hoosierhiver
Well-known member
My dad was a veteran of WWII but wouldn't accept recognition for it. He was stateside throughout the war (entered in '44 and by the time his training in naval aviation was complete the war was winding down and he wasn't sent to the Pacific). It's not that he didn't appreciate his time in the Navy, but he felt he hadn't sacrificed like others who saw action did and he was able to go to college and medical school on the GI Bill, so he felt like he'd been fully paid for his service. Besides, in his mind if you were military age during WWII enlisting was just something you did because it was the right thing to do, so he didn't feel like he deserved special recognition for it. Several of his colleagues of the same age really had the same attitudes. I think that's part of what made them the Greatest Generation.
My dad went straight into WW2 after high school. He ended up in the Army Air Corps loading B-25's, first Africa, then Sicily, Italy, then they got on boats and thought they were heading home, but arrived in India to help the Chinese against the Japanese invasion. His group, "The Earthquakers" were the most traveled group in the entire war. He never talked about it much, but did occasionally break down at the dinner table when a related subject came up. Years later it occurred to me that he probably had help with the planes that made it back sometimes carrying dead crew members.