Now THAT'S Cold.

[Rat Creek]

I am a big fan of historical fiction because instead of dates and times, and the focus on the political aspect, if helps you connect to the people who lived through it. WWII is always my go-to because it is crazy to think that it really happened. I have never read any on Korea, so will begin looking.

[Tim Terrell]

Some do not want to talk about it because they are trying to forget, but my experience is many are just good and humble veterans who see it as just doing their job, thus want no fanfare.

Most people never realized my father served in Korea. He never brought it up, but if someone else did, he had no issue with sharing his experiences and asking about their experiences if they were also vets. He was able to compartmentalize it as just something that happened, some of it bad, some of it good and some of it exciting, but most of it boring.

On the other hand, my father's uncle was some kind of special forces commando in WWII. I was really young when I would see him at family gatherings (Christmas usually) and he always struck me as a troubled and dark fellow.

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I'm a plastic modeler of military subjects. Aircraft and armor mostly... 'love the PT boats and Submarines as well. I've built subjects for veterans and heard some fascinating stories.

Ross Jolivette was Crew Chief on Curtis P-40 and later Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. He was with the 318th FG, 73rd FS "The Barflies" and they flew their T-Bolts off "Jeep" carriers and landed them under fire on Saipan. Japs had no idea where land-based fighters were coming from? His was the 420 bird and he finished the war on Ie Shima working on the long-range P-47N Thunderbolts.
https://www.7thfighter.com/insignia/73rdFSInsignia.jpg
Ross' 420 was a P-47D "Razorback' and I modeled it for him based on his recollections and gave it to him for his birthday. THe 73rd trimmed the engine cowl and rudder in white with a white band around the fuselage.

Ed Bradfield was co-pilot of Boeing B-29A Superfortress "Raz 'N Hell" which was a Korean War Veteran. I built it for him in 1/48 scale and it hung over his favorite easy chair until his passing. Now it's back in my care. I later heard from Hugh "Lon" Chaney who was bombardier on this aircraft. He shared photos with me that I had digitized, reprinted and mailed to Castle Air Museum who is caretaker for the original article! The story goes this aircraft is also haunted.
https://seeksghosts.blogspot.com/2016/0 ... omber.html
I hand-painted the nose-art and modeled it with the #2 engine shot-out. Ed Bradfield told me that he reckoned it was the only B-29 to shoot out one of its own engines. That is another story in itself...

Then there was the Commander of a M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle--of K "Killer" Troop. I built his Bradley as he commanded it in Iraq after 'Desert Storm. He stuck his head out the hatch for a sit-rep during a firefight and took an AK round through his left cheek. Now deaf in that ear, he got his Purple Heart from Pres and First Lady Bush at Walter Reed. He recovered and went back for a second tour. I shipped it to him at Ft. Carson, Colorado. Dave said if I ever wanted a ride in a Bradley or Abrams to come on out to Colorado. Since then he has been medically retired from the Army.

While researching and building, I get to hear some incredible stories from these veterans. I'm old enough that many of my classmates fathers were WW2 veterans. My partner Todd's father told stories of watching a P-38 Lightning doing victory rolls over the airfield after returning from patrol in the Pacific theater. Wendall was USAAF ground personel based in New Guinea I think. The pilot he watched doing victory rolls was one Richard Ira Bong. 'Dick Bong was the top-scoring fighter ace of the Pacific. These veterans and their stories are a national treasure.
--Tim

[Locked&Loaded]

Some do not want to talk about it because they are trying to forget, but my experience is many are just good and humble veterans who see it as just doing their job, thus want no fanfare.

Most people never realized my father served in Korea. He never brought it up, but if someone else did, he had no issue with sharing his experiences and asking about their experiences if they were also vets. He was able to compartmentalize it as just something that happened, some of it bad, some of it good and some of it exciting, but most of it boring.

On the other hand, my father's uncle was some kind of special forces commando in WWII. I was really young when I would see him at family gatherings (Christmas usually) and he always struck me as a troubled and dark fellow.

Having had some interaction with those suffering from PTSD, I can't even begin to imagine the nightmarish chit some of these war vets have seen and experienced. Those guys and gals are national treasures.

It wasn't Korea, but my grandfather went through hell in Europe. All I knew from him of his service was he trout fished while there. While on guard duty, pulled his weapon on a drunk officer returning after dark that didn't know the pass phrase that was trying to force his way in. Sent Reussian POWs back to Russia that didn't want to go because of fear if what would happen because they were captured. And he enjoyed being in Greenland.

After he passed, my father (his son-in-law) told us how my grandfather told him about the hell of having to help clean up the concentration camps. My father seems to be the only one he ever told. When my parents passed, they had his discharge papers. It said he was in the European Theater of Operation long before he said that he was. It makes me wonder if there was more hell that he never shared. Not that he needed to share. It does seem to explain a lot about him that seemed contradictory.

Spinner- your thread reminds me of an older gentleman telling me how important it is that we 'journal' significant events, military service or otherwise, in our life so they can be shared with our posterity. It's amazing and so interesting to read what you know about your grandfather's service and experiences. I've never written down details about big or meaningful life events, but it makes you wonder if we should. My grandfather died before I was born. After his passing, my uncles found at the bottom of an old ammo crate hidden in the loft of a barn on their farm, a journal of sorts he'd kept throughout his life. I was enthralled reading about his life and in fact, I feel like I know him as good or better reading what he'd written as I would had I known him in person.