Widebrim
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 6,557
^^True, although you need to be in for a couple of years to get a Good Conduct medal, and it's the only one he's got.
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WWII Photos - Taken / Collected by Family Members
- Thread starter Widebrim
- Start date
Atticus Finch
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,718
- Location
- Coastal North Carolina, USA
Two photos of my father in flight school and his uniform that I found in his and Mom's closet after he passed away. No, that's not his A-1. That's my Goodwear and I put it there just so it could be near some originals.
AF
AF
Widebrim
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 6,557
^^Great photos and uniforms, AF.
Captain Nemo
Familiar Face
- Messages
- 60
- Location
- Texas
True, although the time for eligibility to receive a GCM was waived down to one year during WWII. It is possible that blackjack's father was in one of the many divisions that spent over a year training before headin overseas. Or, his father could have been stationed in the CONUS permanently. We can't tell what rank blackjack's father is or what unit patch he wears, snce his grandparents are in the right position to block that view.
Widebrim
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 6,557
You are correct. I was just trying to show that the photo could not have been taken just after Basic Training, as blackjack was speculating.
Captain Nemo
Familiar Face
- Messages
- 60
- Location
- Texas
Ah, yes-- thanks for the clarification! I fully agree with you on that. It would solve a lot of the mystery if blackjack had access to his father's service record so that we could piece together a probable timeframe for that picture.
Widebrim
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 6,557
Yes, and if we could see if he was wearing any rank when the photo was taken.
A Bomber General
New in Town
- Messages
- 29
- Location
- Whitehouse, Ohio
My great grandfather Joseph F. Carter upon his enlistment in the Army Air Force at age 39 in 1943. He served in the Pacific theater for the remainder of the war then remained in the Air Force until his retirement in 1963.
A Bomber General
New in Town
- Messages
- 29
- Location
- Whitehouse, Ohio
A couple of photos of my step-grandfather Arnold Watterson. He served as a crew chief with the 546th Squadron, 384th Bomb Group, 8th AF at Grafton Underwood, England from 1943-1945.
Widebrim
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 6,557
39! Yes, older men were accepted as the war progressed. Your great-grandfather looks like one tough jake.
GHT
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 9,347
- Location
- New Forest
At a recent funeral, a relative gave me a stack of family photos, many of which were taken during WW2. My father, and his younger brother, were academically talented, they both won a paid bursary to attend a private school. Despite that, and despite their leadership ability, they were of working class stock, so neither earned a commission. My father was captured on the Island of Crete, in 1941 I think, he spent the remainder of the war, in a Dresden POW camp. At the end of hostilities, he wasn't demobilised, speaking the four languages that the Nuremberg Trials were conducted in, he was retained as a translater.
His brother, passed out as a pilot, also in 1941. He was immediately promoted to: Flight Sergeant. He paid the ultimate price, when shot down over The North Sea in 1944. He lies in a military cemetery in Northern France. Before my father died, my sister took him to the cemetery. I have the details, and want to make my own pilgrimage to that grave.
I never met my uncle of course, but I carry his name and I really should go, if only once, to offer a prayer of thanks.
My father after attending his passing out parade sometime in 1940.
My uncle, receiving his pilot wings, early 1941.
His brother, passed out as a pilot, also in 1941. He was immediately promoted to: Flight Sergeant. He paid the ultimate price, when shot down over The North Sea in 1944. He lies in a military cemetery in Northern France. Before my father died, my sister took him to the cemetery. I have the details, and want to make my own pilgrimage to that grave.
I never met my uncle of course, but I carry his name and I really should go, if only once, to offer a prayer of thanks.
My father after attending his passing out parade sometime in 1940.
My uncle, receiving his pilot wings, early 1941.
Widebrim
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 6,557
^^Great photos, and wonderful history, GHT. Yes, your uncle made the ultimate sacrifice for generations to come.
GHT
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 9,347
- Location
- New Forest
Thank you for your kind remarks. I had the strangest sense of connection looking at those old photos, family from whom I have descended, yet most of them I have never met, being born after they had died.
Surreal, yet so close. How weird.
Surreal, yet so close. How weird.
Atticus Finch
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,718
- Location
- Coastal North Carolina, USA
By this time exactly seventy years ago, he had ridden to shore in a half-swamped landing craft and had sprinted across the beach at Normandy. He was a corpsman, and as such, he wore a big red cross on his helmet and carried only his supplies and a sidearm. His officers had convinced him that his red cross would protect him from direct fire because his mission was humanitarian. His officers were wrong. Years later, in a conversation on his front porch, he told me that when he stepped off of the landing craft, he felt like every German in France was shooting at him, personally.
Rest in peace, Uncle Jule, and thank you again for your service to our country. Every June 6th I think of all that you did for us. I pray that I always will.
AF
Rest in peace, Uncle Jule, and thank you again for your service to our country. Every June 6th I think of all that you did for us. I pray that I always will.
AF
Classydame
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 265
- Location
- Bellflower, CA
^Thank you for posting! I thank your uncle, my grandfather and all others for their service, especially those of D-Day! My grandpa, 92, doesn't talk about the war but I did find out he went in on H hour (second day) and he said it was still terrible, especially the hedgerows that the Germans had fortified. God bless them all!
EmergencyIan
Practically Family
- Messages
- 918
- Location
- New York, NY
My grandfather. He was with the 5th Army during WWII.
He said that this was done by an artist in Italy. I don't know if this artist had always done this type of work or was just doing it as a result of the war.
- Ian
He said that this was done by an artist in Italy. I don't know if this artist had always done this type of work or was just doing it as a result of the war.
- Ian
Widebrim
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 6,557
^^^Great photos all!
Renault
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,688
- Location
- Wilbarger creek bottom
My cousin 2nd Lt. Carlisle Plattner. One of the "Iron Men of Metz"
MikeKardec
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,157
- Location
- Los Angeles
Dad, stateside Fall of '43, on the way to the Upper Peninsula to test winter gear ... he's smiling because it's not cold yet!
Just after the Battle of the Bulge, hauling gas into Holland and Germany.
