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Veteran's Day 2019, A Thank You

Tony Miller

Speaking of horse butts…
Just wanted to make a thread where we can honor our friends and family who have served. Please add your memory or thank you to anyone you wish to honor.

My Dad, Frank M. Miller, 458th Parachute Field Artillery, 13th Airborne, WWII. Dad enlisted Dec. 9th 1941, 2 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I still wear his wings on a chain every day. Miss you Dad.

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Amazing photos. My Grandfather served in WWII. He didn't talk much about it until I joined. It was good to just listen.

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never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
God Bless and Watch Over all of our brave Veterans, living and at rest, active and retired, healthy and disabled.

Freedom is not free.
 

brandaves

With a great avatar comes great misidentification
My grandfather served in the Airforce for several years in its early days as a military branch. My brother is a Marine who got his DD-214 and promptly got a job as a civilian doing the same thing he was doing as a Marine and in the exact same hanger no less. I am currently serving in the U.S. Coast Guard. I love what I do and couldn't see myself doing anything else. Happy Veteran's Day all!
 
My parents were liberated by Canadian troops in the Netherlands in WW2. My service was in part a repayment (in my eyes) of that debt.
 
Big Thanks to all service members both veteran and current, and their families for their selfless service and all the the sacrifices that come along with it!
 

simon1

Self Ignored by Vista
A tribute to Dad, and all veterans both past and present.

Taken somewhere in the European Theater sometime in 1944. Dad's the one in the middle. Combat rifleman, Staff Sergeant, Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, Purple Heart. Bunch of Campaign Ribbons.

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A tribute to Dad, and all veterans both past and present.

Taken somewhere in the European Theater sometime in 1944. Dad's the one in the middle. Combat rifleman, Staff Sergeant, Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, Purple Heart. Bunch of Campaign Ribbons.

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Amazing photos. I am all to aware how those who served before me had it much harder in many aspects. I was initially mentored by two senior enlisted who were in Vietnam. They endured Soldiers were taught well, as they knew our lives depended on it.

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simon1

Self Ignored by Vista
Amazing photos. I am all to aware how those who served before me had it much harder in many aspects. I was initially mentored by two senior enlisted who were in Vietnam. They endured Soldiers were taught well, as they knew our lives depended on it.

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Oh yeah. Dad told me about the Battle of the Bulge where the guys had to wade around in the foxholes in freezing water in a Belgium December. He said some of them lost their toes to frostbite. He also had a half track blown out from underneath him by artillery when they took Trier. He said all the boys in back were killed, and he got one of the medals for pulling the driver from the cab of the burning half track. Also got the Purple Heart for injuries received in that. Terrible conditions.
 
Oh yeah. Dad told me about the Battle of the Bulge where the guys had to wade around in the foxholes in freezing water in a Belgium December. He said some of them lost their toes to frostbite. He also had a half track blown out from underneath him by artillery when they took Trier. He said all the boys in back were killed, and he got one of the medals for pulling the driver from the cab of the burning half track. Also got the Purple Heart for injuries received in that. Terrible conditions.
He has my respect and awe.

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Came from an age and community where having a father and uncles who were veterans was a matter of course. Knew some WWI vets, including a doctor who immediately diagnosed a case of trench mouth because he's seen it on the battlefield. Worked with Vietnam vets. Come to think of it, have known vets from every US war from WWI onward.

Something I've tried to puzzle out lately is a story told by my father about a couple of local men who were in a WWI unit of big men, who were a tough outfit. Some years ago, I came upon a book about a unit in WWI and WWII, made up mostly of Southerners and maybe another region, that fit that description. Alas, I didn't write it down, and I don't know the name of the book or the unit.
 
My Dad passed away in January 2011 at the age of 87, and he was a WW II hero.
He enlisted in the US Army, trained as a gunnery staff sergeant in the infantry, and
landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day June 6, 1944 as an infantryman with the 29th.
Division, 116th. Regiment, Company A. He fought in Europe through the end of the
war, was wounded in battle twice, and was awarded two Purple Hearts and numerous
battle medals and commendations.

Here's a photo of him as a proud soldier, and a photo of a boxframe, hanging in my
house, of him surrounded by some of his medals, ribbons, and insignia.

To all of you who have served in the Armed Forces ----- Thank you, thank you, thank you !

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Dad served in WWII and (as I mentioned in another thread) spent most of his time in the Army on Greenland training other soldiers. His best buddy from basic was on a ship to Europe that was torpedoed while he was in troop quarters below deck. After they were torpedoed, the exits were so jammed with men trying to escape that he was sure he was going to die. Then he realized that the tops of their heads looked almost like a floor, and had the bright idea to use it in that way. He literally crawled across the heads of the crowd of men jammed together, and managed to make it to a lifeboat and was eventually rescued.

Dad didn't talk much about his service except for an occasional story intended to teach a moral lesson or to illustrate a practical point. I remember one time when I hadn't been sure what to do in a crisis of some sort, and simply acted abruptly and directly, figuring I could apologize later if necessary. It bothered me until Dad told me about an experience he had while training young soldiers to use shoulder-fired grenade launchers. One kid, at the command, fired, but as sometimes happened, the grenade triggered, but didn't launch, remaining on the rifle. They had been taught that if that happened they should throw the entire rifle over the sandbag barrier in front of them, and then take cover behind it, but the kid froze.

Dad knew he had about three seconds to take action, so he yelled to the others on the line to take cover, and then kicked the kid in the rear as hard as he could. The kid jumped a foot or two in the air and dumped his rifle over the sandbag wall, and then Dad tackled him and took him down behind the sandbags just as the grenade exploded. His point to me, of course, was in a crisis, you must take action, and then if necessary, take cover, and deal with the consequences later. Good advice that I've used any number of times since.

I'm ever grateful to all our vets, which includes one of my own kid who is now out of the Air Force on a medical discharge after a tour in Afghanistan a few years ago, and her husband who is a former Marine. My gratitude to all!
 
My father-in-law served in WW 2 but not in combat. He was a sergeant stationed in Texas training new recruits in the army. By nature he was a very active guy - somewhat hyper. They took one look at him and told him they have just the assignment - hand grenades. So each recruit comes to him and he trains them on how to handle and throw a hand grenade. He said they would practice using a dummy grenade pulling the pin, reach back with the grenade, throw, etc. Then the live grenade. The trainee would start sweating and trembling then the trainee would pull the pin and DROP the grenade at his feet. My father-in-law was the guy who lunged for it and tossed it before it went off.

After the war he was stationed overseas in the Pacific as part of a peace keeping mission. He spent a year in a city we have all heard of - Nagasaki. He told me because of being exposed for one year to the radiation he never expected to live beyond the age of forty. He made it to ninety and yes, he was a tough cookie.
 
My father-in-law served in WW 2 but not in combat. He was a sergeant stationed in Texas training new recruits in the army. By nature he was a very active guy - somewhat hyper. They took one look at him and told him they have just the assignment - hand grenades. So each recruit comes to him and he trains them on how to handle and throw a hand grenade. He said they would practice using a dummy grenade pulling the pin, reach back with the grenade, throw, etc. Then the live grenade. The trainee would start sweating and trembling then the trainee would pull the pin and DROP the grenade at his feet. My father-in-law was the guy who lunged for it and tossed it before it went off.

After the war he was stationed overseas in the Pacific as part of a peace keeping mission. He spent a year in a city we have all heard of - Nagasaki. He told me because of being exposed for one year to the radiation he never expected to live beyond the age of forty. He made it to ninety and yes, he was a tough cookie.
A man who has my respect.

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My father-in-law served in WW 2 but not in combat. He was a sergeant stationed in Texas training new recruits in the army. By nature he was a very active guy - somewhat hyper. They took one look at him and told him they have just the assignment - hand grenades. So each recruit comes to him and he trains them on how to handle and throw a hand grenade. He said they would practice using a dummy grenade pulling the pin, reach back with the grenade, throw, etc. Then the live grenade. The trainee would start sweating and trembling then the trainee would pull the pin and DROP the grenade at his feet. My father-in-law was the guy who lunged for it and tossed it before it went off.

After the war he was stationed overseas in the Pacific as part of a peace keeping mission. He spent a year in a city we have all heard of - Nagasaki. He told me because of being exposed for one year to the radiation he never expected to live beyond the age of forty. He made it to ninety and yes, he was a tough cookie.
A tough cooke indeed!
 
This is a heartwarming thread, and I am thoroughly enjoying these stories. My Dad always talked about his
army experiences, with the discussions almost always centering on the wonderful friendships and camaraderie
with his fellow soldiers. He talked on and on about all the great times he had with his "Army buddies," but he
hardly ever talked about the battles and the bloodshed.

Then, it all changed after my wife and I took my parents to the movies to see "Saving Private Ryan."
My Dad sat there in silent awe, absorbing every single moment of the film, digesting what he saw on the big
screen and having it all rekindle every memory of his own Omaha Beach landing. At dinner that evening, he
simply stated that the first horrible half hour of the film was incredibly accurate, but that what Speilberg had
shown on film actually paled in comparison to what it was really like to hit the beaches of Normandy on that
fateful D-day June 6, 1944. Dad suddenly opened up, and for months and months afterwards continued to
talk about the horrors of war and the terrible violence of battle. It was almost as if the film served as a "tonic"
to allow him to open up and share his haunted memories with me, my wife, and my mom. He recalled, in vivid
detail, so many of his battlefield experiences and episodes of the horrors of front line combat.

Soon after my Dad passed way in January 2011 (age 87), I called our Congressman and explained that our
nation just lost a true hero. He asked me some very intriguing questions about Dad, and one of his staff
members contacted me a few days later with a request for some follow up information. Then, about six
weeks later, without any advance notice or fanfare, I received a box filled with duplicates of many of Dad's
medals, ribbons, commendations, insignia, and awards. Some of these are shown in the photo of the box
frame a few postings up above. When I called my Congressman to thank him, he simply said (and I am
paraphrasing) .... "Don't thank me. It is I, and all Americans, who need to thank your Dad."

So, I have no doubt that there are so many more stories out there, and I just want to express my profound
gratitude and deep respect to every man and woman who has served in the Armed Forces to defend us.
 
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