On this Father's Day and with the recent D-Day anniversary, I just wanted to post this about my dad...

[Liberal In Texas]

He was a WW2 veteran who fought in Europe and was wounded in Europe.
He took this picture of the Howitzer he was in charge of. I don't have any information about where this is except he said he was in France and Germany.
I don't believe he ever got over his war wounds and the Army retired him.
He died at a young age, 47.


To all our dads who fought the fascists and Nazis we remember you today.
May we have the peace that you believed you won so long ago.

[onecaliberal]

1. My dad did too. He lived a long life but never recovered from that war.

[BOSSHOG]

2. My FIL landed at Omaha Beach

Sustained serious injuries but made it back home. He was a kind, soft spoken man. Father of four. The only time I saw him angered was when the subject of republicans came up. That was in 1993. I miss him dearly but I’m glad he did not have to live though the current group of miscreants.

[Delphinus]

3. Thank you for sharing

And thanks to all who responded with their own stories.

[CincyDem]

4. My dad was sunk twice in the North Atlantic.

Once near the Irish coast. Convoy of 5 ships carrying benzene hit from the air. His ship was first and the plane was too close so the torpedo didn’t arm. Bounced off the deck and blew up in the water about 300 yds past. Broke the ship’s back and it sunk. Other four went up in fireballs with no survivors.

Second time was a German Uboat up in no man’s land off Greenland. Ended up spending a day on some makeshift raft and in the water. Fished out by a Canadian corvair. Still have the newspaper clippings on that one…he was the only survivor.

Amazing stories. These guys were something else. Passed in 2015 at 92 and spent a lot of those extra 45 years telling anyone who would listen that democracy was something we always have to fight for.

Thanks for sharing your dad’s story.

[yagotme]

5. Can't see it clearly, but it kinda looks like a 155mm.

My computer-fu is weak, an expanded example would give a little more detail. My tired eyes just can't pick out the detail well anymore. The smoke from the round firing kinda obscures the muzzle, also. Looks like a large brake, which would mean the 155. Large, open rolling ground, looks kina cool/cold, everyone just kinda standing around, this may be a training range in the US. Corner picture, looks like he's an officer. Major, perhaps? Again, I'm having trouble with the detail. Cool pics, though. My uncle was in the battle of the bulge, was an engineer with the railroad, got caught on the north side of the attack, got pushed back with the British. I have his shoulder patches and rank from then. Didn't know he had served, until years after his death. I do WW2 reenactments, and when I finally heard his story, I'm like "Now you guys are telling me this?"

[Liberal In Texas]

12. He was retired with 1st Lt.

As far as those locations, I just don't know. I found these slides with other family slides and have been in the process of scanning them and correcting the images. Other slides show three guys who were probably with him. I have found no written accounts of his war experiences. The location could very well be in the states during training. He might not have hauled a 35mm camera around when in combat.

I just have my memories of the stories he told when I was a kid. I remember he talked about the Howitzer and being in Italy, France and maybe Germany and the Battle of the Bulge. He was wounded and spent the rest of the war recovering in the large estate (chateau) of a French family. The French family kept in touch with Christmas letters up until my dad's death.

I asked if they ever shot anything with the cannon and he said once that a German plane was forced down during a battle and they blew it up. He didn't like talking about the war much. Of course now I wish I had gotten him to tell me more about it.

[yagotme]

16. A lot of vets don't like to talk about it. Not with family, anyway.

It's amazing that we have the personal history that we DO have, as enough have come forward with their stories.

[SilasSouleII]

6. This photo looks like it could be

from an artillery training range. Maybe Fort Bliss in West Texas. I say that because of the terrain and what seems to be observers/trainers hanging back. Total guess though.

[Wounded Bear]

7. Yeah, doesn't look like France. Could also be N Africa or Sicily maybe...

In any event, thanks for sharing.

[Ford_Prefect]

8. Could be training prior to deployment.

[Wounded Bear]

14. True. Just adding to the speculation...

I think you agree, though, that it doesn't look like any areas of France I've seen in pics or videos.

[Ford_Prefect]

15. Yes. Not like any part of France I'm familiar with. The lack of other troops, the casual arrangement of the observers,

the two vertical poles in the background, along with the terrain and the ground cover which looks much more like Texas persuade me that it isn't in the field in France.

[Liberal In Texas]

13. It probably isn't from actual combat in Europe.

I'm guessing he left the 35mm camera at home when he shipped out. But I just don't know.

[sprinkleeninow]

9. My dad. WWll, Navy, Phillipines. His service ship hit by secondary fire.

Some mates fatally wounded. Dad had difficult time recounting when he got home. The big statured guy would tear up with emotion. My mom never asked again. He reposed at 45 from an aortic aneurysm.

May Your Dad's Memory Be Eternal.🕯

[FeelingBlue]

10. My FIL...

was one of those suckers or losers Trump talked about since he was captured in Alsace and held as a POW in WWII. The Nazis- who were then and are now enemies of the United States- starved him down to 90 lbs, lined him and his fellow prisoners up to be shot and then changed their minds and marched them through the night. He really suffered but survived. Came home and became a hardworking alcoholic, raising four children including my husband. Eventually he got sober and was even knighted by the French govt.

Nothing says “hates America” like Nazis. They are a virulent cancer.

[nevergiveup]

11. My dad and all 4 of my uncles fought the Nazis.

They all survived but my one uncle who was at the Battle of the Bulge never totally recovered mentally. I am so sorry you lost your dad so young. May all the born again Nazi lovers of today burn in hell.