questions to ask a WW2 Veteran

[go toke up]

well, i was in WWII. it was sum scary shit. ask me anything, young friend.

[jdmarcus59]

I would just say thank you. then go watch Band of brothers

[micko]

What theater did you serve in (Asian or European)?

Did you ever question whether what you were doing was right?

What was the happiest day you remember when serving?

What was the most difficult day you remember when serving?

Have you ever seen any movies which you think accurately reflect some of the experoience you went through?

Do you think the Vietnam vets were treated unfairly?

What can you tell me about your feelings regarding the current conflict in Iraq?

Are there any regrets you have all these years later?

As an aside- I was in the military, and think that Full Metal Jacket is the only movie that ever came close to my experience. The rest were silly. Also, my grandfather's best friend was in the Army from 1939 until 1946. He was in the Battle of the Bulge and a number of other battles because he was infantry. Physically speaking, he was about 5' 6" and 130 lbs. He was wounded 3 times and was awarded 3 purple stars, and a Bronze Star retroactively many years later for surviving the battles his unit was involved in. He became a bookbinder after getting out and died alone in 1985, without ever marrying, and he refused to buy Japanese or German products, which would be difficult now. He was kind of an anti- Rambo, meek and unassuming, but I think the things he saw in the war really affected him. I was really young when I knew him, but remember him saying that he didn't want to get close to new guys because they got killed so often.

[PaRaNoIa]

Did you get the gun of your choice?

[LazySmoking420]

How many crows did you kill?

[higher4hockey]

ask him about camaraderie. i was in the military, and friends you meet in the military are a different kind of friends. when i talk about my experiences in the military, my friends and the things we did are the most fun experiences to talk about.

[blazed620]

Well heres the essay:


World War 2 seems so long ago; And it was, but for veterans of the war, it seems just like yesterday to them. My great uncle, Herbert ****** was in the war. He didn't fight in the war, but he did help keep the armies on the ground moving. Herb was an engineer for the Petroleum Distribution Company. Their primary mission was to design, construct, operate, and maintain military pipeline systems for transporting, distributing, and storing gasoline in a theatre of operations. They laid pipelines everywhere, putting pump stations every 10-15 miles. From North Africa, to Sicily, to Germany. Wherever General Patton and his army went, they followed not too far behind, supplying them with fuel.
After leaving the United States, the first place they were shipped to was North Africa. German snipers had to be taken out before they were deployed there. Herb described what it was like upon arriving there. "There were dead bodies floating in the harbor and we had to go pick them up and put them in the warehouse and stackem'. You always stack the bodies head to foot, head to foot, head to foot."
Laying pipeline isn't an easy job especially in bad conditions. "We worked in snow and sleet, and sometimes we were knee deep in mud." Herb explained, but these conditions were a lot better than the infantry's. "They would shoot their big toes off just to get shipped back to the United States. One general said "next one to do it, that will be it!" And from then on, there was no more of sticking the rifle down on your toe and pulling the trigger."
With all the work of building pump stations and laying pipelines they hardly found time to write back home. When they did write letters though, they had to be checked before sending them out. They would ink out things they didn't want you to say, such as naming specific places. Herb and his fellow engineers worked all day long, and at night is when they would finally get to somewhat relax.
Sometimes at night sirens would go off because of German air-raids. These were called "blackouts" because every light was to be put out, so the germans couldn't see the bases from the sky. Even a cigarette held in someone's hand could be seen thousands of feet up. "One night the air-raid sirens went off and I was working on the dock with my flashlight on, and it wouldn't go out for nothing. I beat it against the dock and against a post trying to get it to go out. Finally I threw it in the ocean, because thats the only thing I could think of to do. It's probably still burning down there to this day."
Herb continued working on these pipelines for about 4 years all the way into Germany, until the war finally ended. "The town exploded, Germans were even out in the street dancing, they wanted it over as bad as we did. Hitler should have been taken out a long time ago, and shot, and skinned, or whatever it is they did to them."
The sheer exicetment and joy felt when the war ended was something probably unimaginable. Something else unimaginable is trying to put myself in Herb's shoes. Even though he wasn't out there on the front line fighting he was still doing his part for his country. The work he did during the war is something that most people can't even begin to fathom, including me. This was all put into perspective as I ended the interview with my Great Uncle and thanked him for his time. "I'm just glad it was me instead of you there."

[slipknotpsycho]

.... who is herbert *******? lol... (put spaces between the letters)

[slipknotpsycho]

Hitler should have been taken out a long time ago, and shot, and skinned, or whatever it is they did to them."

my only suggestion, is to either take this out, or signify clearly it was a quote from your interview... as it is said in that report, it seems like you're inserting your own opinion into the article... which if the asignment is to interview a veteran, inserting your own opinions could bring the grade down...

nothign wrong with the line, but you have to make sure to make the teacher know it was your interview-ee's opinion and not your own :thumbsup:

good work..... all my reports through school were done on wars.... you know we average a major war every 20 years (and yes i knew that before i saw it on george carlins stand up)

the korean war is when women became a MAJOR part of the war field... the tactics known today as 'guirella' (i can't spell it now lol) were basicly invented by these women... these women were so 'good' they could take out entire us squads (a squad consisting of 12+ soldiers), only to move on to the next squad (meaning they go taway clean and free)

war is a natural animal emotion, tha tis what we are... animals... war is nothing more then large fights mixed with inteligence.....

what amazes me the most, is currently we are the smartest animals alive.... now imagine if every animal got the brain we have.... humans aren't actually the best hunters... we would fall straight from the top to the bottom if animals had our brains.... and yes that does relate to war.... we invent missiles that can fly 200 miles, and hit a target no bigger then 3 feet wide... yet we are actually just exempting primitivism...

[blazed620]

^^^ acctually, everything in quotes is what he said...and the end of that line about hitler has an end quotation mark. The beginning of the quotation mark is where he started talking.