Hours before any of the Allied soldiers landed into Normandy from the sea, tens of thousands of American Paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne were dropped behind the assault beaches to guard the flanks against German counterattack. Most of the transport pilots flying the Airborne troopers to their Drop Zones had never flown through anti-aircraft fire before and that, combined with fog and low cloud, caused wide dispersal of the aircraft, thus the divisions were badly scattered during their…..
My name is Douglas Szczepanski, Jr., and I am a medically retired SGT with the U.S.Army and Michigan Army National Guard. My job and specialty training was 13M (MLRS) Rockets-Field Artillery Crewmember and Combat 31B Military Police Gunner. I began my service in March of 2001, when I joined the Army as a 13M (MLRS) Field Artillery Crew member. I shot large rockets capable of destroying enemy armor, artillery and vehicles. I joined a few months short of the devastating…..
My father, Charles A. Burnham, has never really spoken about his experience during his tour in Vietnam, not until now, not until I asked him questions for this story. He expressed to me while answering these questions, that these are things that he hasn’t spoken of since he was in Vietnam, because it is very emotional and difficult to re-live those experiences. Although my dad was never injured, I do have my own suspicion that he suffers from PTSD due…..
My name is John J. Coppinger. I was born August 1945 in Brooklyn, New York. Mother was a housewife and my father was a New York City fireman with two other jobs. I have 4 brothers and 4 sisters. My brother Thomas did two tours in Nam with the U.S. Special Forces and Richard did one tour in Vietnam as a U.S. Marine. I wanted to go Airborne and enlisted after high school with Special Forces. The early days of…..
I am SFC David F. Cyr Jr. and I am an active duty member of the U.S. Army. My current assignment is the New England Recruiting Battalion. I presently have 20 years of total service, with 16-½ years active duty. My initial enlistment was in April 1995. I enlisted active duty Airborne Infantry, and upon completing OSUT and Airborne School at Fort Benning, GA, I was assigned to the 82ND Airborne Division. In August 1998, I went from active duty…..
My name is John Gus Hassler, and I am a proud Vietnam Veteran having served in Chu Lai, 1965 to 1966. My father, grandfather and another brother all worked in the defense industry at the Brooklyn Navy Yard repairing war ships. The family would speak about their war experience on occasion. My older brother and uncle served in the U.S. Navy as well. I was trained as a Heavy Equipment operator at the U.S. Navy school in Port Humneme, California,…..
“When I was a kid, I asked my grandpa once if he ever killed any Germans in the war. He wouldn’t answer. He said that was grown up stuff…. So I asked if the Germans ever tried to kill him, but he got real quiet. He said he was dead the minute he steeped into enemy territory. Every day he woke up he told himself, ‘rest in peace—now get up and go to war.’ And then after a few years…..
My name is Douglas Gillert, and I am a Vietnam Veteran. I enlisted in the Marines while I was still in high school, mostly because I yearned for a broader life experience. I had never left the state of Michigan until I flew to San Diego for boot camp. I wanted to go to college downstate, probably at Michigan State University, but Dad said I’d have to go to the local junior college at least a year and remain living…..
My name is Bob Harper, and I am a Vietnam Veteran and retired U.S.Navy Seabee/Seal /ACB1 after twenty-two 1/2 years of service. I was not a Seal but was attached to them in support. My dad was in the Army during WWII with General Patton and Battle of the Bulge. He never said much about his time in the war. I’m the same, as I don’t talk about it much either. But for my part in the Vietnam War, that…..
There is far more than fifty shades of gray in the granite memorials standing at The Vietnam Veterans Memorial of Greater Rochester www.rochestervietnammemorial.org OUR PAST IS ALWAYS PRESENT WITH COMES A SOLDIER’S WHISPER where we strive to commemorate, to heal, and to educate. God Bless our veterans, past, present and future! about.me/jennylas51 Photo Source: Pictures taken from The Vietnam Veterans Memorial of Greater Rochester on April 18, 2015 Vietnam Testimonials: www.VietnamAndBeyond.com WWII Letters: www.ComesASoldiersWhisper.com
