Inspectorjoe 0 Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 My dad died in 1973. He was one year older than I am now. I was just going though the 70 year old army pictures of his. He served during World War II. I've gone through the pictures a half dozen times before, but never really noticed the captions written on the back of these two. I never knew about this. I wish I had been able to learn the story. It's not the same as raising the flag over the Reichstag, but I still think it's pretty cool. I thought I'd share it. My dad is second from the left. Click to Enlarge 33.59 KB Click to Enlarge 25.65 KB I don't recognize my dad in this one. I think he's the one holding the end of the flag. Click to Enlarge 46.46 KB Click to Enlarge 23.11 KB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Les 77 Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Joe, nice stuff. I know you are proud. Most of those guys did their duty for us; there was a strange sense within the WWII military that gave most a really universal identity. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mark P 6 Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Good Stuff! Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hausdok 19 Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! M. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Morrison 25 Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 You should be proud. Thanks for posting that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bain 0 Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 Incredible, Joe. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob Amaral 7 Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 Right on man.. "Operation Torch" our first real taste of 'stuff'.. My Dad was in Oran (Algeria) in a field-hospital for a short time (Medical tech) and I've got a ton of photos from N Africa here in the shack .. Casablanca, Oran, etc. He used to tell us how his camp got 'buzzed' by a P-38 'on the deck'.. for a joke.. He crossed N.Atlantic 22times ferrying wounded GI's, POWs back to US and fresh troops back to ETO.. one trip to Manila also. A lot of time on the water.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kurt 2 Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 Yeah, it's good stuff. Real good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Inspectorjoe 0 Posted May 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 Thanks guys. I've always been fascinated by WWII. The sheer enormousness, how America immediately shifted its industrial production to wartime needs, the logistics of moving men and materials around the globe and how Germany continued it's arms production while withstanding catastrophic bombing. I try not to think of the horror. Here are a few more pictures. There are no names on the back of these, just the location written in my dad's handwriting. There are no historic moments, like the raising of the first American flag in North Africa - just scared young guys ripped away from life as they had known it, doing what they had to do. I can't imagine going through what they were enduring at the time. Looking at their faces, I find the pictures haunting. Which of them didn't make it through the war - or even the next week? Castel Volturno, Italy 1/3/44 Click to Enlarge 107.12 KB Cassino, Italy Click to Enlarge 65.35 KB Click to Enlarge 96.09 KB Click to Enlarge 74.33 KB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Katen 122 Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 Great pictures, Joe. Thanks for posting them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kurt 2 Posted May 6, 2012 Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 A poem by Randall Jarrell from his collection Losses (1948)........ "We read our mail and counted up our missions. In bombers named for girls, we burned The cities we have learned about in school. Till our lives wore out; our bodies lay among The people we had killed and never seen. When we lasted long enough they gave us medals; When we died they said, 'Our casualties were low.'" It's Jarrells birthday today....he always deserves a read. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robert Jones 1 Posted May 6, 2012 Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 Joe, Those are some great pics, thanks for sharing them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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