Lord FlatHead
man overboard
Posts: 2909
Registered: 06-00 |
My grandfather was 9 years old when World War II broke out here in Belgium, and he watched that entire war from a first row seat, so there's loads of stuff to tell. Like the time he got *this* close to getting shot at point blank range with a machinegun when he was twelve. Or those glorious moments of liberation and triumph, when American and English tanks finally rolled into the streets, and everyone knew the Third Reich was brought to its knees.
Though the only thing I can really think of right now is something that happened after the war. In 1950 my grandfather joined the military and went to a Belgian military base in Germany to train there. He was a radio communications guy at the time, I think. Anyway, he and his buddies were unloading tank shells from a tank one day and for no particular reason, the whole lot just exploded.
A dozen or so of my grandfather's closest friends were immediately killed. He himself suffered heavy injuries and was brought to a military hospital in England, where he spent almost a year. In the end, he lost his right arm and can't get trough any metal detectors anymore because his body still contains dozens of little fragmented pieces of shrapnel. But probably the thing most spectacular to me is that he pulled trough, put the accident behind him and just built up a normal life despite his severe handicap. And excuse me if I get all mellow and shit, but I really respect him for that.
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11-02-01 00:36
