My great uncle was a fighter pilot in WW2 and I have cousin in Afghanistan. I'm joining the reserves (Infantry) next summer a year after that going to join regulars.
I researched a little and found out my great grandfather didn't serve in WWII only his brothers did. IDon't know why. My great great grandfather was German army during the first world War. His sons wereUnited StatesArmy during the second. Mygrandfather neverserved becausethe Army rejected him due to severe Asthma which may be the reason why his father didn't serve.My other grandfather Never really went into detail about his grandfathers. Supposedly his father was a defected Nazi that served with allied forces before he came to the United States to live in aGerman townwithin Pennsylvania. My grandfather ended up leaving Pennsylvania and coming to Ohio for work.
My Great Grandfather was in the second World War. My grandfather compiled a book of all sorts of things his dad wrote and photos from during the war, including letters to his sister back at home.
Both my grandfathers were in the Navy during World War II. One of them visited Hiroshima after the bomb. The other never really talked much about his experiences.
Both great grandfathers fought in WWII, I believe they also fought in WWI or maybe their dads did. As for my dad and grandpa, they had to be in the military due to the Commies controlling Poland, but never fought in a war.
My grandfather and his brother (My great uncle) both served in WWII. Grandpa was injured in the course of his service in the European theater and recieved a Purple Heart. His brother wasn't as fortunate and lost his life in the Pacific Theater. Interesting side note: they never took out the bullet in my grandpa. It was wedged in his pelvis and wasn't moving nor was his body leeching anything out of the slug. They decided it would be much more painful and riskier to remove the bullet so there it stayed.
My dad is one of4 sons (same side of the family as the aforementioned WWII vets). They cancelled the draft less than a week before my dad's 18th birthday. All 3 of his older brothers were drafted, one of which didn't go because he had a criminal record. He got bustedwhen he was 17for driving with alcohol on his breath so they held him until his dad came to get him. On the way out, he kicked one of those "Uncle Sam Wants You" boards and it broke. He was charged with Destruction of Government property. The other two went. One was on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific and the other was in the jungles. Neither of them talk about their experience (the unclewho went to the jungle passed away two years ago)so I'm not sure what happened to either of them. I just know they were there. Another intersting note: A freind of my dad, whose birthday was 2 days after dad's, was so paranoid about getting drafted so he was trying to get dad to pre-register and join the Army instead of waiting to be drafted. Dad decided he was going to wait but the friend went for it and signed up...then they cancelled the draft and neither of them would have been drafted. Of course, the motivation for joining instead of being drafted was that being drafted was a 4 year hitch but enlisting was only 2. Drafted you weren't given a choice of which branch of the armed forces you joined but enlisting let you choose. And enlisting with a friend meant that both of you would stay together from basic straight through to deployment.
I've had relatives fight in ww1, both my grandfathers were in the air force in WW2 as well as a relative who fought with the Spanish partisans. One of my uncles was in the airforce during Vietnam.
My Grampy on my dads side served in WW2 as a communications guy in England and France. And my Abuelo on my moms side fought in the Bay of Pigs in Cuba before immigrating to the US.
My grandfather was with the Marines on Wake Island when the Japanese attacked. He was almost executed on the airfield tarmac along with the rest of the captured American soldiers. The captured American forces on Wake Island were the first American POWs in WW II. The Japanese shipped my grandfather to various POW labor camps all over China and Japan. He was finally liberated in Tokyo by U.S. forces.
I still have his WW II combat service ribbon and POW ribbon.
Yes. My Uncle was with the PLO back in the 70s. He fought the Israelis in the 1973 October War. His left leg was blown off from a landmine during the war and now he has a wooden leg like a pirate.
My Pops was in 'Nam for 18 months and then spent a year in Thailand supporting it. He was a photo interpreter who analyzed imagery taken from reconnaissance aircraft and the like. While there is no actual fighting, I served a couple of months in Korea which is still technically a war zone.
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