My Great Grandfather never talked about the war until he had his stroke. We knew he had a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, but we didn't know how he got them. He was just a Private, and he'd had enough of the military when the war was over.
After the stroke, he seemed to loosen up. He laughed about sighting rifles in by shooting at chickens. He showed us pictures of him in front of the Eiffel Tower. Turns out he was occupation force. Ended up occupying an area near Berlin that became involved in the Battle of the Bulge.
Apparently, while he was fighting, some sort of explosive blew off his buddy's leg, so grandpa "did what anyone else would do" and threw his buddy over his shoulder to get him to the med tent. This included running across a field in the line of sight of a German machine gun nest. He was shot in the leg and some more shrapnel ended up in his chest. Somehow, Grandpa and his buddy survived.
We thought he was embellishing it, but the Bronze Star paperwork included a report that we found after he p****d a**y. Two higher ups signed that the story was true, so I guess I have to believe it. He told us it wasn't that big of a deal and that he didn't deserve all those medals for what he did. What a b****s. RIP, Gramps.
Edit: words
Edit 2: people are pointing out the this battle didn't happen in Berlin. He never said Berlin, just Germany. I said Berlin because I'm not good at history. Sorry.
After the stroke, he seemed to loosen up. He laughed about sighting rifles in by shooting at chickens. He showed us pictures of him in front of the Eiffel Tower. Turns out he was occupation force. Ended up occupying an area near Berlin that became involved in the Battle of the Bulge.
Apparently, while he was fighting, some sort of explosive blew off his buddy's leg, so grandpa "did what anyone else would do" and threw his buddy over his shoulder to get him to the med tent. This included running across a field in the line of sight of a German machine gun nest. He was shot in the leg and some more shrapnel ended up in his chest. Somehow, Grandpa and his buddy survived.
We thought he was embellishing it, but the Bronze Star paperwork included a report that we found after he p****d a**y. Two higher ups signed that the story was true, so I guess I have to believe it. He told us it wasn't that big of a deal and that he didn't deserve all those medals for what he did. What a b****s. RIP, Gramps.
Edit: words
Edit 2: people are pointing out the this battle didn't happen in Berlin. He never said Berlin, just Germany. I said Berlin because I'm not good at history. Sorry.