How much do you know about your own family’s history during WWII?
I only know that my paternal grandfather was POW in WW2 and survived. He never talked to me or my brother about it but he passed away when we were both too young to even ask questions about it. I wonder if he lived until we were a bit older, how much he would’ve shared and what his experiences were like. He was also quiet and withdrawn, but nice and friendly and helpful, so I often think about what he went through that shaped him to be who he was to me.
I wish I knew something, unfortunately we do not.
I just recently got into genealogy and found out about our great grandparents.
Both my parents were very young. My father flew three missions over Normandy on Dday. Two missions were to lay down smoke. On the first mission, he saw the boats lined up. On the second mission, the water was red. He said he couldn’t believe that they were told to fly a third when they returned from the second. My Mother and oldest brother lived with his parents. She was a switchboard operator. I’m sure it was a difficult time for all of them.
Wow, how harrowing, @Barbara_M!
My parents were too young to enlist (although my dad was enlisted during the Korean War). I know both my grandfathers were Hungarian immigrants, but, embarrassingly, I have no idea what they did during the war years.
My Uncle was a Pilot for the Navy at that time; however, he got sick, was given sulfur to help him get over it quickly, but he was allergic to it and lost a kidney. He was subsequently retired from the service. Two of his sisters, my aunts, were enlisted, one a Marine, the other a WAC. My father worked on the Atomic Bomb during the war and was not allowed to join any service. He got into quite a few fights with men who thought he was a coward. They were wrong!
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My father served in the army in communications. He was stationed in Trinidad, so his experience was probably very different than those in combat. I often think that he still had to deal with being away from his family and the uncertainty of when or how the war might end.
My mom grew up in Finland and was a young teenager during WWIl. She remembers her father who was a Harbormaster for a large city having to go hiding. She remembers seeing German soldiers and being very scared. Her family was worried that that Finland would be conquered by the Nazis or annexed by Russia.
Not much! My grandfather came here from Italy in 1918, and settled in the Boston Area. My dad served in the Korean War, but not sure if his father served in WWII. It’s something I’m now inspired to find out!
–Susan
My father fought in WWII and didn’t talk about it. He had terrible nightmares and jumped at loud noises. They didn’t call it PTSD at that time. I know a little about my mother’s life during that time. She worked in the factory because there weren’t enough men to work. My uncle and his girlfriend both served. They were a little more open with their memories but not around my dad.
I was born during the war and my father was in England the month I was born. He was in France in what they said was D-Day minus 4. I was almost two when he came home. I have all his letters during that time and still have some to type. An uncle was in major battles. I think their experiences which were never talked about is the reason I read WWII genre.
Very little! I knew my father was a navy man during that time but had no idea of the “real suffering” of people in Europe.
A great deal, all learned from my mother. My parents married in March 1941, and my father was drafted a year later. He served in the Army Air Force & was assigned to the motor pool following aptitude testing. He was stationed in Stockton, California, for a time which is how we ended up living in nearby Lodi (we moved here in June 1957), and served in the Pacific Theater (Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines) while my mother awaited his return on the family farm in South Dakota. He would NEVER speak of it, so I don’t know his perspective, aside from the day I questioned him about being present when MacArthur returned for the peace talks. He curtly informed me he was in his tent playing checkers and had no interest in “some general” because “all I wanted to do was go home.” Once, as we were sailing out to Alcatraz (taking relatives on the tour), he pointed out the spot where he began feeling seasick . . . and said he didn’t feel better until he arrived in Australia weeks later. (He definitely wasn’t on a cruise ship!) Aside from those remarks, I heard the stories from my mother & a scrapbook my sister and I found when cleaning out our family home. It was hidden in a closet and we had never seen it before. It is a treasure trove of cards, telegrams, newspaper clippings, etc.
I do know that my father was proud of his military service because he specified that the flag given to my mother at his funeral be donated to the local cemetery for their annual “Avenue of Flags.” They fly the flags of veterans resting there every Memorial Day, and my father loved to drive out there each year to see all those flags swaying in the breeze. Since 1992, his flag has been one of them.
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