millions who cannot begin to express their gratitude for what you did, and count me among them.

Thanks to each of you who served, regardless of branch, theater, peacetime or war.
 
Actually I think Hitler was way too right wing for Obama to be considered similar to. Lenin on the other hand, that's a good comparison.
 
Please know that there are millions who cannot begin to express their gratitude for what you did, and count me among them.

Thanks to each of you who served, regardless of branch, theater, peacetime or war.
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Ditto.

I have the utmost respect for those who serve our nation. Thank you for the work you do or have done.

I, like the poster above was born in the early 70's and am distgusted by the lack of respect given to the soldier who returned home.
 
Not Hitler's footsteps, Mugabe's.
4 years from now we'll look back and long for 10% unemployment and 6% inflation.
 
I've had several Vietnam vets tell me some of the horror stories they encountered. The most graphic came when I was fishing one day in the Summer when I was 19. I witnessed an older, athletically-built man literally pull a small piece of what appeared to be shrapnel from where I'm assuming a kidney used to be. Turns out he was a medic, and told me the same story about why the red cross was retired. He said that he and his squad got 'butchered', and he described the guerilla and ambush tactics used by the NVA to a very bloody detail. As to why he told me, I still don't know. He said he got hit from AK gunfire up his leg and in his side, and also took a grenade blast. He had minor scarring of the forearm to prove it.

My grandfather was stationed in Pearl Harbor, and I was lucky to inherit several things of historical value, such as original print newspapers of the moon landing, the JFK assassination, the end of World War II, and some of his Pearl Harbor Survivor's Foundation pieces, and pictures he took in the aftermath of the Japanese attack.

If I could print off some of it, I'd post it.

Also, thank you for the time in the service.
 
Our family had a large group of veterans from ww2. A few from WW1 and one from Vietnam. There are plenty of stories floating around some I know aren't true, but there are a few I heard first hand....

One story that sticks with me that has some application to today and the future is this one. Our family was from Germany. Many people do not know that during the war the US government detained thousands of ethnic Germans (Many US Citizens). My family was not detained but they were visited daily by an agent of the OSS (And knew of the detentions in other parts of the country). Initially this started by them sitting on the road in their government car, literally watching the farm. It evolved into them inviting him in for coffee and a chat. The rub was that the government didn't trust them, even though they had 4 sons in the war (And 3+ 1st cousins). It bothered my Great-grandmother because everyday she wondered if it was the OSS agent or an Army Chaplin. To make it even better, the 2 in the European Theater were warned that they may be shot if they were captured. It seems the Germans would shoot captured Americans that spoke German / with German names. It appears the great fuehrer had issued an order to Germans to return and fight for the fatherland and those who disobeyed were now traitors and would be treated as such. One of my great-uncles told a story about some of his unit being surrounded and captured in the fighting at the start of the Bulge. They were cut off, by an armored unit followed closely by infantry. They had no effective anti-tank weapons and when the Germans got close they swung the main gun around and demanded surrender. Most did, my great-uncle and one other remained hidden, and eventually made it back to our lines. All 7 of the men on that side of the family made it back. Most showed the stress, PTSD changed a few lives. By the way, they always considered themselves Americans, unlike both Governments.

I believe we must stick to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They are not to be set aside for one problem or another. They are the ultimate restrictions on Government. This should and MUST still apply today!
 
Actually Hitler and Stalin/Lenin were hard core Socialists...the left would like you to think that Hitler was a right winger, but any student of History(and I am one) can tell you there really wasn't a Hell of a lot of difference between Nazi German and Soviet Russia.

Both were cold blooded Socialist Dictatorships.

And I was an Air Force Cop in Vietnam(Nha Trang and Tan Son Nhut{Saigon}) But war is personal, whether we were grunts, or sat in a tower, flight line, or chow hall.....we have our stories...some good, some bad, some just plain BS...but stories none-the-less.
 
ohio thats sad and very true

after and during the war pretty much all recent european immigrants were shown some prejudice

my mothers side of the family is polish like right off the boat my grand parents came over after the war, my great great uncle was General izydore modelski a polish general in wwII and wwI (him- http://www.generals.dk/general/Modelski/Izydor/Poland.html ) my grand fatehr walked out of poland with two friends and eventually walked and road trains to france using fake german papers to where his uncle was witht he brits he ended up at dunkirk on the last boat out. my grand mother was only 17 when the nazis invaded in 1939 and she was a mail carrier in the polish underground resistance until she was captured. my grand fathers brothers and father were all put into auschwitz as soon as it opened (all but 1 survived amazingly) my grandfatehr faught in africa with patton and the brits, at monte casino, and several other horrid places and when he finally made it to the states with his new wife after the war they faced alot of problems witht he us govt because at the time my great great uncle was still a polish general under the russians, he later defected but then they still had alot of problems being from a soviet state my mom said they when she was very young they tried to arrest my great great grandfather as a spy with just 2 officers and my gran fatehr came out side with the enfield he was issued suring the war and said "ive killed more itailiens and germans than you have ever seen with this gun in order to protect my family and country i have no problem killing you too" that was finally the end of it

my grand father worked his way from a poor polish immigrant with only decent english up to a phd in history and became a professor at a college near kalamazoo
 
HOOT GIBSON - "Actually Hitler and Stalin/Lenin were hard core Socialists...the left would like you to think that Hitler was a right winger, but any student of History(and I am one) can tell you there really wasn't a Hell of a lot of difference between Nazi German and Soviet Russia.

Both were cold blooded Socialist Dictatorships."
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You're 100% correct!!

The only difference between Hitler and Lenin/Stalin is that Hitler was a national socialist and Lenin/Stalin were international socialists. Mussolini, who formed the Fascist Party in Italy originally was a hard core Marxist Socialist, but changed his beliefs to being a national socialist just like Hitler.

Today, the "left" with their Orwellian newspeak, has lableled anyone who is against Socialism as "right wing," or Fascist.

L.W.
 
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