Wonderful.
I assume that he flew in the First World War.
Have you any photos of the Tiger Moth?
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Spoilers What Movie Are You Watching?
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Wonderful.
I assume that he flew in the First World War.
Have you any photos of the Tiger Moth?
My dad served/fought in the Philippines near the end of WWII.
He never really spoke about it.
One day he was sitting in my kitchen and we were talking about Saving Private Ryan and other war movies.
Not sure what made him speak up but he opened up about some of the stuff he saw and did over there.
He left saying, "He'd tell me more...", the next time we got together after his impending surgery.
He passed away two weeks later after having spent almost 10 days in a coma in the ICU after having part of his esophagus removed.
His stories, to say the least, were bleak.
Wasn't sure if I should include what he told me, somewhat graphic:
He was an eyewitness to a lot of the woman throwing themselves and their babies off of cliffs to avoid "being eaten" by US soldiers. Several flame thrower stories. He also said early morning, read still pretty dark out, chow lines could be the most dangerous times. Sometimes they would hold hands so no one could sneak up and drag them off. Japanese soldiers would sneak up behind them and use a garrote and pull them off into the woods or a hole etc etc.
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Yes WWI. My mother has the photos. Including the numerous crashed planes he survived over the years. He died in 1992, so I knew him quite well as he lived just down the road.
The only time my Grandad spoke about WWII was when my dad told him we were going to Caen on holiday. He said there were bodies piled up as high as the houses.
Thanks for sharing. I'd imagine that it was a sense that if he didn't speak up then, the story of that part of his life might die with him, as indeed was almost the case - a sense of time rapidly about to run out, and that it was important to pass on what he knew and had experienced.
In the cases where I heard these amazing stories, the grandfather was usually relaxed over dinner (and wine), somewhat gratified at an audience, and - finally - clearly came to a decision to share some of what had happened and break his lengthy silence. The family always sat there, awestruck, silent, hardly breathing; often, I would be the only person to ask questions and I would make it clear how honoured I was that these stories were being shared - the grandfather would usually give the impression of being dismissive, but was secretly pleased - pleased, too that the family (who wouldn't have dared raise this stuff but were happy that I did) got to hear about it.
Usually, though, it was easier to open up in such a way with the generation after their own children - i.e. their grandchildren.
In the case of my uncle and aunt, I was the only person in the family interested in my aunt's war stories - after her husband's death, she had travelled with the Allied armies up Italy and into Austria - and she was more than happy to leave these effects to me.
We've been in England since January and half of that time I was deployed so we never really needed to get another TV. And to be honest it doesn't bother me too much that we only have the 1 tv because if we are both home together we are either eating or in bed watching TV so it would be almost pointless to get another. Revenge really isn't that bad of a TV show but you can see the whole series' plot line after the 2nd season.
Yeh. I wasn't sure if he had a sense of an impending doom, or just realized he might want to share in case something bad might happen. Either way I suppose.
In Dunkirk I was surprised by the sense of failure the British soldiers wer going through. I'm glad the British people shown didn't seem to share that emotion.
Was the story arc in the film about "George" a true one?
That isn't too uncommon and I speak from experience.
Thanks for reminding me that I still need to watch Dunkirk!
I can't say, as I haven't seen the movie "Dunkirk" - I'm abroad at the moment, - but I have read widely on that era and spoken to people who survived it.
Agreed.
But - and this was only pointed out to me by a friend whose dad had been a colonel but who (as he had been commissioned as a young officer very, very late in WW2, while he himself hadn't served on active duty - knew many who had served) - while they didn't speak of it, they - that war generation - consumed vast quantities of alcohol which for some served as a coping mechanism and enabled their silence.
Only recently - a few years ago, when I returned on leave from a prior posting - he (the son, my friend) reminded me to keep my eyes open while watching any of those British TV series of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s - stories which featured the war generation as they aged - and - as he said, quoting his father, - they always, but always, poured themselves a drink before they did anything else in a scene. This was very true to life.
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People still use alcohol as a coping mechanism. I drink but don't use it as a coping mechanism especially after seeing alcohol ruining peoples lives. Because I worked too hard to get to where I am and I refuse to let alcohol be the reason I lose what I have. When I left active duty and was in the reserves before being recalled to active duty I considered writing a book about what I have seen throughout my deployments but I am not sure what is still sensitive information so I decided against it so instead I
The US Navy did a hard core reversal in the 1980’s on alcohol consumption, even to get rid of happy hour at the O Club. I wonder how that is treated in a state of war today?
The O Club where I am stationed is a joke. But to answer your question I am not sure.
With no intent of upsetting anyone, I did not care for Dunkirk (2017)- It was not what I expected or possibly I was ignorant to expect something different. I thought we were going to see a battle leading up to a rescue. It was little pieces of this and that of suffering, with a constant drone of tension music in the background. Sometimes when something is too real, it better suited to a documentary. 
With no intent of upsetting anyone, I did not care for Dunkirk (2017)- It was not what I expected or possibly I was ignorant to expect something different. I thought we were going to see a battle leading up to a rescue. It was little pieces of this and that of suffering, with a constant drone of tension music in the background. Sometimes when something is too real, it better suited to a documentary.
i really liked this film but the story telling/sequence was pretty confusing, especially when you consider the fact that all the main characters looked alike! lol. apparently no, or very few, blonde headed or ginger headed englishlmen were allowed to serve.
I figured out we were jumping around to 3 or 4 different characters.
The spitfire sequences were the best, for obvious reasons, although those too were hard to illustrate the dynamics of dog fighting. And it just did not feel like I witnessed 300k soldiers being rescued, although Commander Bolton told us so at the end. As I said, I think it was my expectations problem.
To my mind, the least good of the seven books (although there were some very good bits); the movie is okay.
I've never actually read the books. I have the complete set in my daughter's bedroom. But I'm not going there.
The books are brilliant, I have to say. I'd recommend them highly.
Retrieve them from Miss AFB's room, and reclaim them - they are well worth reading.
I loved all of the books, and movies!
I liked how this story started as a child’s narrative, it felt simplistic, (although that may be too harsh a word) and the wizarding world seemed like mostly a happy place, but as it progressed, got more complex and dark. I realize this was because the target audience vested in the books, besides the adults, were growing up.
You're right. I should reread the books since I have them on my iPad.I loved all of the books, and movies!
I liked how this story started as a child’s narrative, it felt simplistic, (although that may be too harsh a word) and the wizarding world seemed like mostly a happy place, but as it progressed, got more complex and dark. I realize this was because the target audience vested in the books, besides the adults, were growing up.