I didn't know what to say to this gentleman

I wouldn't have known what to say, either.  I think you did the right thing by saying nothing.  Maybe later, when he gets to know you, he will want to tell you about it.  Bless him.

Wow.  Both of them going through so much is an under statement.  I think you are fortunate to be in a position to assist these gentlemen.  Nice way to give back and honor them.  I agree with CC....bless them both and give them both a sincere, hardy handshake for me.

Eagle90

Hi;

    I have learned, in a situation like that, you did right . When these two men decide you might listen , they will open up. Maybe.If they don't , then give them a handshake for me. They are the reason I am here.             T B.

Ditto on the handshake, please.  Just let them know you are willing to listen and they will share if they can.  If they can't, then knowing you are willing to listen even if they do not say anything will mean a lot.

John

Yes- many old vets have lived through horrors that they don't want to recall.  I had an uncle who fought with an air squadron in the South Pacific- when he arrived home safely, he did not want to share any of his memories with anyone in the family.  His memories must have been too terrible to bear, so he never told us anything.  He recently passed at age 92, never speaking of what he experienced.

My dad served during the Korean War as a mortar crew chief.  He has only a couple of stories he has shared, but the rest is never mentioned.  

my father in-law  (he passed now) but 3 old relatives said he was mentioned in 2 books about wwii . though they never new the titles cause it did not interest them     he was in pacific any way if you asked him any thing    the subject changed to whats for supper  /its gonna rain today/how work  etc.. you get the idea

The second gentleman you mentioned is a Holocaust survivor. That's why he has number tatoo on his forearm.

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

The second gentleman you mentioned is a Holocaust survivor. That's why he has number tattoo on his forearm.

Yes, I know....that's why I didn't know what to say. The first one had a British accent so it was easy to start a conversation like "where are you from" etc and he was very talkative and easy going, especially when I told him that I also served and that my father in law was a fighter pilot in WW1 and a Lancaster crew in WW2.

I'd have gently patted the forearm, looked him right in the eye and said "Never again".

Do not be so sure. I saw a article the other day, forget where, it was talking about anti- semitism here in the U.S., there was a report from a elemntary school in Chicago, the students were showing Jewish students pictures of ovens and saying "get in". Made me want to throw up.

Well put Viejo. I wouldn't have thought of that myself.

Back in my high school years, I took a mini course during my senior year on The Holocaust. It was an interesting and dark period of WW2 I never knew about back then. We also got to hear a lecture by Mrs Sperling - a local Holocaust survivor. She is still alive to this day. I'd like to someday meet up with her to just to talk.

This is a true story that happened to me. It was around 1978 I was dispatched to a call at a Royal Castle regarding an old lady acting  strange. SOP at the time was to wear your police hat any time you were outside the vehicle so I put mine on and walked into the Royal Castle and was greeted by the manager who pointed out the lady. I went up to her and politely introduced my self. I will never forget the look of terror on her face and her crying. I had no idea what I did as I was very polite and gentle with the old lady. I recognized that she was speaking German. It so happened we had a female officer who was fluent in German so I requested her come by ref. translation.

I will shorten the events so after the female officer spoke to the lady in Deustch, the old lady thought I was an SS Officer coming to arrest her. She too had a number tattoo on one of the arms. One thing I don't understand is that my uniform was not black but tan and brown.

I had to remove my hat just to be close to the old lady otherwise the poor thing just sobbed. It just occurred to me about the eagle with spread wings on my hat that to her may have resembled the German cap eagle.

plasticjunkie, brown & tan were the SA which proceeded the  SS til the nite of the long knives which elimenated the SA.

a friend of mine's father was a british pow under the japanese. he would not talk to a japanese person but will talk to a german with no problem.

50 years ago, I had the honor of working with an English man, who was a Spitfire pilot in the RAF.  He never told me about his battle experiences, but he did talk a lot about flying the Spitfire.

He said whenever they got above a cloud deck and had no VFR, the only thing they could do was put the plane into an intentional spin, and  hope they could break out of the clouds with enough altitude and visibility to land!

That must have taken a lot of guts!

ddp

Yes I know about the SA color and thought about that part too. Very strange experience indeed.

Chuck ;

   When I was but a tad , my Step-grandfather spoke nothing about his experiences in Korea  .When I was two years in uniform and home on leave , I got this comment from him " You have asked , now that you wear the uniform , I will tell you about Chosin Resevoir ! "

    I was mortified by the story .Two years later Grans told me he stopped running and grunting in his sleep and wasn't afraid of snow anymore .