Uncle Ernie was a soldier in World War II. I would love to sit and listen to him relate all the incredible things that happened in this greatest of all wars.
He would always say, "I went to Normandy on D-Day plus 1", which means he landed a day after the main invasion, which was on June 6th, 1944. He had many, many stories of the war, and he always had a reverence about him when he shared the good and bad of this particular war. And with humility he once shared with me how his friends were killed in this war against the evil tyrant,Adolf Hitler, and his regime.
Ernie was married to my wife's great aunt, her Mom's mother's sister, Aunt Marie.
There are fewer and fewer remaining men and women, who were in Europe during WWII. If you know someone, or ever bump into someone who was, I'd encourage you to befriend him, or her, and perhaps, you might have the honor of hearing some wonderful history; and always with the history of that War is heavy sorrow.
[This is Uncle Ernie in 2007]
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I spoke with a man, who fought on Okinawa and he shared how he saw a friend cut in half as he was talking with him. He even reached in his pocket and pulled a handkerchief, and wipe tears from his eyes. He then said he wanted to show John [my business partner: standing in the photo] and I something. He went over in his garage, and out of the tool box he pulled a bayonet, which he said he took off a dead Japanese soldier. I thought what an honor to talk with this man. And he invited us to come back any time.
[I can't remember his name, but he is sitting in this old 1940 something car.]
[A Marine from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines on Wana Ridge, Okinawa provides covering fire with his Thompson gun, May, 1945.]
2 comments:
great post in remberance
Thanks sister.
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