Absolutely
My father signed up for the marines- and saw action in Guadalcanal (I have everywhere else he was, if you are interested.) In the heavy fighting he received a battlefield promotion, contracted Malaria, became malnourished, and was wounded. He was shipped to Australia to mend- and while there he wrote to someone in the military, I will find out who, if you are interested, asking to become a gunner in the marine air corps. My dad must have impressed someone (and some of my father's friends from back then tell me he was quite an impressive guy- he was smart, and educated (he read a lot on his own, and later majored in history and library science on the GI Bill) and he was sent back to the states for gunnery school. When he finished gunnery school, he was sent to several islands in the Pacific- I copied out some of his letters that I found recently- I will post you one. I have all his V-mail, and all his letters- that were sent to my uncle, my aunt, and my grandmother and grandfather. I also have his journals, his flying log, and many other war-related papers. Fascinating stuff.
My father was the second most remarkable man I have ever known. He was an agnostic in a foxhole; he was a liberal patriot; and he was (imo) a really great man. I'll link one of his letters to this post.
Message 20043862 |
