The beginning of the end!

[Big Al1]

First atomic bomb dropped!! https://www.foxnews.com/world/hiroshima ... mb-history

Also on this day, the US Army Air Corp top ace, Richard Ira Bong was killed on a test flight. The war was over and he never knew!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bong

[DanielChamberlain]

Many years ago, a friend was stationed in Japan. While there, she went to see Hiroshima and visit the dome. A Japanese gentleman noted her uniform and commented that it was a very somber memorial considering the lives lost. Without missing a beat she asked how many Chinese civilians died at the hands of Japanese soldiers during WWII? Then she smiled and walked away.

[Wambli Ska]

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Wife’s grandpa was a Seabee in WWII. Landed in Tinian while the shooting was still going on. Him and his buddies were there when they figured out they needed a big hole under the Enola Gay to load the bomb and he helped build it and he watched her take off knowing exactly what was in her belly…

[Big Al1]

Easier than jacking up the airplane!!

Great history there!!

[Wambli Ska]

Somewhere I have a long video of him telling us WW2 stories. As soon as I find it I need to transfer it to a MP4 file. You can’t lose stuff like that. Not many first hand accounts anymore.

[Big Al1]

I was lucky enough to work with a lot of WWII vets and knew a couple WWI vets!! Always loved hearing the stories!! My old boss was a Marine on Iwo Jima, he's still kicking ,turns 98 this year!!

[Kansashunter]

I had a vet that I used and one day he showed me a picture of him in uniform. He told me he was a pilot and was shot down and spent several years in a german pow camp. He was not a guy to talk about personal things much but I would like to have heard some of his stories. He was a tough old bird and kept working as long as his body let him.

[Wambli Ska]

Grandpa was indeed a tough bird. Built his own house in his late teens, became a master carpenter and boat fitter by his early 20s. Built his own construction and cabinetmaking business from the ground up and never borrowed a dime from anyone. Many a building in his town have a nameplate with his name on it, including the church we had his memorial service in.

He volunteered for WW2 even though he was already in his 30s and married. He smoked well into his 80s and quit when my BIL moved in with him after college only because he didn’t was the smell of smoke in the house anymore. He drank a High Ball EVERY DAY of his life at 3:00PM and you could set your watch by it. In his 90s he would wake my BIL and I at 4:30am on days we were going fishing with “Fish are awake, what the hell are you two still doing in bed?”. Drove himself everywhere until he was 94.

Lord they don’t make men like him anymore. There’s a park in Duxbury MA named after his family. They were original Mayflower passengers and colonized Plymouth. A whole different breed of men.