Warbird Information Exchange

It's been a little over 3 years since my grandfather passed away and I miss him, and Last night I had a dream about him. We had our moments when we didn't like each other, but I wasn't exactly a golden child myself. He was a B-24 pilot in India then returned and worked for Boeing delivering B-17s, then when the war ended he started flying for Continental Airlines on DC-3s. Retired in the late '70s as a DC-10 Captain. I really have some regrets with him, like not interviewing him. Just never made the time. Figured he was a tough SOB and that he'd live forever. Didn't mean to do this, just wanted to vent, but I'm sure those of you who had fathers and grandfathers that flew in the war, you can probably relate. Hope he knows what I'm feeling and helping me along with my flying career. Thanks all.

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"According to the map, we've only gone 4 inches."

I know where ya' coming from.

Don't beat yourself up. My dads been gone just 2 years almost to the day and I occasionally think 'I should have spent more time with my parents just talking to them, asking more family questions'. But, unfortunately making a life got in the way, along with two divorces and two kids and I never seemed to be able to make the time to drive across Puget Sound to visit them or him after mom died, something always got in the way, laundry, groceries, clean the house, work overtime. I made it a point to call him (or both of them when mom was still around) just about every Sunday even if we only talked a few minutes, it made me feel good and I'm sure it made him feel less forgotten as most of his life long friends had preceeded him in death. I do feel bad that the last time we talked, I had nothing new to discuss and neither did he so my last conversation with him lasted about five minutes, and we didn't say much.

It's now too late and water under the bridge and zero I can do about it except what everyone does, 'shouldawouldacoulda'.

I never knew my grandfathers, dads stepdad died when I was about 2 and moms dad was a total stranger, met him twice once @ 5 and once more time @ about 13.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Ironic thread....my Pops just passed about 10 hours ago today. He was a WWII Marine in the Pacific.

I miss my Grand Ma, both of them. I miss them tremendously.

TM

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

I'm so sorry for your loss John-

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Thanks....John

I agree with you all, my father was and an Old School Hard Core SNCO, ran our house like Basic Training. There were more times then I can remember growing up that we butted heads. But low and behold I followed him into the USAF. We would talk about how the AF had changed since he joined in 1962 to when he retired in 1988, to when I joined in 1986 and retired in 2008. My brother joined in 1996 and is waiting for his 20 to punch. Dad was the reason we joined, our family has been in uniform non-stop since June 1962, the last to join being my son who is a Sgt in the Marines.

We talked about a lot of that he experienced in Vietnam, the Tet Offensive, what it was like being a tow target operator while stationed at Tyndall AFB, the fact that while in Vietnam he lost his RF-4 with crew on my 2nd birthday etc. But there was more I wanted to ask, but never did, now it's too late.

Our dad passed away on 24 Septermber 2011, and was buried with full military honors.

Mike

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Mike in Florida
TSgt USAF Retired
Jan 86 - Sept 08
Aircrew Life Support
"Your Life Is Our Business"
(122X0, 1T1X1, 1P0X1)
NRA Life Member

and my condolences to you and yours on your loss ffuries

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Thank you very much Inspector.

Mike

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Mike in Florida
TSgt USAF Retired
Jan 86 - Sept 08
Aircrew Life Support
"Your Life Is Our Business"
(122X0, 1T1X1, 1P0X1)
NRA Life Member

I miss my grandfather also , he was too old to go overseas with the RCAF in WWII, so he had a office job in Halifax, in charged of stuff being shiped overseas while his futher brother inlaw was in charger of recieving stuff comeing into Canada and it was he that told me of the paper work involed with writing off a Mosqiuto that was coming to Canada to be used for patterns in Ontario. But what i learn from my grandfather will last a life time as he was a boy in the Halifax Explosion in 1917, and one of his sisters recieved wounds from flying glass from the explosion, he had a set of books that Readers Digest had put out The Canadians inWorld War 2, and in one of these it touched on the 2 explosions that happened in Halifax, so it was very neat to be looking at the books and be told the stoes from someone that was actually there.

Did he live in Glenrose, TX by any chance? I knew a guy that lived there that had a very similar story.

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The nose art/aviation artist and general lunatic from Houston, Texas http://www.jasonbarnettartist.com

Sorry about your loss. Did he talk much about his experiences in the Pacific?

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Thanks.

Not till his later years in life. I can recall asking him numerous times growing up what he did over there and he would just shake his head a little and change the subject. Mom never really knew much either. His mom and dad died while he was little . He lived with his uncle on a sailboat. His uncle signed him in when he was 16. His discharge papers gives an earlier birthdate so he could legally get signed in as a 17 year old on paper. He signed up in Feb 1945 and after boot camp and training he was sent over as a paratrooper. He was involved in the Japanese cleanup operations in the Marinas, Guam, Guadalcanal, Phillipines, etc. We knew he received a Purple Heart but didn't know the circumstances. Maybe 6 or 7 years ago....we were sitting on the porch and I asked him about his experiences over there and he opened up some. He stated he was involved in cleaning out a Japanese "nest" and was hit by a motar schrapnel in the leg. That's how he got his PH. That was the very first any of us knew that. As a natural curiosity question, I asked if he killed anyone over there and he said yes. I asked how he knew and he said he watched them fall over (duh!). Along with the fighting, I suspect he also witnessed some Japanese/islander suicides if he was doing cleanup ops. I could finally understand why he never spoke of it for many years. To think he was only 16 and experienced that....I guess like many other battle vets...you just want to forget about it.

I will add that when I asked him back then about his experiences, unbeknownst to us, he was in the very early stages of Alzheimers. We knew his short-term memory wasn't what it used to be. I later read that Alzheimers patients can have good long-term recollections but bad short-term recollections. I have wondered if his early Alzheimers took some of the edge off those combat memories and allowed him to open up about it. I'm glad I got the chance to discuss it with him. BTW....he didn't pass from the Alzheimers, he fell and broke his femur on Wednesday. His surgery to pin his broken femur was Thursday morning. He was alert and all just prior to surgery. While receiving the anethsia, his BP went to zero and the doc couldn't bring him back....and that was it.

On the happy side...right after he got in 1947 or so, he ended up "having" to get married (and then divorced). I met that daughter (my half-sister) when I was a kid back in 1970. We lost contact with her after that. My older brother and I have been looking for her for some time. About 4 months ago I followed up on a clue from an old photo, did a Google search and it lead me to her uncle, who in turn put us in touch with her. We have all reconnected now and will be meeting again after 42 years.