Bastogne, Christmas eve, 1944

[edporch]

Back in the late 1970's I worked at a college summer break job in my old hometown where a man who'd been in the 101st Airborne Gliders also worked.
Some days I went on the road with him.

I never got him to talk much about his experiences, but he did tell me some things.

For starters, he told me he saw things nobody should ever have to see.

He said he was dropped in behind enemy lines on D-Day in "one of those god d*amned gliders!", but wouldn't say any more about D-Day.

He said he was also later at Bastogne.
One day I got him to begin talking about Bastogne.
He said a little, then said, "They had us surrounded. They kept shooting, and shooting, and shooting, and shooting.... (which he repeated over and over with a look in his eyes like he was reliving it).
He then came back and got really quiet.

He walked with a bit of a limp, as he'd been wounded in the hip.
Said "I cuss the Germans with every step I take!".
And even though the war had been over for 30+ years, it was clear he still hated the Germans.

In doing other genealogical research at the local library, looking through old papers, I did run across a story about him and found that he'd been twice wounded in combat.

People who knew his family well told me that up til his dying day, he had frequent nightmares, and his wife knew to NEVER touch him to wake him up, as he'd come up swinging.

My point is, the war really affected this man, and countless others who saw a lot of action.
We owe these men a debt we can never repay.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Back in the late 1970's I worked at a college summer break job in my old hometown where a man who'd been in the 101st Airborne Gliders also worked.
Some days I went on the road with him.

I never got him to talk much about his experiences, but he did tell me some things.

For starters, he told me he saw things nobody should ever have to see.

He said he was dropped in behind enemy lines on D-Day in "one of those god d*amned gliders!", but wouldn't say any more about D-Day.

He said he was also later at Bastogne.
One day I got him to begin talking about Bastogne.
He said a little, then said, "They had us surrounded. They kept shooting, and shooting, and shooting, and shooting.... (which he repeated over and over with a look in his eyes like he was reliving it).
He then came back and got really quiet.

He walked with a bit of a limp, as he'd been wounded in the hip.
Said "I cuss the Germans with every step I take!".
And even though the war had been over for 30+ years, it was clear he still hated the Germans.

In doing other genealogical research at the local library, looking through old papers, I did run across a story about him and found that he'd been twice wounded in combat.

People who knew his family well told me that up til his dying day, he had frequent nightmares, and his wife knew to NEVER touch him to wake him up, as he'd come up swinging.

My point is, the war really affected this man, and countless others who saw a lot of action.
We owe these men a debt we can never repay.

We seem to think of PTSD as a relatively new phenomenon, but I think a lot of the "old" soldiers just hid it better. I can't fathom some of the horrors that they must have seen and lived through.

 

[Sylvain]

We seem to think of PTSD as a relatively new phenomenon, but I think a lot of the "old" soldiers just hid it better. I can't fathom some of the horrors that they must have seen and lived through.

Some of those young soldiers were the first to enter, and liberate, Nazi concentration camps at the end of the war.

They went through stuff that you don't even see during "regular wars".

 

[JR50]

I don't know the details so this isn't much of a story. It's more of a tribute to my uncle Joe. Thirty-five years ago my wife and I went to see him in hospice. Regarding the Battle of the Bulge, he mentioned lying in a ditch covered in snow as the Germans walked on the road, very, very, close by. I didn't press him for more of a story.
Also, here's a tribute to my dad who was in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific at that time.

My wife is from Belgium. Years ago we visited Bastogne and heard the story of a woman who ran a bar/cafe. She reported to the Germans that American tanks were near when she knew that was false. The German tanks wasted precious fuel in the pursuit of the nonexistent American tanks. She's a hero, too.

 

[SEIndSAM]

 

[Leadeye]

An old veteran at work told me the difference between young and old is that when you get old in the army, if you get old at all, you learn not to volunteer.

He volunteered to go with the crew of a 90mm AA gun loaded with AP to a crossroads on the northern shoulder and wait for German tanks. He said it was really cold and everybody there thought they had been forgotten, maybe the Germans were already behind them. Finally a lone German tank clattered into view on the road and they fired a shot at it and missed, the tank fired once and missed, he fired his rifle at the tank and figured he missed as well. The tank retreated and other than being cold and hungry that ended his involvement in the Ardennes offensive.

He had a variety of stories from his time in the European theater, all had the theme of doing stupid things when he was young that he would never do again.

 

[edporch]

We seem to think of PTSD as a relatively new phenomenon, but I think a lot of the "old" soldiers just hid it better. I can't fathom some of the horrors that they must have seen and lived through.

True.
In WW1 it was shell shock
In WW2 it was combat fatigue
Today it's PTSD.

Yes, the old soldiers may have kept it to themselves more.
I'm sure there were many men who had nightmares, came up swinging if suddenly awakened, etc.
But families kept these things to themselves more than today.

This brings back to mind a friend of mine.
His dad had an old WW1 era 1911 pistol that his father (or grandfather) used in WW1.

When I was shown this pistol, I was also told that this man for the rest of his life would have nightmares and at times wake up screaming in the middle of the night.

Further, I remember a teacher that taught at the high school I went to.
Sudden loud noises would set him off.
I remember some of the wise *ss kids thought it was funny.
At times they even intentionally make loud noises to get him to jump.
He often told them, "DON'T YOU KNOW I WAS IN A WAR!".

The story used to be around school that he'd been in the Battle of the Bulge, pinned down in a foxhole for 3 days.

He, like the man I spoke of in my previous post who'd been in the 101st, both were men who discreetly were drinkers.