Paying tribute to our veterans
Janet Tronstad here and I am honored to be able to post on Memorial Day. I'm going to make it a day for us to give tributes to those we know and love who fought in wars to serve our country. I'll start with my own tribute -- to my father. He's 85 tears old now, but when he was 18 he signed up to go to Europe and fight in World War II. When I was growing up, I don't remember him ever talking about the war. But as he's gotten older, the memories are with him and he will talk about flashes of what happened. How one day, in the battle of Mentz in France, he has his troop were walking/marching by a wine shop. Windows were blown out of all the shops and the town was deserted as fighting had been going on for days. But there was one undamaged bottle of wine standing in the now windowless display. He remembers marveling that none of his fellow soldiers reached over and took the bottle. Later that night, he recalls the fighting and in the morning discovering that the German soldiers they had killed were little older than 12 or 13. It was close to the end of the war and the Germans had lowered the age of soldiers (and, as I mentioned, my father was only 18 himself).
Another recollection was the feeling of clean sheets in the field hospital where he'd been sent after being wounded. They made him feel like he was in heaven. And, he'd recall the terror and horrible pain of being hit by a round of machine gun fire in his elbow and foot. A soldier close to him had been hit and, when falling, his weapon had continued firing and hit my father. As painful as it was though it saved my fathers life as his fellow soldiers were almost all killed in a big battle the day after he was sent to the hospital.
I'm glad we have a day to remember the stories and graves of soldiers. If you'd care to share a tribute to someone, please post here. Or share a few words of thanks if you'd like for the sacrifice our soldiers made. I particularly look at the World War II vets like my father and wonder what the world would have been like without them.
Labels: Janet Tronstad, Veterans Day
13 Comments:
At May 30, 2011 5:49 AM,
Ausjenny said…
thanks for sharing Janet. My dad also was in WW2 he died when I was 11 but he did talk about some things from the war only I dont remember alot of them. He joined later as he had few health issues. He became a machine gunner in Darwin after Japan joined the war and were trying to reach Australia. He then did what was called jungle training and was in the first lot trained. They had a week in the jungle and it was wet the whole time and ended up with spondylitis of the spine they said he would end up in a wheelchair and not be able to work so was invalided out of the army. He ended up farming which the specialist said was the best thing he ever did.
Mums brother and sister were both in New Guinea, her BIL we found out was in the z force or spy force, and a BIL became a prisoner of war.
Dads brother was in the army, his sister in the airforce as was her future husband.
I had 2 great uncles who lost there lives in WW1.
So I do remember there sacrifice. Here we have our day to remember on April 25th which is ANZAC day.
At May 30, 2011 11:58 AM,
Rachel said…
Wow. Thank your father for me for what he did. He made a lot of sacrifices. And thanks to everyone know who is fighting for freedom.
At May 30, 2011 12:01 PM,
Janet Tronstad said…
Ausjenny -- thanks for telling about your family. It's touching to recall their sacrifice with us. It reminds me of how close the whole world is now.
At May 30, 2011 12:02 PM,
Janet Tronstad said…
Rachel -- thank you. I will tell my Dad. The veterans from WWII are getting up there in age and there are not many left anymore.
At May 30, 2011 12:30 PM,
Maryrose said…
Thanks for sharing about your father. My grandfather was in the war and he didn't like talking about it. andantespirit08@gmail.com
At May 30, 2011 1:06 PM,
Charity said…
I have been listening to "Somebody Died For Me" all morning. Talk about a great song and what a story. Thanks for telling us about your father.
esterried[at]yahoo[dot]com
At May 30, 2011 1:37 PM,
Jackie S. said…
Thanks, Janet, for sharing this. No one in my family was in service at war time. Hubs barely got out before Vietnam. Am so appreciative of all who served.
jackie.smith[at]dishmail[dot]net
At May 30, 2011 8:12 PM,
Valri said…
That's wonderful, Janet! My dad was in the Korean War but only served in Germany as he was a tank mechanic. My father-in-law, however, was a prisoner of war and wont talk about his experiences so we can only guess on how horrible they were! I so appreciate all the sacrifices all the military personnel make - from the Revolutionary War to now - so that we & others can be free. Valri westernaz@msn.com
At May 31, 2011 2:55 AM,
Janet Tronstad said…
Maryrose and Valri -- I think it's common for the WWII and WWI vets to not want to talk about it. It was terrible times for them (not that it's not today for soldiers, too). Thanks for commenting.
At May 31, 2011 2:56 AM,
Janet Tronstad said…
Charity and Jackie -- I like to hear the stories of veterans. Like for both of us, it makes me grateful. Thanks for commenting.
At June 1, 2011 4:13 PM,
Judy said…
Thank you for sharing. My 90 year old Father served in WW2. He has never spoken to any of us kids about the war days other than mentioning his buddies. Dad did say his toes got frost bitten while in the trenches. I can't even imagine what he went through.
It is so true when they say, freedom is never free!!
At June 7, 2011 12:26 AM,
Janet Tronstad said…
Judy -- that is so true. And I think a lot of the WWII soldiers didn't talk about it. My father's mind is going a little and I think that's why he recalls it all.
At June 18, 2011 6:03 PM,
Lady DragonKeeper said…
I don't think any of my immediate family was in the military, but my maternal grandmother was in or just graduated high school in Honolulu on Dec. 7, 1941, she doesn't talk about it much though ...
I really feel horrible when I hear about what some of the Vietnam veterans experienced when they returned home --we should never treat our troops that way ...
jafuchi7[at]hawaii[dot]edu
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