Veterans day gift to a WWII veteran

A fine model and a perfect gift.

I wonder if I might take the liberty of offering a suggestion.  If nobody else has already done so, go visit this gentleman with a tape recorder (or some other electronic recording device) and get him to spend a couple of hours (maybe in two or more sessions) recording his recollections of his military service.

The last time I saw a figure on the subject, American veterans of World War II were passing away at the rate of about 1,500 per day.  This is a crucial moment in the documentation of that conflict; we don't have much time left to record these people's experiences in their own words.  One of my biggest regrets is that I never got my father (assistant boat group officer, U.S.S. Bollinger, APA-234) down on tape.  The ship never came close to getting into action, but Dad had all sorts of offbeat human-interest stories about the things he'd seen.  (The day the executive officer deserted; the day the first lieutenant got thrown into the Gulf of Samar; the notorious 5" gun on the fantail that was constantly being torn apart, and never hit anything; etc., etc.  Dad said the scariest experience of all was conning the ship into San Diego Harbor at night, right after the war ended and the blackout was lifted.  The captain was the only officer on board who had ever navigated a ship in the dark surrounded by lights.)  

Now it's too late.  We talked a couple of times about doing an oral history, but we just never got around to it.  I did, however, give Dad a model of the Bollinger, based on the old Revell Randall/Montrose kit, for Christmas.  I'll never forget the look on his face when he put on his bifocals and saw the little spots of yellow paint, where the hands, in their interminable routine of scraping and repainting, were waiting for the zinc chromate primer to dry before applying the haze grey finish coat.

For the past twenty-four years I've been requiring the students in my post-1900 U.S. military history course to do oral history interviews (two per student) with veterans.  I'm pleased to say that a couple of thousand vets have gotten recorded as a result.  I particularly remember a non-traditional (that's university-speak for "older-than-usual") student who interviewed her father in a nursing home.  She told me about the look of pleasure and contentment on his face as she left, with his memories safely ensconced in her tape recorder.  He died the next day.

Folks - if you have a relative, or a friend, with memories of WWII to impart - get those memories down as soon as you can.  These people can impart all sorts of information that doesn't normally make it into the history books.  The clock is ticking.  You may not get another chance.

jtilley ...you sure said a mouthful!  My father passed away while I was a sophomore in college - the day before he and my mother were supposed to drive up to see me presented with an award I didn't know I was receiving.  When I went away to college I was still not interested in hearing what he had to say about so many things - and then, in one swift moment, he was gone forever.  All I have left is his 201 file, and you know how hard it is to get more than the bare minimum from that thing.  Then my mother passed away less than a week after driving me out to start graduate school, and a week after I turned 21 both my parents were gone.  I envy people who still have their parents around (I'm now 48, my wife is 44, and both her parents are still with us) but often frustrated in that they never seem to recognize that time is still slipping away.

Folks, it may seem greedy, and it may seem unpleasant - and you might worry that they'll think you expect them to die any day.  But get what you can, while you can, from your parents and other loved ones.  We all go sometime.  Trust me, your parents will be overjoyed toi learn that you are interested in their lives - while they may consider their pastas dull and commonplace, I give you a 100% guarantee that you will learn something interesting about them, and about the time they lived in.  I don't mean to sound corny, but it really is the experience of a lifetime.

And like Prof. Tilley says, if you have the chance, visit a vet and find out what he has to offer.  Everyone is a lesson waiting to be learned.

jtilley wrote:

A fine model and a perfect gift. IFor the past twenty-four years I've been requiring the students in my post-1900 U.S. military history course to do oral history interviews with veterans.  I particularly remember a non-traditional (that's university-speak for "older-than-usual") student who took her tape recorder to interview her father in a nursing home.  She told me about the look of pleasure and contentment on his face as she left, with his memories safely ensconced in an audio cassette.  He died the next day. Folks - if you have a relative, or a friend, with memories of WWII to impart - get those memories down as soon as you can.  These people can impart all sorts of information that doesn't normally make it into the history books.  The clock is ticking.  You may not get another chance.

Excellent jtilley.

Great advice. 

Great idea and build. Here in Connecticut on Veteran's Day weekend, the New England Air Museum would have vet aircrews come in and sit at a table by the type of aircraft they served on and tell of their experiences.

There's nothing like keeping your motivation through a build when you're working on a subject for  a real person you know that served on the real thing.

Thanks for the comments and he has regailed us with stories both funny and sad.  this build was more than worth while.  Thanks again

Barry

What a grand and outstanding thing to do!

May John know through you there are a lot of us out here who would like to say 'thanks and well done' for his service to our country also.

Awsome build mate and a great gesture! BZ for you!!

Prof I agree 100% with what you said. I had the great honour of travelling to PNG with a group of Oz RAAF, RAN and Army vets on a tour of Milne Bay, Popondetta and the Bamiga War Cemetary in 2002 as part of the Honour Guard and some of the stories I heard were awesome!! I still remember talking to Rear Admiral Sir Guy Griffith and he started a story with "...when I had to abandon ship..."! He was a Midshipman on HMS REPULSE!

jtilley wrote:

A fine model and a perfect gift. I wonder if I might take the liberty of offering a suggestion.  If nobody else has already done so, go visit this gentleman with a tape recorder (or some other electronic recording device) and get him to spend a couple of hours (maybe in two or more sessions) recording his recollections of his military service. The last time I saw a figure on the subject, American veterans of World War II were passing away at the rate of about 1,500 per day.  This is a crucial moment in the documentation of that conflict; we don't have much time left to record these people's experiences in their own words.  One of my biggest regrets is that I never got my father (assistant boat group officer, U.S.S. Bollinger, APA-234) down on tape.  The ship never came close to getting into action, but Dad had all sorts of offbeat human-interest stories about the things he'd seen.  (The day the executive officer deserted; the day the first lieutenant got thrown into the Gulf of Samar; the notorious 5" gun on the fantail that was constantly being torn apart, and never hit anything; etc., etc.  Dad said the scariest experience of all was conning the ship into San Diego Harbor at night, right after the war ended and the blackout was lifted.  The captain was the only officer on board who had ever navigated a ship in the dark surrounded by lights.)   Now it's too late.  We talked a couple of times about doing an oral history, but we just never got around to it.  I did, however, give Dad a model of the Bollinger, based on the old Revell Randall/Montrose kit, for Christmas.  I'll never forget the look on his face when he put on his bifocals and saw the little spots of yellow paint, where the hands, in their interminable routine of scraping and repainting, were waiting for the zinc chromate primer to dry before applying the haze grey finish coat. For the past twenty-four years I've been requiring the students in my post-1900 U.S. military history course to do oral history interviews (two per student) with veterans.  I'm pleased to say that a couple of thousand vets have gotten recorded as a result.  I particularly remember a non-traditional (that's university-speak for "older-than-usual") student who interviewed her father in a nursing home.  She told me about the look of pleasure and contentment on his face as she left, with his memories safely ensconced in her tape recorder.  He died the next day. Folks - if you have a relative, or a friend, with memories of WWII to impart - get those memories down as soon as you can.  These people can impart all sorts of information that doesn't normally make it into the history books.  The clock is ticking.  You may not get another chance.

This is a great idea, I wish I could get my grandfather to do this. He hit the beach at D-day +6 and told me it was still taking German rounds. And that was all he would ever really say about his service. He won't talk about it even when asked. I think even today after so many years, the memories and horrors he saw are too much for him.

This is so true, Leaadas.  My uncle was in the first wave at Omaha on D-Day - while he somehow survived he was never the same, my father told me once.  He went on to be a police officer in Newark NJ, and during the race riots of the mid-60's someone threw a beer bottle at his patrol car.  His partner speculated that the sound it made caused my uncle to flash back to Omaha - he dove out of the passenger-side door and began to fire his service revolver into the air, presumably at the Germans he believed were firing on him.  Nobody was hurt, but he had to retire on disability after that.