You thought wrong. FF lied and told people that I claimed two PHs. It was one which I stated clearly.

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An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

I already said I misspoke.

Let's hurry this process up Hawk. As others have noted, this isn't a days long task. Put up or shut the fuck up.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

When are you going to finish looking through your boxes?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

One, three, ten, whatever. Take a couple pics and send them to JOrr. Instead of insulting people, take 90seconds to prove yourself.

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My grandfather had a purple heart from a would he received from a FW190 that shot thru his oxygen mask and took out part of his face. He never talked about it, wouldn't talk about it (other than him telling my dad once that he watched thousands of people die as their bombs landed... he was a tail gunner). All his medals were found in a shoe box in his attic when we cleaned out the house.
Hes got a lot of medals and ribbons. I dont know what most of them mean but he must have been a real motherfucker cause theres quite a few of them.
Anyhow. Not everyone displays medals and ribbons. He hid them.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Was he posting on the internet about them?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Right. Not everybody talks about them. But it sounds like your grandfather was nothing like The Hawk.

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No. He was a very quiet and reserved man. He died when I was 10 so I really dont remember much about him other than he loved white Russians, the Cubs, and knockin down ducks. During the season we'd have a few roast ducks. Legit chow.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

In fact, I've got his jacket and his patches and wings in a sealed box in my closet. The jacket sint in great shape but the patches and wings look pretty damn cool.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Your granddad sounds a little like a good friend of mine.

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GODDAMN IT! Look, just because we're bereaved, that doesn't make us saps!

He died in 87. So... no.
But I understand what you're saying. If he were still alive today hed probably still have em in a box and never speak of his service time. My pops said he asked all the time and gramps wouldn't talk about it.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Panther is still trying to convince his brother in law to pose for the picture

Soon as Amazon delivers the MAGA hat and the fake beard, he'll send the pics.

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Yeah I get it. I wish I had gotten more stories from my grandparents about their time in war even if they left the really bad stuff out they really didn't want to talk about.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

My Dad did two tours. Tells all of two stories about it and a third aside. That's it. As a kid he showed us a slide show of pictures of villages and the people from his LZ. Never talked to my mom about it or anyone. They had a reunion and all of the guys underneath him that made it out were there and all talked about how messed up they were and how my dad should go talk to someone and get help.He was like "Why? I'm good." My dad is pretty neutral, non emotional guy. I'm sure this had an affect on him but my guess is his childhood had a bigger one (His dad was not a spare the rod kind of guy) My friend's Dad was served once. He had some medals. Never saw them but he would show you where he still had shrapnel from a mine that took out two of is squad. He had a different attitude about him although he eventually drank himself to death.

I find it all very interesting and I regret not talking to my Grandfather more about his service. He was a career guy and was at the Battle of the Bulge. My dad has told me a few stories of his but they had more to do with how he left the army or how fortune smiled on him when he got sick and missed a deployment twice. I don't know if it is generational, if it is their personalities or what but the captain and the Colonel just don't/didn't share. Of course that isn't limited to military service.

Could this be a story of a grief-stricken shut-in son taking on the life of his recently deceased father in a desperate attempt finally seek the approval he never received from said father, knowing that he has already forever lost the chance to look into the eyes of a proud dad?

I'd feel a little bad, I admit.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I believe FF was in during Operation Iraqi Freedom; he can clarify this of course.

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

I was in from 2008-2011 but never went overseas. Signed two signup sheets but I was in the Engineer corps and they didn’t need as many of those units at that point I guess. Being stuck in Louisiana for three years was more of a driving force in not re-enlisting than anything else.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Brings back disturbing memories for some, especially when he said the part about watching thousands of people die. My dad was in the medical field during the Vietnam; served in Korea and saw some of the injuries the Vietnam troops sustained. He wouldn't talk about what he saw.

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

My old man also fought in Alsace-Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge. Never talked about it much except little things here and there like how they got a real turkey dinner for Christmas but then had to pull back under heavy fire and didn't get to eat it. Also how he got sick from drinking Calvados or what they called applejack. Bill Gleason from The Sportswriters was in his division (the 103d) and they sat together and talked White Sox baseball at one of the reunions. I remember my dad being excited about that.

He got out and attended DePaul on the G.I. Bill. He was going to be a chemistry professor. He was only a few hours short of his Bachelor's and he got recalled for Korea. Because he had already served overseas in WWII he was able to select the Air Force and got to stay stateside during the war. He helped open up and manage the commissary at Rantoul. But he always wore the cactus patch on his Air Force uniform. He told me if anyone ever asked about it, he said, "I earned it." When he was ready to be discharged he had almost seven years in between his two stints and considered being a career man, but then he thought, "Nah, this sucks." So he came back to Chicago and went back to DePaul but he felt weird because this time he was really a lot older than everyone else. So he said, "Fuck it, I better go get a job." He walked in a bank and applied as a teller.

He also had a bunch of medals. I still have them. I don't know what all of them are. I have the Bronze Star in the original box though. One thing he told me was that the only one that mattered to him at all was the Combat Infantryman's badge. He said it was the only one that counted. A couple years ago I read Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and in it O'Brien writes about the Combat Infantryman's badge in almost exactly the same words my dad used. I kind of got a chill.

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Don't take it personally.

The Things They Carried is phenomenal

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

My dad signed up for the National Guard to avoid going to Vietnam. He's my hero.

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Loved it.

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After my Dad's first tour he re upped before talking to my mom because he didn't know what else he was going to do with his life (Or something like that). My mom said that was the maddest she has ever been at him.

I think I've posted this here before, but my Mom's dad and his brother were both on the ground in Europe during WWII. Both were captured by Nazi's and marched across Europe. One day, as a few different groups of prisoners were taking a much needed break, that the two of them ran into each other. What a feeling that must have been for the both of them.

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That's a crazy story!

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Don't take it personally.

Great stories. Jorr your Dad is correct for a infantryman a CIB is huge.

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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

My Dad was a PFC in the Army during World War 2.

PFC, the rank so great FF earned it three times.

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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Yeah, that was. His other Nam books were great, too.