The Greatest Generation
 

Met one the other day. You have undoubtedly seen them . Standing outside local stores, wearing red blazers and wearing their VFW piss-cutters. Handing out little red flowers to those who stop and make a donation.
Saturday, in case you missed the memo, was Armed Forces Day.
Well, I stopped to chat with this old timer, asked him what branch he was in, when he served, etc. He told me he enlisted in the Navy in 1944, when he turned seventeen and dropped out of High school. He told me he served aboard the destroyer USS Walke. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Walke_(DD-723)
Interestingly, the Walke participated in the Normandy D-Day Landings, then was among the ships sent to the Pacific after D-Day and the liberation of France lessened the need for Naval vessels in the Atlantic. I asked him about his Pacific experience and all he said was he missed most of the late WW2 landings, and never really went in harm's way.:confused: He was in the 3rd Fleet, and if he was aboard for most of '45, he probably did see some hot action. He smiled and his eyes sparkled when he talked about a visit to New Zealand and how the folks treated the Americans, how grateful they were, and how they shared their food and drink with the soldiers and sailors, even though they had little to share.
We talked for about 10 minutes. He said he had to sit down. I shook his hand, thanked him and moved on. :)


.......during the time I spoke to him, only two other people made donations. One guy was wearing an Army cap. The other was a former Coastie.

Yeah, who can argue with the greatest generation label? Great guys as a group for sure....not too many left either.

Thanks for the thread. My dad, uncles and others being WWII vets I've heard about it all my life. For those who haven't I recommend that you strike up conversations like dynalow. They aren't correctly called the greatest generation for nothing.

Some people are born to greatness and others have it thrust upon them.

I have never met any of these guys that thought they did anything that anyone else would not have done, and all of them also say it was a team effort.

For all of you younger types.... Talk to these guys now since they will not be around forever. I am old enough to have been able to talk to the Sons of Civil War vets and even they could tell some weird stories they heard from the old guys when they were young.

I have a next door neighbor that barely survived Normandy. He's hard of hearing, but we enjoy a cup of coffee on the front porch nearly daily when it's warm. He recently lost his wife of 65 years...she fell down the stairs, and never fully recovered. She suffered for 4 months, mostly at home. My wife and I cooked for him often during those days. We still cook him meals about once a week.

My kids take turns cutting his grass, and he employed my boy to pressure wash his house a few weeks ago. My son sits and listens intently when he speaks about his time in the military. His own grandkids and great grands ignore him, but my son adores the guy.

My father was an engineer at Normandy. Utah Beach. The engineers came ashore first to clear it and cache ammo. All my uncles fought. One survived Tarawa. One was army during the war and then re-upped to the marines for Korea. I remember that particular uncle broke down in tears and begged his son; my cousin, not to enlist during Viet Nam.
For the most part they never spoke about their experiences. I think they probably talked among themselves when they were on hunting trips that were mostly just excuses to get together in private and drink. I know what I know about their service from looking things up.
What's a piss-cutter?

Spent many an hour whiling away the time at the local American Legion, buying $1 beers for the old timers in exchange for their stories.

Think they really enjoyed the telling more than the drinking, but getting free drinks in exchange for the telling was like a dream come true for many of them.
Even the ones who wouldn't share easily would eventually get caught up and enter the conversation.

Give this video 55 seconds. If this doesn't move you, nothing will.
Grandpa, were you a hero in the war? [VIDEO]
-Antony

It's a flat, folding cap that tucks under the belt. Also called a garrison cap because it was used in garrison, whereas saucer caps were used outside of garrison, especially if you were an officer.

The piss cutter is a nicer name for the garrison cap, mwhich looks like something that you know of that has folds in it...
The other name for a garrison cap is a c*** cap, at least in the Army.

That vessel was def in harm's way during the Pacific war... long lasting ship, lots of history, three wars...

Walke (DD-723) earned six battle stars during World War II, four battle stars in the Korean War, and seven battle stars for Vietnam service.

I've heard the second one, shoulda known. Thanks

My grandpa was a Marine and called my Army JROTC cover a "pisser cap".. When viewed from the right angle it looks like the certain anatomy of a woman....

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...k_Stirrup.jpeg

Those are piss-cutters, pisser caps, etc.. All branches had them during that time and now I am not really sure.

The gent I spoke told me that the Walke was a Sumner class DD. I told him I vaguely recalled hearing the name USS Sumner during the 60's, but I didn't recall the name Walke.( In fact, I first thought he said Walker till I googled it:o) Good reason. She was probably homeported on the West Coast for most of her post-WW2 service. Other side of the world from here.

My father was one of them. RN though, not USN. Served in the Indian Ocean and then Burma, before finishing up in Britain.

- Peter.

You're a good neighbor JP. You are welcome next door to me any time.