drslyr - Oct-13 Mobile live hunt from Ma
Whitetail Deer
7:12 AM LIVE from Ma*
Well looking at radar this morning it seems we are about to be blasted by the remnants of the hurricane. Might be able to squeak out an hr. Hunt. Heading back home again for a few days. My dads 95 birthday is fri. Absolutely gonna b there for that. For all you veterans just wanna tell a little story.
He enlisted at 17 yrs old for WW2. Went into the airforce. Became a nose-gunner in a B24 Liberator. Flew 28 missions over Germany during the war. Only 25 were required. The whole crew stayed the help finish the war. I remember as a kid my dad having screaming nightmares about the war that would terrorize us kids.
Fast foward to me being an adult of around 35 to 40. My phone rings and i pickup after the “answering machine picks up first” voice says hi im looking for jack..... last name.... how ya doin. I pickup.... hes says to me hey jack this is Geno. I say i dont know any Geno. He asks how old i am. I say 40. He says was your father in WW2. I say yes.... nose gunner. He says i was the captain of the plane your dad was on and id like to speak with him if hes alive. I tell him dads number and ask him to wait 5 min while i call dad first.
I call dad and tell him i want him to listen to something i have on my answering machine. I cover the mouthpiece when Geno announces his name and uncover it as he speaks a few more words. Dad says holy shit thats Geno. I haven't heard that voice in 50 yrs. I will never forget that mans voice as long as i live. He kept us alive.
They spoke for quite a while and began having reunions in each crew members city around the country. This went on for about 10 yrs or so till some were too old or sick or dead to continue. My dad was the youngest of the crew at 17 where more-of the guys were around 25. One of the reunions the captain brought a copy for each man of his logs of the missions. It was a hair raising read.
Dad is now the sole survivor of Geno Geonelli’s Raiders!
They don't make men like that anymore . Truly the greatest generation. Thank you for the story and thank God for men like your Dad.
Wow, thanks for the story... What those gentleman lived through is hard for me to imagine...
Great story and Happy Birthday to your Dad! When men were men!
That's awesome. God bless your Dad. Those guys were made of iron!
Bowhunt said it all happy birthday to him
Happy Birthday to your father, and my wife, Robin, today.
So what happened to you drslyr, you're dad flew 28 death defying missions, and you were chased 150 yards through the woods by a little skunk? LOL.
Sounds like your dad was a pretty great man. Thank you for the short glimpse of one of the greatest generation's hero's.
Please wish your dad a happy birthday and thank him for his service. Truly the greatest generation. Thanks for sharing the story as well!
As a side note, I was a funeral director in the early 90's. Most of the funerals I presided over during this time were folks from the WWII generation. I would always hang near the door in the foyer, open the door for folks, have them sign the guest book etc. Most of the men would hang out in the foyer and I was privilege to many amazing stories from WWII vets. I look back now and wish I would've had the foresight to write some of those stories down, it's unreal what some of those men and women did for our freedom.
My dad never really liked talking about the war. I do remember him saying after coming back from missions often times they could look right through the airplane from flack holes. By a miracle the only injury any crew member ever got was when they were attacked by mesherschmitts . Sorry butchered the spelling. One of the crew grabbed the 50 cal. With his bare hands and pulled away pulling the skin off. It was -60 at altitude.
Cool story about your dad. Not sure about not making them like that anymore. Plenty of soldiers done many brave things in recent wars also. Hats off to all of them!
I know there are plenty of fearless soldiers now. Nobody in there right mind would argue that. To clarify what I meant using somebody else's words was back then all the men and women were soldiers if need b. 15 16 17 year old men lieing about there age to go off and fight for a just cause. Would half the young people do that today ? Prob not. 2 cents
Thanks for sharing a bit of remarkable history! And thanks to your father as well as all active duty and military veterans.
Thanks for sharing an amazing story.
Happy birthday to you dad drslyr! Sounds like a class act and one hell of a guy! Hope he and you enjoys it!!!!!
Happy Birthday to your Dad ! I teared up reading that. That generation was amazing. Tell him we thank him!
My dad has a military bag he came home with. It contains a lot of stuff from the war. He has 2 fired 50cal. machine gun shells he fired at Nazi fighters. He has a survival kit which was ridiculous because the nose gunner was unable to get out of a crippled plane. The kit has a survival knife and a mirror for signaling, and cloth maps of Germany and Europe. It also contained 2 cyanide pills in case you didn't want to be a prisoner. The Germans executed a lot of shot down airmen. He has a dress airmen's jacket with the 8th airforce insignia wings above the right breast pocket, and patches on the arms. As a young kid say high school age I would sneak that coat out of the house and wear it to school cuz I was so proud of my dad. For some reason I didn't think that would go over to well thats why I snuck it out and wore it. Some of the older teachers recognized what I was wearing and wanted to know where I got it. I was happy to brag about my father. I didn't realize just what I was wearing and there was a small buzz around the school over that coat.
There also were photographs of cities in Germany that they had bombed. They would go on a bombing run one day then a couple days later go back and photograph to make sure they had destroyed their target.
My dads health is failing and with his birthday coming up it reminded me of some things in his life that I'm so proud of and for some reason I just wanted to share with you guys.
I have tears in my eyes as I type this................. Sorry isn't this the "Bowsite"!
Great stuff, thank you for sharing and thank you for our dad's service. I hear about all sorts of cool things on bowsite, but family memories, whether hunting or not, are always the coolest!
John
Thanks for sharing this. We are celebrating my FIL’s 98th this weekend. I’ve heard his European war stories 1000 times and would love to hear them another thousand. My Grandad was also there. He was a tank Commander. Battle of the Bulge. Liberating Nazi work camps. Serious shit for a teenager. Unimaginable. Our country was built on their backs. I’ll stand behind them and for them until I’m dead. In the meantime, I’ve spent many hours with my own boys, talking to them about who these and men like them are and were and that they cannot be forgotten and their stories can never be consigned to revisionist history.
Happy Birthday to you Pop and mine!! God Bless their generation!!
Awesome! Thanks to all those who served and Happy Birthday to your Dad!
What an amazing and wonderful story, John. Please give your Dad my heartfelt thanks for his service. And, thank you so much for sharing this with us. Your Dad most certainly was a member of The Greatest Generation... sounds like he was in the front row! I genuinely enjoy the pride I feel coming through with your words. Again, thank you for sharing it.
