Memorial Day

[lemon boy]

Hey All- Some got this (part I anyway) via email from me but the rest are going to get it here and it is early cause I'm leavin here shortly. Enjoy your Memorial Day.

This comes from a guy named Steve Livingston (US Army Ret.) who posts at one of my bbs:

Pt I...

The Real Band of Brothers
This is especially important in light of the fact that we approach Memorial Day this week.

I had the honor and privilege of accompanying numerous veterans of the 82d and 101st Airborne Divisions from World War II to Europe in 1999 for the 55th Anniversary of the airborne operations in support of the Normandy invasion, the spearhead into Holland, and then the infamous Battle of the Bulge. We were on three buses, and the bus I rode on was mostly 101st Airborne vets. What a phenomenal group of men!! Over half the men I rode that bus with during those two weeks have since passed on, and I feel their loss is a great loss to this nation.

And the stories they told had me totally entranced. They were not stories of bravado or heroism as you and I may know. They were soldier stories. Where they were engaged with and by the enemy, where some of their comrades fell, and who their leaders were and what they thought of them. They also told stories that would get me laughing. Some were only stories a fellow soldier could understand and laugh at. Some were filled with universal humor. There were little stories about some of the discomforts of war - they were not looking for sympathy - they were just sharing memories of events that bonded them together. There were the stories about how, during the Normandy jump, in total darkness many jumped from their C-47s because the flak was so bad they'd rather take their chances in the air under their parachutes. There were stories about being lost or no where near their designated drop zone. One of the men I became fast friends with was Bob Wright, who was a young medical technician sergeant. Bob won the Silver Star at Normandy. He never carried a weapon ever. Not that he was a conscientious objector. He just figured he didn't have enough hands to carry a weapon, his aid bag, and take care of wounded soldiers. Bob and his medic, another young man named Kenny (and please forgive me but I have forgotten Kenny's last name) landed in the middle of nowhere at least 10 miles from their drop zone. They started looking for wounded and found quite a few. Bob had found a church in the dark and he and Kenny spent most of the night moving wounded paratroopers to the church, where Bob set up a little hospital. We visited that church - the pews still had blood stains in the wood. To Bob's surprise (he had not been there in 55 years) the people of the town erected a plaque in both English and French that honored Bob and Kenny and what they had done in 4 days. They treated wounded villagers. They treated Americans. But one of the more surprising things - as Bob and Kenny were bringing some more wounded to the church as daylight was breaking they found out they were in the middle of a German Infantry battalion. The Germans let them pass. And then the acting battalion commander for the Germans, a captain, asked Bob if he could please look at some of his men. Bob told him he would treat anyone who needed it, with the provision that no weapons come in the church. The captain agreed. In those four days Bob and Kenny treated 81 people - Americans, French, and Germans. During Operation Market Garden Bob won a Bronze Star with a "V" for Valor. A lot of the men from his battalion were behind enemy lines and had been captured by the Germans. Bob said they had more than enough medical supplies, so he asked his battalion commander if he could take a trailer and jeep full of medical supplies over to the Germans, who he knew were treating Americans. And who he knew were low on medical supplies. His battalion commander told him he was crazy, but to go ahead and do it. I asked Bob if he was scared driving into German lines. He laughed and said, "No, not nearly as scared as when I was driving back to American lines. Those boys were trigger happy!" And he had a big grin on his face. Bob made 8 trips that day bringing the Germans supplies. And he was able to check on wounded Americans, who were being treated as well as the Germans.

One other was Tom Smith, also a veteran of Normandy and Operation Market Garden. Market Garden was Tom's last battle. He lost his leg there to a German grenade. It killed his company commander and radio telephone operator. Tom was the only one that lived. His wounds still affected him during the tour, and he had some rough days. Tom passed away last year. He was quite a character and never felt sorry for himself. His wounds had also rendered him impotent, but he had an implant inserted that he could pump up to get an erection. Said he went out with a girl once and when he pumped it up she screamed and ran from the room naked. He'd just laugh and laugh about that, and then would gleefully tell us, "I guess she thought I was going to attack her with a friendly weapon." I was recently going through some photographs Tom had sent me from the tour. The one here was taken on Utah Beach - while none of them had landed there quite obviously, they all wanted to see the various beaches. You know as much as they went through jumping in and holding off the Germans while the rest of the guys could land at the beaches, they were all in awe of what their regular infantry buddies had gone through. One of the reasons I am posting this is because of the scribbled note Tom had written on the back of the photo - which kind of broke my heart - it says, "So you won't forget me." I won't forget you, Tom. And now, hopefully, a bunch of my friends won't ever forget you either.

Pt II
OK - I can add to the church/hospital one for now and add some more later.

Bob told me about a German SS captain, who was armed with a pistol, who had, as Bob described it, a life changing wound. (He got hit in the groin) He tried to swagger his way into the church with the pistol on. All weapons were to be left in the vestibule. He came in with the pistol on (and you have to understand that Bob Wright was all of about 5'5" tall and unarmed) and Bob met him at the door and told him that he would be more than happy to treat him, BUT he had to leave the weapon in the vestibule. Well, the guy got pissed, and he sat down and waited to be treated. Each time Bob passed him Bob would reach down and tap the butt of the pistol and point toward the vestibule. After about 5 hours of this the guy finally got up and put the weapon in the vestibule. Bob said the second he sat down this time, Bob and Kenny helped him. Oh - yeah - and on day two Bob said out of nowhere two German soldiers climbed down out of the belfry in the church - both armed - and surrendered to Bob - who was unarmed. Since one of them spoke some English, Bob put them to work as medical orderlies helping the wounded.

On day 3 a lieutenant from Bob's battalion came in with two American soldiers and said he was going to put an observation post in the church belfry. Bob told him that the church was a sanctified place, plus it was being used as a hospital for both sides (although Bob and Kenny were the only ones treating people) and had protected status, so there was no way he was going to let the lieutenant put an OP in the tower. The lieutenant got pissed and ordered Bob to stand aside and let him put the men in the tower. Bob refused. That afternoon the battalion commander showed up and asked Bob why he had been insubordinate to the lieutenant. Bob told him that he had never been insubordinate and had given him the respect due the rank, but that he had refused an order to stand aside while the LT put the OP in the belfry. Bob said the battalion commander never said another word about it, but every time he ran into that LT he would get hell.

One guy - and I have always had a hard time remembering his name - probably because he was the spitting image of Roy Rogers and all the other guys called him Roy. He related as to how the flak was so bad that his C-47 caught on fire and everyone was jumping out the door as the plane was actually going down. He said it was so dark that the only thing you could see were other planes burning and tracers coming up from the ground and some buildings on the ground that were burning. He knew they were no where near their drop zone, but he said when he jumped from the plane the heat was intense and that his main parachute actually caught fire. He had to deploy his reserve and prayed that they weren't too close to the ground. He said the one thing he will never ever forget were the screams of the men who couldn't get out of the plane. He didn't even think the man behind him made it - primarily because of what happened to his parachute.

[lemon boy]

Pt. III
To all - yes - I was richly blessed and as I said, honored and priviledged to be in the company of such men, especially as they relived their memories. I think they kinda took a shine to this young punk kid. LOL!! Bob Wright had never been back the church that he had set up as a hospital and it wasn't on the agenda/itenerary. Bob was trying to find out how he could rent a car to go there and I told him to chill out. Before the tour guide got on the bus I asked the rest of the group if they would be willing to pass up some parade that we were suppose to go to, so that Bob could go visit the church. It was unanymous to go to the church. So I stood in the door of the bus and refused to let the driver and the tour guide back on until they agreed to take us to the church. After that incident our bus went pretty much where ever we wanted to go, not necessarily where the agenda said.

As a result, we visited a German military cemetary off of Omaha Beach - the guys wanted to go there. It was June 6th. As it turned out, there were former German soldiers visiting that cemetary. I started a conversation with one old soldier, and pretty soon we had both groups together talking. There were some Germans who had been POWs in the States and there were a couple of guys with us who had been POWs of the Germans and so enough spoke English or German to do translating duties. Spent over two hours there talking. What a fascinating event. Turns out that one of our guys was only about 50 meters away from one of there guys on June 7th!! And I had to laugh when they both realized that at the same time, they both hugged each other with tears in their eyes. What a phenominal sight that was.

While we were in Belgium, we went to the village of Trois Pont (Three Bridges) which was the site of a major battle for control of three major roadways that intersected. We had stopped to eat lunch, and then we were going to go up to the actual battlefield. We went in this small family restaraunt (like a gasthaus in Germany) and as is the custom in Europe, if one person is sitting at a table you ask if the table is free and may you sit down. There was a large table with a little old lady in her mid 70's sitting at the table, so I asked in French if it would be OK to sit with her. She responded in English that of course we could. And she asked us what we were doing there, and Bob Wright was with me, and Tom, and my brother-in-law, so I told her the story about the 55th anniversary of the airborne drops and the Battle of the Bulge. She looked at Bob and asked him if he was there during the battle. Bob told her he had been and said, "Right here in Trois Pont, in fact." Tom told her he had been a few kilometers from there and pointed in the direction. You would not believe the reaction she gave. She stood up and gave them both a huge hug and a kiss. She had tears in her eyes and she told them, "God Bless you, God bless you both. And thank you for my freedom." We had a great lunch together, and when it was done she would not hear of ANY of us at that table paying for lunch. It was her treat. During lunch, Bob had told her of my interest in old buildings. She took out a picture of a half-timbered stucco home with a thatched roof that looked like something right out of a fairy tale and told me it was built in 1540. She said it had been half destroyed by artillery during the battle. I wondered aloud if it had been German or American artillery that had destroyed it, and she got this unbelievably fierce twinkle in her eye and a smile on her craggy face and said, with her fist clenched about chest high, "What difference does it make? I had my freedom." What a delightful woman!
Bob Wright was a pistol though! He could still do 1 armed pushups at the tender age of 76. And I remember one time, because we sat in the back of the bus (and became known as the back of the bus mafia) the air conditioner was hitting him in the back of the neck. As we were getting off the bus at one stop he was rubbing his neck and said, "You know, I think that Viagra I took got stuck in the back of my throat." I asked him, laughingly, what he was talking about and he said, "Yeah - my neck is stiff - I think that little blue pill got stuck in the back of my throat." LOL!!!
Pt. IV

A quick rememberance story from one WP Sullivan:
I had the priviledge of spending the afternoon in conversation with the actual Commanding Officer of the real "Band of Brothers" - Dick Winters.

I will never forget what a wonderful man he is. He must have been th C.O. that every military person yearns for. He still gets choked up at the thought of the hardships and tragedies his troops faced.

He told me about when "Popeye" was shot while lowcrawling towards a machine gun position, and all Popeye could do was weep in shame, apologizing profusely for letting everyone down. Dick was weeping when he told me that Popeye never cried out, despite his agony.

Dick was all choked up speaking of the cold and suffering during Bastogne, and how he felt responsible for not being able to do more for the men, or do more for the men who were maimed and killed.

Where do we get such men?

W.P. Sullivan

[mr_gyptian]

nice, very nice.

[VTskibum]

Thanks for posting that LB, great stories.

[freshie247]

I find it wierd that Americans celebrate memorial day with a sale.I'm wondering how 25% off commemorates those that have died for our freedom.

Do other countries have sales to show respect for those that died for their way of life,or is this a wholly American thing?

[Pinner]

www.cmohs.org

[shamrockpow]

I find it wierd that Americans celebrate memorial day with a sale.I'm wondering how 25% off commemorates those that have died for our freedom.

Do other countries have sales to show respect for those that died for their way of life,or is this a wholly American thing?

And we remember Abe Lincoln and George Washington by giving $1000 cash back on a Cadillac Escalade. Exactly the way they would have wanted it. I think I'm tearing up...

[Grange]

Great stories. I never get tired of hearing veterans share their experiences.

[13]

Thanks for sharing, LB. I love listening to the old-timers tell their stories.

One thing I've noticed is that most all vets will have a story to share, however I have yet to hear any stories from Vietnam veterans.

[mr_gyptian]

Thanks for sharing, LB. I love listening to the old-timers tell their stories.

One thing I've noticed is that most all vets will have a story to share, however I have yet to hear any stories from Vietnam veterans.

it's pretty rare to find any real WWII memoirs pre-1980. the HBO behind the scenes of Band of Brothers talked quite extensively about the turning point being the 40th anniversary of D-Day.

[lemon boy]

bump

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[surftb15]

good stories

tell u what memorial day truely means

[Arty50]

LB, thank you for this. It's so easy to forget.

"Cool Memorial Day. I get a day off."

"I wonder if those sheets are on sale at Macy's."

Etc.

Great men have sacrificed everything in the interests of making our country and the world a better place. It's good to have a day to remember them.

[13]

You guys may want to peruse this site --> http://www.odmp.org/

Those dudes are worthy of being remembered on Memorial Day too.

[lemon boy]

bump.....

[LAN]

Cool stories.

One of the most interesting guys I've ever met survived the Bataan Death March - an incredible story.

Our flag is hanging outside today - I'm sad to say it's the only one in the neighborhood.

[Harry]

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