If your World War II knowledge is mostly about your M1, this will expand your world

[JB White]

For years the Merchant Marine never got the recognition they deserved. They sailed knowing they were the focal point of attack and yet they kept going and manning those ships through harms way.

They unveiled a new Veteran's memorial in a park near my home this weekend. The central focus on our POW's and MIA'S. The seals engraved in stone include the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Reserves, National Guard, and the Merchant Marine.

As the son of a Merchant Marine turned Soldier, it touched me to see that.

Lest we forget

Information

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[Dave]

I worked with an ex war time merchaent marine. If they did did not sign on to another ship/cruise within a certain time (30 days?) they were drafted.

[Louis of PA]

During the war, my middle brother received this V-Mail; it could have come from John Wayne himself during his hitch with the Seabees, or maybe it came from our Uncle Carl, somewhere in the Pacific.

And Gunner, don't forget that Wayne was involved with the Normandy Invasion but was unable to get killed in that campaign due to a contract dispute with opposing German forces, including Der Wehrmacht und so weiter.

All I know is, we won, and that's what's important.

Regards,

Ludwig von Pennsylanien

P.S. Why don't our armed forces use these kinds of images to depict today's enemies?

[JB White]

It wasn't unheard of to be drafted while in the MM. That's what happened in my fathers case. Although at the time he was on the Great Lakes so maybe that's how it happened? He once told me that he had been sailing with the Wilson Line for just over a year when he got his notice.

[MikeT]

It has sometimes been argued that in an even fight, when you matched one American battalion or regiment against a German battalion or regiment, the Germans tended to be superior, the better fighters.

Mr. Atkinson should read "When the Odds Were Even: The Vosges Mountain Campaign, October 1944--January 1945" by Keith Bonn before he makes such a statement. Mr. Bonn demonstrates that the US Army in WWII was capable of more than holding it's own.

[goo]

you guys seem to forget that is was john wayne that won ww11. he was in the army, the navy AND marines. he even got killed a couple of times.
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http://images.mentasys.de/lycos_shop...650_EN_230.jpg

[gunner]

Hi goo,

It was unfair to bring John Wayne against us. Because he has wartime experience since your civil war!!!

[JB White]

Not to mention he was a German sea captain at the outbreak of the war. He knew all the secrets!

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm763791872/tt0048593

[Louis of PA]

John Wayne helped organize the Seabees and made them into a force that "Can build and fight with all our might". I believe they used 1903s but I could be wrong, something that occurred once before in my life.

I think William Bendix also participated but was killed by a Jap sniper in a Palm Tree. Then Wayne drove a dozer into a Jap tank farm and was killed by a sneaky Jap just before he could jump off. Luckily, his deadly wounds were not fatal but the unbearable pain caused him to grit his teeth once or twice.

He shrugged them off just in time for the invasion of Iwo Jima. All of this happened on a war-torn back lot in Hollywood, the scene of intense and bloody fighting throughout the war.

[Louis of PA]

dupe msg killed