The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
donaldtoo said:
Yes, I would like to visit many of those places someday. I don't know why I feel such a connection to them, because I have not one single immediate relative that fought in either WWI, WWII, or even in the Korean War.
Maybe it's just an innate feeling I have for those that died so I can complain about anything on a whim. Good Lord, all those men and women gave up so much for us.

And, to make it clear, I do realize the Battle of the Bulge was a German counteroffensive that we were caught off guard by, not an operation we started.
We (the allies) were caught off guard, and boy-howdy did we suffer. But, we pulled through and persevered. I've, obviously, read more than one book about that battle.
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Well, I love history in general...I like learning about other people and how they live(d). I've done my family genealogy as far back as I could find...my g-g-g-g-grandfather fought in the Revolutionary war. He was captured by the British and held in the Sugar house for a few months. His grandson, my g-g- grandfather fought in the Civil War...he was a captain. He was also the Secretary of State in Kansas for a while, and he was a stone mason who built his own home and 3 churches, at which he preached...he was a minister. He apparently spent some time as a fur trapper/trader, too. I'm at a loss to find out what he DIDN'T do. It sounds like he was a jack of all trades. And supposedly his wife was a distant cousin to President McKinley, but I'll be darned if I can find the connection. (She WAS a McKinley, but I can't find the relative they have in common) There was a story that she attended a rally and he called her "cousin". Moving on to my grandfather, he fought in WWII. I found some fantastic pictures of him in his uniform in his later years when we were cleaning out my dad's house. My dad's brother was something like 15 years older than him and he fought in WWII, but I don't know exactly where. I think my mom said France, but I know HER brother moved around and sent things to her from different places, so I doubt my dad's brother only went to one place. And then my dad served in the Korean War, but he busted his knee the 2nd day of training in a fight with another guy and they found some sort of office job for him for his remaining service. So I have a lot of relatives with military history, but I find WWII the most fascinating. Although I love learning about the people themselves, outside of the war. My family is pretty interesting, in my humble opinion.
 
donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
Mr Ferret 88 said:
Always find your building posts interesting. Dad is a QS and mum worked as a bookeeper fora local building firm for many years so grew up around it.
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Thanks, I appreciate that very much! :)
That is very cool about your folks...! :)
The coolest part is having done this here in the same town for 34+ years and seeing stuff I've done all over town. I am blessed, and I will leave it at that...except for another humble thank you to you, sir...you are a class act! :happy:


No matter what @figmentfan423 says...!!! :hilarious: :eek: :jawdrop: :D ;) :)
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Well-Known Member
donaldtoo said:
Thanks, I appreciate that very much! :)
That is very cool about your folks...! :)
The coolest part is having done this here in the same town for 34+ years and seeing stuff I've done all over town. I am blessed, and I will leave it at that...except for another humble thank you to you, sir...you are a class act! :happy:


No matter what @figmentfan423 says...!!! :hilarious: :eek: :jawdrop: :D ;) :)
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I never said he doesn't have any class:joyfull: In fact he's rather high class
when he chose his wife at least
 
MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
DisneyBound2017 said:
Black coffee challenge: I gave it two weeks and it's still terrible so I'm giving up. I even tried it with pink Himalayan salt because I was told it would cut the bitterness of the coffee. It totally did that, but it also made it taste like I brewed the coffee with ocean water :hilarious::hilarious::depressed::depressed:
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Oh thank goodness you've come to your senses!! Coffee with sugar and cream, here you come!! :joyfull: :joyfull:
 
MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
@Mr Ferret 88 , I just read the sign on this display . . . :jawdrop: ;)

20690006_10213681870544269_1873154731761686532_o-jpg.221006
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
DisneyBound2017 said:
Black coffee challenge: I gave it two weeks and it's still terrible so I'm giving up. I even tried it with pink Himalayan salt because I was told it would cut the bitterness of the coffee. It totally did that, but it also made it taste like I brewed the coffee with ocean water :hilarious::hilarious::depressed::depressed:
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Well, at least you can say you gave it a fair shot. And brewing coffee with salt....:depressed:
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Songbird76 said:
Yeah, there's a museum just outside Arnhem where you can walk the battle fields where the allies marched, and they show a video about Operation Market Garden, and there are old uniforms, patches, military vehicles, and scenes set up so you can learn about the battles in that area. I think it would be right up your alley if you ever decide to come to the Netherlands for a vacation. I've been there and found it fascinating. There's also a memorial by the John Frost bridge...Airborneplein, and if you walk from there to the left side of the city center (centrum) there's a canon on a platform (Airborne Monument) and sometimes they have veterans who are there and will answer questions. My dad chatted with one for quite a while when he came and visited.

I wonder if there's any sort of museum for the Battle of the Bulge...if there is, I'd like to see it. My uncle fought in it and we THINK that's where he was wounded. We know he was shot, and that he came home with PTSD, but he wouldn't ever talk about the war, so we don't really know the details. But after he died, his sister-in-law (my other uncle's wife) told us he had been in the Battle of the Bulge. He was 13 years older than my mom, and her other brother was 10 years her senior...it's possible he told his brother more than he told my mom, so they probably knew more than we did. But I'd sure like to see some of that history.
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The Battle of the Bulge is where my grandfather was wounded too. He got shrapnel in his neck but was deemed well enough to continue fighting. He had the shrapnel in his neck for the rest of his life, he would get it monitored every year. The doctors thought they didn't need to operate to get it out but wanted to make sure it didn't shift as it was located next to his vertebrae. He didn't talk about the war either, but we did know that story.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
ajrwdwgirl said:
The Battle of the Bulge is where my grandfather was wounded too. He got shrapnel in his neck but was deemed well enough to continue fighting. He had the shrapnel in his neck for the rest of his life, he would get it monitored every year. The doctors thought they didn't need to operate to get it out but wanted to make sure it didn't shift as it was located next to his vertebrae. He didn't talk about the war either, but we did know that story.
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My Uncle was shot, but I don't know if he was sent home immediately or not. We knew he had been shot, and we knew he had PTSD. My mom was 2 when her dad died, and her oldest brother was 15 then...so he was the man of the family when their dad died. He took on that role of father....he taught her to drive when she was older, he paid for her piano lessons, and when he was overseas, he'd send her little presents like a charm bracelet, or lace gloves, or wooden shoes. So they knew approximately where he was from where the packages were from...like, the wooden shoes said "Belgium" on them, and the charms for the charm bracelet were from specific places. But we didn't know he had been in the Battle of the Bulge until he died. When he came home, his doctor told him to get a dog because sometimes having that living thing to nurture helped with the PTSD symptoms. He was never without a dog, so it must have helped, but he never talked about the war at all. I can only imagine what it must have been like and how lonely he felt with it.
 

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