Gone But Not Forgotten

I was a vet during peace time with the USAF in the late fifties. I was stationed in Morocco for one year, and got the opportunity to visit Madrid, London and Paris. That's when the travel bug bit my behind, and since have traveled to over 85 countries.
Also have visited some American cemeteries in Europe, and have visited George Patton's grave. A small group of us vets performed a small ceremony at the chapel. It was a moving occasion.
What was really noticeable was when there was an American and German cemetery side-by-side. The American cemetery were always kept up nicely, but the German cemetery were in very bad repair and maintenance.
At the American cemetery, they have a huge map of Europe made up from porcelain, and the formation of the major battles that took place. It had the list of casualties and those MIA.

I am a veteran of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was released from the Navy at the time draftees were first sent to Vietnam (volunteers served there, initially). I still communicate with one of the men from my service. Aside from the dread of all out war over those missiles, my service was routine. Our ship, the McKean had the best operating record of west coast based destroyers. We traveled to Hawaii, Midway, Japan, Philippines, Hong Kong. McKean was given to Turkey to be used for parts. When I went negative on the Vietnam War, I blamed only the leaders, never the troops. I joined protests and identified as a member of the Peace Movement. Oddly, going back as far as my grandfather, numbers of my family served, but not one saw actual combat. In the heat of Vietnam, my older brother was kept at Fort Hood, because they needed a carpenter there.

What do I have to do to get a drink around here?

Lawrence Russell WW I


The Army set this tent up in Lawrence's family's yard after he returned home, he was gassed and couldn't breathe properly in an enclosed space. He died shortly after he was home.


Robert Cunningham RCAF, he spent his time at RCAF Station Fungal
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCAF_Station_Fingal


Leslie Newman, RCAF


Leslie (white shirt) working on a Lancaster Bomber in England


William Newman, Canadian Army in Europe

My Father's brother was involved in the Liberation of Holland.

My Brother in law's Father was part of a Lancaster crew

My grandfather went to France with the AEF. Both of my parents served in France in the second world war. I and both of my brothers served.

When I have been in the USA or GB and have seen an elderly gentleman with a certain inner strength and seeming to rest in himself, I have a feeling he was probably a war veteran.
I looked at them and in my heart thank them for they did for my generation.
AGAIN THANK YOU - YOU WHO FOUGHT WWI AND WWII TO GIVE US A BETTER LIFE.

Two of my brothers in law are buried in Arlington.
Another one fought Guadalcanal and the forth was pilot during WWII

My father was 27 years Army active duty, serving during the Korean War and WWII. My sister was 3 years active duty Marines, just after Vietnam. I was 20 years active duty Army.

My uncle served in Panama during WWII. My dad and father in law were both drafted for Korea although they were not sent overseas. My cousin went to Vietnam. A guy I podcast with went to Falluja.

In Japan, the ship hired a crew of locals to paint the hull of the ship. They were lead by a woman the crew called "Boats" which is a common nickname often given a Bosun's Mate. I saw her more than once, outworking her people, riding scaffolds and slinging the paint. I don't know if they attempted any scraping, but the ship was looking sharp, in the end. At the end of the cruise, we alone escorted the Enterprise home.

I recall that on WestPac cruises we used to save the arresting gear cross deck cables ( they were the cable sections that caught the aircraft tailhooks on landing - we replaced them after each 100 engagements as a precaution, but the high strength steel cables had a lot of residual value) to use for barter with the ship chandlers in Hong Kong. With 30 or 40 cables we could usually get a qick waterline scraping and paint job to while at anchor in Hong Kong remove and clean up all the green slime and growth that accumulated on the carriers sides in the Gulf of Tonkin over the previous eitght months. There was a particularly colorful and well-known Chinese woman ( known as Bloody Mary) who ran a large ship repair operation in Kowloon, a very crusty and profane old dame.

Our Captain was also a very crusty and colorful guy who prided himself on his tough negotiating skills: he was from Mississippi and his accent thickened instantly whan he wanted to say something outrageous. I was the Airwing duty officer one day at the end of a long wartime cruise when whe Captain concluded his negotiations with Mary for the going home paint job. As I walked her to the accomodation ladder and back to her boat Bloody Mary muttered to me, " Captain leal plick !"

He was.

We hit a submerged log on the way down the coast coming home from the cruise, after leaving Seattle. It knocked hell out of the sonar dome. The ship had to go in dry dock in Vallejo. There are some on the McKean's website trying to claim we did something to a Russian sub that day, but that's total bull.

This is the American cemetery in Luxembourg where I visited.
https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/luxembourg-american-cemetery#.WCaFG7U777o

When the Enterprise was docked in Alameda, I took my older son to visit. When he was a teen, he was really sloppy about maintaining his bedroom, so I told him he had to volunteer into the service. He eventually made Major after 12 years. He resigned and went to the University of Texas in Austin to earn his grad degree, and now works for the University to earn his pension.

I was impressed the day I met your son.

Thank you.

My father served in the army in WWII. He fought in North Africa and the invasion of Italy.

He was always reluctant to talk about the war. The one thing he spoke freely about was his return to the US. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a banana boat!

Thanks to everyone for contributing.