My grandpa was in the Pacific as well. He was still in radio training school on VJ day so by the time he got over there he was part of the cleanup crew. He was doing burn pits, and got burned.
Grandpa’s brothers were much older. One died of pneumonia at Great Lakes Naval Station and the other…I don’t know. It’s possible he did a stint and was already out by D-Day.
My Grandfather was an Army motor pool Sergeant in Burma.
My father was exempt because he had a wife and kids and was working on essential projects in Alaska. My stepfather was, I believe, in the Pacific theater, but he almost never talked about it, so I’m not entirely sure about it.
My maternal grandfather was too old. My paternal grandfather was busy having polio. My father was a toddler. I am not aware of any family member who served during WWII.
It sounds like he was in the Seabees (Construction Battalion).
My father was 14, so he wasn’t involved. His father was 51 and worked at Bethlehem Steel. My other grandfather was 32 and was never in the military. My older uncles weren’t there either - not sure when/where they served.
Coincidentally, my husband’s aunt is 80 today.
Yes, I agree, so much so that I presumed it went without saying.
Not that their service got the recognition it deserved; it wasn’t until 1988 that they were given veterans’ status and benefits.
The men who served with the Merchant Marine during World War II, hauling precious cargo around the world, pulled the most dangerous duty during that war. But veterans’ status and benefits were denied the Mariners until 1988.
Working sometimes without escort and with only modest fire power aboard, the ships of the Merchant Marine sailed through mine fields and dodged submarines and bombers to deliver invaluable cargo everywhere from Arctic Russia to the Persian Gulf. For over 60 years, these brave men were denied formal military recognition.
My father’s ship did convoy escort service in the North Atlantic before D-Day.
Hmm. I was sure that my parents bought their first house in 1952 with help from the VA (or whoever was doing veterans’ home loans). Maybe it was just regular FHA; they had such a low rate that he didn’t want to pay off the mortgage even though he could have later.
Your link doesn’t seem to point to that information, here is something more direct:
When did the Merchant Marine get veteran status for WWII service?
Section 401 of Public Law 95-202 , The GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977, authorized the Secretary of Defense to determine whether the service of members of civilian or contractual groups should be considered active duty for the purposes of all laws administered by VA. Several applications for veteran status for merchant marine service were denied by the Civilian Military Service Review Board set up by the Department of Defense to make such determinations. Mariners Schumacher, Willner, and Reid, sued the Secretary of the Air Force, Edward C. Aldridge, Jr. [665 F. Supp. 41 (D.D.C. 1987)]. The judge ordered the Board to reconsider their denial and the Board granted veteran status to most WWII mariners on January 19, 1988. Mariners who went to sea after August 15, 1945, serving in wartime in hazardous waters, got veteran status on November 11, 1998.
I think the biggest reason my father didn’t want to go back into the army was that, having already served in that service he knew what to expect, and he didn’t suffer fools gladly. Also he liked the idea of being a civilian; he could always refuse a posting on one ship if he already knew the captain or officers were jerks, and wait for a better one (up to a point). He also once said something about not wanting to be cannon fodder as a GI.
My father wasn’t there on that day. He came a few days later as part of the signal corps.
When we went to the theater to see the movie The Longest Day my father leaned over to me and whispered “I was there”
In all innocence I responded “Who played you?”
My one grandfather was an essential farmer, specifically milk production.
My other grandfather was an engineer at a company involved with aircraft manufacturing, also considered essential.
My parents were both born doing the war.
I imagine there must have been mixed feelings in some of those who were military age but exempt as essential – relief at being spared the dangers, horrors, etc. of military service, to be sure, but perhaps feeling as if they were doing less for the war effort than they ought?
My father joined the MM very late in the war as an 18 year old, but did say the only U-Boat he saw was at a dock after the war was over.
The company still exists in some form.
My father was too young. His father, my Grandfather, had served in France in WW1 and was sent to England in early WW2 but was invalided back to Canada after a training accident. On D-Day I believe he was still in Labrador commanding a unit testing motor toboggans (an early form of snowmobile) for possible use in Norway.
One uncle died in the invasion of Sicily (Congressional Medal of Honor). My mother’s twin brother died in the D Day campaign (Army) remains never returned. My father, her husband, served in Europe (Army) and liberated concentration camps but would never talk anything about it so we never knew about him and D Day. His brother, my paternal uncle, flew in Europe in the Army Air Corp, bailed out over occupied territory, hid, after a few days stole a Messerschmidt and flew it back to England. I guess it was tricky convincing the allies to let him land. He flew fighters in Korea, went into the Air Force, as a Colonel training the South Vietnamese Air Force, he died in a dog fight somewhere where we American citizens were told we weren’t flying (over border into. Cambodia). MIA March, 1964. The family eventually got an empty casket with a few bone fragments to bury at Arlington. His name is on the first panel of the Vietnam Memorial, I was there at its dedication.
I have the impression that a lot of veterans who came back from WWII never talked about what they’d been through.
Same.
Seabees sounds familiar, that may have been it. It would be nice if he was still around to ask, but he’s been gone some 30 years.