It's Veterans Week!

[wooley12]

It's the week we honor are veterans for their service to us, our country and our society. I was raised by two vets. About 3 months ago I started to research to learn about their experiences. My fathers platoon leader through Sicily and into Italy was a Capt. Charles Shunstrom. My father had told me some stories, but I never expected. Capt. Shunstrum, sir we salute your service.

[wooley12]

[wooley12]

[SB]

Flanders fields

[wooley12]

[TBS]

My Uncle Herb came ashore at Utah beach. Fought through France and Low Countries with a tank destroyer battalion. Came home badly broken, ate a gun before alcohol killed him.
After reading his diary, I can totally understand why. People aren't wired to deal with that kind of death and mayhem.

[Shredhead]

My old man was Hawkeye.

Later did a tour in Nam and a stint in
Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders in 85, when he was 65!

They were the greatest generation!

[SB]

I luvd carting around big cans o Whoopazz and they paid me to do it!

[wooley12]

Final Page. Because this was a Memorial piece a few facts were left out. After he was done fighting Shunstrom didn't believe the the claims of battle heroics by a officer he met in a bar and beat the crap out of the guy. It earned him a dishonorable discharge. A couple of years later he robbed a gas station in California. A bunch of his Ranger buddies back went out and convinced the judge to over turn the conviction and expunge the records.

[wooley12]

Hats off for my young friend. Pfc. TH. Young man that I worked with for a couple of years humping lumber at a big box. He was in a band. Nice person. Artsy and 20 y. o. clueless. Reminded me of me back when. He left and enlisted. Only lasted two weeks in country. He's doing fine. Healed, married in school. I told him that I wanted his cool cap on his last day of work. So your hats off to you, TH. To you and all those that dared for the rest.

[wooley12]

Thank you for your service mom. At a time when working women were as rare as Amish traders on Wall Street are today, women spread throughout the workforce for the first time. "Proper young ladies" didn't enter the service but my mom was a rebel from the get go. Her uniform hangs in the Custom House Museum in Newburyport.

[TomCrac]

Tonight on PBS

Iwo Jima: From Combat to Comrades


http://www.pbs.org/veterans/stories-...to-z/iwo-jima/

Catch it when you can.

[Harry]

My Dad was in WWII, crew chief with the 9th Air Force, he flew 28 missions over Nazi-held territory. He was stationed for awhile in Benghazi (of all places) flying missions against the Nazis in Eastern Europe. When the war in Europe ended he was sent back to the states to retrain on B-29's for the invasion of Japan. Then that war ended, and as he had less than 35 missions, he got sent back to Europe for a year with the occupation force.

My brother was in the Army and I was in the Navy. Both of my uncles were in Korea, one in the Air Force and one in the Navy.

Pretty much all males in my family do a tour in the military, but none make it a career.

[wooley12]

My father in Law. Immigrated from Germany when he was 17 and went back 7 years later via Utah beach on D-Day+2. Machine gunner at the Battle of the Bulge. Didn't ever talk about it and I never asked. I did ask him he he ever thought of going back to visit Europe and Germany to see the old family home. "I walked across Europe once. I've seen it already." Salute Sir.

[glademaster]

Thanks to all veterans for their service. There is a long, bright streak of heroism that courses through American history thanks to the efforts of our armed forces.

If only we could have left Europe to its own devices and put even more of a hurting on those savages in the Pacific.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Thanks to all veterans for their service. There is a long, bright streak of heroism that courses through American history thanks to the efforts of our armed forces.

If only we could have left Europe to its own devices and put even more of a hurting on those savages in the Pacific.

Germany and Italy declared war on us, kind of hard to ignore that.

[mcski]

Germany and Italy declared war on us, kind of hard to ignore that.

We wouldn't have gone to war with Germany if they hadn't bombed Pearl Harbor.

[riser4]

We wouldn't have gone to war with Germany if they hadn't bombed Pearl Harbor.

He's on a roll.

[wooley12]

Always wondered how my dad survived and came out of his war without any lingering PTSD. After 3 months of researching his war history I think I know why. He had fought for a year as a commando fighting in front of the front. He'd been in a group that got blown up twice. Both times friends next to him died or were maimed and both times he just got nicked. Dumb Luck. After a year of battle he told a doc in the field hospital that he was having symptoms of stress. The doc, his Hawkeye Pierce, had noticed that the customary face slap and pep talk would work but the men soon returned in worse shape mentally. Hawkeye found that by giving them 5-10 days off the lines the men could heal mentally, return to the battle and not come back as soon or at all. Dumb Luck.

So Hawkeye diagnosed him with "battle induced cardiac arrhythmia" (I have the papers) and had dad serving coffee or wrapping bandages for a bit. While he was resting his entire battalion was wiped out. Killed or captured. Dumb Luck.

My father as a 20 year old was a bit less sophisticated than Forrest Gump.

Knowing my dad as well as I do, I really believe this is about how it went:

My Movie - Sounds of war in the background. An occasional 88mm rocket lands or whooshes past overhead. A muddy, tired Ranger, Forrest Gump, walks into the half destroyed farm house that serves as the forward hospital.

Forrest - I don't know doc. My chest keeps beating fast even when I rest. I feel numb and twitchy at the same time.

Hawkeye - Well soldier, I see that with a lot of your pals. You've been at the front for a year. Why don't you take a few days off and help us around here. We sure could use it. RADAR!! Fill out an admission form for this soldier and he can help us out around here for a week.

Radar - One form PB/3-504-7 coming up sir!

(Concerned that Forrest would not want to leave his buddies to fight while he rests, Hawkeye looks for a way to bond)
Hawkeye- Tell me a bit about yourself Forrest.

Forest relates a bit about himself and his background.

Hawkeye - So, Hmmm. You learned to drive a truck and tractor on the farm before you were a teen. And you spoke Polish and Italian at home before you learned English. And you are an expert at all kinds of weapons and traveling through the countryside and not getting lost or killed. What!!! You played golf too and won the Albany caddie championship! Your a golfer? So am I!

Hawkeye goes to where Radar is filling out the form and speaks so Forrest can't hear.

Hawkeye - Radar, finish that PB-whatever but don't date it. And then misplace it. We're going to be moving this darn hospital twice a week all through these mountains for I don't know how long or in what direction. Forest is going to be our all purpose driver for as long as we can keep him. We can tell the Army exactly where he is later.

Dad drove truck and ambulance for Hawkeye through Italy, France, Germany and Norway for the duration.

A 2-fer. After his battalion was destroyed and while the war still raged, dad "borrowed" a jeep and drove through Italy to visit his brother who was maintaing B-24 Liberators. Hats off! to two in the "Band of Brothers"