WWII discussion

[Dr. Blackheart]

Really great story Dr.

It leaves me wondering, why did he have to be in the front lines?  Presumably you can't set up a new government until after the fighting is done.?

He was working in advance with the French Underground.  They knew the collaborators going in who needed to be rounded up and who they were going to set up in the new government. They had to restore order immediately and services, set up Army Command, clear roads, issue new money, arrange for food and water. The army may move on in pursuit but they were to set up shop in his assigned city.

Remember, it was French neighbor vs. neighbor in many cases. The scars are still there today in these Normandy towns I hear.

[jutaw22mu]

The New York Times published a story yesterday that seems relevant to this topic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/us/marines-mystery-herman-mulligan.html

These stories always make me wistful, mostly because of lines like this:

"In the years after the war, he was reclassified as “unrecoverable,” and the family that knew him gradually died off, until his memory was almost as lost as his bones."

Thanks for sharing this story.

[jutaw22mu]

My grandfather, the little guy on the left, served in the Pacific and was a medic during the war.  I don't know of any great stories from the war because he didn't talk about it, but I know he refused to buy Japanese goods/cars or eat Asian food his whole life.

Before the war he became an orphan at 3 yrs old because his parents were victims of the flu.  His uncle sent him and his siblings to live in an orphanage. After he graduated high school, the only this he got from his uncle was a car.  He drove around the country for a year doing odd jobs to make money. He got called back to his uncles house and found out he had been drafted.

After the war he went to University of New Orleans on the GI bill, then Marquette for graduate school.  He met my grandmother at MU, most likely all because he served in the war!!!

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

My grandfather, the little guy on the left, served in the Pacific and was a medic during the war.  I don't know of any great stories from the war because he didn't talk about it, but I know he refused to buy Japanese goods/cars or eat Asian food his whole life.

My grandfather was the same way. Refused to buy any Japanese goods from cars to anything Nintendo.