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Replies: 14
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All-In [49613]
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One of my favorite Veteran's Day stories ...
Nov 11, 2014, 12:44 PM
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My dad never liked to talk about the war ... since he served in both theaters, I always image he saw plenty of it.
this was a story from, dang, about 15 years ago ... the old man, the little girl (who's now a senior in college!) and the scar.
Thanks, Dad!
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She had always wondered about the scar.
It was a small spot, about the size of a nickle, with two little ridges running up toward the shoulder. To her, it looked like Mickey Mouse with deflated ears, cockeyed and tilted.
She could feel it, a rising ridge worn smooth, when the old man carried her to bed after a long day. But she never asked her grandad about it.
But he never talked about it. So it remained a mystery, one of the few between a doting grandpa and his youngest grandchild. Until, one evening, she could no longer contain her curiosity. The conversation went something like:
“Grandpa, how did you get that scar?”
“Which scar? Honey, I’ve got plenty of them.”
“It’s round with wrinkly ears, and it sits under your shoulder.”
“Ohhhhh....that one. That was a souvenir from a trip to Europe when I was in the Army.”
“You mean like a tattoo?”
He chuckled. “I guess you could say that. A girl named Betty gave it to me.”
The old man began to speak of a time the girl could only recall from snatches of old movies. It was a time when old men were young, and many young men never got a chance to be old. A time of frozen ground and biting cold, snarly spitting of rifles and prayers that puffed out in steamy clouds and curses that cut the morning fog.
That morning, a wrong step, perhaps a tired boot or a tired eye straying. A mine, a “Bouncing Betty” sprung into action, ripping into the line of young men with lethal abandon. Some weren’t touched. Some were shredded.
The old man, then young, grabbed one of the injured, a lieutenant, slinging the man over his broad shoulders like a bleeding sack of potatoes. He lugged the man out of danger and to medical help.
The medic took the injured man, then told his saviour to sit down.
No way, he said -- he had to get back to his platoon.
“Not with that in your shoulder,” the medic replied.
“With what?”
“With that chunk of shrapnel.”
“I don’t feel anything,” he said.
“You will ... and plenty of it.”
He still does, especially when the weather turns cold. That’s the only time, the old man told the girl, that he thinks of that day.
The lieutenant survived as well. Put the old man in for a Bonze Star. He has a Purple Heart on his license plate, too. Not for pride, he says, but just in case the Georgia Highway Patrol catches him advancing a little too zealously, they might give him a break.
And he doesn’t dwell on the war. Life has given us all plenty of battles. He doesn’t talk about the war, about the young men who never grew old, unless you ask him.
I know the story because I asked him many years ago. Not too long ago, I thanked him for what he did. He snorted and said it seemed like a good idea at the time.
The little girl did the same, reaching up and hugging the old man. Her slender fingers touched the scar.
It didn’t hurt him at all.
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CU Medallion [64535]
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Wow...just wow !!!!
Nov 11, 2014, 12:49 PM
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Terrific story
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MVP [508]
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Great Story and thanks to him and many others .
Nov 11, 2014, 1:19 PM
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Great story Rev, My dad served in WW2 and he never talked about the war either . Served in the pacific with the air force, we have a lot of folks here and gone to thank today!
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Orange Blooded [3311]
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Great story. Thanks for sharing.
Nov 11, 2014, 1:20 PM
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Reminds me of great conversations I had with my father before he passed. Good times!
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Standout [309]
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Re: One of my favorite Veteran's Day stories ...
Nov 11, 2014, 1:34 PM
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One of the best WW II stories I have heard, came from a veteran who survived the Normandy landings. During the 40th anniversary, he was walking along the beach(I forget whether Omaha or Utah) talking with a reporter. He talked about all the death, destruction and bloodshed going on around him. Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder and when he turned around, he saw another soldier standing in front of him in full dress uniform. Shocked, the man asked "what in the world are you doing out here in full dress uniform?". The soldier replied that he had a bombing mission that morning and that his plane had been shot down. Despite all the death and destruction going around them, the soldier simply asked the other soldier how he could get out to one of the ships off the coast. The guy said he had a date back in England that night and didn't want to miss it. That mentality is why we won the war.
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CU Guru [1929]
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Re: One of my favorite Veteran's Day stories ...
Nov 11, 2014, 6:28 PM
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God they were all just heroes!!!
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Commissioner [905]
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Re: One of my favorite Veteran's Day stories ...
Nov 11, 2014, 2:43 PM
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Great story....thanks for sharing!
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Orange Blooded [3032]
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Re: One of my favorite Veteran's Day stories ...
Nov 11, 2014, 3:02 PM
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Great story, Rev.
My dad was in WW2 as well. He was in the Navy. Said the reason he joined the Navy was so he didn't have to eat out of a can. His first assignment was to a detachment of Marines on some small speck of dirt in the Pacific. Ate out of a can every day.
Never could get him to tell me anything about his war experience. All he would tell me was a funny story about his very short time aboard ship.
After he died, we found a Japanese bayonet among his things. Sure would like to know how he got it. Maybe he'll tell me in the next life.
Miss you dad.
Thanks to all the Veterans and their families for their sacrifice.
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All-Conference [432]
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Re: One of my favorite Veteran's Day stories ...
Nov 11, 2014, 5:07 PM
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Rev,
Great story. My father-in-law, a 1934 Clemson grad, is currently 101. He was a career army officer, and was in combat in WWII(Europe) and Korea. He too rarely talks about his experiences during the war. I posted a thread about him earlier. He will be recognized as a 'Hero of the Game' on military
appreciation day. Tom Brochaw got it right when he described men like him, your father, and thousands of other WWII vets as America's greatest generation.
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110%er [5962]
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Dang it, now I've got something in my eye.***
Nov 11, 2014, 5:59 PM
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CU Guru [1929]
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Re: One of my favorite Veteran's Day stories ...
Nov 11, 2014, 6:26 PM
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I can't ever finish reading one tour post without tearing up. Thanks for the awesome story, thank your dad for me!
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Orange Blooded [4896]
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Great story and well written. Hard to type with tears in my
Nov 11, 2014, 6:42 PM
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eyes.
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CU Guru [1803]
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tears, me too. Thanks Rev for sharing.***
Nov 11, 2014, 6:55 PM
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Orange Blooded [4757]
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My (maternal) grandfather was a WWII veteran
Nov 12, 2014, 10:54 AM
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And like almost all of those veterans now, he is no longer with us...passed away 10 years ago next June. I miss him every day, he was my hero and my father figure in a time when my own father was not very good at filling that role.
It occurred to me yesterday as I watched a fellow WWII veteran give a speech that in a very real way, I now consider any WWII veteran to be my grandfather, in a way, and I am attached to them in a sense that's difficult to describe.
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All-TigerNet [10782]
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Re: One of my favorite Veteran's Day stories ...
Nov 12, 2014, 9:26 PM
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men who have truly experienced the horrors of war very seldom talk about it.my uncle was a tank commander in the bulge with patton and later helped clean up one of the concentration camps.my dad told me that he broke down in tears once,when he described the horrors of that experience.the only time he ever spoke to me,a 12 yr.old,about the war was to explain that handling a sub-machine gun was not what the movies or tv showed.your dad was a genuine hero.
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