My Grandfather (Bill, Sr) on my mother's side went onshore on DDay +8 in France, he was with the 747th Armor Tank Regiment and was with that unit until VE day.
When VJ Day occured he was on a troop ship heading towards the South Pacific and staging areas for Operation Olympic. My Grandfather (Alfred) on my father's side, and all of his brothers served in WW2 as well. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was selected for the OSS (precursor to the CIA), he served as a counter-intelligence officer stateside until very late in the war (he told us that his job was to shoot spies; as in, he and his partner would get a name and an address and take their .38 service revolvers with them with double sided tape on the handles (no chance the pistol would slip). They'd unload the revolvers into their target, drop the pistols on the floor and leave), he took to his grave the secrets of his service assignments in Germany late in the war, and in fact never confirmed to us that he was ever there (he did admit to it in a book on the history of the OSS, though). His brother William (for whom I am partially named) served in the Navy in San Francisco he was the driver and personal secretary for an Admiral (though I can't remember off-hand which one it was). Another brother, Hendrix, was a B-25 Mitchell pilot that served in North Africa and was shot down over the Pacific in 1944 and killed (neither the plane nor his body was recovered). His other brother Oliver was a ground-pounder in Europe. All of the above mentioned are now deceased, only one of them (Bill, Sr.) ever gave a full accounting of his experiences in combat during the war, and that was only shortly before he died. It is a videotape I will treasure forever. -- will "If my life weren't funny, it would just be true; and that would just be unacceptable." - Carrie Fisher ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=17 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:169197 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
