Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Don't forget VE Day

77 years ago, today. God speed to all those man that didn't make it home and God bless all those who answered the call.

I wasn't around yet on that day, but I recall stories of it. Like how a serviceman could walk into a bar and drink till he passed out without spending a penny. And how the ink was barely dry on the surrender papers and Uncle Sam was into Germany's V-2 Rocket plant packing up anything & everything and shipping it to the states.

All of the WWII vets that I knew are gone now.

At least they're still remembered. Vietnam Veterans Day was totally ignored, even by most of the military.

Same here, and I was fortunate to have known quite a few. May they all rest in the peace they so richly deserve.

We stand on the shoulders of, GIANTS!

That is the absolute truth!!

God Bless the Great Warriors!

My father was flying his B-17 on an air to air gunnery practice mission over the Gulf Of Mexico just before heading to England as an 8th. Air Force replacement crew, when the news of the German surrender came over the commercial radio station he was listening to. He turned the audio onto the intercom for his crew to hear. One by one, every gunner on the plane locked down their triggers and burned out all 14 .50 caliber machine guns on the plane. They spent the rest of the war flying coast patol and search and rescue out of Florida, since B-17's didn't have the range needed to bomb Japan. That was up to the B-29's. The dark humor about B-29 training at McDill AFB was "One A Day In Tampa Bay!" B-29's were notorious for multiple engine failures and crews lost over the Gulf, never to be found.

Ralph Meyer, a Good! family fried served in the US Army.

"Home of the free, because of the Brave."

B-29s had problems? Who knew?

Just read a summary of the closing chapters of the Pacific Theater/Hiroshima/Nagasaki and learned something interesting. When Bockscar took off one of the fuel valves for reserve fuel was not functional. They took off anyway from Tinian. There were delays over the primary target due to weather and after dropping the bomb on Nagasaki they diverted to Okinawa. They could not raise the tower and made an emergency landing, using flares to let them know they had a problem. They landed with one engine shut down and the second shut down after they touched down and a higher speed than appropriate. They came close to losing control of the aircraft and spinning into oblivion, but made a recovery and brought the beast to a stop.

Now that I think about it, I do not now know of a single WW II vet that is still alive. There are still some, but very few are left. They were everywhere when I was a short person, my father, his brother, his brother-in-law, and his three cousins included. Most everyone's father or uncle it seemed was either a WW II or Korean War vet. Back then there were still a few WW I vets around, but they were mostly all gone by the time I was a teenager. All are gone now. Such is the journey of life.

Yes sir, the same with me. My dad and 2 uncles were in WWII. My last uncle died in 2011. He was probably the last WWII vet I recall talking to.

I've also recall learning German when I was 12-13 from a neighbor that had a concentration number tattoo on her arm. The things I didn't know to ask when I was young, that I wish I would have asked.

Dad"s gone 30 years, uncles even longer. My godfather moved out of the area years ago, and I lost track of him. He was a tail gunner in B-24s over Europe. Dad was North Africa, Sicily, and Italy; Uncles were in the Pacific. Good men, all.

Last Uncle that fought in the Big #II was a Marine who spent time in the Pacific, was minus 3 fingers on his left hand from a sword cut passed away at 98 three years ago. Never talked about it but his wife told me he woke up screaming and sweating a lot at night. He was a gentle soul and a fine man.

We owe so much to these men, and to those who served after them in Korea and Viet Nam, and we let them down by allowing their sacrifice to be wasted on these people in Washington that strive to deep six our Republic.

Same here; including my dad, two uncles, scoutmasters, teachers, dads of childhood friends, old bosses, etc... Once upon a time my world seemed filled with WW2 vets. Some of you old guys may recall when you met another kid back in the 1950's and as you two were getting acquainted one of the questions would inevitably be; " what did your dad do during the war?" Still have one living uncle that served in the Navy during Korea and he will be 92 soon but he's in pretty good shape for his age. God Bless 'Em All.

Most kids, and people under 35 in general, probably can't tell you who we fought or when.

"Only 58% of residents know that the United States declared its independence in 1776. 26% are unsure, and 16% mentioned another date.

There are age differences on this question. Younger Americans are the least likely to know the correct answer. Only 31% of adults younger than 30 say that 1776 is the year in which the United States broke away from Great Britain. 59% of residents between 30 and 44 report the same. Americans 45 to 59 — 75% — are the age group most likely to have the correct answer. Among those 60 and older, 60% report that 1776 is the year in which the United States declared its independence.

When it comes to gender, men — 65% — are more likely to respond with 1776 than are women — 52%.

And, for the second year, about one in four Americans doesn’t know from which country the United States declared its independence. While 76% correctly cite Great Britain, 19% are unsure, and 5% mention another country"

I'd bet a fist full of money most people under 35 can't tell you who we fought in Korea and Vietnam.

L.W.

One of the mechanics who worked at the family auto repair shop in the 1950's was an Air Force ground support troop at one of the B-29 bases, possibly Saipan? He said it was not unusual to have one or two engine failures on the B-29's on every mission. I've seen pictures of a storage area with hundreds of engines sitting there ready to be swapped out. The B-17 was far more rugged and reliable than either the B-24 or the B-29, but it was obsolete, and simply didn't have the speed, altitude capability, or range to make the long hauls across the Pacific to attack Japan.