I had a great uncle, married to my grandma's youngest sister, who had worked 4 years in the West Virginia coal mines before he went into the army. He served as a medic, went into Normandy a couple of days after D-Day and ended the war without a scratch in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. He enjoyed telling me (when my aunt wasn't around) about the Calvados in Normandy. When they couldn't easily tap the barrels, they put a 5 gallon bucket underneath and shot a hole in the barrel. When they needed a refill, they shot a little lower. He told me how in Pilsen they liberated a warehouse full of schnapps, wine, etc., and said with a smile, "we had a good time in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia".

He had a close call during the Battle of the Bulge when his coat tail got a couple of holes shot in it. He was discharged in November, 1945 and went back to work in the mines the first Monday in December. 5 hours into that first shift, there was an accident with the shuttle cars. His back was broken and he had a compound fracture of his leg. The guy he was working with wanted to get him out, but Uncle Richard told him no, go get help. The doctor told him later that he saved his own life, that he surely would have died right there if the man had moved him. Uncle Richard made a complete recovery and worked another 40 years in the mines.

He was a good man, good natured and easy to get along with. He wouldn't talk about anything specific about the bad stuff he saw until about 5 years before he passed, in 2004.

Last edited by AlleghenyMountain; 09/17/19. Reason: Added more info