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Joe...My father in law served in WWII. He went ashore about
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Joe...My father in law served in WWII. He went ashore about


Dec 8, 2018, 10:20 PM

a week after DDay. He always said the army said the beach head was secure. He said their idea of secure was much different than his idea of secure. Anyway, he was there for sometime and was in a hospital near the Battle of The Bulge recovering from being shot by a German machine gunner. He talked about marching 3 miles to take a shower and by the time you marched 3 miles back you needed another. He told stories about a GI from Kentucky in his outfit,and every time they got in a scrap with another group, they would grab a guy and hold him while that guy knocked'em out and on to the next one,etc. etc.

Anyway, he said, out of all the time he was in the army, the coldest he ever got was in training at Ft.Breckenridge in Kentucky. He said you got 2 blankets. One to lay on the ground and the other to cover up. He said it was the coldest he had ever been in his life.....

I just wondered if you have a story to tell about WEATHER? Heck, I bet you might have one about meeting Santa Claus.

Waiting to hear from you....

Spud

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Spud, I got a pic of my Dad during the Bulge


Dec 8, 2018, 11:46 PM

standing next to one of the 7 towed 105mm howitzers in his battery. The snow was higher than the muzzle of it at a 45 degree angle and about a foot taller than Dad(5'10"). The gun was dug in to solid earth to anchor it.

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Re: Spud, I got a pic of my Dad during the Bulge


Dec 9, 2018, 12:56 AM

Yep. That was an especially cold winter. I served as a border guard in Germany 40 years later, in the Fulda Gap. On New Years Eve, 1984 it began to snow, we didn’t see the ground again until late March. Rivers froze solid. The locals said that the last time those rivers had frozen like that, was WWII.

My favorite military stories are from the dad of a friend (my friend is also a Tiger). His dad was a Marine, served in the island campaigns in WWII, and all of the Korean War. I went to his funeral at Arlington in 2001. 5 Purple Hearts, 2 Bronze Stars with Oakleaf Clusters.
2 of my favorite stories.
1. “Did I ever tell you about the first time I made Sargent?”
2. His house was always overflowing with food. ALWAYS. One time I asked him why? He said. “When I was at the Chosen Resevoir (sp?) we were freezing to death and starving to death, I swore that if I lived I would never be hungry again.....and I’ve kept that promise.”

At his funeral, his decorations and the battles he served in were read. Most impressive list I’ve ever heard. Basically all of island campaign and then Korea. He was a walking talking miracle and the greatest hero I’ve ever known.

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That reminds me of my father in law. His wife, who is 87 now


Dec 9, 2018, 5:08 AM

I think, still walks every day. She tried to get him to walk with her all the time but he always said he walked so much in the army that he wasn't ever going to walk again when he could ride...

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Re: Spud, I got a pic of my Dad during the Bulge


Dec 9, 2018, 7:43 AM [ in reply to Re: Spud, I got a pic of my Dad during the Bulge ]

I remember hearing a vet from the Bulge say he promised himself he would never be cold again so he moved to Miami when he got out of the service

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Re: Spud, I got a pic of my Dad during the Bulge


Dec 9, 2018, 10:44 AM [ in reply to Spud, I got a pic of my Dad during the Bulge ]

had an uncle who served in ww2 and was in the bulge as well.he was a tank commander with the 643rd tank destroyer battatlion.at that time all the army guys wanted for Christmas was warm boots.evidently they weren't prepared for the cold.after the war was over,his unit was involved with cleaning up at least one of the concentration camps.very seldom talked about it.

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Yep, Leon, my father in law, said they told the soldiers to


Dec 9, 2018, 12:14 PM

sleep with their boots on. He buddy,2 men to a tent, took his off and woke up with frost bite...You know they would have given a years pay for some modern boots with insulation...and some goretex!

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Re: Joe...My father in law served in WWII. He went ashore about


Dec 9, 2018, 8:19 AM

First, I am definitely no hero. I did not serve on the front line. My job was to lend support and try not to get shot (scored 100% on that). The first law of survival is to try to dodge the bullet.

I have several stories about the cold weather. I may have posted these before but if no one complains, I'll make a rerun. I thought Europe was cold but Korea won hands down. I was in Korea only during one winter -- 1950-51. The lowest temperature I experienced was minus 35 F. When the temperature reached +10 F, we thought we were having a heat wave. Anyone who served in Korea during that winter will always remark about how cold it was. Comparing the latitude of North and South Korea with other countries, one would not expect such vast differebes in the weather.

I was plannung to post a story re "The Spirit of Christmas" later on which touches on the weather we encountered.

Looks lkike church services have been canceled so I may get one posted later on this AM.

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Leon, my father in law, said when he was in the hospital,


Dec 9, 2018, 12:18 PM

they were given 3 bullets right before the Battle of the Bulge and orders to fight to the last man. He said a couple of his buddies had found a jeep that ran and if the battle got to them in the hospital ( he had already been shot through the left arm and fragged from a bomb that killed his buddy 20 feet away) they were going to fire their 3 rounds and haul ### in that jeep! Rule #1!! Live to fight another day....

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Well, my Father served in the Navy in WWII


Dec 9, 2018, 10:41 AM

stationed in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and always said that the coldest he's ever been was the summer he spent in San Francisco.

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I watch Life Below Zero, The Last Alaskans,Yukon Men,


Dec 9, 2018, 12:48 PM

Mountain Men,etc. Today, at my house in Powdersville it is about 32-34 and damp! The men AND THE WOMEN on those shows would be outside in a sweatshirt with a hood on it working on the carburetor... 10 degrees is like a regular day to them. I don't see how they stand it. If I would have been unlucky enough to have been in a foxhole at Bastogne, I doubt I would have lived a week.

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