Our Grandfathers and Fathers Were Antifa!

[MineralMan]

Here's a photo of my father with his B-17 crew. He was first pilot of the B-17 in the background of this photo, and is at the left in the first row. He fought the Nazis from Italy, which was no longer Nazi or fascist in 1944 when he joined the 863 Bomb Group (Heavy) at its base in Foggia, Italy. None of the Antifa fighters in that photo are still living. All are gone.

One of the bombing raids he flew on caused great destruction to the Mercedes Benz Company Tank Factory complex in Berlin. The group was awarded a unit citation for that raid alone.

[onecaliberal]

1. Yes. My dad was ANTIFA OG

I’m grateful he didn’t see 1/6.

[OneBlueDotS-Carolina]

2. Mothers, Aunts, Uncles...

Lost two uncles over Europe.

[MineralMan]

3. Yes. Those, too.

[OneBlueDotS-Carolina]

7. My Dad, piloted a Beaufighter...

Or Torbeau, job was to hunt Nazi shipping on the North Sea out of Scotland, his plane's job was to drop torpedoes after other Beaufighters had taken out the ship-mounted AA guns. This was done very close to the sea. Many missions or sorties were uneventful, meaning they found no targets. What was most dangerous was the weather, which could change radically between take-off & landing.

Most amazing thing he witnessed, was when his squadron was transferred to the south of England prior to DDay to clear the Channel & the Bay of Biscay of U-Boats & other assorted Nazi marine traffic, was the Armada heading to Normandy on D-Day. Literally thousands of ships steaming to Normandy.

One Beaufighter raid over Paris.

Daring Solo Beaufighter Raid - Paris 1942

[MineralMan]

8. Be proud of him!

[keithbvadu2]

4. At the VA hospital

Have heard many, many tales of our veterans' experiences, living vicariously through their adventures.
One was a bomber pilot over Germany in WWll. Five planes shot out under him and many other uneventful returns. Bailed out of one over France and busted his ankle. Three weeks to get back to Allied lines with zero medical care. He was still being treated for that ankle 70 years later. Ditched one in the English Channel. Made it back to England with the other three but still shot up. As long as he kept coming back, they kept giving him more planes.
He was in the squadron with the movie stars. Said Clark Gable was the most obnoxious man he ever met.
He was going to the Pacific to be a squadron commander but the war was winding down so that never happened.

[onethatcares]

5. and these self serving pols

have waited until they are dieing off to kill America.

[MineralMan]

6. But, we remember. Their children and grandchildren remember.

It doesn't hurt to remind them of what they should remember, either.

[onethatcares]

18. 100% agree

can't add to that.

There seems to be a great divide in what our fathers and grandfathers fought for when compared to the modern military actions of the United States of America beginning with Viet Nam. Maybe it's just my view but at times I feel this country has been the aggressor. My dad was a radio operator on a PBY in the south Pacific during WW2. He never talked about the war.



Peace to you all. .

[11 Bravo]

9. I wish I knew how to post from photographs.

My absolute favorite picture shows my then 22 year old dad with some squadron mates in front of Dad's F6F Hellcat on Espiritu Santo in 1944.
He had just been awarded the DFC for "Conspicuous Gallantry in Aerial Combat" during what came to be known as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot", and was getting ready to return to his carrier.
As a kid I remember looking at that photo and thinking that they were so fucking young. Then a few years later I found my 19 year old ass in the A Shau Valley. Apparently young men will always pay the price for the folly of their elders.
Dad rests today at Arlington National Cemetery, and I miss him every day.

Happy New Year to you and your's, MM.

[MineralMan]

10. The easiest and fastest way is to scan them and make Twitter

posts. Then, just post the link to your Twitter post and there it will be right here on DU.

[11 Bravo]

11. First, I'd have to get a Twitter account.

I'm a serious Luddite, MM. I retired just in time after 40+ years as a public school teacher. If I'd had to teach remotely via computer, my head would have exploded.
Hell, my two adult sons chuckled when my wife gave me an iPhone a couple of years ago. They said, "Mom, Dad doesn't need a smart phone, his flip phone is about all he can handle."
I love the little smart-asses, and they were right.

[TheRickles]

12. Here are some non-Twitter options that other DUers told me about.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/125619501

I used the PostImages option, and it worked fine. Good luck!

[bluboid]

13. my father, a lifelong antifa, was wounded & survived WW2

he grew up in the rural midwest & was passionately anti nazi from an early age to his dying breath.

[ARPad95]

14. My uncle served in the Navy and Air Force during WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War.

He retired as a Lt. Col. from the Air Force. He was married to my paternal aunt so not my blood relation. He was always kind and gracious to me. Unfortunately, his only son/my cousin turned out to be a flaming tRumper and alcoholic.

[mitch96]

15. My Father was ANTIFA at Normandy, Cherbourg and North Africa shelling Nazis

from a heavy Cruiser. Also hunted UBoats in the Caribbean. My 2nd cousin died on Iwo Jima and my Uncle was Coast Guard sub patrol.. ALL ANTIFA... When I hear or read about repukes dumping on ANTIFA I want to... well... PUKE!
m

[monkeyman1]

20. same here ! gla my dad not around to see & hear this nazi shit ???

[mitch96]

23. My old man really Really REALLY hated nazis. Lost most of his extended family

in the Holocaust. Almost went apoplectic when I wanted to by a volkswagen and refused to buy a Ford b/c of his Mr Ford's Fascist views and his help of the Nazis.
Old hate dies hard...
m

[monkeyman1]

24. mine wanted GERMANY eliminated from map's !

he was on the details that helped bring Holocaust survivors out of the camp's

[mitch96]

26. Uff, that must have been a horrible experience.. Man can do some nasty shit to each other..nt

[monkeyman1]

29. gi's was crying & throwing their gut's up ! didn't tll me until I was older !

[SCantiGOP]

16. But, I did hear that..............

One of their main allies were Communists.

However, that alliance lasted about 10 minutes after the Nazis were defeated.

[Hekate]

17. Lest we forget. Thank you.

[rurallib]

19. My FIL was in the Normandy invasion at Omaha Beach

He never talked about it.

Just can't imagine what it must have been like to storm that beach knowing that the chance of death was pretty high.

[monkeyman1]

21. life expectancy of about 10 seconds!!

[SCantiGOP]

22. I have a picture of my Dad and the three guys

that he shared a tent with in the Pacific as members of the Marine Air Corps.
My Dad and one of the other three came home.

[Grasswire2]

25. My Uncle Pat, who was in the second wave at Normandy...

...captured later, briefly, by Germans, at the Battle of the Bulge and on to North Africa...

He was the only Democrat after the war, in a family of Republican siblings.

Even my Uncle Bob, who was a POW of the Japanese after the fall of Corregidor in the Philippines (POW for three years, his gangrenous leg sawed off by an Army surgeon in a tunnel hospital there) was a hard core Republican all the rest of his life.

Pretty interesting to think about the different paths for GIs after the war.

[keithbvadu2]

27. Yes. Interesting way you described it.

Did your Uncle Bob stay a republican after both parties pretty much swapped positions after the Civil Rights times of LBJ?

And the democrat as well?

[KentuckyWoman]

28. My Dad was in the Pacific.

He was there for 4 years. He never talked about it. There is only one picture of him in uniform. He would not watch war shows or films.

Near his end I asked him again, and he looked incredibly sad. After quite a few minutes with a breaking voice he only said that no one needs to know about what he saw.

[bluboid]

30. what those men went thru was truly horrific...

it's made me appreciate what we have today, imperfect as it is - democracy works!

[mitch96]

31. The horrible thing I just recently understood is when you ask about their experiences you are

asking them to relive the horrors of war. Many have spent years trying to forget. I remember watching a program about the war. One veteran mentioned he got horrible nightmares about the war. The presenter asked when he had his last nightmare.. The vet said last night..
he was 94... uff..
m