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Great story, thanks Weasel.
Those WWII people are going quickly...
My Father, dropped out of college, enlisted early 1942, got sucked into "jump school",
and did the War in the Aleutian Islands, which the Japanese were trying to nibble at,
and use as a base. He had to jump 4 times a month, which he hated, so some guy from Brooklyn,
in the static line behind him, had to kick him out the door each time.
The Japanese army assault patrols were tenacious, but he got back alive.
My Mother, a few years younger than my father, (and they did not know each other at the time),
dropped out of college in late 1944, and enlisted in the MCWR, the Marine Corps Women's Reserve.
The law was changed to allow those women to "do more", so she did basic training in the Mojave Desert,
then San Diego, and shipped out to Pearl Harbor Hawaii, in January 1945, where she served out the war
through VJ day, driving trucks, working on airplanes as a mechanic, freeing up men for combat.
She was a proud member of those first 160 women in the First Contingent, Women's American Marines.
My Mother always kidded my Father that he was just an Army Sgt jumping out of plane, and she was a Marine.
They were two of my heroes.
BR, mD
Last edited by motordavid; 08-31-2010 at 02:55 PM.
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