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4th Infantry Div. vet wounded at the Hurtgen Forest


bellasilva
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Sometimes I love my job. Just lately I've been able to speak to a ton of veterans, and the past couple weeks have been great. I always stop and speak to the older crowd, out of respect and curiosity. Just last week I stopped and greeted a table of three gentlemen and from our conversation learned that two of them were in WWII and Korean War Naval Aviation, respectively. The third is a Vietnam War infantry vet who was happy to show a picture of himself that he had in his wallet of him at 20 years old holding an M60 in Vietnam, and also pulled out his old dog tag. He said he has his original Vietnam helmet set in his garage, all original with camo cover. I told him I'd love to see it.

 

Today was a treat. Speaking to the Vietnam vet was a gentleman in a wheelchair wearing a WWII 4th Infantry Division vet. He was very hard of hearing so speaking to him was a bit of a challenge, but he recalled to me how he didn't make it in time for the D Day landings, but he was an infantry grunt who referred to the Hurtgen Forest as the "black forest", as the trees were so tightly lined and line of sight was so poor that everything looked black, only looking up could you see the sunlight sometimes. He told me he was wounded when the Germans threw a hell of an artillery barrage at them and he got hit in the left shoulder. He was evacuated to England and operated on but made it back to march into Germany.

 

It was just an absolute thrill to talk to him and these other guys. I hope to be able to update this thread often with their stories as they are there almost every morning.

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it must have been a great experience. It's always great talking to vets.

 

Dave

It absolutely was. I can't wait to sit down on a day off and buy him a coffee and just have him talk my ear off. He seemed very willing to do so and him being 98 years old, I don't take that for granted. Wonderful guy, really
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BILL THE PATCH

Whenever I'm out shopping and meet any older gentleman I ask if he's a vet if he is I thank him first for his service

And all the vets I've met all of them were gracious and love to talk about time in service. It a good feeling seeing them really get into their stories. It makes them feel good also.

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USCapturephotos

Loved reading this thread as I have a real heart for the vets. My buddies and I all have "signature books" that we started years ago for when we met WW2 veterans...asking for their signatures really opened up the conversation and most were happy to oblige. I'm not meeting so many WW2 vets now sadly...so have been getting some more signatures from veterans from Korean and Vietnam. I got the idea a long time ago when I had heard of a boy in the early 1900's collecting signatures of Union veterans of the Civil War....and thought this is brilliant.

Thanks for sharing and taking the time.

Paul

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Paul- that's an excellent idea and I just might do the same! As a matter of fact I was thinking of asking one of his coffee buddies to snap a picture of him and I together and (with his permission of course) post it here. I had another great conversation with the Korean War Naval Aviation vet today who is a real ball buster, really great guy. I've shown him pictures of my display which he loves and I've heard him telling his buddies that he admires my dedication to the collecting of militaria.

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  • 3 weeks later...
bellasilva

So today I managed to sit down with this wonderful guy and have a more lengthy conversation with him. I was thrilled beyond words and asked him if he wouldn't mind having his picture taken with me. His daughter, who was born while he was still fighting overseas, took the picture.

post-104906-0-17718000-1431634718.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just a little update..upon speaking to this amazing gentleman again I learned that during the fighting at the Hurtgen Forest when he was wounded by artillery shrapnel, 4 pieces of shrapnel entered his left shoulder and he was immediately evacuated to a field hospital in France, and then to England where doctors were only able to remove two of the pieces of shrapnel..to this day there are still 2 pieces of shrapnel from that day in 1944 embedded in his shoulder. After this he was transferred to the 9th AAF in England where he served out the rest of his time in the war. Such an amazing experience hearing him talk about this

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USCapturephotos

Hey I loved seeing the photo of you two and reading this thread again. What an experience that you will always cherish. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Paul

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Hey I loved seeing the photo of you two and reading this thread again. What an experience that you will always cherish. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Paul

Thank you for the kind comments Paul, it was absolutely a conversation I won't forget. I've been seeing him here a lot more recently and don't want to crowd him with questions but it's just nice to know that some of these guys are still around and kicking, enjoying life as much as they can. It's a real treat when I can look over and at one table see 4 WWII vets, a Korean War vet, and a Vietnam vet all busting each other's stones over cups of coffee.

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