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Thought I'd share with you fine fellows another little bit of family history, after the WWI letter from my paternal grandfather to my grandmother, and the WWI-era picture of my maternal grandfather I posted last week.
During WWII, my paternal grandfather was too old to fight - his oldest son (my uncle) served with distinction in the 29th Infantry Division, including landing at Omaha Beach on D-Day. My grandfather worked in an industry that helped with a little project history has come to call "The Manhatten Project".
Here's a pin he received for his civilian service:
I have it nested among many other military and shooting pins, though this is my favorite!!!
Pretty neat. I think the "Manhatten Project" needs to be resurrected in the Middle East. Whats with the tomahawk? Did he also work in interrogation. You know, chop chop
No details - my grandfather passed away a few years before I was born. Of cancer, so maybe he did bring his work home with him!
My Dad died when I was 16, so we didn't have a lot of chance to discuss this specific family history. I just know from the few discussions that he worked on the project, and received this pin. I don't think it was a formal award. He also received a desk name plate made out of the acrylic from a Japanese 1-man sub. That is kind of neat! I will photo that later.
The tomahawk pin is mine - an omage to my Native American ancestry (by family legend - another thing I will have to research to prove!).
This is great stuff. Family treasures cannot be replaced. You should fill honored to be the one to end up with this. I have my great, great grandfathers discharge papers from the Civil War. What a peice of my family history. I'll hold on to it until I'm dead, then it will pass to my son.
'A Man's got to have a code...
I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them." -John Bernard Books. Jan. 22, 1901
Birdman wrote:This is great stuff. Family treasures cannot be replaced. You should fill honored to be the one to end up with this. I have my great, great grandfathers discharge papers from the Civil War. What a peice of my family history. I'll hold on to it until I'm dead, then it will pass to my son.
Me too! Those I keep in the safety deposit box, along with my great-great-great grandfather's naturalization papers.
My Father was in the 101st Airborne during WWII. He shipped out from the U.S. in the fall of 1944 and arrived in France just in time for the Battle of the Bulge.
These are his medals. I had to send off to the VA to get them.
He was not very sentimental about the war and did not keep anything from the war and did not talk much about his experiences. I do remember him saying that while surrounded by the German army at Bastogne the thing they hated the worst (other than the cold) were the German 88's. He described the tree bursts as the most lethal. The 101st was dug in the forest outside of town and the Germans would fire the 88's into the tree tops above their foxholes causing the shells to explode above them and showering them with shrapnel and wood splinters. If you saw "Band of Brothers", they depicted the tree bursts just as he described it.
He caught pneumonia at Bastogne. When he was sent to a hospital behind the lines he said he had to sleep on the floor because he couldn't get used to a soft bed after spending weeks sleeping on the frozen ground.
The Maltese cross medal on the right with the two bars below are his Marksmanship awards for carbine and rifle. (He was a better shot than me!) The simple blue cloth bar (top center) is the Presidential Unit Citation that President Roosevelt awarded the 101st for Bastogne. General Eisenhower made the presentation in theater.
I remember as a kid (about ten years after the war) that he would show off to us how he could still do one handed push ups. He became proficient at them because they were used for punishment when he was in in jump school. "Drop down and give me twenty on your left hand!"
PS: Thanks for the targets you sent
Last edited by 66GTO on Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I have something similar for my uncle, though not as nice. I have been thinking about writing the VA for the service records for all of my ancestors - then trying to create a master board holding the various medals, insignias, and citations. It would be something cool to hand down to my children.
Thanks for the picture and the great story. I did see "Band of Brothers", and would not have wanted to be anywhere near those 88 shells!!!
