My grandparents on my father's side were not soldiers, but they were both civilian casualties during WW2 having been killed by communist partizans for refusing to join their side. In fact, many people from the town were rounded up and burned alive inside churches for not cooperating and pledging allegiance to Tito.
On my mother's side, many of the men were either soldiers for the Polish army or irregulars in the Polish resistance. I never got the whole story, but I know some of my grandfather's brothers were killed. My grandfather later developed a rare form of lung cancer that apparently affected a lot of veterans. People speculate that it was from the smoke they were subjected to on the battlefield.
This caused some family strife as the family on my father's side was murdered by one of the "allies", but the family on my mother's side fought with the allies. Needless to say, they did not support the marriage.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
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