WWII veteran

[chloe]

WOW! I spent almost 2 hours talking on the phone with a WWII American veteran. It was an absolutely amazing experience. This man is 89 years old and he commanded a company that liberated the town I live in and work for. Unfortunately he got wounded in action a couple months before and was still in the hospital when his battallion fought in our town. But still, it was so touching to hear him speak of all that, and of his friends that actually were there and got killed, wounded or captured in our city. We ended up both crying on the phone.

I feel so blessed and honored that those young men sacrificed so much to make "us" free (even if I wasn't born! LOL) I'd love to have that man come here for a visit and meet my inlaws that were 10 years old at that time. I'm sure they would have a lot to share!

Okay, that was my surprising and touching experience :heart: of the day. Any you want to share too?:good:

[gonewiththewind]

Wow Chloe! What an incredible experience. Were you interviewing him for an article? How did you get in touch with him?

I haven't had any experiences like that to share.

[donnawells]

That is so cool! I heard something just the other day about how grateful the people there are for the Americans and what they did. I always worry that people dislike us and want our country to stay out, so it's nice to read something so positive for a change.

My own father fought in WWII and the Korean War. The first time in the Navy and the second time in the Army. He doesn't have super fantastic stories to tell, but I'm still proud of him and I find myself crying when I hear patriotic music or hear someone honoring our veterans.

Thanks for sharing that Chloe. I bet YOU made his day to listen and care the way you did.

[Charla]

What an awesome story! I've never had anything nearly that powerful...I did hear firsthand stories from a few Holocaust survivors, but they were talking to a large group, not one-on-one like that.

Very cool. I hope your inlaws do get to meet him! :heart:

[donnawells]

How and why did you get connected with that man today? Was it for your job? Is he someone that someone else knew?

[sinead]

CHloe, that's so cool! What an awesome conversation to have!

[chloe]

I'm working for our town, and we'll celebrate 65th anniversary of the town's liberation next week. Do you say liberation in English? Anyway, that's when the Allies set the town free from the Nazis during WWII.

The town went through the war without too much damage except for the last 2 months before liberation, when the Nazis and US soldiers where literally fighting in the town, road after road. There's a river in the middle of the town and that was the front line. At one point the Nazis surrounded an American batallion and took many prisoners (and probably killed several soldiers too). After that, the Americans bombed the city for about 2 months to kicked the Nazis out and finally managed to succeed. Those 2 months were really tough for the civilians, they were living in the basements to protect from the bombs, many people were killed and the 85% of the town was destroyed. Despite that, the people that lived that time are very thankful to the Americans.

I called that man because I was looking for some information about the US batallion that fought in our town and he's the president of the veterans' association. We planned to make a monument with the name of the US soldiers that died in our town, but after talking to him I don't think it'll be possible: they had better thing to do (like, fight and survive the chaos) at that time than tracking the soldiers that died, where and when they died. But I hope we'll still make a monument to celebrate this sacrifice in a general way, even if we don't have specific names to list. That's definitely something that should be remembered and honored. I'll have to talk about it to the mayor tomorrow.

Donna, there is some "Anti-Americans" feeling in France too, but here in Alsace they remember more vividly what they owe the US Army since this area was considered as Germany by the Nazis. They were forbidden to speak French, they couldn't give French names to their babies, even the existing names were changed sometimes (Imagine that one day you're named Marc, and the other day Markus... weird, uh?). Anyway, even if we don't always agree to the US policies, we remember what this country made for our during WWII.

[donnawells]

WOW! That's wonderful. You tell a great story. I'm so glad you were able to talk to him. I know he felt honored. For a long time our WWII veterans were kind of taken for granted but they are, in the past few years, getting the recognition they deserve.

Yes we say liberation.

[heathert]

Ohh, I got goosebumps reading your story and the account of the conversation... The horrors of those wars are still strong, after so many years...

[snaggletooth75]

:heart: They are pretty amazing aren't they! That is so incredible though.
Nothing has touched me more than the veterans. I volunteer at the VA in my area and they totally make my day LOL
Some sing to me, they reminise about the past, some are troubled and I do what I can to make them smile. Hubby is an Iraq vet with PTSD so vets hold a place in my heart




WOW! I spent almost 2 hours talking on the phone with a WWII American veteran. It was an absolutely amazing experience. This man is 89 years old and he commanded a company that liberated the town I live in and work for. Unfortunately he got wounded in action a couple months before and was still in the hospital when his battallion fought in our town. But still, it was so touching to hear him speak of all that, and of his friends that actually were there and got killed, wounded or captured in our city. We ended up both crying on the phone.

I feel so blessed and honored that those young men sacrificed so much to make "us" free (even if I wasn't born! LOL) I'd love to have that man come here for a visit and meet my inlaws that were 10 years old at that time. I'm sure they would have a lot to share!

Okay, that was my surprising and touching experience :heart: of the day. Any you want to share too?:good:

[CariCreates]

Thanks so much for sharing that - how wonderful and amazing! Our son serves in the US Navy, as did my hubby, and hubby's family has a long history of service, including a grandfather who was a POW during WWII for many years. It is such a blessing to hear how your town is recognizing the sacrifices young men made there so many years ago. What a wonderful legacy for the people of your town to pass on to generations.

[nativescrapper]

that is so cool!