On December 26, 2000 I laid him to rest in Arlington for the last time

[DFW]

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Drafted in 1943, his boat across the English Channel torpedoed in 1944 (it sank, he was the last man off), then in France and Germany until the end of the war. He never had to live the horrors my wife's father did, but he saw enough to never want another one, especially with us in it.

Much appreciated, Dad!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. What a beautiful tribute to your dad, my dear DFW...

I know he would be so proud of the man you are.

[DFW]

3. He already was, and never hesitated to say so.

He loved my wife as a daughter, and was supremely proud of his granddaughters, who loved talking to their "American opa" in their ever-improving English.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. That's too good!

[saidsimplesimon]

2. My appreciation for your Dad

and mine. My father shared the details of his nightmare and the horrors as a young man of 18.

[DFW]

5. My father-in-law couldn't bear to talk in detail about his experiences in the war.

Apparently they were just too traumatic. Drafted off his farm at age 17, he was sent as cannon fodder to Stalingrad, got a leg blown off by an artillery shell, and was delivered back to his farm minus a leg at age 18. Useless as a farmer, he took courses in banking, and joined a local rural bank in his area that helped farmers finance their own farms. He was known in the area for being exceptionally fair to struggling farmers, and there were more than 400 people paying their respects at his funeral.

Only in his final delirium did he relive those awful moments in minus 40 degree temperature, calling out to the dead and dying members of his until to watch out for incoming--after more than fifty years of keeping those scenes locked away, repressed in his memory.

[japple]

8. What an amazing life. He made the best of his misfortune and helped others

with theirs. I hope he did not suffer in the end by reliving those war memories. Thank you for sharing a part of his story.

[DFW]

9. It was a life unimaginable to us who were born in the USA in the 1950s

He was born into a farm community where electricity and running water were science fiction. To be taken from that at age 17, trained in modern (for 1941) weaponry and then sent with inadequate clothing to Stalingrad in the winter--how can anyone expect someone to remain normal after that?

And yet, he repressed all his fury and bitterness, found and married a young woman who overlooked his being a cripple, and raised two very special children, one of which decided to spend her life with me. His only wish was that all of his grandchildren be girls, so that they would never be forced to join the military--a wish that fate ultimately was to grant him. He knew virtually no English, but got along well with my parents, the war long a thing of the past by the time they met.

[japple]

15. My parents both served in the US Army during WWII. They met and married in Germany

after the war. My sister was born in Frankfurt in 1948.

Dad was from a large sharecropping family in Texas. Dad served in the CCC and later joined the Army National Guard in a horse cavalry unit. He and his best friend--a school chum from a German family (1st generation, spoke German at home) patrolled the Texas/Mexico border on horseback. When the war broke out, they both signed on with the First Special Service Force and went to Helena, MT for training. They were sent into the war in Northern Africa and then to Southern Italy where Dad's friend was captured, while on night patrol, by the Germans at Anzio. He never returned and I don't think Dad ever found out what happened to him. Dad served in the Army for 23 years. He signed up for a tour of duty in Germany in 1959 and our family lived there for 3 years. We went to Italy one summer and, though I don't know the complete story, he found his friend's name on one of the white crosses in the military cemeteries at Anzio.

Dad also served 14 months in Korea, which must have been worse in some ways than WWII. He talked some about WWII, but NEVER about Korea. He was a kind, generous, sweet man who was loved by all who knew him.

[mahina]

6. Thank you DFW for a small glimpse into his life. Peace to him.

[DFW]

7. He lost his last battle

Pancreatic cancer finally got him where nothing else could.

People used to ask me why I didn't go into journalism, with not only such a great role model, but also a man with Washington connections stretching back 50 years. He knew EVERYBODY.

I said then, as now, some shoes are just too big to fill. His were such shoes.

[demigoddess]

10. my father fought in the Pacific in WWII and so did my uncle.

They never spoke of the war but my uncle loved to see pictures of all the beautiful islands that he missed seeing during the war.

[Duppers]

11. Thank you for sharing such a touching tribute

to your father and details about your father-in-law. My dad was one of the most fortunate who made it thru the D-Day Landing intact. He shared little about day and the following month; he passed decades ago.

🇺🇸

[malaise]

12. Too sad

[sprinkleeninow]

13. --

[gademocrat7]

14. What a loving and moving tribute.

Your father was a true patriot.

[FailureToCommunicate]

16. We remember the fallen on this day.

[panader0]

17. Here's to your Dad.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181220729

Edit to say--he's a lot better looking than you are.
Take care friend.
I still have the triangular wooden case with my dad's flag folded inside.
With all the shell casings from the rifle salute.
Buried in a beautiful spot under the oaks, along with Apache scouts.
Fort Huachuca.

[DFW]

18. Thanks. Rub it in, why don't you?

He was the dapper leader of the DC print press correspondents for a while. My wife even called him the ideal male model (she never called me that). He even made it to the presidency of the Gridiron Club, which to Washington journalists is better than winning a Pulitzer.

My mom got the flag, and I don't know who ended up with it (I have two siblings who live in the USA). It didn't seem to make any sense to bring it here to Germany, so I never asked.

[DonaldsRump]

19. I don't have any family in the military

If it's ok with you, I will adopt the memory of your wonderful and heroic dad.

He's Hollywood handsome in every way!

Peace and love to your dad, your family, and you. Thank you for sharing!

[DFW]

20. Thanks for the kind words

My dad passed on his Hollywood looks to his grandchildren, and, in our case, my wife contributed her model-like genes to the equation, so our daughters couldn't lose.

Adopt away!

Come to think of it, now that you mention Hollywood, when they were filming "Advise and Consent", must have been more than 50 years ago, there was a scene filmed in Washington where they needed an extra to play a journalist, and someone saw my dad, and said, "hey, there's a real one, why not use him?" So they gave him his line, and he was immortalized with a ten second bit part in a real Hollywood movie. Up until he died, he got an annual residual check for $1.15 (or some such sum) every year for his role.

[calimary]

21. He gave all.

[DFW]

22. He survived the war, at least.

As for cancer getting him later, who knows? All three of his siblings that survived to adulthood died of cancer (same with my mom, so how do you think my chances look?), so no one knows whether or not his presence at this little event in 1957 hastened things along?
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He was able to take some amazing pictures like this one. But still!
The military wasn't yet in the habit of warning people that being present for this kind of thing was not healthy.