Another WWII Soldier.....

...has taps played for the last time.



My grandmother's "special friend" passed away yesterday. They lived together for over 25 years but never married.

He was part of the group of the first Marines to land on Guadalcanal (the one's that were featured in the series "The Pacific"). I ask him once back in the 70's if he would tell me some stories and he stoically said, "I don't want to talk about it". Then in the mid 90's I tried once more and he said, "Kelly, I told you once before that I would rather not talk about it".

To this day I still have a morbid fascination about what he went through but I always respected his wish to keep it silent (even though I had to ask twice).

I'm heading to his small service in a couple of hours to honor a man from the greatest generation.

Travel well my friend.

 

RIP to your Grandmother's friend.

 

RIP Soldier

The Greatest Generation

 

RIP Soldier.

"Gone But Not Forgotten"

 

RIP

 

RIP, It's not at all uncommon for these WWII vets to be rather quiet about their experiences. My Dad certainly was (B24's over the Pacific).

I am amazed that, given their experiences during WWII, that PTSD was not even recognized as an issue for these guys. Were they really that much tougher? Perhaps their experiences were so severe that silence and denial were the only options?

 

my condolences and RIP

 

Semper Fi and Godspeed Devil Dog.

 

Goodspeed Soldier!

 

Their generation still knew how to "man up". They didn't break down and cry about it. Nobody prescribed them Xanax and they wouldn't have taken it if someone did. A few of them did seem to hit the bottle a bit, but that was about it.

 

Godspeed Marine.

 

Semper Fi, and God Bless him for his service to America.....

 

Watch what you say about our current generation of soldiers, please.

RIP Marine!

 

Sorry, not intended in any way to insult soldiers, current or otherwise. More a commentary on the change in the American culture as a whole.

I probably should have said, hell yes they were tough, and left it at that.

 

They went through exactly the same psychological difficulties that our boys do today. Don't forget, they were also just boys back then.

Time has a way of putting rose-colored glasses on our views of the past. Soldiers seem manlier, and the ways they handled their stress seem better. I would argue, however, that the only reason it seems "manlier" is because of lingering a lingering social stigma that it's "weak" to let someone see you crying and wrestling with emotions.. even if those emotions are about a dying child that you held, or a close friend you saw get blown in half, or the fact that you can't stop seeing the faces of people you've killed at night.

I don't think any of those are signs of weakness. I won't dispute the "greatest generation" moniker, because what we're talking about isn't really even 1% of the reason they earned that name, but in this respect our soldiers today are not one ounce less great than their grandparents.

Bummer about your "granddad", Kelly. I still miss mine. They live on in our memories

 

Rest in Peace, Marine. Gone but certainly not forgotten...

 

Please guys. A soldier is Army a Marine is a Marine. Godspeed Marine.

 

RIP Marine.
Semper fi.

 

Semper fidelis, Gyrene...Iunctus nos sto...RIP.

 

I stand corrected. I have been out of the service for awhile. My cousin would have flattened me for my previous statement and then picked me up thanking me for the thought and corrected me.

RIP "Marine". God Speed.