A story of an improbable coincidence that gave me the story of my father's day after landing in the second wave of the Normandy invasion -- a subject he never discussed when he was alive.
Wow, what an awesome story about your dad! You are so lucky to have gotten the chance to learn more about him and even glimpse of your start in his story. I bet it brought you closer to his memory and helped you get why he did not have talked about it.
I know lots of solders like him that never shared their story and they are left untold. Thanks for sharing his story with us!
Its a great reminder of the sacrifices they made for our freedom.
Thanks very much, Rich. I appreciate your taking the time to read the story, particularly given that it seems a protocol in commenting NOT to post a link to your own story.
It has been remarkable to learn so much about my Dad's experience on that day, June 6, 1944, and to learn, too, why so many of the men (and women) didn't talk about it.
Be well. I'm poking around your site, now. Looking forward to it.
Well told story. Amazing to find those photos. I think talking about their lives was not as acceptable as it is today. WWII and the depression silenced people. It certainly did my parents.
Geoffrey, Thank you for sharing your father's story. I am so deeply moved by every word of it. It seems our fathers were in the same places - Europe, Italy and Africa.
As a daughter of a WW 2 veteran I lived with that war every day in my home. He never would talk about. He was zipped up like most men who came home from that war....yet every Saturday he sat in front of our black and white TV watching reruns of Combat. Thanks again, love your writing.
So appreciate your commenting, Voge. Really means a lot.
So does what you said -- the silence about what it was like and watching "Combat!"
We did not have a TV until I was 11 when one of my father's patients entered his name in a raffle for a colored TV and won! He was beaming when he delivered it to my Dad. My Dad was gracious but not pleased. He said he had to accept it since the man was one of the many who my Dad didn't charge for medical care. He knew that this was his way of paying.
But the rule was, we could only watch it when he was around. Which he never was. Except when Combat! was on.
How strange! I am walking at lepe Beach today ... 6/6 I've just taken a photo of the D-Day memorial!
Wow, what an awesome story about your dad! You are so lucky to have gotten the chance to learn more about him and even glimpse of your start in his story. I bet it brought you closer to his memory and helped you get why he did not have talked about it.
I know lots of solders like him that never shared their story and they are left untold. Thanks for sharing his story with us!
Its a great reminder of the sacrifices they made for our freedom.
Thanks very much, Rich. I appreciate your taking the time to read the story, particularly given that it seems a protocol in commenting NOT to post a link to your own story.
It has been remarkable to learn so much about my Dad's experience on that day, June 6, 1944, and to learn, too, why so many of the men (and women) didn't talk about it.
Be well. I'm poking around your site, now. Looking forward to it.
Well told story. Amazing to find those photos. I think talking about their lives was not as acceptable as it is today. WWII and the depression silenced people. It certainly did my parents.
So true. Particularly in New England where, a time ago, you did not talk about yourself.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
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Wow! That's a story! And there's a story for every man and boy that was lost. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Douglas. It was a found story no question about it. I feel so blessed — and my extended family feels so blessed — that it came to me.
Geoffrey, Thank you for sharing your father's story. I am so deeply moved by every word of it. It seems our fathers were in the same places - Europe, Italy and Africa.
As a daughter of a WW 2 veteran I lived with that war every day in my home. He never would talk about. He was zipped up like most men who came home from that war....yet every Saturday he sat in front of our black and white TV watching reruns of Combat. Thanks again, love your writing.
So appreciate your commenting, Voge. Really means a lot.
So does what you said -- the silence about what it was like and watching "Combat!"
We did not have a TV until I was 11 when one of my father's patients entered his name in a raffle for a colored TV and won! He was beaming when he delivered it to my Dad. My Dad was gracious but not pleased. He said he had to accept it since the man was one of the many who my Dad didn't charge for medical care. He knew that this was his way of paying.
But the rule was, we could only watch it when he was around. Which he never was. Except when Combat! was on.
WOW….it seems that show gave all those men a way to process what they lived through.
It makes you wonder - how many homes had a similar scene every Saturday. That silence, that trauma is got me into the work I do now.