NationStates Jolt Archive

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I had a great-grandpa who was bombed in Burma by the Japanese. My grandpa was forced to live under Japanese occupation. Hell, they only allowed the students to speak Japanese in a Burmese speaking city.
Then he was screwed further by the new Burmese government that didn't allow him a passport for 45 years.

Anyone else? Perhaps someone who has a family member that fought?

Yep; my grandfather Maurice was in London during the bombing; he caught some shrapnel in his leg and was stuck with a cane ever since.

My grandfather fought in WWII, and got some sort of stomach ailement from it and had to take medicine for the rest of his life, and died of Cancer all the way through his digestive system. He was in the USA army

Well, my uncle was in 'nam. WW2, no, but 'nam was hell too. Sorry to hear about your mifortune.

My great grandfather on my mother's side served in France during World War 2. He developed quite a lung ailment from his time there but still lived heartily until the late 1980s. Another of my great grandfather's served as an officer in the trenches of World War One. My great uncle was a Spitfire pilot during World War 2. My grandfather was a junior officer in the Merchant Navy during World War 2.

Pretty much everyone over a certain age in Britain was affected by the war. My grandad was a marine and used to operate one of the AA guns on his ship. He didn't talk about it much though - people didn't make a big deal of it back then since everyone had gone through it - they just wanted to get on with their lives.

My grandad was a British Chindit in Burma. He went around, killing Japanese, blowing up railways et cetera.....

My uncle was a Marine Corp Raider during the war. He came out ok. My father was a Marine and was in the first wave to hit the beach on Iwo Jima. He received 2 gunshot wounds, but still made it to the age of 82.

My grandpa fled Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) in 1942 when he was six. He later proceded flee through Berlin to West Germany with his family in the early sixties.

On one side my grandads entire family was wiped out, only he survived. My grandmother from that side got very lucky, her dad did a PhD in German Lit, and was chosen as a "prominent Jew" and the whole family was sent to Castle De Schafelaar along with about 500 other Dutch Jews. On the other side practically the entire family was wiped out. My grandparents came to Israel in 1933 so they survived.

One of my Grandads was in Dunkirk, although he didn't get out the same was as the other soldiers. His squad, or whatever you call it, just carried on past where they were being evacuated and got a lift with some French sailors. He only did that really because he was late for evacuation. And his father was in WW1, and my grandads cousin got in the army be lying about his age, and got his arm blown off.

I cant remember many specifics really.

I had a grandfather and great uncle who fought in WWII - I'm pretty sure they were affected, I don't know exactly how

My grandfather died in a concentration camp.



He was drunk and fell off the watchtower.
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On a more serious note, my grandfather, mother's side, must have been between 16 and 22. I never asked him. He fled Flanders, Belgium and went to France to escape the possibility of forced labor in German controlled factories. He made a living in business (probably semi-legal and illegal stuff of the Us-knows-us type, black market and what not) and by smuggling things from Belgium to France and back. Clever, cunning adventurous guy.

My Canadian relatives

Grandfather was all over the place, believe he was gone for about 5 years. Europe for sure, heard something about North Africa.
Great Uncle was at Dieppe, was captured.
Few others in Europe
Great Uncle in the merchant marine in the Atlantic, did the same thing in Vietnam.

Most of my family on my grandmothers side was literally wiped out, she fled to England with a couple of other relatives.

My Grandfather served with the British Army, on the European Front.

Later the two met and formed my father, w00t.

My other Grandfather served with the Royal Navy on the Aircraft carrier HMS Unicorn, in the pacific front, he still does work designing the new British Navy Aircraft carriers.

My Great Grandfather was in WWII as a Royal Engineer, mainly in Britain maintaining Aircraft, like the famous Spitfire, Hurricanes and Lancasters
He had been stationed in France, and was in Dunkirk.

He died about 5 years after the war, from a heart attack. Apparently he had never been the same after Dunkirk, seeing many many of his best friends die.

My Great Grandmother (his widow) is still alive. She was the first woman virgor of a church, and used to help soldiers who were sent off the lines seriously ill.
Unfortunately she suffers from senial dementia, Authzymers (sorry don't know how to spell it) and Schizophrenia. She has been more or less alone for 55 years after her husband died

My great-uncle was shot down over Dresden in a Lancaster bomber.

My granddad was a medic in Africa, Italy (including Monte Cassino) and in the final push through Europe.

And Drasticated Meteor - I think it's Alzheimers

EDIT: Oh, and he was stationed in Hamburg after the war

Both of my grandfathers fought. They both survived but they died before I got to meet them.

One of my Grandfathers served on an aircraft durring the war, and the other was a gunner in a bomber.
My Uncle was in the Black Forest imediatly after the war occupying Germany, although he was too young to fight in the war itself.

That's all I know off the top of my head, but I'm positive there are others.

My grandfather fought in Europe during WWII in the Army Corp of Engineers. That is to say, he was a pyro.

My great-grandda was sort of pissed off that most of the people where he lived (Cork) didn't want to fight because it was "Britain's war". He signed up with the RAF as a pilot and became an ace before being shot down over the Channel.

Ask any Brit, American, Russian or German, and they will have had a family member involved in the war somehow. My grandfather on my dads side was a gunner on a ship, and my grandfather on my mums side was on one of the British beaches on D-day. I think both my grandmothers made munitions.

My maternal grandparents, both lost their fathers in the war, they both die at Auschwitz. My paternal grandmother lost her 8, and 10 year old brothers when they were shot in the head for speaking Polish in front of German Soldiers. My grandparents on both sides were in Poland or the Soviet Union at the time of the war.My Maternal Grandmother was in Lublin before the war, when with the rest of her family was sent to Auschwitz, they were lucky it was near the end of the war, and the Red Army was near, or else they would have all died too. Both of my paternal grandparent's families escaped to the Soviet Union, where my paternal grandmother's father joined the Soviet Air Force he in fact was a Communist until near his death in the early 80's. I dont know everything about what happened, but I am learning more.

My family had a buttlaod of people in it. All pretty high up. But the only one who died was my uncles dad, died on D-Day, he was a Paratrooper, he died, never found his body. Noone else was injured.

But I had family everywhere. Everybody's rank was at least a Sgt. Most higher.

I volunteered for the Army, later joining GB, seeing action in Vietnam, due to my dad's service and his father's service.

My family had a buttlaod of people in it. All pretty high up. But the only one who died was my uncles dad, died on D-Day, he was a Paratrooper, he died, never found his body. Noone else was injured.

But I had family everywhere. Everybody's rank was at least a Sgt. Most higher.

Mine were all grunts. Me included, but I was an NCO.

One of my grandfathers was support staff of some kind posted at a some semi-abandoned airbase in England. My other grandfather drove trucks in Korea. Neither went around killing people, they weren't proper soldiers, although the one that served in Korea did come under fire once or twice.

My father did, he was like a walking John Wayne movie.

Flew in China for General Chang and got massively wounded in a dog fight, (three bullet hole across the abdomen joined by a long scar. After that he was transferred to the Pacific Fleet where he eventually joined the Joe's Joker Squadron. He flew wingman to Joe Foss. He got shot down on the way to Okinawa during the invasion, and got picked up by a submarine.


Still regardless of any family member's participation, WWII affected the world in a way that resounds to this day.

My grandfather was a Ranger in WWII. 2nd Btn E Co.

My father was a Ranger in Vietnam. 52nd Inf. LRP originally, but got folded into the Rangers.

I was a Ranger in Operations Desert Shield/Storm. Company B.

http://www-benning.army.mil/RTB/IMAGES/tabcreed.GIF

Booyah!

My grandfather fought in WWII, and got some sort of stomach ailement from it and had to take medicine for the rest of his life, and died of Cancer all the way through his digestive system. He was in the USA army

Something very similar happened to my grandfather. He was pressed into service for the German army at the age of 18, and when he came home at 21 his hair had gone completely white from fear and shock. He was shot twice in the lung and had a huge twisting scar on the side of his left thigh where he caught some shrapnel. He was also a POW in a Russian camp but managed to escape. He wouldn't talk about the war, except to say "never again war". He had a stomach ailment as well, a horrific bleeding ulcer that couldn't be treated, no matter what they tried, so they just cut the nerves to it so he couldn't feel the pain. In November of 1996 he died due to cancer that was spread all over his lungs and digestive system. :(

My grandfather was in the German army on the Eastern front in WWII. During the attack on Moscow, he put down his rifle and forgot it. Whoops.

my great grandad was at D-Day he survived the war and died acouple of years ago

My grandfather joined the Partisans when Germany attacked Serbia. He later joined up with the Red Army and was in the actual attack on Berlin, and survived! :) He died a few years ago though.

Yeah, my Grandad survived an air raid on Latvia cos of a sock. No kidding. He heard the alarms for an air raid and got dressed to leave for the shelter. He couldn't find his sock for a little while (which was a bigger deal than it is now) and so he took too long getting out of the building. He didn't make it to the shelter he was aiming for but had to take cover in a little one. The shelter he was aiming for took a direct hit. evry1 in there died. almost evry1 he knew was in there... then he and ny Grandma became refugees 2 Australia which is wher they (and me) now live

Grandfather was drafted into the Canadian Army for the war effort.

Milled around bases in Canada for a while, training and such, and a couple weeks before they were supposed to ship out an army truck ran over his legs.

And so he stayed at home.

Thank god for me.


Other grandfather was a fighter pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force over in North Africa.

Came back to father eight children before succuming to lung cancer.

Damn, didn't know there would be this many people on NS who was somehow affected.

Several memebers were involved.

Granddad was a pole. Fought the Germans in 39, made it to England and was in the 1st Polish Airborne.

A great uncle was at the Bulge, wicked fight stories.

Another great-uncle liberated a couple camps.

A great uncle was a P-51 pilot.

Assorted uncles etc, did various branches.

One of my in-laws father was a Tanker in the Pacific. Fought in the PI and was involved all the way to the end of the war. He had many scary stories about fighting the Japanese. It was an exceptional hard man.

Just at the top of my head......

my granddad was prisoner in camp dora.... the one under the mountain, where he helped constructing the v1 or v2 (cant remember which) with his massive iq of 144!!! under Werner Von Braun.... *cough* american honourary citizen, who was responsible for the death of loads of jews. My Granddad was even interviewed about von Braun in a later documentary:)

his crime?

he was caught helping jews cross the border.

ps: the things he witnessed there made him a bitter and inward drawn man ever since, so THANK YOU WERNER ****!

My grandpa fought against Russians. Twice. First during Winterwar (39) and then again during Continuation War (41-44). He got injured in 42, but went back to the front line after few months in hospital. Then injured again in 44 and carried pieces of Russian grenade in his ass til he died. (some 40 years after)

Got one granddad still alive who was US Navy in the Pacific, at Pearl Harbor & most major naval engagements in between till Okinawa. He has great stories, though they mostly start and/or end with "Me and 3 buddies on liberty had SO much beer" or "This one REALLY cute nurse".

Apparently the secret to surviving a World War and living to 90+ is to stay drunk and chase tail ;)

My kids grandmother was found at an orphanage in England by an American Journalist, she had a bomb casing around her neck it was the one that landed in her village and killed her family, she was only 5 at the time the Journalist found her and decided to take her back to America, there was a weight limit on the flight so he left all his belongings to take her back. There was a book written about the whole story as well by her adopted father, I think it was called Journey for Margaret, by William Allan White.

She was one lucky little girl.

I might add that my grandmother (mothers side) was in the Jasenovac concentration camp in former Bosnia (today Republika Srpska) along with her mother. They both survived though, and she (my grandmother) is still alive and well to this day.

One of my friends granddad was in the wehrmacht, fighting the russians. He stepped on a mine and blew his leg off. This was lucky, because he was sent home and was the only one from his platoon who survived the war.

My uncle served in WW2 on a rescue ship, he earned many medals for bravery but threw them in the bin in disgust at the way the British Government treated him and his fellow conscripts when the war ended, he emigrated to America after that.

Well, since my family is Dutch, and the Netherlands were conquered by the Nazis. I think WWII affected them quite considerably.

Damn, didn't know there would be this many people on NS who was somehow affected.
I had a similar oonversation about this with friends last year. It seems practically everyone has been affected by WWII

Grandfather in the regular army (Royal Lancers), fought in Europe pre-Dunkirk, North Africa and Burma. Got a medal for standing for a long time in the sea at Dunkirk (wasn't that impressed by medals).

Great Uncle in the trenches in WW1, got shot in the chest, hitched a ride from a passing (German) ambulance. Ambulance hit a mine, great uncle Bill fell out and crawled back to his lines.

Uncle was a civilian teacher in WW2, got drafted as a commando trainer and had to share their sleeping quarters. Never been so scared in his life. The first night, he left his valuables on a table by his bed and told the commandos they were there, so they wouldn't beat the crap out of him to get hold of them. Apparently the commandos thought he must be a psycho looking for a fight, and left him well alone.

Mother lived in London during the blitz. Still flinches when she hears WW2-era 'planes flying overhead.

WWII ripped my mother's family apart. My mother's older brother was suspected of having Nazi sympathies and was disowned by the family. She never met him again until a few years ago. He is dead now. I have cousins (his children) that I have never met, even though we probably live in the same city. My mother's father and uncles built a secret cottage in the woods to use as a stopping place on the route they used helping refugees over to Sweden (from Norway). There's a story that my grandfather was tortured by Germans wanting to get information about this, but I know very little about what happened. My father's family was also badly affected. My father's father killed himself during the war, when my father was 3 years old. My father's aunt was a Nazi, she went to the East front as a nurse and was imprisoned for treason after the war. She was arrested by her own brother, who was a policeman. Her husband divorced her and she lost the right to keep his name. She was still a Nazi at the time of her death in 1988.

both of my grandmas and my grandpas but they're dead. the grandpas I mean.

My father served in WW2, Korea and Vietnam. His service to the his country was spent on the front lines of three of the deadliest wars in the worlds history as a medic. He was able to see the worse effects war can have on the human body and spirit and it defined him as man. I will never forget what he has taught me.

My great grandma and grandma and her sister fled eastern Prussia in the winter of 1944. My grandfather was in the war navy in the egine room. The ships he was on were both sunk. One in the north sea and the second in the straits of Messina. He was wounded in Rumania and later captured in France in 1944.

My grandfather saved a seriously wounded german during the war. At the end of the war, something happened, but only he knows what happened. He has some stuff of this event in a crate, but nobody is allowed to open it. The only thing we know about it is that the pair of trousers he wore was ruined, so we expect a story with a booby trap.

My other grandparents were for the flemish cause, and a part of the flemish movement collaborated with the germans during the war. After the war almost anyone related to the flemish movement ran the risk of being accused of collaboration (see it as a witchhunt: your neighbour is jealous so he accuses you of collaboration). They were rich, so it didn't take long before their house was looted. They spent some time in jail and then got released. My grandfather became mayor a few years after his release.

A side note: at least one of my grandparents cousins did collaborate with the germans. The result is that i now have some far relatives in Argentine.

yeah, all of my grandparents. on my dad's side, my grandfather was in the merchant marines and my grandmother was a nurse. and on my mom's side, my granddad was part of the air force and my grandma was in the women's branch of the british army. my granddad was sent to england during the war and that's where he met my grandma. if it hadn't been for the war, i wouldn't even be here, so i suppose it's affected me somewhat too :)

My grandpa fought during d-day in Normandy and was captrued a few days later. He was POWed in the UK until 1946. During some "interrogations" British Intelligence broke all his teeth out to make him talk.

My mother´s uncles (all three of them) first fought in Poland, later in France and were finally send off to fight in Russia. All three of them had been captured (one of them with the 6th Army in Stalingrad), but managed to escape and walk home from Siberia. The last of them died a few years ago at the age of 82. At the time they came home, two of them found their once rich farms looted and burned to the ground by either French or British troops and their families relocated.

My other grandpa was a AA-Gunner in WWI somewhere in Belgium. During WWII he was drafted and send as a administration clerk to Warsaw where he spend a year during the war before being sent back home for a "weak heart" and "health problems". He stayted the rest of the war in Braunschweig as a bank security guard.

A far relative of mine was in the Waffen SS, survived the war and was later killed during the Yom-Kippur War fighting as a mercenary in the Israeli army. Officially he was MIA and the details of his demish remain unknown.

My grandfather fought in WWII. Never talked about it. I think the silence spoke volumes.

My grandfather was an officer in the German Infantry during World War II and he fought the Russians.
He did not talk about it much after the war but it must have been horrible for him to see the young boys under his command getting killed.

My grandmother lived in Britain before the war broke out, and she was going to Canada. Her boat got torpedoed, and she ended up in Scotland.

my grandfather fought in WWII as a US Marine. lucky he knew how to type so he was pulled off of the frontlines and put in a battlefield office. however he did not sit on his ass the whole war. he was also involved in many amphibigous landings including, i think it was Tarawa but im not sure. i know that, because Adm. Jack Fletcher desided to pull the supply ships away from the island he "had to eat Jap food for more than three months." so can one of you more learned history intellectuals can tell everyone what island they landed on?

my grandpa fought.

he was among the americans who went through italy in the whole pincer deal at the end of the war.

My grandfather fought in World War II, he was an aircraft mechanic, went from island to island in the Pacific with the US Army Air Corps.
Didn't talk about it very much while he was alive, but used to show us John Wayne movies all the time. :P

Not clear on the exact story, but my grandfather died in Europe, either on the ground as an airplane mechanic or in the air, before my father was born. Need to research that a little more, possible his grave could be somewhere in France.

I had two great uncles destroyed by World War 2. On my fathers side, his uncle was in a Texas / New Mexico coast artillery (anti aircraft guns) outfit sent to the Philippines in June 1941. He was captured when Bataan fell just after Easter in 1942, and spent the entire war in the hellish Japanese POW system. Family history is that he spent 1945 - 55 (when he died) in a VA Mental Hospital having never regained his sanity.

My other greatuncle, on my mothers side, was an infantryman in the Italian Campaign in World War 2, earned a couple of Purple Hearts, a Silver Star with a V for Valor, seveal campaign ribbons, and combat fatigue destroyed him, leaving him in a VA hospital until his death in 1978.

I also have a great grandfather on my fathers side who served as a petty officer aboard the Battleship New York during both wars (he manned one of the big 14 inch gun turrets). He survived the wars unscathed.

Both of my grandfathers were in WWII, One of them was in the eastern front, the other in the Pacific. The grampa that was in the East was sent to North Africa where he got hit by shrapnel from a Morter. He then went back for the D-Day invasion and cut across the penninsula, when he was their he accidently stepped on a bouncing betty. He's still alive, but can barely use his right hand, is blind and deaf on his right side as well. My other grandfather didn't take any hits, but was affected psychologically. They are both alive and well. The one that was in the eastern theater now lives with us.

A side note: at least one of my grandparents cousins did collaborate with the germans. The result is that i now have some far relatives in Argentine.

I have relatives in Argentina, the USA refused to take in some of my relatives, citing intelligence dossiers that alleged that they did some supposedly "wrong" things. So they went to Argentina instead of America, even into the 50s, 60s, and 70s, the USA wouldn't let them in. I think one may have eventually gone to Canada.

I have relatives in Argentina, the USA refused to take in some of my relatives, citing intelligence dossiers that alleged that they did some supposedly "wrong" things. So they went to Argentina instead of America, even into the 50s, 60s, and 70s, the USA wouldn't let them in. I think one may have eventually gone to Canada.
why am i not suprised you are related to nazis

Jewish. 'nuff said.

I would share a great story.... but i can't think of how to word it. It's one of those stories best heard then read.

was German, her father was a scientist who was working on a plastic that could be used to replace lost skin.
He refused to work for the Nazi's, as a result the family fled to England, The rest of the family escaped, but he was captured and executed by the nazi's.
other than that, both my grandfathers fought, one in africa with the desert rats, one in burma, my mother still has the letters he sent home to my nanna.

my dad joined the army in the 30's and had a great time. he stationed in hawaii for a while and loved going from coastal maine to tropical paradise.

the gov't drafted him in 1940 when they came to the realization that we were likely to get drawn into the war and would need trained men. he met my mother when he was stationed in ft devon in massachusetts. my mom was still in the hospital on 12/7/41, after giving birth to my oldest brother. she moved in with her sister when my dad was sent to iran to serve at what was called a "russian check station".

he didnt get to see alot of action, but he did steal some cool medals and small arms from the russian officers. my brother has them now as momentos.

he didnt last long in iran. he caught malaria and was expected to die. a hotshot young doctor noticed him and gave him a revolutionary procedure that saved his life. he spent the next... 3 or 4 years in walter reed hospital in washington dc and got to meet president truman's daughter.