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The PG-HQ Oral History Project
Reading the History Lesson for Vince and Alan thread inspired me to suggest this topic. In my opinion the big boom in wargaming that took off in the late 60's and 70's was fuel by the generation who's parents were full of reminiscenses from World War 2. The greatest generation has passed away, but it might be nice for us to post which services our parents, grandparents or aunts served in and where they were stationed. We've got members who's families served on both the allied and axis side and it would be fun to read who and where. No need to post full names in this era of identity theft, but just go by first name.
To start this off, my dad served out world war 2 in the navy as a weapons tester at the Inyokern weapons testing base in the Mojave desert. He was days from being shipped out in the Pacific (this was March 42) and he quickly volunteered for a posting in which he wouldn't drown. His younger brother, my uncle Eldon, enlisted right after Pearl Harbor and was a marine, serving from Guadalcanal through Iwo Jima. His two legged-sister (the other had one leg) Marguerite, served in the Women's Army Air Corp, a WAC
My wife's uncle Bill was career navy. During the war he served as a landing craft pilot at Salerno and Normandy. There was nothing like slowly cruising in to the shore, knowing that every gunner on the beach could only see your head and torso in the landing craft..
When I was a teenager the old man living next door to us had some coins left over from his military service. He was a veteran of the American expeditionary force during the Boxer Rebellion! Sure wish I had asked him about is experiences. He did give me a few imperial copper coins with the square cut in the center to remember him and Imperial China by.
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