Category Archives: War Stories

My dad told me the story of his life in snippets, often late nights at the kitchen table, over a period of thirty years. I’ve patched his many vignettes together, covering the time he was a teenager growing up during WWII through thirty years in the military, and then ordered these disparate stories into aContinue reading “War Stories: Glimpses from the Foxhole”

Following the trip to West Point, my father is once again talking about going back to Viet Nam.  “I’d like to go back to some of the places I was before.  I want to see how they’ve changed.  I don’t even know if they will let me in, but I want to try.  The nextContinue reading “Epilogue”

It had been more than forty years since my father had been back to West Point.  He had returned for his fifth reunion, making the trek from Fort Benning.  He returned a year or two later when his brother was stationed there.  But he had not been back since; he talked about attending the fiftiethContinue reading “Chapter 6: Reunion”

After Naples, my father was sent to Fort Riley, Kansas where he prepared for his first tour in Viet Nam.  Sandwiched in between trips to Viet Nam, a six-year period, were a tour at Fort Monroe, Virginia, working with some unit called CONARC, classes at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and aContinue reading “Chapter 5: Winning the War”

My father certainly met a lot of famous people during his career.  At the West Point graduate luncheon in Charleston, he might sit next to “Westy”, Westy being General Westmoreland, the allied commander in Viet Nam.  And he often played handball with that somewhat famous guy who was an instructor at the Naval War CollegeContinue reading “Chapter 4: O Sole Mio”

War movies often provide a spark for my father.  When we watch together, it doesn’t take long before he has a story to accompany the action on the screen.  The Big Red One, a chronicle of the exploits of the First Division during World War II, sparked lots of commentary. “If you are going toContinue reading “Chapter 3: Rambo”

My father remembers the depression, World War II, and other cataclysmic world events. The major events of his youth were ones that affected everyone. Today we live through wars and disasters vicariously via television, but back then these events were so momentous you could not isolate yourself from them; they were not as distant andContinue reading “Chapter 2: Beast Barracks”

A hired killer, a grunt, an infantryman, my father calls himself. After thirty years of military service, he can lay claim to other titles as well: ranger, paratrooper, company commander, battalion commander, and G-something-or-other. Of course, these days he is primarily known as Grandpa, having retired from the Army many years ago. Commemorating his experiencesContinue reading “Chapter 1: Hired Killer”

This is a memoir of my dad’s life, from the time he was a teenager growing up during WWII through his thirty plus years in the military, including his time in Viet Nam. Prologue Chapter 1: Hired Killer Chapter 2: Beast Barracks Chapter 3: Rambo Chapter 4: O Sole Mio Chapter 5: Winning the WarContinue reading “Table of Contents: War Stories: Glimpses from the Foxhole”

“I was six when my mother died. She died in childbirth. My father sent Brian to Salem–to live with my aunts. He couldn’t take care of a newborn himself. And my older brother Tammy went to Salem too. I stayed in Gardner with my father. That was 1934. It was five years before we-–my brothers,Continue reading “Prologue”