He is not alive but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that my father was in WWI (and WWII and in between for that matter). He was born in 1901 and graduated from high school at age 12 (wish I had his mind!)...he faked his age and enlisted in the Army. They discovered his underage situation and sent him home. He got his parents to sign a waver and enlisted in the Navy six months later, still underage but legal. He was mostly stateside in that war but was all over north africa and the pacific theaters in WWII. He was a Navy medic and in WWII he was part of a "raider" group (they were groups of 10 - 12 Marines...the US Marine Corp uses Navy for medical corps....who went in advance of a "landing" and secured a beachhead for the approaching Marines.).
My father was a loving and gentle man for all his military history. He saved lives and took lives as well. He had shrapnel in his leg bones that set off airport security the rest of his life. He had multiple scars from wounds and his eye was cut out in hand to hand combat on Okinowa. He rarely spoke of his wartime service and never of his box of medals and awards.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2005-11-11 08:52 pm (UTC)My father was a loving and gentle man for all his military history. He saved lives and took lives as well. He had shrapnel in his leg bones that set off airport security the rest of his life. He had multiple scars from wounds and his eye was cut out in hand to hand combat on Okinowa. He rarely spoke of his wartime service and never of his box of medals and awards.
He passed on in 1982 at the age of 81.
Kathleen