We lost my Grandfather 10 years ago next month. I miss him all the time, but some days worse than others. I wish my son could have known him, but Granddaddy died just a few months before he was born.

Granddaddy was a Medic in WWII and was part of the 84th Infantry. He fought the war without a rifle and was the bravest and strongest man I have ever known. Growing up, I knew he had been in WWII, but that was all I knew. He did not talk about it. It was not until I was commissioned as a military officer myself that he began to share stories with me. They are stories I will never forget. When he died, he left me several things from WWII to remember him by: a German Calvary Officer's sword; a Nazi flag; some German medals and uniform items; etc. But as much as I value those things, they are not the greatest treasure he left me.

My grandfather was an avid amateur photographer. Although he never carried a rifle in Europe, he carried a camera. And he took photos. Lots and lots of photos. Now those photos belong to me. Pictures of men he served with; pictures of places and things; pictures from the Ardennes Forest, where dead soldiers lay in frozen stacks; pictures from their liberation of Hannover-Ahlem concentration camp.

As he grew older, he wrote or typed notes on the back of many of the photos to include dates and locations and names. When I look at them, I get just a glimpse of WWII through his eyes...the horror; the death; the loneliness; the friendships; the celebration; just momentary frames of the world he knew that was so very far from the small Mississippi town he called home.

My son is 9-years-old now. I wish so very much he could have known his Great Granddaddy in person, but that was not meant to be. What I can do is make sure he knows him through his legacy and his photographs; knows about his courage and the courage of the citizen soldiers he fought alongside.

Have you considered posting them for others to enjoy?

quote:

Originally posted by mjlennon:
Have you considered posting them for others to enjoy?

That is my intent, at least long term. I will need to scan them all first.

Sounds like the makings of a really great book!
Regards, Jack

A great treasure. Thanks for sharing and I am sure many of us would enjoy the pix as well.

I had an uncle (great uncle?) that came through WW1. Survived the mustard gas on the front, so “close to the action” might be an understatement. Wish I had had the chance to talk, but those days are long past.

Thank you for posting this. You are doing a great job wanting to preserve these things for your son. He will do the same going forward. It will be a blessing to many if you are able to post the photos along with your Grandfather's inscriptions.

quote:

Originally posted by Jack830:
Sounds like the makings of a really great book!
Regards, Jack

This is a great idea to honor your Grandfather and everyone who served with him.

Perhaps organizing them into a book to publish, if they are never before published it would be a great way to honor the journey and his ability to capture the war through his eyes....

Be careful where you host them, you could end up giving rights to the host for use, depending on the agreement with the service.

You want to retain your rights to the images.

I'd love to see some of the photos.

Thanks for the post.

There are literally dozens of pictures. Some are as innocuous as organized football games between rival units once they occupied Germany. Many are in combat environments. The most powerful (in my opinion) of the photos is also the most tragic. It captures the death of one of his fellow medics. Grandaddy told me that the medic was a replacement and had not seen much combat. They were pinned down by an SS sniper, but they had cover. A wounded SS soldier lay in the street, just in front of them. The new medic said he was going to go into the street and render aid. Grandaddy said he and the other soldiers warned him that he would be shot by the sniper, but he was insistent that because he was a medic and trying to aid a German soldier, the sniper would not target him. He ran into the street, knelt by the fallen German, and began to cut cut away his uniform to assess and treat his injuries. The photo shows the medic laying dead, next to the (also dead) German soldier. The medic's scissors are still in his hand and there is a clearly visible hole right through the Red Cross on his helmet.

You are very blessed to have these treasures. Would be great to see

Incredible legacy you have there. Take care of those pics!

In later years, he and my Nanny (grandmother) traveled a lot and he took pictures of everything. When we would visit their house, he would pull up a screen; set up the old slide projector; and present a slide show. As a child, I dreaded those slide shows. They bored me to tears. Oh how I wish I could sit through one of his narrated tours of Israel or Holland again. I'm glad he lived long enough to see me serve in the military. I wish he had lived long enough to see me follow in his footsteps as a photographer as well.

Thank you for sharing. I too would have liked to know him. Sounds like a terrific father.

Please post some photos up!

My late father's 94 year old cousin has been sending me images of family members from the family tree. Many of them are black & white (wet plate?) from the civil war era. Some of them of my great grandfathers and great great grandfathers on either side of the family tree. We don't have kids to pass them onto. Treasure them and preserve them.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
You are very blessed to have these treasures. Would be great to see

Agree!!!

Yes, I'd love to see those.

Thanks to the OP for a great post, and I look forward to viewing any of the photos that can be shared here.

Related Question: In the story I shared above about the Medic killed by a SS sniper, my Granddaddy did identify, by name, the medic who was killed. I have no idea, of course, if his family was ever notified of the circumstances of his death. If he has any surviving family, I'm sure they don't want to see the photo, but do you think they would want to hear from a stranger, letting them know that their father/grandfather died while exercising the most humane of actions...attempting to save the life of his enemy? Or is it best just to let things lie that be?

What Mississippi town ?
I look through my Pops pictures and get a nostalgic feeling. What it must have been like ... Wow.