Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itaewonguy]

well I guess many of our grandfathers or fathers fought in ww2,
so what did your grandfathers do? did they return home from the war?
what about your grandmothers? were they nurses?

Ill go first, I was watching a doco lastnight on japan world war 2 it was very good , just sad that Japan made so many people lose their lives!!

anyway.. my grandfather was in the navy! fighting in the great south pacific wars! he doesnt like to talk about it becuase it gives him nightmares.. but he did return home safely..

looking into it myself through movies and docos the south pacific battles were some of the toughest battles on the sea... so im sure it was a hell experience!

my grandmother was a nurse. so IM sure she saw her fair share of victims of the war!

[dogbert]

For which side?

[eamo]

[Wangja]

My grandfather fought in WW1 not WW2. But my father fought in WW2. He was in the Jewish brigade of the 8th army across North Africa, then across to Anzio and up through Italy as an ambulance driver. He rarely spoke about his experiences in that job but he'd often regale us with tales of "after-work hours".

[Swiss James]

both of mine were in protected industries- coal mining and steel working.

[kermo]

My grandfather flew fighter planes. He was stationed in Italy and in Palestine. He has been talking about it more and more lately. He was a Canadian flying with the R.A.F, who treated their colonial cousins with so much disdain that he speaks of his British co-pilots with as much venom as the Germans.

Remember this meeting at Yalta?

My grandfather flew one of Churchhill's decoy planes.

[krats1976]

Wow, interesting question. I know my mom's dad didn't fight. I think it was a combination of age (he was almost 35 when the US joined the war) and his job (railroad).

I've never even thought to ask about my dad's dad. I'm pretty sure he didn't fight, but he was even older than my other grandfather, so maybe that's why.

I can't believe that for all I know about my great-great-grandfathers, I really don't know much about my grandfathers. I'm going to have to ask some questions.

The only relative I know of that has seen combat is my uncle who fought here in Korea. My dad was too old & nearsighted to be drafted for Vietnam (thank goodness), and only one of my relatives ever voluntarily joined the military. She never saw action, though.

[mithridates]

One grandfather was in the army and won't talk about exactly what he did during the war, so I assume it wasn't that pleasant. The other one was in the navy and was involved in sonar tracking and that sort of thing, so that's both. My family's all from Nova Scotia so perhaps Europe felt a lot closer to them.

[ajgeddes]

My one grandpa was in the military, but was never sent over to Europe, and the other one was a mechanic that actually put together/fixed engines in the planes that were sent/took over. In all honestly, I don't really know many details other than that.

[Dan The Chainsawman]

My grandfather on my dad's side served with the British Army starting in 1938 and finished in 1945. No one to this day is really sure what the heck he did, but from what we gathered it was a bit hairy at times. My grandmother on my father's side was not in the military but she remembers the blitz very clearly. My father as a young child during the war was strafed once by a German fighter according to family tales and only survived by hope and a prayer and bad aiming.

Despite my grandfather's obvious bad experiences from the war almost 50 years later he still voluntered to fight in every single British war, and very nearly went and flew fighters for the Indian Air Force against Pakistan.

My mother's side were a bunch of farmers who got out of fighting. My uncle a brave man to boot served as a volunter in Vietnam. Despite the fact that we are not on speaking terms today he still has my respect for having a serious set of stones.

[Privateer]

My grandfather fought in WW1 and was wounded in action. He never spoke of his experiences.

My father was too young to fight in WW2 and came out of Sandhurst one year too late for active service in the Korean War although he was stationed here.

dogbert: are you saying your grandfather was on the Axis side or just hinting for the fun of it?

[manlyboy]

My grandpappy spent four years in a German POW camp. His squad was out on patrol one day and somehow they got blindsided. He said they were moving through a forest when a voice from out of nowhere with a thick German accent suddenly said quite amiably "Drop your veapons. Zee var iz over for you men"!
He only told light hearted stories from his time there. One time, he asked a guard for a drink of water. The guard said "leck mein arshe". Pop asked the translator "what did he say"? The translator replied "He said exactly what you thought he said".
Another time when there had been an escape, they gathered all the prisoners to give them a warning. (They were kept in small huts which held 8 men apiece. For meals, they were given a loaf of bread which was cut into 16 slices.) The commandant stood up and said "If there is another escape attempt, we will shoot one man from every hut". So some wiseguy at the back yelled out "Oh, you beauty! Two extra slices of bread"! Pop said that was the one and only time he ever saw the commandant actually laugh.

[dogbert]

[matthews_world]

One grandfather used to repair/build gliders at a factory in my hometown during WWII and the other worked in some cabinet office in D.C. Not sure if both were too old for service at that time.

My father graduated from a Virginia military academy as a Marine in the '60s but he somehow objected to serving in Vietnam and lost his officer rank and possibly got a deal where he didn't have to spend time in prison.

Women served during the WWII years, too! However, my mother and her mother was a nurse in the same town. My father's mother worked in D.C. as a literacy teacher on a military installation and as a librarian.

I think I had a famous Civil War officer in my bloodline but can't remember who.

[Sooke]

My fathers grandfather made it through the First World War, and enlisted in the Second World War. He unfortunately did not make it out of Normandy. He was killed in the battle of Caen. A funny story though, was that back in the 70's my father's family went to France to see his grave (in one of the Commonwealth War Cemetaries). The landed in Paris and asked for tickets to Caen. The was some confusion, and eventually my family ended up in Cannes.

My Mother's Grandfather, In Irish immigrant to Canada in 1910 joined the Canadian army in WWI, and was wounded at Vimy Ridge. He eventually married one of the nurses at the hospital and brought her home to Canada when the war was over.

My Grandmother's brothers both served in WW2, both in the Canadian army. However, Uncle Gordon was dispatched to the Devil's Brigade, a joint American-Canadian force (with American uniforms). Anyway, On the push to Rome, Uncle Bert (in the Canadian Army)was in a bar, and asked the American soldier next to him a question and realized that it was his brother Ernie.

My maternal Grandfather was involved in the BCATP (British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada) but didn't see action. My paternal grandfather flew spitfires, although I'm not sure if it was for the RCAF or the RAF, despite his Canadian citizenship.

My father, a Canadian born in Windsor, crossed the river into Detroit in 1970 and volunteered for Vietnam. The US recruiting sergeant suggested that he would be better off joining the CF and refused his application. Probably turned out for the best. Both my parents met in the CF and I was baptised on a destroyer. My name is on a plaque on that ship somewhere. I'm sure the ship is no longer in commission.