Old Corps

[Zilch]

Mad dad was an Army cryptographer during the Korean War. He said back then you had what they called "professional privates". These were guys who loved the Army but didn't want any rank or the responsibility that came with it, so that when ever they'd get a promotion they'd do something on purpose to get busted back down. He also said that 9 time out of 10 these were the guys that you'd want to be next to when rounds started flying.

Sounds like what I remember of him.

 

[metro]

I wish I had more of a chance to talk to my grandfather before he passed when I was 12.

Same here. My paternal grandfather joined the Navy at the onset of World War II. Died when I was 11, 13 years ago. Unfortunately, I never got to talk to him about his experiences with the war...would have been very inspirational as I head off to OCS.

 

[jarhead]

speaking of old shool Marines ... met a Medal of Honor winner today, fought on Iwo, last name is Williams ... as he talked with me (very sharp 80-something year old) i couldn't take my eyes his medal. he even cracked a joke about "airwingers".

S/F

 

[KBayDog]

speaking of old shool Marines ... met a Medal of Honor winner today, fought on Iwo, last name is Williams ... as he talked with me (very sharp 80-something year old) i couldn't take my eyes his medal. he even cracked a joke about "airwingers".

S/F

Cpl Hershel Williams?

 

[junfan26]

The stories behind Medal of Honor winners always blow me away.

 

[jarhead]

Cpl Hershel Williams?

yep, that's him

 

[plc67]

The Old Corps never ceases to amaze me. My step father had a heart attack while driving, this triggered a stroke which led to an automobile accident. He broke his sternum, several ribs, fracutured his hip, bruised his heart, had his liver nicked due to a botched medical procedure, sufferred another heart attack, had a tracheotomy, was administered last rites a week ago and is stable in the critical care unit in Altoona, Pa. The trauma doctor told me, no surprise, he seems to have a strong will. I couldn't have survived this at 26 let alone 86. I am in awe.

 

[invertedflyer]

I went to the dentist's office the other day, not the most enjoyable chore... leave it to chance to supplant a veteran opposite where I was sitting. I sat down and talked to him, turned out he was a WWII Army Airborne Veteran. He served on many different islands in the Pacific, but chiefly New Guinea and the Phillipines. He talked of different drops, as well as saving some survivors of the death march in the PI. It wasn't cabanatuan or anything, but they saved quite a few of them. Before I knew it we were shooting the perverbial shvt about weapons, tactics, etc.

It really got interesting when I asked him if he'd ever served next to any Marines. He said he fought next to them on more than one occasion and had this to say of them. "I always felt sorry for them, they didn't use artillery like we did ... they'd just rush right in and they lost a lot of men that way... but they fought hard and we respected them."

props to plc for starting this thread.

 

[teufelhunden83]

At the Birthday Ball I had the fortune and pleasure of sitting with a retired USMC Col. who fought in the battles of Iwo Jima, Korea, and Vietnam. He was a GySgt on Iwo when he earned his battlefield promotion. Unfortunately, he did not stay very long, but the brief amount of time I was able to talk with him was amazing.