# Just a few of these heros left



## Pappy (May 22, 2013)

My Dad, far right, two years ago on his Honor flight to Washington, DC. All of these gentlemen were in the first wave to hit Iwo Jima, WW2. Thank you all for protecting our freedom. Dad is still going strong at 97.


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## pchinvegas (May 22, 2013)

I remember as a toddler standing on the seat next to my Dad as we took him to work and saluting this on the way in the gate at Quantico.


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## That Guy (May 22, 2013)

I'm glad your dad is still going, Pappy.  I lost mine in early 2001 and am just grateful he didn't have to witness 9/11.

My father was a career Naval Aviator; a Mustang (worked his way up from seaman to officer).  He was wounded at the attack on Pearl Harbor, flew combat in the Aleutians, the Solomons and Korea.  On  his deathbed, I was able to tell him he was my hero.


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## Pappy (May 22, 2013)

This picture was taken in Guadacanal in early 40s. My step- father is on the left. He said he had malaria shortly after this was taken.  

I use to build models of planes and the Mustang and the P-38 twin fuselage were my favorites. I bet your dad had some great stories to tell.


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## That Guy (May 23, 2013)

Pappy said:


> I bet your dad had some great stories to tell.



My dad didn't tell many stories.  In dealing with the ghosts of my own experience in Vietnam, I gained an adult's perspective on his life as a fighter pilot.  Sometimes, and vary rarely, he would just say something about the war and usually nobody was listening.  I find the same happens to me.  Even when people say they care and they want to know, they aren't ready when it comes out.


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## Pappy (May 23, 2013)

Dad opened up after his Honor flight to Washington. Before that he never said much. Now I understand why. The things these young men saw, no one show be subjected to.


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## SeaBreeze (May 23, 2013)

Great photos Pappy, so nice you still have your Dad at the age of 97, he must've enjoyed that Honor Flight very much.   That Guy, sorry you lost your father, but it's wonderful that you were able to let him know he was your hero before he passed.  Much thanks to you, and all who have served our country.


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## TWHRider (May 24, 2013)

What wonderful pictures and memories!

My dad was in the army but was carried to battle, during the Korean Conflict, on the USS Intrepid.  We lost dad 30 years ago, just short of his 65th Bday, to a rare form of leukemia that I can't pronounce the formal name but the layman's name is "hairy cell leukemia".

I have some mementoes of his military time but this thread is a reminder that I need to ship everything to my baby brother for his son & daughter, since I no longer have anyone to pass these things onto.


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## Ozarkgal (May 24, 2013)

I will take time to remember my father, a WWII Army veteran, my ex-husband, now deceased, Viet Nam war Marine veteran, and my hubby a Navy veteran, survivor of the Viet Nam war and the battleship Enterprise explosion. 

 I am thankful for and humbled by all the men and women who sacrificed so many things to honorably serve our great country to keep our flag proudly flying, so we may enjoy the freedoms that we take for granted everyday. 

A special thank you to Pappy's father, That Guy and his father for being part of what makes this country great.


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## SeaBreeze (May 25, 2013)

TWHRider and Ozarkgal, sorry for your losses, they're all looking down on us this weekend, and feeling the warmth of all the love and memories. :glitter-heart:


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## Pappy (May 26, 2013)

Some of our equipment left on beaches of Iwo Jima.


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## That Guy (Jun 6, 2013)

*June 6, 1944


*





Over 110,000 casualties on both sides.


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## oldman (Oct 7, 2017)

I remember going to Hawaii and the men that wore green uniforms were men that were stationed there on the morning of December 7th, 1941. They were they, so that people could approach them and ask them questions about that fateful morning, yet very few people took advantage of the opportunity. I had a guy cornered for an hour and 50 minutes. I think that he was thinking, "I wish this guy would just go away."


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## hearlady (Oct 11, 2017)

I have one patient left that was in WW2. He is in his nineties. He was part of a mission that flew low under the radar to deliver food behind the lines. 
He does a lot of writing about his experience and has had a magazine article written. 
Very interesting man.


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