Meeting WWII vets

I thought it would be a good idea to start a link to list all the stories that we come up with every day where we bump into/interview World War Two vets in every day life.

I'll start it out. I've started a collection of autographs from 30 WWII vets so far but I won't go into all those, I'll jump to the most recent.

Of course this man was wearing his WWII vet hat. I walked up to him and asked where he was stationed and he responded Washington DC. This I needed to hear. We got to talking and it turns out he repaired telegraphs in an office in Washington. He was itching to go but the government said they needed him here so he stayed. In my opinion this man was just as much a part of the war effort as the front line soldiers just different. I thanked him at least 3 times, got his autograph and then left. I am hoping to write a book on WWII sometime in the far off future and dedicating it to these men. These guys are heroes to all of us and they deserve it!

 

friend I have literally hundreds since I started interviewing vets of both sides back in the 1960's. For certain am not sure where I would actually begin......... at the moment I am interviewing a half dozen P-51 pilot vets for a future book I am working on.

keep at it !

E ~

 

I hope to interview some more veterans. Ealier this year I got in contact with a local museam through a friend who is a guide there (The museam is Duxford). I got to meet several veterans including a WW2 Spitfire pilot, A helicopter pilot from the Korean War (he flew the first Helicopters in the war) and a man who had flown against the Argientines in the Falklands.

All this I am proud to say I did aged 15. I made notes of all the discussions and still keep them among my most tresured belongings..

 

and Alex were you able to secure photos of the veterans as a memory ?

In many of the written interviews I always throw in the equivalent of at least $ 20.00 US. What is great about the vets in more cases than not, they seemed overwhelmd that one would even think about them and they kindly return the monies with an abundance of text info, copied reports and photos.

approach is everything

E ~ more on this later

 

I've never really "interviewed" a veteran. I'm not an author, then again I may take that up since it seems like an interesting idea, but I've had conversations with dozens of WWII veterans, and one was actually German.

He was a rifleman in the 352nd Infantry Division and was stationed at Omaha Beach during the invaision. He told me that he was not a follower in Nazi politics, and completely despised Hitler, but fearing he'd be executed for treason, he kept those thoughts to himself. When the U.S. 1st and 29th Infantry took over the beach, he started to grin and told me he didn't even hesitate to raise his hands and surrendered on the spot, then he started to laugh as he showed me how he surrendered. He was a real nice guy and he lives in the U.S. now, having moved here since the '50s.

I've met men who were in the Navy, one who was at Pearl Harbor, also a nurse who was stationed at Pearl, but she passed away about five years ago. I've met members of bomber crews, fighter pilots, Army infantryman, tankers, people who were in the rear doing their job, and many others.

Probably my most memorable meeting of a veteran came at the National D-Day (now World War Two) Museum. I was entering the paratrooper section when I saw a man, who was in his old age, looking at some artifacts in a display case. I walked near him and he turned around and greeted me. He was a volunteer at the museum and gave me a little personal tour of that area. He then told me that he was a paratrooper during the war, and was in the 501st PIR, 1st Battalion. He started out in Camp Toccoa, Georgia and made it all the way to England. He made the jump on D-Day near La Barquette where his mission was to help secure canal locks. He survived D-Day (obviously) and made the second jump into Holland during Market-Garden where he was shot in the shoulder and recieved the Purple Heart. He later rejoined his company just before the set out to Bastogne, where he was a part of the Bastogne defense in the Battle of the Bulge. It was there he was injured a second time, more severe. He had a collapsed lung and a bad case of the shrapnel from an 88 shell that hit nearby. He was sent home for good.

After that conversation, he asked me if I knew of the "cricket" that was used during D-Day to recognize friendlies. I told him that I did and he then reached into his pocket. He pulled out the very cricket he had used on D-Day and let me click it. It was pretty neat that he had held onto it for not only the war, but for the years after. It was a very surreal moment in my opinion.

 

just start out with a phone call and ask about 5-6 questions. you should be able to get the "feel" of whether or not they want to discuss the past or would rather hang up the phone. if it turns out positivie then a letter via post is in order. Geezo we have several veterans right here on the forums so you really do not have to look anywhere else. they seem genuine in all respects and have a keen interest to teach us of what the horror was like

 

Hi Erich

Just spotted this thread and felt obliged to make a small comment.
Speaking of veterans on this forum, you say "they seem genuine in all respects"
Are you in fact saying that you have previously come across veterans on this,or other forums who were not genuine?
Just curious

Ron

 

yes Ron especially in US aviation on two other forums. some considered themselves pilots which in fact were not and not even related to the US AF unit they were supposed to be apart of. I can think of 2 in fact I interviewed even locally they have since moved on, one said he was of the original Flying Tigers which sent red flags of chills up my spine, and then he had the gall to show me a US 8th AF 361st Mustang and said that is what he flew during the war, with markings/codes of another ace.

I wanted to show him respect in any case and politely shut the conversation down.

Sadly as well have met at least one German chap who said he was a LW ace and in fact turned out to be a mechanic. was he living in a fantasy I am not sure

E ~

 

Erich

Thanks for a prompt and most succint reply.

I'm relieved to learn it's mostly Air Force types who go in for that sort of thing

Cheers

Ron

 

I love the times that i bump into a vet in a mcdonald's on a road trip or walking through some random store with my wife. Walking up to those men unexpectedly and just thanking them and asking where they served is an honor and of course their autographs!

Those are the stories that are my treasures! Especially when they lead to a possible friendship from a 70 year old man to a 21 year old. It is really a great thing when something like that happens.

Man, it makes my mind boggle to think of someone trying to "steal" someone else's story who had actually been there. Very unfortunate.

 

Indeed. One man I had met claimed to have been at Pearl Harbor during the attack with the Navy. He was in the Navy all right. However, I was able to get some records and turns out, he was never at Pearl, never stationed, never visited. Made me sad that someone would want to claim to be something they weren't.

But as you said, nothing is more amazing than to listen to stories of the veterans of WWII. I will always consider them the greatest generation. No one compares.

 

Sorry for the long reply Erich, i've been rather busy as of late.

Yes I belive I do have a few photo's of some of the veterans. I may post them up when I return from my latest vist to Flanders (7th Oct - 10th Oct)

 

Just a note about my trip to Flanders. When I attended the Menin gate during the ceremony I met a group of veteran from the D-Day association.

The chap I spoke to had been a coxwain on D-Day ferrying troops into Omaha beach. On his 3rd run in his craft was destroyed by a hedgehog. He spent the rest of the day on the beach trying to survive.

I hope he visit's this forum one day and sees this post.

 

I have been lucky enough to be a member of the Normandy Veterans Pilgramage club for a number of years and through that have had some fantastic trips to Normandy and other Battlefields with them, as some of them are vets not just of Normandy but of the the Ardennes , Market Garden , the Rhine crossing etc.

I am close friends with many of them and have recorded all their memories , also i have made numerous contacts with German veterans through my OdR contacts and have carried out a lot of research with German vets particulary on Normandy , Stalingrad and Narva.

Our Normandy trip next year will follow the Battles of the famous Durham Light Infantry as one of my close pals and neighbours CSM Charlie Turnbull , Mentioned in Despatches, 9th and 10th Bn DLI passed away recently , he fought in France 1940 , Dunkirk , Normandy , Market Garden with XXX Corps and in Germany and our tour will be dedicated to him,

Being involved with veterans from both sides has definately been one of the most rewarding thingsd i have ever done.

Regards

Paul

 

I have been fortunate enough to talk to at least 30 veterans. I'll start with some of my relatives.

My granddad served in the RAF, but he wouldn't talk about it as he hates thinking about the war, but I heard him mention Dunkirk, Battle of Britain, and even something about serving in Africa in places like Kasserine and Bizerte.

My grandmother was a little more open. She served as a nurse with the British army during the Battle of Britain. She was in London during the Blitzes. She told me a story about a patient she had. He was severely burned and missing his legs, but he kept asking for his flight bag, saying he might be able to catch up with the Germans and fight them. My grandmother kept telling him "Don't worry about the Germans anymore, you're going home to your family." He kept saying how he wants to fight and then go back to his family. Finally, my grandmother went up to the head nurse and asked her to talk to him and explain how his family misses him and he's going home. The head nurse replied with "His family was just killed in the bombings. He has no one left. He hasn't heard yet."


I'll tell more as I remember them.

 

I have another:
I was interviewing a man who served in the 82nd Airborne thrtough D-Day, Market Garden, the Buldge, and even raided the Eagle's Nest. He wasn't in the Band of Brothers, but you know how in the movie they always say things about Dog Company and how much they hate them? He was in Dog.

As he was sitting in the airplane, a huge flak bullet ripped into the guy to his right. The bullet was a couple inches in diameter and went detween his legs, up his torso, through all his vital organs, up his neck, and out his head. Every time I repeat that to someone, they always have their jaw open.