Thanks Grandpa, we owe you one....

[Frank the Tank]

Thanks Grandpa!

Well, Rememberence Day is huge in my family and my wife's family as all four of our grandfathers served in WW2. The photo is of my grandfather, Harold Irvine, on their initial push into Holland to liberate the Dutch people. He served in a British tank division, the 79th Armoured and drove the troop transport in the background. He told me once that the worst part was loading it up with soldiers, hauling arse to the front line and unloading the reinforcements then loading up his modified Sherman with the severely wounded and sometimes dead soldiers to bring them back to the feild hospital and continuing this cycle for days at a time.

I get annoyed when the word "hero" is thrown around i the media today because of men like my grandfather. We (our generation) can't even begin to wrap our minds around the sacrafices these people made. Imagine leaving your pregnant wife and two year old son to go halfway across the world knowing every day may be your last. Boggles the mind really.

Anyhow, thanks grandpa, I'll continue my personal crusade to make sure the world never forgets. RIP.

(Grandpa is the soldier on the left, holding the little boy. My grandma still gets letters to this day from this family)

[Tron_fdc]

My grandfather also served, flying search and rescue over the British Coast. Although he wasn't involved in the front lines, he did have some pretty crazy stories to tell (and still does) of the sacrifices men in the war made.

Lest we forget.

[Cowperson]

Great story and great photo Frank!!!

Remember a veteran today.

Cowperson

[Frank the Tank]

The Kangaroos

Grandpa also served with the Kangaroos for part of the war.

[Frank the Tank]

Originally posted by Cowperson@Nov 11 2004, 03:27 PM
Great story and great photo Frank!!!

Remember a veteran today.

Cowperson

Thanks Cow!

[Table 5]

indeed, big ups to all the veterans out there.

[calf]

My Grandfather and Great-Uncle served. Grandfather as a navigator in the RCAF, great-uncle served in the navy.

Very brave, couragous, and outstanding men, like so many others.

Lest we forget

[Flames89]

A great book highlighting a soldier's personal accounts of WWI is "The Journal of Private Frasier". His memoirs in there are mind blowing. We can not even begin to comprehend.

Pick it up.

[Inferno]

I had a great uncle who served but unfortunately my dad never knew his dad so he never got to know him or his side of the family besides what my grandma told him so he has no war stories to share.

[Hot_Sauce]

Originally posted by Frank the Tank@Nov 11 2004, 08:14 AM
Thanks Grandpa!

Well, Rememberence Day is huge in my family and my wife's family as all four of our grandfathers served in WW2. The photo is of my grandfather, Harold Irvine, on their initial push into Holland to liberate the Dutch people. He served in a British tank division, the 79th Armoured and drove the troop transport in the background. He told me once that the worst part was loading it up with soldiers, hauling arse to the front line and unloading the reinforcements then loading up his modified Sherman with the severely wounded and sometimes dead soldiers to bring them back to the feild hospital and continuing this cycle for days at a time.

I get annoyed when the word "hero" is thrown around i the media today because of men like my grandfather. We (our generation) can't even begin to wrap our minds around the sacrafices these people made. Imagine leaving your pregnant wife and two year old son to go halfway across the world knowing every day may be your last. Boggles the mind really.

Anyhow, thanks grandpa, I'll continue my personal crusade to make sure the world never forgets. RIP.

(Grandpa is the soldier on the left, holding the little boy. My grandma still gets letters to this day from this family)

Right on FrankTheT. I felt like such an ass today as I drove along Crowchild at 11 and didn't register the moment. My Grandfather never used the word hero and would have laughed if someone described him as one. He had two ships shot out from under him while doing N Atlantic convoy duty, watched his aircraft shuttle crash after he got off in Australia, and took heavy fire while liberating Hong Kong and always made it seem so casual. When I was a kid his stories were so matter of fact that I thought it only inevitable that one day my turn would come. So many stories to remember and so much thanks to be aknowledged.

[the-rasta-masta]

My grandpa was in the merchant marine during the 2nd world war. He served on the "Lady Nelson" which was a supply ship that brought food and supplies over to Europe and various other places. Said he saw firsthand some of the carnage as they pulled into destroyed ports and towns on fire. Chilling stuff.