They were Soldiers...

Great Post

Thank you for this info.Just wanted to mention that I have made shorter post commending our men in the military.An example was the anniversary of the battle of Iwojima.OGR DELETED IT.Nick

There's a reason they are known as the Greatest Generation!

Thank you for sharing this list.

 

Andre.

 

Thanks for a great post. Bring back the draft for public service at least.

 

 

 

 

Thanks

Brent

 

A GREAT BIG THANKS TO ALL VETS !

 

GOD BLESS AMERICA !

Wasn't there some baseball & football players who also served during WW2 later on.

Please remind me how this thread relates to model railroading.  Were any of the people mentioned also model railroaders?

 

 

 

 

What, me worry?

 

 THANK YOU

Well let's just say, without these veterans you would not be playing with your toy trains.

 

Google Ted Williams for an amazing story....

Let's not forget some of the regular guys and gals:

 

My dad Robert - 9th USAAF

my mom Winifred Ann- British nurse

my aunt Gwen - British nurse

my uncle Leslie - British tank commander

my uncle Jody - US Army (Silver Star)

my uncle Edward - US Army Gunnery Sargent

my father-in-law - US Army Medic (Bronze Star)

 

If you want to read some interesting stuff, look up Robert Rosenthal, pilot of the B-17 Rosie's Riveters.  Why a movie hasn't been made about this man I'll never know, although I doubt a movie could capture the essence of the written word of his accounts.

and we will never see their likes again. Thank you who have served, are serving, and will serve to keep us free to play with our trains.

Amen... and God bless to those who serve, and have served, to protect Our America and those Freedoms we never take for granted.  true, so we can enjoy those Freedoms bought with the sacrifices of so many....

 

I have many relatives, and friends, I wish to thank, and do thank many times.  From my distant, distant relative they called Flag bearer due to his doing that as a young man in the late 1770s... documented and honored.  To my grandfather, too old for WWll, but worked on B 29s in factories in Pratt and Wichita, Kansas, and at Tinker AFB here in OKC, Oklahoma.  To my father who served in Army Corps Engineers WWll, France to Philippine Islands.  To my father-in-law in tank corps from France and Germany during WWll.  My many uncles who served in Korea, cousins in Nam and Desert Storm, Iraq and Afganistan, plus those still serving world wide.  And to those we lost in Nam... close friends and classmates from class of '68 to '70.  God bless them all..........

Alfred E. Neuman.... Yes, it relates very much so to model railroading.  One, my father who, up until a couple months before his passing, shared the wonder of model railroading in O gauge with his children.  And how many of us have the same story, the memories of our veteran fathers/mothers enjoying trains with us?  Not to mention other relatives we enjoyed trains with us all around Christmas, many who served our America in the Armed Forces.  Yes, trains and those who have/do serve have much to do with the fact we can enjoy our trains in Peace.

  My father also lied about his age and enlisted in the Army in 1942 at the age of 16.  Also, mentioning Lee Marvin above, on the Tonight show one time, he stated the bravest man he ever knew was Bob _______ aka Captain Kangaroo.  Bob was his squad leader during an island landing/operations and Lee Marvin said he never faltered, stood up in leading his men and was credited with saving the lives of many his men.  And, who else, besides me, always watched Captain Kangaroo to see the great Lionel layout they had on the show?

 

Yes, we all owe much to the Greatest Generation for our Freedoms, including running trains, sharing them with generations who follow.

 

Jesse

I have a #41 U.S. Army switcher that Dad gave my older brothers in the '50s.

 

Dad served in the 82nd AB in N. Africa, Sicily, and Normandy and was then transferred into the 101st AB just in time to be trucked into Bastogne.  After the war when the GM strike prevented him from returning to work for them as he had prewar, Dad enlisted in the USAF/MoANG and served on NG Active Duty until the '70s for a total of 33 years of service before being forced into retirement by a severe back injury.

 

Dad was one of the two men who got me into trains (the other one, my Grandfather, who was the wrong age for either World War, was Jimmy Doolittle's mechanic on his Shell Oil research team between the wars).

 

The history of the 20th Century is inextricably linked with the model railroading hobby--there was no more defining moment in it than WWII, e.g.--so, yes, this thread DOES pertain to trains.

Hey, it is Veterans Day today.  I had to explain to one of my employees today what that means.  I enjoy seeing these photos and stories.  I never knew that many actors were involved.  Today's gen of actors would be protesting somewhere with Jane.

NCJOE is right, without the veterans we would not enjoy the everyday freedoms we take for granted.
I only heard my dad talk about WWII four times in my life and then only when it was pulled or cajoled out of him.  I can't imagine the things he described.  After seeing the BBC series World At War, I sort of understood.  I still have his basic manual, metals, etc.
I never saw a hostile bullet in my six years, but have been told that it is a life changing experience. 
What that generation did for the country is immeasurable, otherwise this forum would be in German or Japanese.

They were the greatest generation, no question, most importantly due to their selflessness.  Unfortunately I think today's generation would quite appropriately be called the most selfish generation.  The best argument for that assertion is the "selfie".  Who else would come up with such nonsense as this phenomenon, the obsession of constantly taking pictures of one's self.  This of course is followed by this social media garbage where people post constant updates as to what they are doing seemingly every minute of every day as if they were some sort of celebrity themselves.  Not that I care what the so-called celebrities are doing either.  

 

Faced with another challenge like the greatest generation faced I think we'd be lost.  Not enough selfless people in this country who are willing to sacrifice for others.  Too much of this attitude that "I" am the most important person in the world.

 

So thank you to all veterans, we owe you a debt that can never be repaid. 

 

 

Just my .02,

John

Walter M. Matuch,  THANKS FOR YOUR POST!  As I read through the list it didn't take long to realize that our country is much different today than it used to be.  Our country is going to Hell in a hand basket.  I thank God for the legacy our veterans have left.  God Bless America!!!

The Greatest Generation came home and fueled the golden age of Lionel by buying those great postwar sets for a whole lot of baby boomers.

 

My partial thanks list (I started to write down all of the neighbor's, family and teachers, but it approached a hundred people)

Chris, USAF, who wore a black beret; Larry and Ralph, who wore green ones; Frank, James and Franklin, SEALs; Ross, Silver Star in WWII

Dad (USNR USS Accomac/LST 710) Uncles Jack, John, Harry and Johnny, all Army WWII 

Cousin Gary USMC combat wounded (twice) Vietnam

Brother-in-law John, USS Forrestal, there for the explosion and fire

Nephew Boo, his son, currently serving, USMC

Great-nephew Brian, my dad's great-grandson, currently on USS New Orleans

 

There were so many more. Our principal and most of our teachers were all veterans.

My Father, only 17 years old, was in the Normandy Beach Invasion at Omaha Beach with the U.S. Navy as a LST Driver. Twice he thought that the 88mm shells were coming to the LST he was on, but both missed. He saw a friend of his getting hit by the 88mm shell, and for a brief instant, there was a hole in the water where this LST was. Later, after the beach head was secured, he assisted with the Medics to help the wounded on Omaha Beach. He never told me how bad this was, but the opening scene in 'Saving Private Ryan' was slightly close, but more bloody. Now I know why he was always sickened when the Roast beef was not cooked all the way.

 

My great uncle on Dad's side, WW1 (I have that very helmet in my collection):

Myself, at various times:

 

 

Direct descendants on my dad's side of the family...

Me: US Army, 1998-2006 (Captain when I got out)

My brother: USAF, 1986-2006 (retired at a LtCol)

Dad: USAF, late 50s

Uncles (on both sides of the family, 5 total): All served at various times, WW2 to 'Nam

Granddad: WW1, Army field artillery, France

Great Granddad: Spanish American War

Great Great Granddad: Civil War (Confederate States of America, he lived into the 1930s)

...and so on, and so on. War of 1812, Revolution, someone directly related to me was there for all of them.

The only men on either side of my family who didn't serve (as far back as anyone has been able to trace) were my Mom's father as he had a defense job exemption that they wouldn't release him to the military and a cousin of mine who had medical issues from childhood that wouldn't allow him to serve.

Pressure to serve? Nope. They tried to talk me out of it, in fact.

I was born and raised in the south, and anyone who's served will confirm that you'll finda lot of southern boys and girls in uniform.

Memorial Day for the fallen,

 

Veterans Day for those lucky enough to return and or serve.

 

Two days is not too much to ask to honor those who paid the high cost of freedom.

 

And yes, you have more freedoms than any one person in history including freedom:

- to travel to a train show out of state without checkpoints or papers

- to have an opinion

- to voice, publish, or print your opinion

- to have more than one manufacturer of toy trains

- to have toy trains

and on and on . . .

 

Either study, preserve, and LEARN from history, or be prepared to repeat it.

very sad this reply got 2 likes.......Jim

very sad some one thinks so low of our veterans to start with that there can't be a post thanking them so they could be here to say what they wish. 

Yeah, but in the end, even I can't say there is no merit to the question on what this topic has to do with model trains.

I mean, it is a valid point, regardless how you feel on the subject.

I find it odd that people try to shoehorn veteran topics wherever they feel like, and almost challenging anyone who questions it almost to ask, "what, do you hate veterans?" Almost reminds me on 'The Simpsons' when someone would randomly yell, "Will someone please think of the children!" at times of peril.

Sure he could.  Germans, Japanese, Italians and Russians have toy trains.  LGB, Marklin, Faller and Fleischmann from Germany, Kato and Tomix from Japan and Rivarossi from Italy, among others, would not have denied access to toy trains as American boys (of any age) assimilated under the Axis powers.   The Soviet Union even made O-gauge trains during the Postwar era (1951-1969), although they have Joseph Stalin's initials instead of Blt by Lionel.    

Id like to sound off here, props to the greatest generation, they more than earned that moniker!!  Having spent 24+ years in the Navy&Army, I have whitnessed plenty of "heros", most all of which go un-noticed!  So for those of you that served  thank you from the bottom of my heart!!  You and your families sacrifice means something to myself and my family!!

Yeah, but in the end, even I can't say there is no merit to the question on what this topic has to do with model trains.

I mean, it is a valid point, regardless how you feel on the subject.

 

The forum moderators welcome a topic thread or two of warm wishes on our holidays .... Christmas, Memorial Day, etc

 

Why does that even bother you people?

 

Wow. Just wow.  I can't believe that this was posted, and that 4 others "Like" it.

 

This thread was about honoring our Veterans that have served, some ultimately, and began with mention of those that were very much in the public eye, that served this country, some with distinction. Others are very proud of the fact that they have had family members serve, some of those on this forum have served, and served proudly. To those of you I salute and thank you for your service.

 

To all you that feel "ashamed" of America, or true Americans, as well as what we believe in and stand for:

 

Disgusted with the USA?  Don't like the ideals it was based upon, and for the better part of 200 years lived by? Not willing to stand and fight for the right to be the USA?

 

No problem: Pack your crap and move to the country of your choice. We'll get along just fine without you. Oh, and don't let the door hit your behind on the way out.

 

To the rest of you that are glad to be here in the USA and proud of those from among us that serve in our Military: Thank God I was born an American!!!

 

 

101st Airborne. 1968.

 

Dick

 

       

By "you people," you mean myself, a 8th generation veteran who carries scars from serving the nation?

It doesn't 'bother' me as such but I can't ignore the initial question on what this topic has to do with model trains. The answer is, it doesn't. Why does that question bother you people?