Memorial Day

[UKFlounder]

There used to be a lot of neat postcards like this


Attachment 7113

[kingcat]

[CitizenBBN]

Interestingly I sold some vintage post cards just this weekend including some rare holiday cards. At the turn of the century it was a common practice. Memorial day, Halloween, all kinds of holidays you sent cards.

I also sold some classic french nude cards. They got a lot more clicks... (that's true btw)

[UKFlounder]

I have a couple dozen old post cards, but my favorite is a leather post card of Lincoln. I bought it and was fascinated by it, thinking I had found some great deal, but I looked them up and though they only lasted a few years, they are not generally very valuable. My Lincoln one, however, is worth more to me than it’s supposed market value. It’s just so different than anything I had ever seen.

[blueboss]

Wasn’t sure where to post these, obviously I went with the Memorial Day thread.

My second cousin found these photos in her fathers belongings. They are actual phots taken from the window of his flying fortress while on bombing runs in Germany. The flight log notes accompanying the photos were dated from 12-24-44 to 1-1-45.

Pretty cool stuff from my great uncle (my mother’s father’s brother; my grandfathers brother).


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[UKFlounder]

Very cool!

[Darrell KSR]

Those are amazing, blueboss.

[blueboss]

Their bomber was named “The Milk Wagon”. The photograph shows them after a successful run over Germany. They look pretty exhausted after an 8 hour bombing run. My uncle is on the far left.

[blueboss]

Log notes that my uncle jotted down after a few of their missions.


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[CitizenBBN]

Just curious if you have any pics of their nose art, if any. One of my favorite subjects.

In that log is the line "could see battle line in Belgium". Wow.

That's great stuff.

[blueboss]

Just curious if you have any pics of their nose art, if any. One of my favorite subjects.

In that log is the line "could see battle line in Belgium". Wow.

That's great stuff.

Yeah, note number 5, the reference to the battle line in Belgium and the date makes it the battle of the bulge. Wow is right...

I listened to a video of a talk he gave to a college in Springfield Mo where he’s/I’m from. He references the raids on the rail lines in the Ardenne Forrest. He said they used delayed fused bombs that would not detonate for a week or two, to discourage repair work on the rails after the initial bombing runs.

I’ll see about nose photos...


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[blueboss]

Here’s the confirmation of the name and data on the bomber. There is a letter my uncle sent home to his mother (my great grandmother) where he references the 129 mission record, reassuring her not to worry because it was the safest plane in the Air Force.




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[blueboss]

My great uncle is standing/middle


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[Darrell KSR]

Amazing stuff, blueboss. Thanks for taking the time to share those and provide your comments. Really enjoying it.

[blueboss]

Note number 6 reference mid air collision and “Bates crew got it” he lost a long time friend that day. My cousin referenced an article that stated the survival rate of the 8th airborne guys wasn’t good, 2/3 were killed in battle during WWII... pretty high mortality rate.

I also find the “flack” references and flight times interesting. Most of the missions were around 8 hours. So for 8 hours at 25,000 feet with no pressurized aircrafts the temperatures were often -25 to -50 degrees. So not only did they have to wear heated suits, they also had to wear O2 masks. All while dodging anti-aircraft fire, fighter planes, and still completing their bombing raids.


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[kingcat]

Thanks for that Boss

[suncat05]

Note number 6 reference mid air collision and “Bates crew got it” he lost a long time friend that day. My cousin referenced an article that stated the survival rate of the 8th airborne guys wasn’t good, 2/3 were killed in battle during WWII... pretty high mortality rate.

I also find the “flack” references and flight times interesting. Most of the missions were around 8 hours. So for 8 hours at 25,000 feet with no pressurized aircrafts the tempmeratures were often -25 to -50 degrees. So not only did they have to wear heated suits, they also had to wear O2 masks. All while dodging anti-aircraft fire, fighter planes, and still completing their bombing raids.


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The reference to seeing the battle line in Belgium on 12-24-1944 was bone chilling to me. My Dad was in the 101st Airborne. Take a guess where he was on that Christmas Eve?
And the reference to the other air crew they lost over Germany was very chilling too.
These men & women that fought and won that war were truly "The Greatest Generation".

[blueboss]

Hopefully your father was given a small amount of peace of mind when he heard the unmistakable sound of the B-17’s flying over head bringing the guys on the ground a glimmer of hope....




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[blueboss]

My great uncle is standing/middle


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Oh yeah, did I mention he was around 20 years old at the time of the photo...

Think about that. 20 year olds running those bombing runs.

The young men fighting in battles from the Revolutionary War to the current conflicts, where does the courage come from?


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[CitizenBBN]

very cool stuff. that site had a good pic of the nose art:

[blueboss]

very cool stuff. that site had a good pic of the nose art:

I drove around in there and couldn’t find it. Where did you locate it?


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[suncat05]

Hopefully your father was given a small amount of peace of mind when he heard the unmistakable sound of the B-17’s flying over head bringing the guys on the ground a glimmer of hope....




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My Dad loved General Patton. As in really loved him, said Patton was a real tough guy. Also said Patton talked too much, but that he was someone who could back up what he said.
That said, my Dad was not much of a talker, was very quiet. But when you looked at him, you could literally see the wheels turning in his eyes.
And when he said something, you could take it to the bank, because it was always gold.
Which brings me to the movie "Patton". As I said, Dad was a huge Patton man. Thought Patton could do no wrong. But........during the movie, and in the scene where the American command staff was trying to figure out a way to get to the Ardennes Forest, Patton is reputed to have said that his 3rd Army group would respond to Belguim to "save" the 101st from the Germans.
My Dad erupted into a cursing fit. And he seldom cursed. As in this particular instance I heard him say more curse words than I ever heard him say before or after. And after he calmed down, he told me that they (the 101st) didn't need to be "saved", that they had the God%$&# Germans right where they wanted them. On the ropes. Fixing to get whipped.
Dad said they were glad the 3rd Army got there, but that they really didn't need them or their help. The 101st had everything under control.

THAT is why they were the "Greatest Generation".

[blueboss]

My Dad loved General Patton. As in really loved him, said Patton was a real tough guy. Also said Patton talked too much, but that he was someone who could back up what he said.
That said, my Dad was not much of a talker, was very quiet. But when you looked at him, you could literally see the wheels turning in his eyes.
And when he said something, you could take it to the bank, because it was always gold.
Which brings me to the movie "Patton". As I said, Dad was a huge Patton man. Thought Patton could do no wrong. But........during the movie, and in the scene where the American command staff was trying to figure out a way to get to the Ardennes Forest, Patton is reputed to have said that his 3rd Army group would respond to Belguim to "save" the 101st from the Germans.
My Dad erupted into a cursing fit. And he seldom cursed. As in this particular instance I heard him say more curse words than I ever heard him say before or after. And after he calmed down, he told me that they (the 101st) didn't need to be "saved", that they had the God%$&# Germans right where they wanted them. On the ropes. Fixing to get whipped.
Dad said they were glad the 3rd Army got there, but that they really didn't need them or their help. The 101st had everything under control.

THAT is why they were the "Greatest Generation".

I’m sure the 477th Bomb Squadron flew a little easier on those bombing runs over the Ardennes,knowing the 101st was on the ground kicking tail and taking names... glad he made it.


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[CitizenBBN]

I drove around in there and couldn’t find it. Where did you locate it?


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http://www.447bg.com/43-37756.htm

Scroll down. Has 3-4 different shots of it.

[blueboss]

http://www.447bg.com/43-37756.htm

Scroll down. Has 3-4 different shots of it.

Thanks...


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[blueboss]

Here’s a few more entries from the flight notes.




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[blueboss]

My Dad loved General Patton. As in really loved him, said Patton was a real tough guy. Also said Patton talked too much, but that he was someone who could back up what he said.
That said, my Dad was not much of a talker, was very quiet. But when you looked at him, you could literally see the wheels turning in his eyes.
And when he said something, you could take it to the bank, because it was always gold.
Which brings me to the movie "Patton". As I said, Dad was a huge Patton man. Thought Patton could do no wrong. But........during the movie, and in the scene where the American command staff was trying to figure out a way to get to the Ardennes Forest, Patton is reputed to have said that his 3rd Army group would respond to Belguim to "save" the 101st from the Germans.
My Dad erupted into a cursing fit. And he seldom cursed. As in this particular instance I heard him say more curse words than I ever heard him say before or after. And after he calmed down, he told me that they (the 101st) didn't need to be "saved", that they had the God%$&# Germans right where they wanted them. On the ropes. Fixing to get whipped.
Dad said they were glad the 3rd Army got there, but that they really didn't need them or their help. The 101st had everything under control.

THAT is why they were the "Greatest Generation".

Patton, the movie is on tonight at 8:00 on the HDNM ( HDNetMovies)movie channel.


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[badrose]

Barbara Walters writes:
Unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our country, but specific men who served and sacrificed during the Vietnam War.

The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot. The pilot's name is Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat. In 1968, the former Commandant of the USAF Survival School was a POW in Ho LoPrison, the "Hanoi Hilton."

Dragged from a stinking cesspit of a cell, cleaned, fed, and dressed in clean PJ's, he was ordered to describe for a visiting American "peace activist" the "lenient and humane treatment" he'd received.

He spat at Ms. Fonda, was clubbed, and was dragged away. During the subsequent beating, he fell forward onto the camp commandant 's feet, which sent that officer berserk.

In 1978, the Air Force Colonel still suffered from double vision (which permanently ended his flying career) from the Commandant's frenzied application of a wooden baton.

From 1963-65, Col. Larry Carrigan was in the 47FW/DO (F-4E's). He spent 6 years in the "Hanoi Hilton". . . The first three of which his family only knew he was "missing in action." His wife lived on faith that he was still alive. His group, too, got the cleaned-up, fed and clothed routine in preparation for a "peace delegation" visit.

They, however, had time and devised a plan to get word to the world that they were alive and still survived. Each man secreted a tiny piece of paper, with his Social Security Number on it, in the palm of his hand. When paraded before Ms. Fonda and a cameraman, she walked the line, shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging snippets like: "Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?" and "Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors?" Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her their sliver of paper.

She took them all without missing a beat. . . At the end of the line and once the camera stopped rolling, to the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned to the officer in charge and handed him all the little pieces of paper...
Three men died from the subsequent beatings. Colonel Carrigan was almost number four but he survived, which is the only reason we know of her actions that day.

I was a civilian economic development adviser in Vietnam, and was captured by the North Vietnamese communists in South Vietnam in 1968, and held prisoner for over 5 years.

I spent 27 months in solitary confinement; one year in a cage in Cambodia; and one year in a 'black box' in Hanoi. My North Vietnamese captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female missionary, a nurse in a leprosarium in Banme Thuot, South Vietnam, whom I buried in the jungle near the Cambodian border. At one time, I weighed only about 90 lbs. (My normal weight is 170 lbs.)

We were Jane Fonda's "war criminals."

When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi, I was asked by the camp communist political officer if I would be willing to meet with her. I said yes, for I wanted to tell her about the real treatment we POWs received. . . and how different it was from the treatment purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by her as "humane and lenient."

Because of this, I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees, with my arms outstretched with a large steel weight placed on my hands, and beaten with a bamboo cane.

I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda soon after I was released. I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on TV. She never did answer me.

These first-hand experiences do not exemplify someone who should be honored as part of "100 Years of Great Women." Lest we forget. . . "100 Years of Great Women" should never include a traitor whose hands are covered with the blood of so many patriots.

There are few things I have strong visceral reactions to, but Hanoi Jane's participation in blatant treason, is one of them. Please take the time to forward to as many people as you possibly can. It will eventually end up on her computer, and she needs to know that we will never forget.

RONALD D. SAMPSON, CMSgt,
USAF 716 Maintenance Squadron,
Chief of Maintenance DSN: 875-6431 COMM: 883-6343