Last PA WWI Veteran

[thelastresort]

I know this has nothing to do with Wildwood, but I figured some of you history buffs and fellow PA'ers out there would appreciate this.

www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061020/NEWS01/610200332&SearchID=73260450397677

Sleep well, my good man. RIP.

Amen.

[mickeyfinz]

WOW...WHAT STORIES HE WOULD HAVE.
WW II VETS ARE PASSING AT A RATE OF 1000 PER DAY!!
I like the by line,"If you can read this, Thank A Teacher", "If You Can Read It In English, Thank A Vet".
mickeyfinz-USN

[Al Alven]

Thanks for passing this along, TLR.

Considering that the guy was already 107 and was PA's last surviving WWI vet, it's a shame that more stories weren't written about him prior to his passing.

Amazing man and an amazing story, though.

It's stories like this, actually, that always leave me missing my grandparents, and wishing I would have had the sense to ask them so much more than I ever did.

[thelastresort]

mickeyfinz said:

WOW...WHAT STORIES HE WOULD HAVE.
WW II VETS ARE PASSING AT A RATE OF 1000 PER DAY!!
I like the by line,"If you can read this, Thank A Teacher", "If You Can Read It In English, Thank A Vet".
mickeyfinz-USN

actually, I heard 3000 per day. sad. Too bad we don't have a few of those guys leading our troops today.

[scca28]

I just had a facinating phone conversation with a WWII vet who was in the same tank battalion as my dad. My dad passed away in '99 and since then I had been piecing together his wartime experience. About a year ago I spoke with another gentleman from the same outfit after I mailed him some copys of photos and documents my dad brought home with him. He wanted to see the rest of the stuff my dad came home with, but we kept missing each other either at my house or his. Now, a year later, through this recent phone call, I find out he too passed away about a month earlier. I never got to meet this nice man face to face, but I still feel lucky to have been able to share some of my dad's war souveniers with him.
When my dad was alive, I used to ask him to write down some of the things he remembered from the war, but he always declined, saying" Ah, nobody wants to hear them old storys anymore". Well, after he passed, I wrote down all the storys from him that I could remember, and sure enough, there was a web master who was very interested in this information. He posted a web site dedicated to my dad and he starts out by saying if you have a family member who was in the war, please take the time to talk with them, take notes or record them, and save this important information for future generations (including your own family). Once these guys and gals are gone, that's it. I only wish I had asked more questions while my dad was here.

[thelastresort]

Interesting scca28, personally, my dad was a few years too young for WWII, but I had 4 uncles in it, one was a POW captured right before the Battle of the Bulge, but he died when I was only a young teenager so I didn't get to talk to him at all about it. Over the last 10 years or so, I wish I had talked to more of the guys in my dad's neighborhood, if they were willing to talk about it. Sadly, most are gone now...

[mickeyfinz]

Good post scca28: My dad, a PROUD WWII Vet (PA 28th Infantry), Bronze Star and Purple Heart from action in The Phillipines is now in Loyalton Assisted Living in CMCH. He is 81 yrs oldand wheelchair bound. I am named after his brother that was in The Battle of The Bulge and didn't come home. (It was Uncle Mickey...NOT Mickeyfinz)
I would love to rent out a movie theater in Cape May Co and treat all the vets in the area to a free showing of "Flags of our Fathers". It would get them out, see other vets again, talk about some shared experiences that they are reluctent (to this day) to talk about with other people, and just create a sense of "Thank You".

[scca28]

Nice thoughts guys, thanks for sharing. Keep your eyes open on Memorial Day. This year we were at a parade in the upper NE Philly area and there was an old fellow there, sitting near us with his wife, and he had his uniform on. As the parade was clearing up we walked over and started to talk with them. He was with the Rangers and he asked me if I saw Saving Private Ryan. He lived through everything in that movie. Showed us some war wound scars, talked about a few experiences in the war. But mostly, I find anyway, these guys just want to talk about their life in general, not so much about the war. All the vets I talked with have told me about their children, their careers, where they grew up and where they live now, etc. And they want to know the same about my dad and our family. His storys he did share with us were so facinating I wanted to take him home with us! Anyway, his wife was getting tired and they had to get going, but we promised to be back at the same spot for next years parade. There was another WWII vet there (also wearing a uniform) a little further down the road. He crossed the street to our side and he had to climb up an embankment to get on top of the hill where everyone was sitting. You know, not one person got up to give this guy a hand. By the time I made my way over there this old soldier had already made his way up to the top. I hope these guys are back for next years parade and that I will get the chance to help them in some way.

[thelastresort]

speaking of WWII vets scca, don't know if you know this, but Major Winters from "Band of Brothers" lives near Hershey PA. Supposedly, there is a bridge and other things named after him. He is nearing 90, though, and his official website

www.majorthingywinters.com/

requests some privacy after all these years.

I just noticed that this filter on this board changes the guy's name "d-ck" to "thingy". so you need to put the four letter "d" word in place of "thingy" in the above string if you want to link to his website from here, ridiculous.

[scca28]

thelastresort said:

speaking of WWII vets scca, don't know if you know this, but Major Winters from "Band of Brothers" lives near Hershey PA. Supposedly, there is a bridge and other things named after him. He is nearing 90, though, and his official website

www.majorthingywinters.com/

I never saw his website before, thank you. Tons of great links inside, some I've seen already, some I haven't, but nice to have all that info in one place.
A couple of years ago I wrote to the Army requesting my dad's military records. Most of the records of these guys were lost in a fire a long time ago, but they were able to send me a two page document that covered the basics of his induction and tour of duty. If anyone is interested, family members can still request this and it is a nice thing to have. I have to look up the link again if anyone wants it.
Also, here is the link to my dad's pages, starts with an overwiew, goes into his storys then at the bottom if you click "next" you can view a lot of documents and photos he brought home with him.http://www.thetroubleshooters.com/702nd/nelson0001.html

[fuzzyscorpio]

thelastresort said:

I just noticed that this filter on this board changes the guy's name "d-ck" to "thingy". so you need to put the four letter "d" word in place of "thingy" in the above string if you want to link to his website from here, ridiculous.

Maddening, isn't it? not to mention silly... I first encountered this little quirk in a post where someone mentioned D-i-c-k Clark and either didn't preview or didn't know how to get around it--I think another member subsequently demonstrated that interspacing defeats this programming bit, we'll see here. [edit: added the hyphens to try to stop it breaking at the end of a line... because I like to torture myself with this kind of stuff ]

I said it then, and I'll say it again: Some things just cannot be automated.

[thelastresort]

very interesting about your dad, scca28. thanks for sharing this.