Veterans "oral" histories

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Those are some very neat pictures,and I think our Grandfather could pass as Elvis!His experience during D Day must have been horrifying.I know that most movies are just movies but I think that saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers are two of the most genuine I have ever seen.I especially liked the real soldiers that were talking on and off during Band of Brothers and how they felt the movie depicited the actual events as they really occured.Another great movie is We were Soldiers with Mel Gibson,the real Colonel that Gibson portrayed was said that when on the set and all the NVC came charging from the base of the mountain cave that he reached for his pistol in his shoulder holster to defend himself then realized that it was just a movie shoot and not real and that he did not have a pistol on! I thought if they can make the scenes that make the actual people that were there feel that way it is a pretty accurate description of the events that occured.I am a War Movie Buff and have seen just about every movie made at least twice and some many more.Prefer to watch the quality movies like Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan,and We were Soldiers,those 3 are the all time best War movies ever made because of the realistic scenes and true Stories behind them.

God Bless All Veterans




Bobby Dodson

[427TJ]

"Saving Private Ryan" was one of the best war movies ever made. No gung-ho bullshi_, but rather the awful horror of combat. My wife and I went to see it and when the movie ended the theater kept the lights at a dim setting and none of the patrons moved for about five minutes. All you could hear were snifs and coughs as people got themselves together, me included. Oh, and when the P-51 Mustangs came in and knocked out the German armor the whole theater cheered. Nice to see real WWII fighters used in a movie instead of models.

Yes, "We Were Soldiers" was another fine movie. Casting Sam Elliot as the grizzled old sergeant was a master stroke. Not as explicit as Private Ryan but every bit as good.

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427TJ

Those were some very cool pictures you posted! The job you did in the Gulf is and was just as important as the Fighter Pilots and bombers and the Soldiers on the ground.Without you and the other tanker pilots and crews the Fighters and Bombers could not have performed ther jobs.It is all TEAMWORK working toward a common GOAL which is to DEFEAT the ENEMY.Thumbs up to you and your crew and to all the others,your life was on the line just like the rest of the TEAM.

Bobby Dodson

Frank and others thanks for sharing some pics and thoughts..

I was on the ground during the Gulf and I can say we greatly appreciated the air support, both combatant and non-combatant. It really makes our jobs easier...No matter whether you are an operator, a grunt, an aviator, a supply guy or a cook, it goes without saying you have to have teamwork. You can't be an operator without the "3 B's,"....


I ended up at a local gunshow today and was surprised to get a chance to talk to a couple of WWII vets, a guy from the 29th (Blue and Grey) who took part in the landings at Normandy, and an old guy from the 2nd "SS" Das Reich. It was interesting to hear their stories and of course understand that they were on opposing sides, yet the core of their stories was very similar..young kids wishing they were home, fighting a war neither wanted, and of course trying to make do. I don't think the political ideology really comes into play as much, the first time a round impacts near you...I must say in speaking to both vets they both thought "Saving Private Ryan," did a great job of portraying war as realistically as possible. I know from my own experiences it was as close as I've seen minus the smells..

I'm giving some serious thought to doing some traveling this summer and if anyone is interested I'd consider a group effort. I actully live in the heart of the Civil War battlefields, having land that was actually an encampment and field hospital during the 1862 camapaign to take Richmond. If anyone has an interest in the Civil War I'll be happy to act as a local guide when visiting. Hope to continue this discussion.

Semper Fi,

Gregory

Just as a side bar..I usually go to Wash DC at least once every 2-3 months (it is only 90 miles north of me). I will be going back this moth or the first of April...If anyone wants anything from the Vietnam's Veterans' Memorial (commonly known as "The Wall.") let me know and I'll pick it up for you...There are many stands around there that sell t-shirts, lapel pins, and of course MIA bracelets..I encourage everyone to wear a MIA bracelet (I haven't taken mine off in over 14 years), and show your support of the POW/MIA's..I will also make traces of any names on the wall if you can supply me with the name..Just PM me...

Semper Fi,

Gregory

[427TJ]

In 1995 I talked to a man named Richard Fiske who is a docent at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor and a WWII veteran. You may have seen him on History Channel specials as well. He was a crewman (marines) on the battleship U.S.S. Pennsylvania on December 7th, 1941 and he and I talked for over an hour about that day as well as his other WWII combat experiences. In 1945 he went ashore during the invasion of Iwo Jima and took a spent shell fragment in the leg. He then reached into his pocket and showed me a buffalo nickel that was shaped like a funnel. The spent shell fragment hit his leg right where his coin purse was and the impact bent the nickel into a funnel shape! Yes, it knocked him out for a moment and his whole side was bruised but he kept advancing that bloody day. I just stood there in awe and listened to his stories and I kept getting him to tell more. At one point I told him that I had been a KC-135 pilot and his face lit up. He had been a KC-135 crew chief in the 1960s after he had transferred out of the marines ("too dangerous" as he said) and into the air force. He retired from the air force in 1969. One of the sad moments as he talked was the fact that he still, to that day in 1995 when we talked, heard what he described as knocking at his front door in the middle of the night. He said he'd wake up and answer the door and no one was ever there. He soon realized that he had been having dreams in which he was hearing the men trapped in the capsized battleship Oklahoma (at Pearl Harbor) using hammers to beat on the overturned hull in desperate pleas for rescue. I just stood there in shock and his eyes welled up. Can you imagine? Almost 60 years later and he still hears those guys trapped in the Oklahoma pounding on the hull with hammers--men he knew and men who slowly died trapped in that ship. Some of the Okalhoma's men were rescued but many slowly died in the weeks after the attack. Mr. Fiske said that by Christmas (1941) the sounds coming from the Oklahoma had finally ceased. My wife and I both thanked him and gave him a hug, a firm handshake, and a pat on the back. I then went into the gift shop, bought a book on the battleship Arizona (I have a huge library) and Dick Fiske gladly put an inscription on the frontspiece. My wife took a photo of Dick and I together and it's in the front of that book. One last note. Dick Fiske told me that he had been having dreams about the war for many years and it finally got to the point where he decided to move back to Hawaii "to be close to those guys," and he pointed toward battleship row.

Tom Brokaw called those men and women the "Greatest Generation" and he's right.

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Those are some great stories,I watched the program and I think I remember Mr Fiske,it was a very interesting program.But also you guys in the Gulf are just as important to people like me!You may not have the stories to share of your own like Mr. Fiske and the stories you guys have may not be as Historical as Pearl Harbor but just as important to this Country in my book.Not to take anything away from the people that served in any of the other wars such as WWI,WWII,Korea,Vietnam and others, this is just my opinion.I have the deepest respect in my heart for all Veterans of all wars,and to all people serving this Great Country now as I post this message.Where would we all be now if it were not for all you Veterans!My Greatest thanks to all of you guys and gals that are Veterans.I love the classic car discussions but this has to be one of the best discussions I have had in a long time.

Bobby Dodson

[Turbo_Jet]

I've always been interested in military history as well, especially WWII and Vietnam. I found a neat site the other day that has a few stories about MACV/SOG teams in Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia. Here's the link for ya'll--> http://www.macvsog.org/ The stories that are on that site are unreal, these men were simply amazing.