• Family Military History
    334 replies, posted
After recently Discovering my own (Extended) Families roles is world wars 1 and 2, and finding their Exploits rather, to put it bluntly, Awesome. I was wondering if anyone else here on Facepucn hhad a Family with some Interesting Military History they would Like to Share? to get the thread Started I present my Great Great uncle. Sgt Dowley John William Dowley 12th Australian Light horse Regt 1915-1919 Battle of Beersheba 31st October 1917 Recommendation for Military Medal "Gallantry and Devotion to Duty" Sgt Dowley showed great dash and gallantry in leading men in the charge through the Turkish trenches and after reaching the town was especially conspicuous in capturing large numbers of prisoners, in Several instances tackling groups of enemy single handed and causing them to surrender. Because horses and, y'know, Guns, are apparently too girlish for real Men. Anyone else got something Interesting to share?
my great grandfather stormed the beaches at Normandy He died before I was born, so I never got to ask him about it.
my dad was in the Falklands War, he got medals but I'm not home so cant check
My uncle fixed some choppers at the Persian gulf, he's a veteran now :v:
My grandfather was in a mechanized infantry unit during WWII, fought on Okinawa Island. Sadly it made him delve into alcoholism, to the point he actually tried to kill my dad once in a drunken stupor, and eventually he died of diabetes. My dad was in the 165th MP company during the Cold War, stationed in Germany. He left the military a very disciplined man, his training stuck with him all of his life so far and has helped him keep strong when other people might quit.
My grandfathers dad shot a Russian soldier, with a pistol. (in Finland during the winter war) he was a civilian
My grandfather and his father were in WWII and WWI respectively, and got something like 40 medals between them. Would have to ask to find out what though. I do know my grandfather served as a communications officer in Darwin during the bombings, though.
broke mah automerge
In addition My grandfather on my dads Side was a spitfire Mechanic, and he served the duration of WW2, my Great grandfather got shot in the head at Normandy and survived. But i don't have as much Info on them
I've never bothered to find out, I'm sure there's some interesting stuff though.
My grandfather (or his father) served as a German Soldier in WW2.
Hooray for Spain and the wars it participated in the last 100 years!
I was so sad when my grandfather died. It was World War II......he died skiing in Vermont
My Grandfather served on a cruiser during WWII, around the Pacific/ Japan. He had PTSD apparently.
My grandpa was a medic in Guadalcanal during World War II. He saw his best friend die there. He'd been racist most of his life, but then when he got older he started changing his views completely, saying that the military brainwashed everyone to blindly hate the Japanese. How else could you possibly convince a bunch of young men to willingly serve as cannon fodder? He talked about how the Americans took the gold fillings out of the mouths of dead Japanese men, and he said it made him sick. (If you've seen The Pacific, you know what I'm talking about.) He said that the American boys fighting over there were no different than the Japanese. I remember him saying they were all just boys. Not even men yet. He ended up committing suicide later in life.
[QUOTE=Shoupie;27812145]My grandpa was a medic in Guadalcanal during World War II. He saw his best friend die there. He'd been racist most of his life, but then when he got older he started changing his views completely, saying that the military brainwashed everyone to blindly hate the Japanese. How else could you possibly convince a bunch of young men to willingly serve as cannon fodder? He talked about how the Americans took the gold fillings out of the mouths of dead Japanese men, and he said it made him sick. (If you've seen The Pacific, you know what I'm talking about.) He said that the American boys fighting over there were no different than the Japanese. I remember him saying they were all just boys. Not even men yet. He ended up committing suicide later in life.[/QUOTE] That's sad,hope he still enjoyed his years post-war :smith:
My grandpa served in Vietnam but he died 3 months before I met him :smith:
My Grandpa used to be in the RAF, as far as I am aware anyway.
My (great-)great-grandfather was awarded the Polish equivalent of the Victoria Cross, which if you didn't know, is the highest military decoration for valour. My other great-grandfather was an air raid warden in WWII (the one who wore the white helmet in Dad's Army).
The father of my grandfather fought in the Finnish Civili War 1918, and also in Winter War, my grandfather never spoke about him. My grandfather fought in the Continuation war as a tank gunner and was also a motorcycle harbinger, regarding this, he got in a nasty situation that also made it into the books (Rynnäkkötykit Isänmaan Puolustajina). He once was delivering a message to the frontlines and accidentally went too far, and noticed this as he started passing long columns of russian troops, vehicles, artillery, and tanks. They didn't notice him being a finnish soldier so he kept his cool, and after a while found a gap in the endless column to turn his bike around, even the soviet military police quarding one crossroad took him as one of their own and just waved at him. [editline]2nd February 2011[/editline] Needless to say that he refused to be a harbinger ever again :v:
My grandfather was an engineer after WWII. He repaired aircrafts and such. He saw some famous russian general die (the Mig he drove crashed into the ground just 50m away from my grandfather).
My grandfather served during the fifties in the British Army, but never saw action. My other grandfather wanted to join the Army in WWII, but he wasn't old enough. He wanted to fight in Korea, but he didn't speak English well enough (He grew up on a ranch in Mexico), and in Vietnam he was too old. However my great-grandfather fought in the British Army in WWI. However he joined late in the war and didn't see much action, if he saw any at all. I have been on the fence about joining the military. (Navy) I want to go to college and get a BA, which I wouldn't want to "waste" by joining up. That would be an expensive few years of education I wouldn't be able to use. But If Kim-Jong goes crazy and starts WWIII, I would proudly serve my country in a war that actually matters.
My grandfather served in ww2, and my great grandfather was on the Titanic (and managed to survive)
[QUOTE=Raiskauskone V2;27812309]The father of my grandfather fought in the Finnish Civili War 1918, and also in Winter War, my grandfather never spoke about him. My grandfather fought in the Continuation war as a tank gunner and was also a motorcycle harbinger, regarding this, he got in a nasty situation that also made it into the books (Rynnäkkötykit Isänmaan Puolustajina). He once was delivering a message to the frontlines and accidentally went too far, and noticed this as he started passing long columns of russian troops, vehicles, artillery, and tanks. They didn't notice him being a finnish soldier so he kept his cool, and after a while found a gap in the endless column to turn his bike around, even the soviet military police quarding one crossroad took him as one of their own and just waved at him. [editline]2nd February 2011[/editline] Needless to say that he refused to be a harbinger ever again :v:[/QUOTE] Maybe they thought he was a deserter and when he turned his bike, they thought he joined them. Been known to happen, I've heard and read many such stories.
[QUOTE=Raiskauskone V2;27812309]The father of my grandfather fought in the Finnish Civili War 1918, and also in Winter War, my grandfather never spoke about him. My grandfather fought in the Continuation war as a tank gunner and was also a motorcycle harbinger, regarding this, he got in a nasty situation that also made it into the books (Rynnäkkötykit Isänmaan Puolustajina). He once was delivering a message to the frontlines and accidentally went too far, and noticed this as he started passing long columns of russian troops, vehicles, artillery, and tanks. They didn't notice him being a finnish soldier so he kept his cool, and after a while found a gap in the endless column to turn his bike around, even the soviet military police quarding one crossroad took him as one of their own and just waved at him. [editline]2nd February 2011[/editline] Needless to say that he refused to be a harbinger ever again :v:[/QUOTE] Your grandfather is a badass.
Great Lee was in WWI Father Lee entered but at the end of WWII
grandpaps served in wwii, korea, and nam but told no stories and shit uncle was in marines dad was in navy brother was in marines and served a little in iraq
My great great Grand-pappy was in the French Army in The Great War, he died of Mustard gas shortly after its conclusion. My Great Grandfather was a French Submariner in WWII who got off his sub a week before it sunk and on the way to a German prison camp was told by a random German soldier to go home, which he did thusly. My Great grand Uncle was in the Pacific in WWII and was in the Baton Death March, lost his legs and was paralyzed in his arms, except near the anniversary, which he would flail his arms and scream in horror in pain. My Grandfather was in the Marines in Vietnam. 3rd Recon Battalion, Delta. He was the guy who went out and hunted the VC out. He was literally the strongest man I knew. I lost him about a year ago, and he is the family member I miss the most. He was the one setting up claymores and ambushes. He didn't talk about it though, he had a tad of PTSD so he didn't talk about 'Nam around me. Afterwards he Was a police officer, ran for sheriff, became a independent trucker, became the fire chief at our International airport and eventually Director of Operations. He settled down and be came a Farrier (horse-shoes). He was well enough liked around that someone anonymously paid for his funeral in full. He received the purple heart but still served two tours and in one case was reaching down to take a revolver from a "dead" vc. When he touched it the VC reached up and tried to get the gun. He had half a M-16 clip unloaded into him. He also managed to sneak back a LAW rocket launcher and a 1911 Colt .45. [url]http://trib.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/article_1cd96e78-e9d1-11de-ba87-001cc4c03286.html[/url] [IMG]http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/trib.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/1/2b/aff/12baffd8-e9d1-11de-9c1c-001cc4c03286.image.jpg[/IMG] My Grand-uncle was in Vietnam as well, and was a chopper pilot. One time when he was receiving some small arms fore from some VC (the usual protocol is to tuck your head in between your legs to avoid bullets) he was looking out near the window. One 7.62 came up right through the bottom plate and in between his legs, where his head would have been. My Uncle served in Iraq, nothing to eventful, he got in and out alright, and we're all thankful for it.
[QUOTE=Virtanen;27812814]Maybe they thought he was a deserter and when he turned his bike, they thought he joined them. Been known to happen, I've heard and read many such stories.[/QUOTE] The common soviet procedure during those times was shooting anything coming towards them without wearing a soviet uniform. Give me some links to back your claim [editline]2nd February 2011[/editline] Russian and finnish uniforms were similiar back then so it most likely was the case
Grandfather was 15 at the end of the war, so he didn't do any fighting. Although he did tell me something interesting; While he and his parents were eating dinner, several German soldiers knocked on the frontdoor. My great-grandmother let them in, and served them some tea. After a while they left. Scary thing was that it was illegal for civilians to own a firearm, and my great-grandfather had a shotgun hidden under the couch. The same couch the germans sat in. He didn't have time to remove it. My grandfather also served down in Lebanon in the 90s. I think his rank was Captain. This is my father's side. I don't think my mother's side have any military history.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.