My lovely daughter #4's husband's grandfather died. I went up to Royal Center for the viewing this evening. I expected a mild turnout for a 92 year old but was pleasantly surprised to see quite a crowd. I stood in line for a good while and met all the cousins, and other family. I looked at his ww2 scrapbook. He was stationed in England during the war, fixing and patching up B17's and sending them back into battle.

My SIL said that nobody in the family knew about the scrapbook and that Grandpa never talked about his war experiences.

Apparently his family is all well adjusted and happy as the spirits at the viewing were celebratory (of his life), though nobody was drinking at all.

The old gent was very dark complected. My SIL attributes it to some Miami blood in the family tree. It is a farming family, much like the community I grew up in in northern Indiana.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Not a lot of those guys left anymore. They have really been fading away. It must have been the experience of a lifetime for the majority of them.

Some adjusted well after coming home and some perhaps never totally did. I too found that most participants in the second world war seldom spoke about it.

It is a generation thing.

These days we're all taught to out our experiences and whinge.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

When you have seen the ugliness of this type of death under those circumstances, you don't speak of it.

What do you think coroners talk about when they get together?
ANYTHING but the job.

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

Aw hell, some people talk about it a lot. Ever been to a VFW or American Legion Hall? Those guys still relive their glory days. Or Band of Brotehrs guys. Etc.

Others don't talk.

It's a mixed bag.