IamA WW2 vet. I fought my way across 5 rivers in Germany AMA!

Thank you for your service. Why did you join? What did you end up doing after the military? Do you remember any raunchy running/marching cadences? How about some jokes?

I feel like the joke was on us

What was the troop morale like for you and the enemy?

both sides were scared we were just doing a job it wasn't personal. we were doing reconnaissance into town and I came face to face with a german soldier. We both had a visual agreement to not shoot 1 another and put our heads down and walked away from each other.

What was your initial impression of General Patton?

he was a great show man and had to be first

[deleted]

Army infantry 3rd division. M company attached to I company. M company was a support company with jeeps machine guns and mortars. I didnt know your grad dad.

What is one positive memory you have from your experiences of the war - if any?

Everyone knows war changes the majority of people but may not understand how it changes people, with this in mind, how do you feel going to war affected you?

Marching in patton's parade through nuremberg

[deleted]

young people today are jokers. young people today don't seem to know how to do things like we knew how to do when I was young. Young people today don't seem to grasp the concept of working for a living.

What did you do when the war ended?

Construction work

[deleted]

They all passed away. Long I don't stay in touch with any of my fellow soldiers

[deleted]

I was there when we freed the prisoners and they looked very thin and very pathetic. The prisoners some of them wanted guns. As 1 of them walked by me he asked me for a gun. I told that prisoner my orders were just to put the guns in the pile and that's the only orders I had. I didn't have orders to not give the prisoners guns. And I felt just fine looking away as long as they needed me too.

What did soldiers do for fun during the downtime?

were too tired and worn out to really do anything during any possible downtime. we really didn't get any down time we were very busy marching

What were your thoughts on the war before it began? Do you believe it was necessary in hindsight?

Did you support the war in Vietnam?

What are your thoughts on the current war on terror?

When I was 19 I live in the country and didn't get much news about what was going on in europe I really didn't know what was happening over there.

I was doing roofing jobs and the fumes from the pitch was burning my nose and skin. The roofing work got so bad that I decided to quit that work. the foreman on the job told me I would get drafted if I quit and I told him I would rather get shot at then do that work anymore. 3 days later I was drafted.

What were your rations like? I recall reading about it sometime ago, and that I found it interesting, but I don't remember much of it...

We had a thing call the survival bar. It tasted like chocolate was about the size of a hershey bar and gave you enough calories for a full day. we would get powdered eggs we would get real beans in a can and we would get hash in a can. I don't really know what the hash was made out of but we were very hungry and it was food

I could also use the TNT as fish bait and catch some fish sometimes that we would eat

til that a snapshot of an old dude in a wheel chair is proof of being a war hero

Piss off dude. I am doing this because this old guy is awesome. Why dont you go troll somewhere is.

You kill many Gerrys?

I'm honestly not certain that I killed a single german