My friend Jack

[Ben]

Years ago, I had a great friend named Jack Dailey.
Jack was a WW II veteran.
He served in the European theater.
Jack was wounded several times and received many commendations for valor.
He was easy to talk to and held a wealth of information about WW II.
I really miss visiting with Jack and miss hearing his stories about WW II.

Ben

Notice that Jack was awarded the Silver Star
and the Bronze Star.
I ask Jack what happened the day he was
awarded the Silver Star. He said . . .
" I was trying to keep my men alive that day ".
That was all he offered on that subject.

It is pretty easy to see that this M-1 rifle
is being held by someone who has held
one before.

 

[Pistolero]

Ben,
If you are really interested in what he did that day, you might be able to find his Silver Star citiation.
I don't know what online resources might be available, but you might ask the family if they have
a copy of the citaton. My nephew's Bronze Star has some reasonably good detail about what was going
on and why he earned it, written in the citation. I think that is normal practice.

Bill

 

[Pistolero]

Here. If you want to find it, there are many citations online.

The World's Largest Online Veteran/Military Personnel Database

You have to install their application software to search.

 

[Ben]

Thanks Bill.

Ben

 

[freebullet]

Awesome!

The stories those men can tell are something else. An old timer whom was gratuitous enough to let me hunt on his land shared some detailed experiences from his service days. Sobering accounts that make you appreciate the sacrifice even more. Sad to think some of them never were able or willing to share their experiences.

 

[Ben]

If you asked Jack questions, he gladly answered them.
However, he didn't volunteer very much.

Ben

 

[462]

Yep, you have to ask, and if you do you will be gladly informed.

For me, it's not a matter of purposeful repression, rather one of purposely not wanting to brag, or be perceived as being a braggart. My family and one friend -- a fellow veteran -- know the highlights, and that's good enough till someone asks.

 

[RBHarter]

Uncle Bingo , adopted uncle , landed Iwo Jima .
Answered questions .......never offered much .
My Grandfather was a civilian at Peal Harbor .
Only talked about it once freely .....scotch induced I think ......
The hours and days after were ........ Well it's different in the first person .

 

[Rick H]

The only time I heard my father talk of his WWII experiences (USN Pacific, including the sea battles in and around Guadacanal) and my uncle (infantry rifleman Korea) was overheard by me while the family was on vacation. I was supposed to be asleep in the loft. They talked of Japanese machine gunning survivors in the water, spending 5 days on a uninhabited island, Chinese massed infantry charges and whistles blowing. Two grown men in tears, and a 10 yr. old kid who couldn't understand. I lost my Dad when I was 13. My uncle would never talk of Korea with me, just told me he prayed a lot, and for me when I entered the army in '71.

I would have loved talking to either of them about it, but it wasn't my place to pry. Would give a lot to talk with either of them these days.

 

[Pistolero]

I overheard some wild stories from a USN Chief Gunner's Mate friend of the family, talking with my father (WW2 naval aviator but
missed combat by a couple weeks due to the nukes). He was grimly proud of putting two torpedoes into a Jap battleship, manually
fired because the power systems had been shot away in a night battle off of Guadalcanal. His ship, the O'Bannon got
a Presidential unit citation, and the Jap battlewagon was crippled up enough that she was still around at dawn and was
sunk by aircraft. He fired those torpedoes from the deck launchers of the DD with a wooden mallet hitting a plunger
which fired a black powder charge to eject them into the sea. Set the course by eye, and fired them by eye, too,
but the skipper had brought them in to less than 1,000 yds which is spitting range in naval battles. The O'Bannon got
away relatively unscathed from a fight with cruisers and battlewagons.
Like the last line of the movie. "The Bridges of Toko Ri" - "Where do we get such men?" He was talking about Korean
war naval aviators, but it applies to many, many different jobs done in wars.

 

[Bret4207]

Dailey, Jack T? Found that much, but no citation.

 

[Pistolero]

USS OBannon (DD-450) Presidential Unit Citation

The citation for the IJN Hei torpedoing. The citation says three torpedoes, so I guess I misremembered that part.