lemaymiami
Member
Like so many, my dad volunteered for the draft in the winter of 1942 and went in at the bottom. He was sent into the Engineers when they found out he'd been working as an on-site supervisor for Pan Am building airstrips in South America and Africa before the war - when a construction crew was lots of native labor with picks and shovels along with a very few heavy construction machines - in very primitive surroundings... That job also entailed being a mechanic since you had to keep the gear working with only what you had on hand... Eventually he volunteered for gliders (and told me years and years later -"thank God they cancelled gliders since the casualty rate on landing was just too high"..). After that he became a drill sergeant then was lucky enough to get a shot at OCS... Many years later (1970 or 71) he retired out after 28 years.... the hard way, including two tours to Vietnam.
That world is long gone -and will never come again. All of his accomplishments were done with only what college he could pick going to night classes as he served. Something not possible today at all... While he struggled with 45 auto, I can remember seeing him shoot the lights out with a 22 rifle off-hand while trying to teach me the basics... That old G.I. 45 with the way they were teaching it all those years ago (one handed off-hand) was a tough nut compared to today's much improved 45 pistols, shot two-handed from the start..
That world is long gone -and will never come again. All of his accomplishments were done with only what college he could pick going to night classes as he served. Something not possible today at all... While he struggled with 45 auto, I can remember seeing him shoot the lights out with a 22 rifle off-hand while trying to teach me the basics... That old G.I. 45 with the way they were teaching it all those years ago (one handed off-hand) was a tough nut compared to today's much improved 45 pistols, shot two-handed from the start..