jon019
CH.com Alumnus
Offline
"Ya gotta believe!"
Posts: 1656
USA
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Thanks John,
I remember them ALL.
Most prominent in my memory is "Uncle Hank" (Francis J Rassiga). A small town boy (Canaan, CT) who was born to fly.
Piloted a B-26 in WW II Europe. He was 24-25, apparently his fellow pilots called him Pops cuz they were all younger. Think about that one! Flew 68 missions in various planes (among them a famous one called "Mild and Bitter). When he was assigned they told him "25 missions and your outa here". By the time he hit 25 there were so many losses of experienced pilots that they said sorry, now it's 40. When he hit 40, they said, sorry (again) we can't spare you. You have to consider that about 14 was considered the longest a pilot would last, then he was DEAD. I cannot comprehend what that thought must have been like. He won the DFC, Air Medal, Unit Citation, Purple Heart, and a whole bunch more I can't recall. Oh my.
Hank was shot down at least once, said he parachute landed in France, next to the most surprised cow on the continent. Was wounded in that circumstance. His parents, my grandparents, received the following telegram:
"We regret to inform you....that your son was SLIGHTLY injured on such and such a date" Still have that telegram and it is a gut wrenching experience to read it. What a shitty way to start a telegram with relatively good news. SIGH...
My Ma (his sister) told me stories of Gramps getting up in the middle of the night to sit in the living room and sob silently while worrying about his only son in harms way. His only comfort was her dog "Dinah". Dinah would rest her chin on his knee and just sit and comfort. He had a saying (in Italian) that I wish I had written down which translates into, "all she lacks is the spoken word". Now, this was a man that I cannot even imgaine crying, anytime. When Ma got married and moved out, he said you can leave, you can get married, BUT, don't think you can take this dog (cocker spaniel).
Gramps was a carpenter/contractor and that dog used to climb ladders to the roof to be with him. He had to carry her down.
But surely, I digress. Sorry, you all suck memories out of me which I apparently have no control over. Uncle Hank was killed in 1949 while ferrying a racing plane for a friend. Those WW II pilots must have been hooked on the adenaline of speed. In his home town, it was front page news. "War hero laid to rest". All attended.
I'm sorry to go on so. But, my freedom is the direct result of men like these. I will NEVER forget. All of yours, all of mine. Memorial Day is the most special in my heart. I can't help it.
Regards
Jon
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