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GM's Thread About Everything/GM's Thread About Nothing (13 Viewers)

My grandpa lied about his age to enlist during WWII. Was stationed on a sub until he grew a foot in one year and was too tall for the subs. Ended up driving a landing boat in the South Pacific, an absolutely horrific job where he knew he was driving soldiers to their death and often watched them die just trying to get off the boat. He never spoke a word about it to me or most anyone else. 

 
GroveDiesel said:
My grandpa lied about his age to enlist during WWII. Was stationed on a sub until he grew a foot in one year and was too tall for the subs. Ended up driving a landing boat in the South Pacific, an absolutely horrific job where he knew he was driving soldiers to their death and often watched them die just trying to get off the boat. He never spoke a word about it to me or most anyone else. 
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Man - I read stories like that and I'm kind of glad that I was born a coward.

 
Mrs. Osaurus' grandfather is turning 99 in a few months.  He was stationed in France and Germany towards the end of WWII.  While he was there, he collected lots of "souvenirs" of all kinds.  His wife would get boxes  thinking they were filled with stockings and French perfume.  They were actually filled with SS uniforms, German firearms and all sorts of Nazi stuff.  He was in Hitler's apartment about 3 or 4 days after Hitler offed himself.  He grabbed a few souvenirs there as well including a vase which is now at my in-laws house that creeps me out.  He used to have all kinds of shady white supremist types show up at his house to look and try to buy this stuff.  He used to go schools in the area and show kids his collection.  Most of the collection is gone, but to this day he doesn't ever talk about his tour.  I imagine he saw some pretty messed up stuff.

 
love all these wwll stories. my grandfathers were run out of eastern europe in one pogrom or another.

one ended up in Brooklyn, where he ran the family business- fur storage (in the 20s and 30s, people would put their furs into cold storage in the warmer months). one day when my dad was 2, my grandfather gave my grandma a kiss with a "see you tonight", walked out the door to work and disappeared forever. we found out the story years later from his brother- who I tracked down in a phonebook because the rest of the family completely abandoned my grandmother and father after my grandfather disappeared. apparently, my grandfather had been borrowing money from murder inc. at "the candy store". he had also been pawning the furs that people gave him to store, just to keep afloat. it was discovered by his brother (my great uncle) that murder inc rubbed him out and tossed him in the meadowlands. this was 1934.  pretty sure he didn't fight in the great war.

I think my uncle Danny fought in europe, but he's a real **** so I haven't taken the time to learn more. my dad was a dentist in the airforce in japan in the late 50s. oral hygiene was rough back then- he never talked about those days. 

 
-fish- said:
Late Memorial Day post.

Those of I know on FB may have seen this.  If you're a history/WWII buff, you might be interested.

My uncle flew B-17's in WWII.  He was shot down and killed over Leipzig, Germany.  My sister is a historian and found some footage of the pilot and plane that shot down their bomber.  It was an experimental Messerschmidt Me 163 Komet---the forerunner to the space shuttle.  The cannon it fired was also experimental.  The German pilot shot down 2 B-17s that day.  The Me 163's shot down a total of 4 planes that day, and then never recorded another victory due to lack of fuel for them.

Footage

My uncle was in the first B-17 shot down at 1:56.
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Homer J Simpson said:
Holy ####. 
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:goodposting:

 
My grandpa fought in the Phillipines. He would never talk about it and we have been able to find out very little. All I know is my mom says when he would get drunk he would yell about MacArthur. "He said he'd be back. That ####er never came back!" kinda stuff. I wish I knew more. 

 
Frostillicus said:
My grandpa fought in the Phillipines. He would never talk about it and we have been able to find out very little. All I know is my mom says when he would get drunk he would yell about MacArthur. "He said he'd be back. That ####er never came back!" kinda stuff. I wish I knew more. 
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I just watched HBO's the Pacific... there was some brutal battles over an island with an airstrip that MacArthur had to have as a foothold, but then never used and bailed on. I wonder if that's what he was talking about?

 
El Floppo said:
I just watched HBO's the Pacific... there was some brutal battles over an island with an airstrip that MacArthur had to have as a foothold, but then never used and bailed on. I wonder if that's what he was talking about?
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Could be something like that.  I have the impression it was pretty bad.  Like I said, I wish I knew more.

 
I'm not aware of anyone on my side of the family that served during war. Not really sure how in the hell they avoided it, especially my father who was prime age for Vietnam, but from what I know no one did. Also, even if they did serve, father and both grandfathers were all deceased before I was 2 years old. So I never would have had a conversation with them about it anyway.

Wife's side of the family has plenty that served. Her Uncle was a Purple Heart recipient in Nam and her maternal grandfather was a WWII pilot for supply runs.

 
both grandpas died before I was born.  no idea if they fought in the war.

Dad fought in Nam though (well he was over there, not sure how much fighting he actually did)

 
Waal River Crossing, Holland 1944

My cousin was in the 504 PIR, I Company, and survived this horrific river assault, in collapsable canvas boats using their rifle stocks as paddles, only to be KIA a few weeks later on the Holland-German border.  His body was never recovered.

This river crossing was depicted in the movie "A Bridge Too Far", about the American Army's "Operation Market Garden".

My three uncles all served in the Pacific in WWII, one, a Marine in the Phillipines and Guadalcanal, one on an LST at Iwo Jima, Tinian and other islands, and one in the Army on several of the same islands as well.  All survived.  Im almost positive my one uncle came back with PTSD, always had horrific nightmares.

 
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My maternal grandfather was a coal miner and farmer so, i guess he kinda got a deferrment as his job was working the homefront.  I had 4 great uncle's, my maternal grandmother's brothers fought in WW2, 3 in the Army and one as a merchant marine.  My paternal grandfather was in the Navy and his brother was in the Army Air Corps.  Plus had a few great uncles by marriage also in WW2. Never really talked to them about it, 3 uncles died either before i was born or when i was real young, Wasn't real close to the others, mainly due to distance.  As for my paternal grandfather, wasn't close to him to talk to him about it.  What I have learned was stories from my maternal grandma.  

My only uncle served as a Marine in Vietnam in 65/66, have talked to him, but most of his stories were about drinking and card playing in the barracks.  Closest he came to talk about his experiences was when he took me and my cousin to see Platoon.  There was one scene where they found a hole that they dropped a grenade in, he said that they woulda shot a flamethrower instead of wasting a grenade...

My Dad was in college during vietnam, closest he came was signing up for the air force reserve, but when he found out his number for the draft in 69/70, and found out he wasn't being drafted, he backed out before everything became final....

Father In Law was in the Navy during vietnam, but served stateside

closest i came to was having a navy recruiter come to my house during my senior year.  

 
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Dan Lambskin said:
both grandpas died before I was born.  no idea if they fought in the war.
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Pretty close to this.  Mom's dad died when she was 17.  Apparently working at an asbestos factory for an extended period of time is not so good for your health.   Old man's dad died 1 month to the day after I was born.  Pretty sure it was my fault.

 
My dad was drafted towards the end of Korea.  He got pneumonia about 2 weeks into basic and had to start over or whatever.    By the time his unit was done with training the armistice had been signed.  He never left the states. 

 
Stoneys said:
closest i came to was having a navy recruiter come to my house during my senior year.  
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I once filled out one of "I'm interested" cards for the Navy...under my cat's name.  

My mom got really sick and tired of telling the recruiters that called the house that there wasn't a Larry Katz living there.

 
My uncle was in Vietnam so i interviewed him for a school prodject. Told me all about he learned to surf there and it was a pretty boring experience.  Found out years later from my dad that he won a silver star and got a Purple Heart for saving a bunch of his guys in a heallacious firefight.  

 
bentley said:
One of my grandfathers fought in the sands of Iwo Jima and then spent 35 years running his own pest control business. Eventually, cancer from the chemicals he used to support a family would take him. It was pretty awful in the end.

My other grandfather stormed the beaches at Normandy and spent 40 years driving a truck. He ran a small ranch and did his own home maintenance until he dropped dead at 90.

i get paid a lot of money to get drunk with 26 year old girls at community events. I'd like to think that they would both be proud of me.
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Greatester Generation, IMO.

 
YSR said:
Update?
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https://forums.footballguys.com/forum/topic/725002-gms-thread-about-nothinggms-thread-about-everything/?page=890#comment-19077180

Since then?

-Online euchre went down for a few days and forced some of our friends to go to jail just to play cards

-We're all amateur drunks with war hero relatives.  Except the guys in Austin.  They do it professionally and/or are full-blown alcoholics. fish does it like Maurice Clarett

-'Hack is now getting paid to get other people high

-bueno's back and you're gonna be in trouble (Hey-la)

-Despite being bad in bed, Abe's still getting divorced. I think

-GM grew a mullet and got a new job as a silent auctioneer.  You can find him on Twitter @Auctionearless

-Grove could use some thoprawishes.  Don't text them to him while driving

-Lots of people have wives who are late for ####

-My Wife Is Late is the name of my General Malaise cover band and soon-to-be-released pamphlet extolling the virtues of the rhythm method

--mr krista only takes Tijuana showers now

-You missed National Wine Day.  Or, more likely, you missed us while observing National Wine Day

-Mark Davis is either insane or completely awesome

-If you have boobs, Uruk will take you to Belize

-ninja's having another kid.  We don't think it's yours.

-Why does Miss Piggy douche with honey?

Because Kermit likes his pork sweet and sour.

-Hold the door

 
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Maternal grandfather was a pilot for the Marines during WWII.  He told everybody he dropped out of Harvard his Junior year to enlist, but his wife would often utter under her breath that he was going to be asked to leave Harvard as he was on double secret probation, but either way, hey, I come from Harvard stalk.  

Saw a lot of action during the war as he flew wounded Marines out of combat action.  He was shot down once but landed the plane safely.  That earned him some sort of medal we're told, though the whereabouts of this medal are unknown.

Best story I remember him telling me a few times involved a flight he shared with Tyrone Power, who was the hot actor of the day, playing Zoro and other roles that made him a sensation with the ladies.  Power, like many young American stars of both film and athletics at the time, enlisted for Military duty and served his country.  However, he was spared overseas action for most of the war and piloted cargo domestically until the very end of the war when he saw some action in the Pacific.

It was domestically that Power and my grandfather were flying together.  Despite his military service, Power was a huge hit anywhere he went and Generals at various bases would demand to meet with Power and if possible, introduce him to their wives or daughters, who thought of him like girls of today think of Justin Timberlake or whatever.  The two of them landed in Corvallis, Oregon for a brief stop and word got back to them that the General on the Air Facility wanted Power to come off the plane and meet with them.  Power had no interest in this and told my grandfather that he would prefer to stay on board and if at all possible, hidden away to avoid the meet and greet.  My grandfather agreed to his wish, landed the plane, helped hide Power on board and straight up lied to the General that Power was NOT on board the plane.  General was pissed and insisted on coming on board to inspect.  Grandfather stood his ground, told him they were on a tight timeline, withstood the verbal assault and soon enough, were on their way.  

Despite heavy alcoholism, smoking cigars until dementia took over and a diet that including buttering his butter, the old coot made it to around 90.  He used to let me booze with him when I was a teenager and taught me how to drive when I was 12.   

 
My FIL was in the invasion of Anzio & Sicily as well as the Battle of the Bulge.  He was awarded six bronze stars for his services.  I feel like I deserve more recognition than that for dealing with his daughter the last couple of decades.  War is hell but at least it ended after 4 years.

 
roadkill1292 said:
There was a good basketball story on that page and I don't even follow basketball. And the site had the de rigeur reality show piece down near the bottom where it rightfully belongs. What is it about the Simmons generation that is so queer for reality shows? Isn't what they do and how they do it not too shameful to watch?
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Tried to read the article on Kim's emoji empire.  I no longer want to live on this planet.  Is there another one available?

 
My maternal grandfather was a top turret gunner in B-26 Marauders in Europe. He never said much about the war, but did say they crash-landed twice.

My paternal grandfather, who I am named after,  died before I was born, but was in the Marines in the Pacific. According to my dad, he never got close to the front lines because as soon as the Marines learned he could read and write, they made him a clerk.

 
When I was 12 my brother got a coffee table book about the Porsche 911.  Almost immediately I was entranced by that car, the speed, the sound of the engine. For some reason the appearance has always (inexplicably) reminded me of a Great White shark. 

So back then I told myself I would buy one for my 40th birthday. And as I grew up it became less of a kid's joke a more of an actual goal.  Maybe I would be in a position to buy a sports car at 40 and, owing to wanting one for so long, act like it wasn't a midlife crisis but the realization of a long time goal. 

My Uber black this morning was a Tesla with 13,000 miles on it.  Black on black with the moonroof and "big" engine. 

I have zero desire to own a 911 now. None.  The Tesla is far and away the nicest automobile I've ever been in. It's the automotive version of a cold beer, a hot woman, and the Vols winning the bcs championship. 

 
Rustoleum said:
My maternal grandfather was a top turret gunner in B-26 Marauders in Europe. He never said much about the war, but did say they crash-landed twice.

My paternal grandfather, who I am named after,  died before I was born, but was in the Marines in the Pacific. According to my dad, he never got close to the front lines because as soon as the Marines learned he could read and write, they made him a clerk.
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I had a grandfather named Rustoleum too.

 
St. Louis Bob said:
My FIL was in the invasion of Anzio & Sicily as well as the Battle of the Bulge.  He was awarded six bronze stars for his services.  I feel like I deserve more recognition than that for dealing with his daughter the last couple of decades.  War is hell but at least it ended after 4 years.




 
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You're alive GB.  

Ever wonder what happened to the ones before you?  

They didn't make it.  They are the real heroes.   

 
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