[bigj1974]

some gave all.

my great uncle Jack, who I obviously never knew, was visited by a family member for the first time in nearly 60 years by my sis and her hubby when they visited Italy last week.








I don't know why I need to share it, but I just do.

[paulthejeeper]

Thanks for sharing, I salute your uncle and his sacrifice...

[bman9089]

Originally Posted by paulthejeeper

Thanks for sharing, I salute your uncle and his sacrifice...

x2. I can only imagine how humbling a sight that was to see.

[ScotZ]

You feel the need to share it because you were raised in a decent family and they taught you good morals and respect. You recognize that our freedom isnt free and the blood of our family members is the reason we have the right to live free right now.

It kills me how quickly some are willing to give up just a tiny bit of freedom to feel a bit more secure. Those people are cowards and do not deserve freedom nor security. ( my own words but inspired by Ben Franklins famous quote)

[grogie]

Originally Posted by paulthejeeper

Thanks for sharing, I salute your uncle and his sacrifice...

X3. Thank you for sharing that.

My wife's grandfather returned home from WWII. Before he passed away about five years ago he sat down with me and showed me his photo album from the war. He would point to certain pictures and remember as if it was yesterday which of his friends did not make it home. His wife told me that he rarely would talk about. He simply told me and no more that he saw things that no one should ever see, but that they had a job that had to be done. He was a kind and wonderful man and I thank God for him and that he returned.

[Gravitytester]

That is uncanny, my Dad was with the same unit in WWII. I have his war annual, I will have to look up your uncles name. Here is my own little bit of irony. The 36th Infantry Division was a National Guard unit from Texas that got shipped to North africa and marched all the way to Bad Tolz Germany during WWII. My Dad,even though he was from NC, was with them the entire time. Well the left europe in 1946 and until 2005, they had not been back to europe. Then they got ordered to Kosovo for a peacekeeping mission. My unit was assigned to them for the rotation. So a father and son from NC went overseas with a Texas National Guard unit just seperated by 59 years. I am probably making to much out of it, it is just kind of cool to me.

Where in Italy is his grave? The big battles were in Salerno, Anzio, Monte Cassino and the Rapido River.

[tcourdin]

I agree, thanks for sharing that. They were/are great men!

[bigj1974]

I think the cemetery itself is in Sicily. and I think Jack died at Anzio, by mortar fire.

[tcourdin]

Originally Posted by bigj1974

I think the cemetery itself is in Sicily. and I think Jack died at Anzio, by mortar fire.

How old was he?

My Dad and I go to a cemetary in MO where alot of our family is buried, many of them died in WWII. He grew up with alot of them and even recalls what happened to them. It's always nice to remember them and remember what they gave, hard to imagine. I recall one in particular was my fathers uncle, he tells us every year when we walk past his grave that he was captured and gassed...mustard gas?

[LostINohiO]

my uncle was at anzio and came home so rattled with PTSD he couldnt hold a coffee cup. apparantly not too many men from his unit made it. my father was a kid when his brother came home from the war but he always told us about how insanely difficult these mens jobs were "over There"

the greatest generation for sure.

[bigj1974]

Memorial Day bump.

thank you Uncle Jack.

thank you Pappa (RIP 1985) for serving 20 years in the AF, 17 months as a Nazi POW after being shot down over Regensburg on your 25th B-17 mission... "The Mountaineer" was your plane.

thank you Dan for being the USAF for 25
thank you Dad for being USAF for 5 and keeping those F4s flying during Vietnam
thank you Leslie for flying P51 mustangs and shooting Luftwaffe out of the sky
thank you Willy
thank you Arlan, Rudolph, Wayne Jenkins for enduring combat with Japanese and Nazi soldiers.
thank you Jenn for USAF 1997-2003


I could not serve but not a DAY goes by that I wish I hadn't been able to.


THANK YOU VETERANS ON JEEP FORUM
THANK YOU VETERANS...PERIOD!

[Matt Gertsch]

Thanks for sharing. Those crosses are a sobering sight, I hope to see them and pay my respects in person some day.

My mom and dad are both on their way to Arlington, VA with the Missing in America Program. They're transporting the ashes of 3 abandoned war heroes to the National Cemetery where they'll be laid to rest under military honors, one of which was a Buffalo Soldier and one of the first black men to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

If you see a bunch of raggedy looking old men rolling through your town on motorcycles, be sure to thank them. They're all war vets and they do a lot of work to find the remains of other war vets, who have been abandoned, in order to lay them to rest. They put a name to lost remains and help ensure that all of our war heroes get their proper send off.

Here is their route and more information for those interested: http://www.miap.us/Honors%20At%20Arlington.htm

[adurbin]

Thank you for sharing this. We have a small veterans cemetary here on the Medical Campus of ETSU at the VA here in East Tennessee. Im going to pay a visit this weekend.