My dad flew B-24 in European campaign, over 30 missions. Never talked about it until his 70's. The courage, honor & duty of that generation is awe inspring, truely the greatest generation.
80 Years Ago Today in the far Pacific
- Thread starter CyValley2
- Start date
Crazy to think soldiers were fighting the bloodiest Pacific battle and less than 6 months later the war with Japan was over.
My dad graduated HS that spring, so he enlisted just before the War ended. He had a brother whose ship sunk at Pearl Harbor but survived. Amazing to think his brother was on a cruiser in the Pacific up to the surrender.
It's amazing to think what that generation experienced from a technological advancement perspective. But gained strength, fortitude and humility by persevering the Great Depression and WWII at a young age.
My dad graduated HS that spring, so he enlisted just before the War ended. He had a brother whose ship sunk at Pearl Harbor but survived. Amazing to think his brother was on a cruiser in the Pacific up to the surrender.
It's amazing to think what that generation experienced from a technological advancement perspective. But gained strength, fortitude and humility by persevering the Great Depression and WWII at a young age.
She was so old that she could not participate in the fast fleet task force actions of the Pacific. My understanding is that Texas served as a bombardment platform for the D-Day Normandy invasions. In order to get the elevation needed for the big guns, she flooded voids on one side to give extra tilt. I gotta go look it up. . . . Yep, that's it:
Google Search
tinyurl.com
Again, iirc, Texas entered the fleet in, 1914? Her naval rifles elevated no more than 40 degrees. The modern battleships of the late '30s and early '40s could train up to 45 degrees. Hope I've got this correct.
Another correction (geez, I'm gonna stop posting). Texas was a bombardment platform at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She couldn't run with the big dogs, but she could bite! She was a fighter! (Texas in recent months underwent an extensive, multi-million-dollar drydocking repair and renovation. I believe she is now resplendent in her museum berth, not far from New Orleans).
USS Texas (BB-35) - Wikipedia
Last edited:
The 1964 CBS Reports special, "Eisenhower Returns to Normandy" reveals the extraordinary brutality of war. The entire show is worth watching, in my humble opinion, the the Report's opening and ending are particularly profound. Eisenhower and Walter Cronkite walking the the national cemetery at Normandy, well. . . .
Opening - 0:00 - 3:50
Ending - 1:15:00 to the end (don't miss the Order of Battle)
Last edited:
Father was a Navy pilot in WW2, after the war started a Mechanical Engineer career in downtown Chicago. Starting in circa 1946, WW2 pilots organized a monthly lunch together in downtown Chicago, started with approximately 40 men, and a bar was necessary where they met. Attended a few lunches when I was in HS; then when I was home during my career. In approximately 2005. I was in Chicago, and attended lunch with 2 pilots who were left, one my father. Less than a year later, I attended the other guys funeral, escorting my father, and then we went to the organizations last lunch after the funeral; paid for by the last funds they had in their treasury. Father died approximately year later. He was a hell of a private pilot, but certainly not without mishaps, a few with me in the cockpit. LOL
I love that series. Probably not as good as Band of Brothers but I liked it more since I am a Marine. Snafu was such a great character. There is a bar in the Ozarks that is a military bar called Snafu and I am a sucker for buying hats and shirts and have all of their stuff. haha. Plus they give Miltary Vets a dollar off every drink.
My friends prefer The Pacific. I thought about it, and wondered if that is because The Pacific includes back story about the main characters, stateside scenes. No more than speculation. I thought BoB outstanding, and will watch it again just as I will The Pacific.
My great uncle Dike (corpsman) Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines, was one of the ones that didn’t make it off the island.
He was 19 years old.
I actually stumbled across some information about him on the internet and Facebook of all places, complete with pictures and a detailed write up. There was even a letter written by my great grandfather to the USN in the late 40’s asking if his body could be transported back for burial in the family plot. Unfortunately that never happened.
I think a lot about my great grandparents and Dike’s siblings and how they were impacted by his death. They were never the same again.
He was 19 years old.
I actually stumbled across some information about him on the internet and Facebook of all places, complete with pictures and a detailed write up. There was even a letter written by my great grandfather to the USN in the late 40’s asking if his body could be transported back for burial in the family plot. Unfortunately that never happened.
I think a lot about my great grandparents and Dike’s siblings and how they were impacted by his death. They were never the same again.
Last edited:
You can visit it next time you’re out west.
Battleship USS Iowa Museum · San Pedro, California
maps.app.goo.gl
Two fave USS Iowa photos:
1 - As a museum in San Pedro, CA (Los Angeles area)
2 - At anchor at Ulithi in December 1944 in the far Pacific (a sleek profile like no other)
Not to dox myself, but my late grandfather, Rudy Engstrom, of Lake City IA, longtime ag teacher at Lake City High for 35 years and lifetime Cyclone fan, was wounded on Iwo Jima by shrapnel on this day, February 20th, 1945. 70 years ago! He lived to 95 years of age, and never left the ranch on the Raccoon River.
As the story goes, he was wounded by shrapnel shortly after entering the fray. The shrapnel just missed his artery. A photographer came along and snapped this photo.
Oh, the stories he told.
How we miss him. They don't make 'em like they used to. RIP grandpa.
Remember these sacrifices, so they musn't be repeated.
was he a cool dude? i always wondered what kinda grandpa some of these people would or would've been like (rip)
You peaked my interest. I found this archived video very interesting. Was this the event that you attended?
Thanks for your service!
Yea that is the presentation at the Gold Star. I didn’t even know the video taped it. This was the first session we had. I was at the second session. I was leading tours of the museum the first session. Some may think it’s boring but if you are into this stuff. It was absolutely amazing to listen.
There is a reason they were considered the “greatest generation”.
They took perhaps the worst the world could throw at them literally stared evil in the eye, didn’t blink, and then took them behind the woodshed. Talk about running towards the fire. To me, this is ultimate courage.
Then as an encore, they said hold my beer and built the US into the the economic power it is today.
I am not much for the entitlement mindset, but they absolutely deserve our thanks and respect.
I believe that their humility and gratitude is a direct result of what they lived through. Little things can be seen as a luxury when viewed through their eyes.
They took perhaps the worst the world could throw at them literally stared evil in the eye, didn’t blink, and then took them behind the woodshed. Talk about running towards the fire. To me, this is ultimate courage.
Then as an encore, they said hold my beer and built the US into the the economic power it is today.
I am not much for the entitlement mindset, but they absolutely deserve our thanks and respect.
I believe that their humility and gratitude is a direct result of what they lived through. Little things can be seen as a luxury when viewed through their eyes.
I did a couple of weeks ago. I grew up knowing a lot of WWII veterans. The sacrifices made by those who made it home again are almost incomprehensible to the vast majority of people today. As I’ve heard many of those survivors say, the real heros didn’t come home.
Btw if you ever come out to the museum, let me know. If I’m working I’ll give u a tour. It’s really well done and super cool
I only knew one WWII vet that was a braggart ass about his service. Coincidentally to this thread he was a Iwo Jima vet and absolutely lorded it over the other veterans. The other local vets respected his service, obviously, but nobody liked the jerk.
Hell, I didn't even know my uncle was a navigator on a B -24 until years after he died and I saw him in an old photo in uniform. Would love to have heard his story, or another uncles from Peleliu Island or the uncle I never even met who was Merchant Marine in the Battle of the Atlantic. Do have my dad's Battle of Bulge stories but would have loved to have heard about the uncles.
Yeah usually the braggers about most wars but especially WW2 are family members of those who fought
