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My grandfather, Edward McNamara from Lexington Massachusetts served with the 101st Regiment (Medical company), 26th Yankee Division in the first world war. He seldom talked about it, and when he did it was a terrible memory which haunted him. It was only later that I found out he was mentioned in the division's orders and was decorated for heroism. He never mentioned this to me. I found out later through my own research. But I will always remember his smile when he told me how at 11:00 A.M. on 11th November the guns stopped and he and his friends knew they would live, knew they had survived.
And as this date is now called Veterans Day I say thank you to my father in law, Aldrich Stevens who served in the 3rd Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) in the Second World War. He saw service with them at North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Seriously wounded he did not make the Anzio landing and thus missed the action at Cisterna . like my grandfather he too was haunted by the memories of what he saw, experienced and especialy those he lost.
I remember their sacrifices and hope both have found peace.
My father and maternal grandfather both served on Liberty ships during WWII. I didn't hear much, one story each later on.
ReplyDeleteGrandpa was off duty in his bunk one night when a wolf pack attacked the convoy. He lay there and listened to the explosions. In the morning he cooked the crew breakfast. Walking to the stern to dispose of scraps, he noted the ship that usually was behind them was gone.
My father's story was in Murmansk. He saw a German plane high in the sky. The Russians produced a very large flak gun and shot it down. He was impressed.
Thank you for sharing these with me.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. My father was in the 95th Division - The Iron Men of Metz. (That's where my username comes from). He was involved in 14 straight days of continuous attack which resulted in the surrender of Metz. I have a commendation letter that the division received, signed by Gen Patton. I'm glad people are still remembering what all these veterans did.
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