FOX: WWII Vets dying at a rate of more than 1,000 per day

[Teller]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357941,00.html

NEW ORLEANS — They were a swashbuckling lot — parachuting behind enemy lines' date=' charging onto sandy beaches as bullets whizzed by, liberating countries from a totalitarian grip.[/b']

They jitterbugged the nights away, sang about faraway sweethearts and painted the noses of their B-17 bombers with bawdy pinups. "They're overpaid, over-sexed and over here," the British groused about their American allies.

And now, they're dying off, and with them the memories that defined what has been called the Greatest Generation.

I know I've said it a hundred times on this fine site, but please folks, get these stories from your family members before they're gone. You can do yourself, and your family, no greater service than preserving their memories. It's hard to believe this entire generation is projected to be gone by 2020. Sad.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

My father is a WWII vet, and I have an unlimited amount of stories I can (and have) told to friends and my daughter.

[Teller]

My father is a WWII vet, and I have an unlimited amount of stories I can (and have) told to friends and my daughter.

I posted this with the full intent of many of us sharing family stories again, and Predicto posting that classic pic of his granddad with McArthur. If you feel like sharing, Cali, be my guest.

[twa]

Good thread HH, I've seen three that I know die this year ,they bring a personal perspective that should be preserved in future memories.

[Teller]

Good thread HH, I've seen three that I know die this year ,they bring a personal perspective that should be preserved in future memories.

Absolutely. I wish my granddad had lived longer. He passed when I was 5. I've been able to get most of his stories from my grandma and a friend of his who landed on the Beach with him, but it's not quite the same.

Hopefully someday I'll be with him again, and get to hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Heaven's gotta have some great beer for storytime too. Unlike the PBR the ol' man loved so much.

*sigh*

Can't tell you how often I wonder how different my life might have been had my Dad Dad lived longer. I'm sure he would've been my best friend, but also kicked me in the ass when I needed it too.

[#98QBKiller]

Sad stuff. One of the greatest memories I'll ever have here in DC was when a group of WWII vets were with a guide down at the WWII Memorial. The silence was deafening but you could tell how proud these guys were of their country and that the memorial meant a lot to them.

[Sticksboi05]

It is very true. This generation won't be here much longer, I mean the generation of Holocaust survivors is almost gone as well.

What's very sad is that the really forgotten veterans of World War I are down to less than 20 worldwide.

[Bang]

When i was 17 I went to Florida on a family trip. Being a 17 yr old punk, I was acting accordingly. One day my great Aunt took my sister and Mother out shopping, leaving me to spend the day with my great uncle Aaron, who I really didn't know very well. So great. I am expected to hang out all day in this damn retirement community.

It was the most fascinating day I've ever spent with any one member of my family.

Let's see.. to bullet it.

He survives D-Day with dysentery. He almost died from that, but his unit went ashore and suffered 100% casualties, wiped out to the man. Because he's in England, they put him on an old destroyer in an anti aircraft gun turret and film him spinning around in it like he's fighting and shooting. This ends up in the Movietone newsreel about D-Day.

He was among the first troops to arrive in Munchen Garten, Hitler's spring retreat. He showed me a fork that he took from the head of the main table and then he ended up in another newsreel..

they found a church there stuffed from floor to ceiling, front to back with looted art and other artifacts from German conquests, and there he is in the newsreel carrying out one of the paintings. They also found maps of towns and cities all along the east coast of the US.

I have a letter of his he wrote home describing his embarkation from NY. He died about 10-12 years ago, and I have no idea what happened to all of his stuff.

~Bang

[Teller]

I have a letter of his he wrote home describing his embarkation from NY. He died about 10-12 years ago, and I have no idea what happened to all of his stuff.

~Bang

Aw, man. Time for a family-wide APB.

That's one of the things my grandma did very well. She kept EVERYTHING. And she knows where to find it all.

She's got all of my granddad's letters and 'wires,' a few articles he wrote for the local newspaper back here, TONS of pictures, his medals, and a few personal items taken from the bodies of German soldiers (shoulder boards and a wedding ring to name a few.)

My grandma actually accepted my granddad's marriage proposal while he was still overseas. They had never even met. They only talked through letters and exchanged pictures. (My granddad's brothers had convinced her to write to him when they met her at the Marine Corps Hospital in Crisfield, Md. They were visiting their respective fathers, both WWI vets.)

My grandma has promised me a picture that's worth a million words when her time comes to leave us. (I pray that's not soon.) My granddad wired her money, while he was in France, to have his mom take her to pick out an engagement ring.

She still has the photo that was his first glimpse of his ring on my grandma's hand. She circled it, and scribbled on the front, "My ring," and on the back, "Love always, Chennie."

I don't know. I just can't explain the feeling I had holding that picture in my hands, realizing how it had traveled and under what circumstances; and what it means to our family.

Heh. I always get all teary eyed over their story. True love. The way it's supposed to be.

[Raub]

I'll be going to visit my grandfather's grave this weekend. He fought in Europe and was wounded during the Battle of Bulge. I missed his funeral because I was stationed in Germany and couldn't get home in time. I figure if anyone would have understood it was him. He was a great man who influenced me more than I realized at the time.

[Mufumonk]

My grandfather recently passed. He served in the 2nd Armored Division (Hell on Wheels) throughout WWII. He always had a hard time talking about his experiences because of the loss of so many friends but he kept a very detailed journal and had hundreds of photos covering his tour (Northern Africa, the beaches at Normandy, and into Germany). My cousin is looking into photo restoration to see what, if anything, can be done to them. The most impressive one we found was a shot of the Eiffel Tower surrounded by plumes of smoke from the aftermath of the Battle for Paris. Memorial Day was always a special time for him and it's sad knowing he won't be here for it this year.

[SkinsOrlando]

My moms foster father, my grandfather(to me, I never really knew my real grandfather) was a cook in the army in WW2. Man can he cook, I remember asking him when I was younger why he cooked so well said "Eric, when you're responsible for serving men what could be there last meal, you make sure it's as good as it can get". He's 87 years old now, still walks 5 miles every morning, looks like he's 60. They were a different breed then.

[Sarge]

I still have my grandfathers training journal from medic school in 1943, along with an old ration book,some photo's he sent back from the Philippines and his old medic bag

He went in there with MacArthur during his landing and ended up staying on the island until summer of 45, when they loaded him up on a boat and sent him to Okinawa to await the invasion

He died in 76 so I don't remember him real well. I know he hated the Japanese until the day he died, primarily because the Japs shot at medics first so that there would be no one around to treat the wounded. The bag I have has a rip in the side where someone almost got him.

Sorry these guys are leaving us. They have so much to teach

Here's a link from some of them I met at Hickam a few years ago. Some of the original Band of Brothers

http://extremeskins.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144306&highlight=Today

[Burgundy Burner]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357941,00.html

I know I've said it a hundred times on this fine site, but please folks, get these stories from your family members before they're gone. You can do yourself, and your family, no greater service than preserving their memories. It's hard to believe this entire generation is projected to be gone by 2020. Sad.

The remaining members of my family that served in WWII are gone, but we have lots of pics, stories, and great memories.

Most will be gone by 2020, but when you look at the ages of some vets, a few will make it to 2035 and possibly 2040.

Last I heard, the U.S. has one remaining WWI vet who is still alive.

[Teller]

The remaining members of my family that served in WWII are gone, but we have lots of pics, stories, and great memories.

Most will be gone by 2020, but when you look at the ages of some vets, a few will make it to 2035 and possibly 2040.

Last I heard, the U.S. has one remaining WWI vet who is still alive.

I think you're right. I can't quite place the story though.

2020 was just the estimate by the museum. Obviously, there's plenty of potential for human error. And if they err, let's hope it's on the plus side of 2020.