I recently learnt about some of my family war history.

My Great Grandfather fought in WW1 at Gallopi, France and Belgium.

He manage to survive a musterd gas attack which left him with only one lung and survive the war.

His Brother in law fought as well but sadly died when his force was ordered to go over the trenches.

He never spoke about the war which is understandble, Which is why I had to go through the NZ military archives to find infomation about him.

My great great Uncle happen to have been in the 2nd Boer War as a Bodyguard of the head general of the New Zealand forces deployed over there.

So does anyone else on Dakka have any family who have fought in a war(s)?

Attention I in no way am glorifying war I'm mearly interested in the stories of familes who had fought in wars in the past.

one of my great-grandfathers died in WW2. For the wrong side though (germans), another one of them returned.

Yet another one of my great grandfathers got to stay at home and farm, he was quite lucky.....

My grandad was a soldier in ww2. Luckily, he came away unhurt. Saddly, he died 2 years ago.

MrMerlin wrote:one of my great-grandfathers died in WW2. For the wrong side though (germans), another one of them returned.

Yet another one of my great grandfathers got to stay at home and farm, he was quite lucky.....

I'm not going to say thier is a wrong side in War as often it has people fighting people not people fighting villains.

Only group that I think is not counted as people would be the Waffen SS.

My great grandfather on my mothers side was a Conscientious objector, who although refused to pick up a weapon and fire at the enemy, served as a ambulanceman in WW1, and recieved commendations and a medal for collecting wounded under fire.

I think my fathers Grandfather served as well, but in WW2, would need to look into that.

Both my grandparents were in "the war", and more or less everyone on my dad's side was in the IRA fighting the British (this includes my grandfather who fought both for and against the British Empire).

I have people in nearly every generation in my family that fought in wars.
I have a stack of Civil War letters a couple inches thick from some great uncles that fought in it.
One of them was in a forced march where soldiers were dropping out from heat stroke and left by the side of the road to be retrieved later.
He ended up dropping out and saw local families coming out and cutting the throats of those laying by the road. Fortunatly for him, a family took him in and hid him until he recovered.

Oh this is fun. Relatives fought with Napoleon. Shortly thereafter bailing for New Orleans.
Relatives, including some of same, fighting the British at batlle of New Orleans.
Relatives fighting on both sides of the Civil War. I found the marker for one of the units at Shiloh. Creeeppppy.
Grandfather and his three brothers in WWII.
Other Grandfather died in the Pacific.
Uncle and Dad in Korea. Dad stayed on and effectively served in first part of Cold War.

Relapse wrote:I have people in nearly every generation in my family that fought in wars.
I have a stack of Civil War letters a couple inches thick from some great uncles that fought in it.
One of them was in a forced march where soldiers were dropping out from heat stroke and left by the side of the road to be retrieved later.
He ended up dropping out and saw local families coming out and cutting the throats of those laying by the road. Fortunatly for him, a family took him in and hid him until he recovered.

Quite a story.

That would be quite a family treasure having letters of the American Civil war.

I wish I was able to to get some old war letters in my family unfortunately alot of those are either in the New Zealand war archives or have been lost or destroyed.



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Frazzled wrote:Oh this is fun. Relatives fought with Napoleon. Shortly thereafter bailing for New Orleans.
Relatives, including some of same, fighting the British at batlle of New Orleans.
Relatives fighting on both sides of the Civil War. I found the marker for one of the units at Shiloh. Creeeppppy.
Grandfather and his three brothers in WWII.
Other Grandfather died in the Pacific.
Uncle and Dad in Korea. Dad stayed on and effectively served in first part of Cold War.

WOW both sides of the Civil War! and fighting with Napoleon!

I wish I could trace back my family war history that far hopefully I will ieventually

keep it up people these stories are amazing

Great granddad fought in WW1 though I am fuzzy on which side
Grand dad fought in the pacific in WWII
Other Grandad fought in Korea
Two Uncles in Vietnam
1 Uncle in Desert Storm
1 Cousin currently in Afghanistan

The attestation paper of 26051 Gunner T O'Shaughnessy RGA, my Great Grandfather,


We also have a copy of his citation for bravery at Ploegsteert wood somewhere back in the UK.

And his son, my Grandpa George's medals


‎1939-45 star, Africa star, France and Germany star, 1939-45 defence medal, 1939-45 medal. GSM with Palestine bar

My grandpa was a MP stationed in Italy during WWII.

Sadly, he died almost two years ago due to heart problems.

I have a great-uncle who started out in WW2 (towards the tail end), did 20 years in the Air Force, retired, turned around and did 20 in the Army to retire as a One Star. Funny thing is, when he retired, he basically took off his uniform, and went back to the same desk, doing the same job.

Another great-uncle did 20 somethin' years in the Navy. His only claim to "fame" is that the ship used in the opening scenes of Top Gun (when the jets are taking off) was the ship he was stationed on, however shooting took place a mere 15 minutes after his shift was over. He was the poor sod who kneels behind the blast shield, which has been rated in the top 5 most dangerous jobs in the DoD for many many years.

A great-grand-father of mine served in WW1. Allegedly his service was in some sort of "intelligence" field, because around half of his service and valor medals were in fact, German military decorations.

My grand father was also in the Navy during Korea, was with the Navy "Blue Jacket" choir, as well as also being on a carrier during some pretty hairy storms, typhoons and the like.

As of right now, we have traced our family back to around 1000ad, in various German states, so I'm sure that someone somewhere fought, especially given my family crest.

And right now, I am the only one of our known family that is currently in the military (excluding my wife, because she married into my family)

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT

Great grandad won the MC in ww1 for using a battery of fieldguns at point blank range (i think less than 100m) to repel a large scale german attack. He had a guy helping him but he was missing an Arm. As a librabrian he didnt even have to fight in the war.

My grandad on the other side also won an MC in WW2 for killing a bunch of entrenched germans with the pintle machinegun of a Knackered Sherman tank.

My other grandad volunteered to check for limpet mines placed on his ship (by Italian frogmen). he worked out the best way to do it was to crawl through the maintenance shafts tapping on the hull. He would have won a medal but one of the mines went off while he was in the vents sinking the ship. Somehow he survived.

Not quite a VC lol

The only people in my family that are veterans are myself, and two of my cousins. My older cousin and I were both US Army Infantry in Iraq, and my younger cousin was Marine Infantry in Afghanistan.

I refuse to believe that anyone existed before I was born and just assume all this is part of one big Truman Show like backstory you have all made up.

My dad has served in: Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Panama.

My mom served in Panama.

My grandfather (dad's side) served in Vietnam and Korea. My great grandfather (mom's side) served in WWII.

Beyond that I have no idea. My mom's family has been in the US (supposedly) since the May Flower landed and goes all the way that far back and probably has members who served in the French Indian Wars, the Revolution, War of 1812, and the Civil War. My dad's came from Italy in 1920's and there are so many crazy stories about them I have no idea what is or isn't true.

urm lots

my grandfather served in Burma, and Indochina with the Gurkhas. all that's known is he liberated pows there he refused to talk about it, all he brought back with him was the units pet mascot, a cat who survived to like 20

his farther was a tank commander in ww1

my great uncle ran off top the Spanish civil war, won a load of medals then, vanished

my other great uncle ended up dieing in Auschwitz after running of to Poland to fight the Germans

my other grandfather served as a battery gunner for the raf

his father was a pigeon carrier who got a lung full of mustard gas, after he was delivering a message to command during the Somme (his pigeons were all dead)

his father served in the boar war, and in afganistan

theres other records of one of my ancestors being in the Napoleonic wars, and another during the American war of independence, fighting for the us

Great-Grandfather fought in WW1 and won some medals for Gallantry/Bravery when he cleared a section of German trench

Great-Uncle was hit by a shell on D-Day

Grandfather left officer school right at the end of WW2 and went on to become a diplomat in Japan

Ahtman wrote:I refuse to believe that anyone existed before I was born and just assume all this is part of one big Truman Show like backstory you have all made up.

gak guys, he found out about it. What are we gonna do now? lol

MrMerlin wrote:

Ahtman wrote:I refuse to believe that anyone existed before I was born and just assume all this is part of one big Truman Show like backstory you have all made up.

gak guys, he found out about it. What are we gonna do now? lol

Well he is a flaw that must be fixed sooo.....

Mother assisted combat operations in desert storm while serving aboard the USS Holland (ie, pumped fuel into ancient non-nuclear subs )

Father Served aboard an attack sub that's name escapes me. Don't know too much else. He was a diver and Weapons Systems machinist, apparently.

Great-Grandfather was an army photographer in the pacific campaign during WWII. We have some pictures left. I'm sure my grandfather has them.

Step-Father served in Iraq with the Marine Corps on embassy detail from 2002-2005 (I think? maybe 2003-5) and was a reservist before that since 1998.

Grandfather was a draft dodger in Vietnam. He was worried they'd send a small guy like him down into the cong-caves.

And... I'm enlisted in the Navy, so I'll be able to add myself to that list soon.

Great-Grandfather served in the IVF in the Somme, he later served in the BEF and was shot in the hand during Dunkirk.

Great-Unlce was a tail gunner for an RAF bomber. Survived 2 years of that before being assigned to Scandinavia for the rest of the war.
That's it... well that's all that anyone tells me.

my grandfather and my father were both soldiers, my great grandfather was just a farmer, and my grandmother was a nurse for the military.

Great great grandfather was in the Spanish American War, Great-grandfather was in WWI, Great Uncle was in WWII, Grand Father was in Korea and Vietnam, my Father served in The Cold War (Mom hinted he did some sort of classified missions), and I have a Cousin who is in Afghanistan right now. My earliest known ancestor was a British Soldier, but we know nothing about him, so who knows.

I too have family on both sides of the Civil War, kindda funny because on the Jarrell side of my tree, that family is split in half, one side hates the other. Makes me chuckle.
As far as I know, no one fought in WW1, had a few in WW2. My Pawpaw was a gunner on a Battleship (I cant remember the name, though it was famous, Ill have to ask my dad) in the Korean war, and saw alot of action. My Grandpa was also in the Korean war, but he was Airforce and didnt actually see any real action.

Couple Uncles in Vietnam, 1 Uncle went back into service to trail some Marine Recon groups in Desert Storm, and again in the start of the Iraq war. So as a Marine, hes a hardass, but as a person, he is a total jerk off. Anywho, couple more cousins in the Iraq war. That makes it pretty current

Yak9UT wrote:

MrMerlin wrote:one of my great-grandfathers died in WW2. For the wrong side though (germans), another one of them returned.

Yet another one of my great grandfathers got to stay at home and farm, he was quite lucky.....

I'm not going to say thier is a wrong side in War as often it has people fighting people not people fighting villains.

Only group that I think is not counted as people would be the Waffen SS.

he was not in the ss, but he was still fighting for a bad cause......

edit:

well, they made him fight for their cause, he didnt volunteer.....

My paternal grandmother was a WAVE, while my paternal grandfather was a 90 day wonder that did some combat engineering in the pacific in the last months of the war. My maternal grandfather fought in the Phillipines and Iwo Jima, collected some medals, and stayed a reservist until the 70's. His brother crewed a heavy bomber over Europe that never came back.

I try and explain that to people when the topic comes up, about Germans and the war. They werent ALL kill squads and mass murderers, its was mainly a few groups that were responsible for that. But it only takes a few rotten apples and so on

Maybe its off topic but I honestly hate when people push all the blame for Nazi Germany's war crimes on the Waffen SS (or the Nazi's for that matter). Not that I think they're innocent but I see what happened the SS vets after the war and it disgusts me. More war crimes were probably committed by members of the Wehrmacht than members of the Waffen SS and most German soldiers, regular and SS, never committed any war crimes.

Good job washing their hands of their own complicity though they got a free pass, pensions, veterans service, while SS soldiers got nothing for just being more connected to the Nazi party than other soldiers were.

Have an uncal that served in the RN during the Falklands war, he was stationed on the HMS Bristol at the time, does not have nice things to say about Prince Andrew

Had a grandfather serve in WW2, bomb disposle. funny story. He and his mates were working on an unexploded bomb and they decided that they would have lunch. He drew the short strew and had to stay with the bomb as his mates had lunch in the pub on the other side of the road. So there was my GF sitting on the bomb making sure one on would come near it when the thing goes off. He gets blow into the air, suffers total hearing loss and loses a leg. His mates in the pub are killed out right. That man had some thing paying attention at him.

WW1 two grate grandfathers on both sides, the english one was a drill sargent and by what ever grace of what ever god lived threw the Battle of the Somme, and from all accounts still shouted at every one after he retired in the mid 20s. The germen side grandfather is belived to have died at Battle of Verdun.

Going back to the late 1800s it is belived my grate grate grandfather fought in the Bore Wars but we're not quite sure.

My grandpa on my mom side flew in ww2.
Acording to him he was in the group that sunk the first submarine for american.
My dads side was weirder.
nearly 110 years on of my acesters lived. fight in the revolutionary war, war of 1812 tried to fight in the civil war but they kicked him out for being to old.
Granted i have no evidence other then my father so take it as is.

My Grandpa was a machinist on a Destroyer in the Pacific. The other one did not serve due to medical issues.

My dad served on the USS Enterprise during Vietnam as a mechanic. He was on board when the explosion hit.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/explosion-rocks-uss-enterprise

He said he didn't know about it until he read it in the ship newspaper the next day.

Ribon Fox wrote:Have an uncal that served in the RN during the Falklands war, he was stationed on the HMS Bristol at the time, does not have nice things to say about Prince Andrew

Had a grandfather serve in WW2, bomb disposle. funny story. He and his mates were working on an unexploded bomb and they decided that they would have lunch. He drew the short strew and had to stay with the bomb as his mates had lunch in the pub on the other side of the road. So there was my GF sitting on the bomb making sure one on would come near it when the thing goes off. He gets blow into the air, suffers total hearing loss and loses a leg. His mates in the pub are killed out right. That man had some thing paying attention at him.

Two grate grandfathers on both sides, the english one was a drill sargent and by what ever grace of what ever god lived threw the Battle of the Somme, and from all accounts still shouted at every one after he retired in the mid 20s. The germen side grandfather is belived to have died at Battle of Verdun.

Going back to the late 1800s it is belived my grate grate grandfather fought in the Bore Wars but we're not quite sure.

FEETH! he was very lucky!

My Great Uncle on my dad's side died flying Spitfires in WW2, I got his service medal and flight logbook to hold onto after my Grandad died, mum uses it when she teaches WW2 history to her primary school kids.
My other grandad served in the Royal Navy as a Radar Operator on HMS Jamaica during the war and for a few years after due to a lack of trained operators at the outset of the cold war.

My grandfather was a Navy Seabee in WWII.
My father was an Army Infantry Medic in Vietnam.
In a way my grandfather was killed by WWII. He contracted Rheumatic Rever in the Pacific
theater. It didn't kill him right away. But it lead to his death later in life due to the damage of the fever.

My grandpa was in 'Nam. He's one of those "I don't want to talk about it types", so I never got to hear any war stories from him. Gave me quite the sad.

Necroshea wrote:My grandpa was in 'Nam. He's one of those "I don't want to talk about it types", so I never got to hear any war stories from him. Gave me quite the sad.

My Dad was the same way. My uncle was worse. His unit was over-run by the Chinese and Dad said he came back crazy. I only met him once.

A few of my ancestors fought in the civil war, only one of my family fought in ww1. My Great Grandfather.

My grandfather was in the Marines and captured by the Japanese and was in the Bataan Death march.

His Brother was a p-51 pilot in the last year of the war. I think he had 2 or 3 kills.

Uncle (great uncle) was a B-17 radio operator and was shot down over Germany and was in a prison camp for about 3 years.

Other uncle was in the Army I'm not sure what battles he was in.

On my Mother's side My grandfather was an SS officer, not sure what rank but I can check. His father was an officer in the German army in WWI.

2 relatives in the Civil war both serving in the Union army. One was a Officer his last name was Taylor the other was a common foot soldier, my aunt has his gun.

An uncle (great great uncle, I believe) was a soldier in the US army during WWI for about a year.

My Dad and a few of his cousins were in Vietnam

Another Uncle was a medic in Korea

3 cousins in Iraq

My Great Grandad went down with HMS Hood when it was sunk in an engagement with the Bismarck. The RN got 'em back though.

Other than that, the only ones I'm aware of are my uncle who served during Desert Storm in one of the two 1st Armoured Division brigades that were present (can't remember which one though), and my grandad, who served in Palestine post-WWII. There are probably others, as we've traditionally been a military family - family history isn't my thing though, really.

I'm related to Aseline the Wolf, one of the Crusaders who was in the (I beleive) third Crusade. I am also related to Patrick Henry. For those of you who don't remember him;

GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!

My dad was an artillery officer during the gulf war.

I'm descended from some famous Confederacy general. I can't remember his name.

Grandfather, mothers side, WWII Marine, survived Iwo.
Grandmother, fathers side, WWII WAC, Served Willow Grove NAS.

Ancestor on my fathers side was a Hessian captured in the Battle of Trenton in the Revolution. He settled in PA after the war.

Those are the ones I know for sure.

Great-grandfather, WWII. He was a 88 gunner on the Eastern Front. He managed to get my grandfather and the rest of his family to the US before the war started, but was to late to get out himself. Given the choice to enlist with either the German or the Romanian army, he decided to go with the Germans.

Apparently he came to the US once the war was over. He didn't bring any medals or souvenirs, and never really spoke about what he did or saw.

My grandfather flew a C-3 in the Pacific, I have his hat around here somewhere. Other than that my relatives have generally been anti-military, or ineligible to serve.

Great Stories

I think its interesting alot of people had family members who didn't talk about the War they fought it.

The things some people had seen/done in War must be so horrible.

Keep it up I think we could almost make a Dakka Military history archive with this infomation

Man, being a bastard SUCKS! No fething history... and me, a history buff :/
But only one I know for sure is that my grandfather flew in WW2 and was stationed in germany afterwards.
My (step) father grew up next to the guy who dropped the bomb on Nagasaki (or was it Hiroshima? I can never remember). Apparently the guy wasn't told what it was he was dropping, only that it was a really big bomb. Ironicially he died of lead poisoning in the 70's

Grandfather on my Mothers side, was a 'essential skill' and so was refused. He built trains/carriages and served as an Air Raid Warden.

Grandfather on my fathers side was a qualified carpenter, and so while served in uniform, he never left UK shores.

Going further back in history, it turns out that one ancestor (mothers side) tried to hang another ancestor (fathers side). One was a judge, the other commited an unknown offence.

And my favorite ancestor taught some of the slaves off the Amistaad (sp) to read and write!

Cheers

Andrew

KingCracker wrote:I too have family on both sides of the Civil War

Which civil war?

I have a great uncle who fought in WW2. Apparently he killed a bunch of Germans with a sten and health problems he picked up during the war killed him in the 50's. I think my great-grandfather fought for Prussia.

My maternal grandfather was a shipwright - and in a protected industry so did not have to serve - WW2, Korea or Viet-Nam.
His eldest sons took after him, and likewise were exempt.

My Paternal grandfather was a Hungarian Gypsy and I have no information as to his status after 1940 (my father was born in Budapest in 1939 and spent the war in fosterage in Holland). the records other than his birth certificate (we have a copy of it) did not survive the war.

My father was not yet a citizen when they had conscription for Viet-Nam.

My wife's great-something-grandfather fought in the Crimean war and against the Boer and is listed in our national War Memorial archives.

For a long time, the only thing I knew about my grandfather (mother's side) was a picture hanging in our staircase, showing him in a Wehrmacht uniform, together with his wife. Just recently, I decided to try and find out something about him via the internet. Turns out that he was probably a Sergeant or low-ranking officer in the 5th squadron, 2nd detachment, 24. Panzer-Regiment that mainly fought from 1942 onwards on the eastern front. An online library claims the regiment was later sent to Italy for a short time, before returning to the eastern front and fighting retreating battles; last remnants of the regiment fought in Northern Germany, right where I was born, apparently. Another part of the regiment that received some Panther tanks was attached to the 1st Panzer Division and got into American captivity at the overall capitulation.

Not sure which way exactly he took during the war, since he and his wife died when my mother was very young, so he never told her anything that she remembers. On the one picture hanging in our house, he's wearing what I think is a Sturmabzeichen, an assault badge acknowledging his participation in a certain number of assaults in contact with the enemy.

Yeah, it's kind of a weird feeling knowing that my grandfather actively fought in WW2 on the bad side - comfirmedly killing some soviets - and not even knowing what his stance on Nazism, anti-semitism and all that was. Maybe he was just a regular guy doing what every able German male basically had to do during that time, maybe he really was a Nazi donkey-cave. I have no idea.

Slarg232 wrote:I'm related to Aseline the Wolf, one of the Crusaders who was in the (I beleive) third Crusade.

And you know this how?

None of my immediate family fought in world war 1 or 2 as they were all either conscientious objectors or worked in protected industries.

My Paternal Grandfather was an RAF medic and spent most of WW2 pulling pilots out of the Med of North Africa. I Have the GI Bowie knife that a greatful USAF pilot gave him.
He was in the Sicilly landings for some reason and all he would say about that was: "It was a bit hairy", possibly one of the best descriptions of amphibious landing under artillery fire.

My maternal Grandfather was in North Africa and said he wasn't allowed to talk about what he did there.

I have a brother in law in Afganistan atm.


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Witzkatz wrote:For a long time, the only thing I knew about my grandfather (mother's side) was a picture hanging in our staircase, showing him in a Wehrmacht uniform, together with his wife. Just recently, I decided to try and find out something about him via the internet. Turns out that he was probably a Sergeant or low-ranking officer in the 5th squadron, 2nd detachment, 24. Panzer-Regiment that mainly fought from 1942 onwards on the eastern front. An online library claims the regiment was later sent to Italy for a short time, before returning to the eastern front and fighting retreating battles; last remnants of the regiment fought in Northern Germany, right where I was born, apparently. Another part of the regiment that received some Panther tanks was attached to the 1st Panzer Division and got into American captivity at the overall capitulation.

Not sure which way exactly he took during the war, since he and his wife died when my mother was very young, so he never told her anything that she remembers. On the one picture hanging in our house, he's wearing what I think is a Sturmabzeichen, an assault badge acknowledging his participation in a certain number of assaults in contact with the enemy.

Yeah, it's kind of a weird feeling knowing that my grandfather actively fought in WW2 on the bad side - comfirmedly killing some soviets - and not even knowing what his stance on Nazism, anti-semitism and all that was. Maybe he was just a regular guy doing what every able German male basically had to do during that time, maybe he really was a Nazi donkey-cave. I have no idea.

I always thought that most German people honestly believed that the Jews were being deported and it wasn't really bigged up the way we are told today. Military service was mandatory and you pretty much had to be a party memeber to get on in life at that time.

CuddlySquig wrote:

KingCracker wrote:I too have family on both sides of the Civil War

Which civil war?

I have a great uncle who fought in WW2. Apparently he killed a bunch of Germans with a sten and health problems he picked up during the war killed him in the 50's. I think my great-grandfather fought for Prussia.

Im American, so the American Civil war

I am from a long great military tradition. Somebody from my family has fought and died in every single American war. I guess you could say I have a lot to live up to.

I have ancestors who fought in the American Revolutionary war. I don't think they were high ranking (my sister is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution - but that's another rant), but they served.

My grandfather was able to avoid serving during WWII thanks to being the youngest son on a farm, but his brothers weren't so lucky. One of them was a POW in a German camp...he doesn't like to talk about it.

Lots of other relatives who have served in many wars throughout US history. Probably even broader if I explored some other lines.

My father fought in Europe (for the U.S, 100th Infantry Division) in WWII. He's still alive and kickin' by the way. My great uncle was a German SS officer who died in prison soon after the war's end. My dad tells stories of his dad (my grandfather) having heated arguments with his brother (the SS Officer) over the Nazi party & Germany's direction BY MAIL. Imagine a raging row with your brother that requires a month or so for each segment of the "argument" to be made.

My 4x great Grandfather was a cavalry officer for the Grand Army of Württemberg in the Napoleonic Wars and was knighted for his efforts. (non-hereditary title of course). Since the army switched sides a couple of times... he could have fought against Napoleon, with Napoleon... or both. He did survive the war.

Forgot to mention, I am also a distant cousin to Colonel 'Mad' Mike Hoare...

Ah, I also forgot my cousin was in the Airforce stationed in Okinawa from '01-'04...fighting sobriety

During the cold war my grandfather would take a ship along the north coast of russia spying on their radar.

Anyway the journey from Murmansk to Novasibirskiye is not very pleasant due, unsurprisngly, to freezing temperatures and rough seas. As a remedy the crew would all get Blind Drunk every night. After a particularly intense 'sesh' during a storm the crew awoke to a completely ransacked interior, anything not nailed down was completely smashed, not to mention the crews many aches and pains. When they checked the instruments they were all stuck upside down, which only really happened in capsized ships.

Obviously people were tougher back then, Along with his 120 cigs a day my grandfather could drink enough to not notice a ship pulling a barrel roll!

Gitkikka wrote:I am from a long great military tradition. Somebody from my family has fought and died in every single American war. I guess you could say I have a lot to live up to.

Lieutenant Dan?

Five of my Great Grandfathers brothers fought in world war two, only one came back.

My Great Grandfather himself wasn't allowed to go as he was in effect the man of the family and there were younger siblings to take care of.

Not sure of any other besides that but i know there was an ancestor who died in a concentration camp in South Africa.

Easy E wrote:My Grandpa was a machinist on a Destroyer in the Pacific. The other one did not serve due to medical issues.

My dad served on the USS Enterprise during Vietnam as a mechanic. He was on board when the explosion hit.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/explosion-rocks-uss-enterprise

He said he didn't know about it until he read it in the ship newspaper the next day.

The Big E is massive. Depending on his rating (especially if he was in the engine room all day, or in mess duty, or ordinance, or whatever), I could see that being totally reasonable

My Opa fought in the 85th Infanteriedivision (but he himself was SS) while fighting against my Grandfather in the Caen/Falaise fronts (who married my Opa's daughter...) He fought in the 82nd Royal British Colombian Armoured Dragoons. Family get togethers were always nice...

My Great Grandmother was a ambulance driver in the 1st world war for the British on the three major fronts.


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Also... My Opa fought in Market Garden after he escaped through falaise

"Opa"? Sorry, not familiar with the term... Great grandfather? (if I guess from the text)

Opa, German for grandfather, also apparently an Irish term as well.

Andrew

Ah, but it this context I think it's great grandfather... since his Grandfather married his Opa's daughter.

Thanks AndrewC, appreciate the clarification.

Talked to family. Turns out, my dad's side married into Lee's family way back when. The more you know.

moom241 wrote:Talked to family. Turns out, my dad's side married into Lee's family way back when. The more you know...

...the fewer incestuous children you have.

dogma wrote:

moom241 wrote:Talked to family. Turns out, my dad's side married into Lee's family way back when. The more you know...

...the fewer incestuous children you have.

+1

KingCracker wrote:

Gitkikka wrote:I am from a long great military tradition. Somebody from my family has fought and died in every single American war. I guess you could say I have a lot to live up to.

Lieutenant Dan?

I clocked that too!

Aussie/British Grandfather fought in the Pacific. Russian Grandfather on the eastern front, not sure where, he didn't really talk about it.

Father in Vietnam.

Albatross wrote:

KingCracker wrote:

Gitkikka wrote:I am from a long great military tradition. Somebody from my family has fought and died in every single American war. I guess you could say I have a lot to live up to.

Lieutenant Dan?

I clocked that too!

Its either great minds thinking alike, or we are so lazy, that movies is all we do. Im gunna go with the first one

My paternal grandfather was in the RAMC looking after Italian POWs after WW2, caused some controversy when he married my nan as the POWs formed his honour guard.

My maternal grandfather didn't serve on active duty but was in the Blues and Royals.

I apparently had some great-uncle or something who was on either a German or Japanese POW ship that got bombed, and sunk. Not sure on all the details.

One of my Ancestors helped take over Briton in 1066.

I have two Colonels, father and son in the 1600s who fought in the Indian wars. They are my 10th and 11th great Grandfathers.

Somewhere in the family tree are a few Captains, one of which died at sea also in the 1600 and 1700s

My Maternal Grandmother was in the Womens Auxillary Army in England during WWII.

My Paternal Grandfather was in Korea, My father was in Vietnam, along with one of my Uncles.


I am sure there are several others, whos history I do not readily have available.

I am unaware of my families heritage prior to moving to the US but we have quite the military history here.


My mothers side (great great etc grandfather) fought in the Continental Army and was at Valley Forge.

Fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.

A part in the Navy in the Persian Gulf War I and III

The Irish side of my fathers side fought for the Union in the Civil war.

The Austrian side of my fathers side arrived in 1902 and proceeded to fight in WWI, WWII (1 of 3 dead at Omaha Beach, one fought at Okinawa), Korea, and Vietnam.

I know I had a Great Uncle who was on his way to WW1, but died of pnuemonia on a ship in New York before ever leaving... Also I think I remember having some ancestors who served in the American Civil War for the Confederacy. Anything before that I have no clue, it's not brought up a lot.

My dads side

Waterloo - 3 ancestors. 1 cannoneer, an infantryman and an officer, officer survived.

My moms mom was a nurse stationed at port morsby during the japanese invasion.

My grandad was a soldier who was in a squad that got cut off from the main withdrawal, assaulted by the enemy for 48 hours or something insane like that, got relieved and then got shipped off to the hospital that my grandma was at.

My grandfather was in the Hungarian army in WWII. He never talked about it, so we assume it wasn't pleasant. All we know is that he was captured by the Soviets, and eventually was allowed to return to Hungary, and he proptly emigrated to America to join his wife and daughter.

He hated the Soviets to the day he died, which makes me wonder a lot about what might have happened, before or after his capture. I'm just glad he survived, because if he hadn't, my father would never been born.

Great Grandfather stormed the beaches and kicked Nazi ass in WWII. He died before I was born so no idea what it was like for him. Hes used to talk about it all the time my mom said. He must have crushed some Nazi skulls and didn't give a feth.

My dad was in Normandy, 29th division. He got a purple heart outside of St. Lo, and a trip home as a result.
Yes, I'm old.

I had an ancestor who died at Gettysburg. I saw his grave there, and it was really moving.

Somewhere in my ancestry I'm related to George " I don't care how many there are they're just Indians" Custer.

My Grandfather served in WWII and survived the storming of Normandy Beach, then, interestingly enough after getting separated from his squad he was captured by American forces after due to his very german looks. They thought he was a spy and started asking him questions about baseball, which he didn't like, so when he couldn't answer any of their questions they were ready to kill him until someone recognized him by his ridiculously big ears.

Then I enlisted and partied my ars off for 4 years

Just me. Iraq. Fun times.

BuFFo wrote:Just me. Iraq. Fun times.

Kill anybody?

Bleak_Fantasy wrote:

BuFFo wrote:Just me. Iraq. Fun times.

Kill anybody?

Maybe I'm out of line, but that seems like a fethed up thing to askk someone you don't know.
If you had, would you really want to drag it out and discuss it with a bunch of people you don't
know? Granted it's us, but still, poor form if you ask me.

If I learned anything about vets its that there's one question you never ask and that's "Kill anyone?" Some vets don't have a problem talking about it, but plenty do and it is something you just don't ask.

Great grandfather fought in WWI, officer in artillery. I don't know what rank, but I think he was a Captain.

Grandfather took part in WWII, RAF Warrant Officer. But he didn't fight directly, his duties were on the ground.

And now my family has been soldier-free for two generations.

He said it was fun so if he killed anybody I assume it didn't bother him.

I'm pretty sure i remember my mum telling me when i was little that my pop served in WW2. Not sure where or in what capacity.