For 11W History Buffs - Happy VJ Day

Calling all history students, fans, buffs, or whatever you call yourselves. I noticed in a few threads recently that many 11Ws had immediately family members who were part of the Greatest Generation. Today marks 70 years since the Japanese Emperor Hirohito agreed to surrender to the Allied Forces in WWII. As a Naval Officer and student of military history, I am always amazed by the sacrifices made by that generation for our country. Unfortunately, we are losing the great Americans who made this possible at an alarming rate, and with them we lose their stories.

I invite anyone who had family member that served in this great period of American history to share their stories with Eleven Warriors.

My grandfather was a B-17 pilot in 8th Air Force from late '44 through '45, and my grandmother was a Navy nurse for a short period during '43-'44. Grandpa had several great stories from the war, but the one I remember most was New Years Eve of '44. The bomber pilots had been told there would be no mission on New Years Day, so they stayed up late partying and drinking. At 2 AM, one of the Ops officers came into the club and told them to knock it off, new tasking, they'd all be flying an early morning bombing mission. Guys tried to sleep off their drunk, take cold showers, drink lots of coffee, but it didn't help. Most were still drunk when they launched a few hours later. The mission was a disaster - pilots missing rendezvous points, planes nearly running into each other, bombardiers unable to find targets. Grandpa could laugh about it in hindsight, but underneath you could tell it was a pretty harrowing experience.

So here's to him, and all your family members who sacrificed so much, so that we can live in a world with college football and so many other great freedoms.