Family in WWII

[redbaron]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Dad was in the U.S. Navy. Onboard first ship that arrived at Tokyo Bay.

I presume this wasn't with Admiral Perry

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by markusf
I think you'd better brush up on your history, . . .

Take it outside.

[Lincoln]

Originally posted by OneFootInTheGrave
One grandfather was taken from the village by the Italians in 1942 (he wasn't even a soldier, but was trying to run his own business at the time) he was taken to the concentracion camp a week until they got there on cattle train full of people without food like in Schindlers List , where he spent 9-8 months and when allies invaded Italy there was a riot in the camp and he and four of his friends (who wevre taken form the same village) escaped and walked back home on foot with some local Italians helping them and feeding them along the way. All four of them survived and got home.

There is more.. actrually they were kept in the village for three days without food at first threathend to be shot if they try anything and than they were transported. When they were on the train my granfater was on the window and after two or three days on there a passenger train stopped along them and the restauraunt was on the other side and my grandfather made a motion to some german on the window there to give him something and the German gave him half a loaf of bread. My grandfather always cried when he was telling the story... even when he was past 80...

Your story reminds me of a Dutch friend of mine who came to the United States shortly after the war and wept openly when he visited one of our supermarkets and saw the selection and abundance that we take for granted. I thank God everyday for the unbelievable abundance we have. My father grew up during the great depression and we were taught to be grateful. I cannot understand the waste I see everyday.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Originally posted by Lincoln


Your story reminds me of a Dutch friend of mine who came to the United States shortly after the war and wept openly when he visited one of our supermarkets and saw the selection and abundance that we take for granted. I thank God everyday for the unbelievable abundance we have. My father grew up during the great depression and we were taught to be grateful. I cannot understand the waste I see everyday.

Well we people are spoilt for choice and as long you don't experience lack of something, it is hard to appreciate what you have. Always was... always will be.

In other words we are generally not wise... if this was not human nature this world would be a better place.

[Arrian]

My father was a leftenant in the British merchant marine after serving in the home guard on AA guns early in the war. He was torpedoed twice (once on the way to scuttle the ship to act as a pier off one of the Normandy beaches, which I always thought was kinda funny). One of his ships had the dubious honor of strafing the deck of a British cruiser (the Black Prince IIRC) with an AA gun. I don't think there were any casualties. It was removed rather quickly, though.

My Uncle (Dad's older brother) was a merchant ship captain. He was torpedoed once, and nearly went down with the ship - he somehow managed to kick himself free of some rigging as she went down.

I had a cousin who was a test pilot in Canada and died in a crash... I believe he was the family's only WWII death.

My Grandfather on my Mom's side was in the US Marine Corps. He never saw action. He was on a boat headed for Japan when the bombs were dropped. He's a big fan of the decision to drop them.

My Grandmother on my Mom's side was an army nurse.

-Arrian

[markusf]

Originally posted by LaRusso


i reckon you have
a) problem with numbers. a simple google search will also give you a lot of data on area 51, little green men, etc. had russians killed so many people in the 30s,there would be no one to fight the germans. simply compare censi and adjust for population growth rate.
b) because germany decided to purge other countries too.

I suppose the whole world is lieing and you are the only one right.. How about the university of hawaii is a resource? Lets see your resources saying this never happened.

http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP23.HTM

http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM

Under stalin 43 million of his own people where killed.

Communist regimes killed 110 million of thier own people last century. China killed 27 million people in the years 1959 to 1961..

[chequita guevara]

As I said before, keep it outta this thread. This is a family history thread, not a which is worse thread.

[Eli]

From my mother's side both grandparents were too young and their families fled to Siberia from Belarus. From my father's side, the grandmother did the same.
The older sister of my maternal grandfather was a partisan.

My grandfather from the father's side was drafted when he was 17(his father was also drafted) and when the officers asked about his education he lied, knowing that if he admits that he learned only 2-3 classes he'll be sent as an infantry soldier to some Stalingrad-type battlefield.
So he said that he finished 10 classes, got promoted and assigned to some tank division. The tank got direct hit in one of the battles, he managed to abandon the burning tank, and the medics wanted to amputate his hand(real amputation, without all the pain-killers). They covered him with sandbags to make sure he doesnt move during the amputation, but he managed to run. Since then his hand is mutilated, and he has tens of shrapnels in his body.

He returned to his village in Belarus, met his father and discovered that his mother, and his three young siblings(sister, brother and a baby sister) were murdered either by the Nazis or by the locals.

It had a huge effect on him of course... in 1948 he almost got killed when he tried to leave to Israel. And in the first two years here(1990-1992) he was waking up early in the morning and going to all the bus stations around the city to shake the hands of the soldiers waiting there.

I have a few more distant relatives who fought in Stalingrad...

In the close family, we were relatively lucky... My grandfathers family were the only casualties. I saw family trees of distant relatives and almost two thirds of their trees were covered in black.

[Ned]

My dad was army company commander in the Pacific Theater. He was in action in Guadacanal, New Guinea, Leyete Gulf, in retaking of the Bataan Peninsula.

My uncle was B-17 pilot shot down over Germany and held in prison camp the last two years of war.

My Dad's company was the lead company in Bataan when General McAuthur drove by in a jeep. He was out in front of US forces conducting reconissance!

Later, my Dad's company fell into an enemy ambush in Bataan. Only three of the entire company came out alive.

He had nightmares about the campaign and never had anything kind to say about the Japanese.

[Rex Little]

My father was a pacifist. Despite being Jewish, he seriously considered claiming conscientious objector status. He decided to go along with the draft and served as a radio operator in what is now Pakistan (part of India then; Pakistan didn't exist as a separate country). Didn't see any combat.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by markusf


I suppose the whole world is lieing and you are the only one right.. How about the university of hawaii is a resource? Lets see your resources saying this never happened.

http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP23.HTM

http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM

Under stalin 43 million of his own people where killed.

Communist regimes killed 110 million of thier own people last century. China killed 27 million people in the years 1959 to 1961..

Eh, I've encountered this site before. This guy just adds together the figures from a large number of sources without considering reliability. I'm not sure that I would consider his figures as creditable, but please also note that in each category he gives a "low", "medium" and "high" figure.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
As I said before, keep it outta this thread. This is a family history thread, not a which is worse thread.

Who died and made you moderator?

[Sten Sture]

Great stuff all... my paternal grandfather got the hell out of europe in 1914, can't say I blame him.

Rex - your consientious objector story reminds me of a friend of mine who was drafted for Vietnam and was a c/o on religious grounds. He had some medical background and was a track star so they made him a medic in the Rangers. I think I'd have wanted a gun at that point.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Who died and made you moderator?

My thread, stop jacking it.

[markusf]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove


Eh, I've encountered this site before. This guy just adds together the figures from a large number of sources without considering reliability. I'm not sure that I would consider his figures as creditable, but please also note that in each category he gives a "low", "medium" and "high" figure.

if they are off 20-30% it doesn't really matter. Whats disturbing in that book/research paper is that 141 of 214 state regimes that existed last century commited democide. (including the usa)