anyone still know any ww2 vets

[Gabriella Cook]

anyone still know any ww2 vets I know of three in Hocking county still alive all over 100

[whweldit]

Cullman Al has a ww2 marine that is 105. Said to be oldest marine alive. Roy Drinkard.    Currently in hospital.  Do not know any details.  

[vtfireman85]

Pretty thin on the ground here, I know a Korean vet, and plenty of Vietnam vets. 
my grandfather did 2 tours in WW2 and 1 in Korea. He would have been 104 if he were alive. 

[Sledgehammer]

Grandpa served in Germany towards the end of WW2. He would have been 100 this year and graduated HS in 1944 before being drafted. I don't know of any WW2 vets left locally. 

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

I don’t know of any anymore. My grandfather would be 107 if he were still alive. He was probably the greatest man I ever knew. 

[mmi]

knew 10 local ..last went in '22 (due to warehousing ) at 96

neighbor (korea) was 90

nam 6....72-85

[ChaseIH]

My friends grandfather is still alive and mowing his own grass at 101 gonna be 102 this year

[Kevin in ky]

My grandpa was in ww2 he died in 2002 would be 108 if he was still alive. He loved serving in the war,said he didn’t know what to do when it was over.

[whweldit]

There were a lot around here when I was growing up.  Dad went across the South Pacific in air corp. was in motor pool attached to a radar outfit. Went to Japan when it was over for 3-4 months.  He was 32 when he was drafted.  Farmed with one that was a mp in Africa and Europe. Made several Atlantic crossings escorting German prisoners.  His brother landed at Omaha beach 3 days later.  Was wounded about a week later I think. Another neighbor was a bombardier in Europe.  Remember him and dad talking one time about how they kept changing the number of flights it took to get home. Drove a school bus with 2 vets. One was a truck driver in pacific and other was infantry in pattons outfit. We have a lot of ww2 vet markers in local cemetery.   

[cedar farm]

The ones I knew are all gone. Korean vets as well

[New Englander]

Mel Brooks is 99, 100 in June. I never met him but sure enjoy his work.

[yellowrosefarm]

The only one I knew in person was born in 1915 and died in 2015. He was one of my Mom's boyfriends after my Dad died in 69. His bomber was shot down over France, and when he bailed out the prop hit his foot and took his heel off. He managed to hook up with the French underground and make it home. He wore a special shoe and had a very small limp, but didn't seem hindered in any way. Was super nice to me, she should have married him when he asked her. She didn't want to marry someone 10 years older, but he outlived her by 7 years in the end.

[td9bcf180]

There is still one here, locally and I know him well. He is over 100, has a drivers license and still drives. My Dad was a WW2 vet who served from 1940 to 1946. He's been gone for 23 years, now.

[Rawleigh99]

All I knew have since passed.

[iowaboy1965]

2 if not 3 of dad's older brothers were in ww2. All gone now. Can't think of any others that are still around.

[Reichow7120]

There's one for sure in town that last i knew was still alive. Tuskegee airmen.

After that im not sure how many are left. 

Grandpa had 2 first cousins. One a gunner in the Navy. Other a Sea bee. Grandma's brother in law was a ball turret gunner on a B-17 and was shot down over France and smuggled out by the resistance. He had a brother die at the battle of the Bulge. Grandpa's brother in law fought in North Africa and was wounded and ended the war as a POW guard at a POW camp

Neighbors. One fought at Buna and Kokoda trail. One was captured by the Japanese when the Corrigedor fell and survived the rest of the war in a Japanese POW camp.( hated the Japanese the rest of his life). Another that was captured when his division surrendered during the Battle of the Bulge. Few others i cant completely remember their stories. 

All those are dead now. 

[nepoweshiekfarmalls]

Grandpa served in WW2.  Would be 106 if he was still alive.  Don't know any vets left from the war.  Heck, lots of Vietnam vets passing away every day now.

[Reichow7120]

2 hours ago, nepoweshiekfarmalls said:

Grandpa served in WW2.  Would be 106 if he was still alive.  Don't know any vets left from the war.  Heck, lots of Vietnam vets passing away every day now.

Hard to believe but if you think of it. The Vietnam vets are now in age and years away from the Vietnam War as the WW II vets were in the 90s when I was a kid.

Uncle doesn't talk about his tour over there. But he's 75 now. Dad never got drafted. But he turned 18 when the war was winding down. He'll be 72 next week. Your youngest guys that served over there are around 70. Unless you lied about your age. Even then you're in your late 60s.

[whweldit]

Forgot this one.  He was raised about 4 miles from here.  

[Gabriella Cook]

almost like the ending to the movie all quiet on the western front

[acem]

No. All I knew have passed this life.

Dad volunteered for the navy when he graduated high school. Piloted landing craft in the Pacific. Enlistment was for 'the duration of the war'. Volunteered for an extra 6 months to take the surrender of jap forces. Was stationed in China then. Dad loved the navy.

Then he served in Korea. He went to college on the GI Bill and signed up for ROTC for the money so he could buy beer. As soon as he graduated, his unit was called up (7th Cav) and sent to Korea for some of the worst fighting. He was a platoon leader. Many men in his unit never made it home.

Dad would be 100 this year. Passed in 95. Same year my son, given the same name Donn, was born.

I knew many WWII  vets when I was a kid. All have passed now. Last one to pass this life was John Lahowski (sp?). He was older than dad but passed about 10 years ago. He was a pilot in WWII. Don't know any more. Should ask his son.

I know at least one Korean war vet still alive. Although technically he was sent to Europe instead of Korea. Dad said the US had more troops in Europe during the Korean war than Korea to deter a Soviet invasion of western Europe.

I read there were civil war vets alive in the 1950s.

I miss dad but we had many great memories. He was 40 when I was born and I was 28 when he passed.

[Jacka]

My dad was.He was in the Navy. He went to Pearl Harbour right after it was attacked. 

[vtfireman85]

Reinolt Tönis Tofer authored this book, he claims it is autobiographical, I am not going to argue with him, he is a royal PITA,  but he lives here in town. I don’t particularly like the guy, so I haven’t been able to get into it, but it is well reviewed. If anyone wants to get a copy autographed, I can probably arrange that . 

 

“In this remarkable true story, follow the transformation of Estonian Tom Saar from childhood refugee to Special Forces soldier. Born in 1934, Tom is forced to flee Estonia at age 5 and is recruited into Hitler's Youth before ultimately escaping to Sweden. Seeking to avenge the loss of his family, he enlists in the U.S. Army and becomes one of the founding Special Forces "Green Berets". His exploits behind enemy lines include sabotage, kidnapping, assassination, and even a wedding infiltration. But when a close call leaves him staring death in the face, he is forced to choose between his quest for vengeance and the safety of civilian life. Will he escape the violence of Europe to settle in America? Or will he be sucked back into the war?”

[ray54]

One of dad's cousins is 95. Spent time in Japan after the surrender, came home with a Japanese bride. She passed away 2 or 3 years ago. Doing very well for his age. The Honer Flite group took him on one of their trips to Arlington and the whole DC area shortly after his wife passed. Most of their others where Vietnam vets.  There were many yet 30 years ago, but I cannot think of any left.

 

I want to say the last pension from the Civil War was paid just a few years ago. A vet of the Civil War was very old and married young teen girl. And she lived until very near 100. 

[TomH]

Unfortunately no, my father was a mechanic on an airbase in England, worked mostly on B17’s. He passed away in 1991. His brother was in italy with the 10’th mountain division and passed in 96. My Stepfather was on a mine sweeper in the Bering sea and left us at age 100 in 2021. My fathers best friend and best man when he married my mother was a tail gunner on a B17. My father and him had some amazing stories to tell and I am so grateful that I got to hear some of them.