WWII buffs: How cool is this?

[Three Hole Puncher]

Friday night I went to a charity thing in downtown Indianapolis... an auction/dinner thingy to benefit orphans or retards or some pathetic thing or another. So they have all this donated stuff that people are bidding on: Golf vacations, bottles of fancy booze, a puggle(not sure if it had AIDS)... yes... they auctioned off an actual living creature, a football signed by the important Mannings... Archie, Peyton, and Eli... they got nearly three grand for that one.

There was one item that caught my eye and made me all engorged and tingly. Get this...

Donated by the USS Indianapolis Museum... a beautiful pencil drawing print of the USS Indianapolis signed by seven of the survivors of the sinking. COOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMeEX0KeIcA&feature=related

I wanted that bastige, and I got into a bidding war with another guy, but $500 was too rich for my blood and I let him have it.

My wife's corp. had a table at the event, and over dinner I'm telling the people at our table about the print of the USS Indianapolis, and how I would've loved to have won it. My wife's office manager is sitting with us, and she pipes up, "Oh, I heard about that picture being auctioned here tonight... my friend Jim signed it."

I was like, "Whaaa? You know a USS Indianapolis survivor?" She said, "Oh sure, I've known him for years. As a matter of fact, he'll be at the picnic we're having at our house this Sunday. You're welcome to come over and meet him if you want."

Needless to say... I jumped at that chance. I met him today:

http://www.happynews.com/news/772007/uss-indianapolis-exhibit-opens-saturday.htm

Indianapolis survivor Jim O'Donnell, 87, said he still vividly recalls the sinking and his days and nights adrift and thirsty in the tropical sea.

O'Donnell, a retired Indianapolis firefighter, hopes the exhibit resonates with the public, particularly young people unaware of World War II's epic battles.

''I hope the young people wake up and realize that the freedom they have today didn't come cheap,'' he said. ''There was an awful price paid for it.''

87-years-old and the guy is still sharp as a tack. I didn't get all douchey and ask him to tell the story like some sniveling fanboi... even though that's exactly what I am towards WWII heroes... a sniveling fanboi. I just shook his hand and mumbled a pathetic, "It's an honor."

Just meeting him was enough... a highlight of my life.

How cool is that?

[BigDickGuzinya]

Nice display of willpower,sir.I don't think I could have done it.

[CM Mark]

I would have thrown a bucket of water on him, and told him to "SWIM NOW BITCH!"

[PDX909]

I'd choke in that situation... I get so nervous around people that I genuinely respect and admire like that. But that's a hell of a story and I hope you do get the chance to talk with him more.

[Hoagie]

I know exactly how you felt. I felt the same way when I met Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay, 2 years ago. And when I met some of the real "Band of Brothers" guys last year. It's amazing to hear them speak after all they've been through.

Every year I go to the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum's World War II weekend. They bring in some pretty big names to speak. This year will be some of the Band of Brother guys again, Buck Compton, Don Malarkey, Forrest Guth, and Earl McClung. It also features a great airshow with some of the planes of the day.

More info here. (http://www.maam.org/maamwwii.html)

[DonTheTrucker]

That could be one of the coolest stories you'll ever have to tell. Worth much more than a plaque with signatures on it.

[Papagolash]

I thought this thread was going to be about that new Hitler doll. Has a thread been made about it yet?

[Stalker2]

I thought this thread was going to be about that new Hitler doll. Has a thread been made about it yet?

http://wackbag.com/showthread.php?t=89677

[MrBogey]

I know the feeling. Back in college I met a survivor of a Japanese POW camp. Fucking brutal.

[Budyzir]

Very cool THP, I know just how you feel.

I know exactly how you felt. I felt the same way when I met Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay, 2 years ago. And when I met some of the real "Band of Brothers" guys last year. It's amazing to hear them speak after all they've been through.

Every year I go to the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum's World War II weekend. They bring in some pretty big names to speak. This year will be some of the Band of Brother guys again, Buck Compton, Don Malarkey, Forrest Guth, and Earl McClung. It also features a great airshow with some of the planes of the day.

More info here. (http://www.maam.org/maamwwii.html)

Thank you sir, I've been searching for this info. Did you post this info last year? I remember seeing it somewhere but couldn't remember where. Definitely going to try to make it this year.

[VMS]

That could be one of the coolest stories you'll ever have to tell. Worth much more than a plaque with signatures on it.

You realize Dick Winters, of Band of Brothers fame, lives maybe a half hour from both of us, right? He's in Hershey, somewhere.

I've been sorely tempted, but have refrained, from digging up where he lives and showing up like some fanboy on his doorstep. Mostly because I don't want to be that pathetic, but also because he and his wife have requested they be left alone.

When that gentleman enters the Halls of Valhalla to be waited on hand and foot by all the bitchy little Krauts he killed in WWII, Hershey is going to be swamped by well-wishers. I figure they'll bury him in Arlington, though.

Currahee!

[Hoagie]

Very cool THP, I know just how you feel.



Thank you sir, I've been searching for this info. Did you post this info last year? I remember seeing it somewhere but couldn't remember where. Definitely going to try to make it this year.yeah I usually start a thread every year about it around a month before hand. It's an amazing sight to see.

You realize Dick Winters, of Band of Brothers fame, lives maybe a half hour from both of us, right? He's in Hershey, somewhere.

I've been sorely tempted, but have refrained, from digging up where he lives and showing up like some fanboy on his doorstep. Mostly because I don't want to be that pathetic, but also because he and his wife have requested they be left alone.

When that gentleman enters the Halls of Valhalla to be waited on hand and foot by all the bitchy little Krauts he killed in WWII, Hershey is going to be swamped by well-wishers. I figure they'll bury him in Arlington, though.

Currahee!He was one of the guys I met last year.

[Three Hole Puncher]

I'd choke in that situation... I get so nervous around people that I genuinely respect and admire like that. But that's a hell of a story and I hope you do get the chance to talk with him more.

You should've heard the pep talk I gave myself before I met him... I was like Travolta in Pulp Fiction... "You're not going to be stupid. You're going to say 'Thank you for a lovely evening', and then you're going to go home, jerk off..."

The potential for a "Good luck, bro." moment of douchery that I'd have the rest of my life to live down was overwhelming.

I could just see myself babbling at the guy in Brian Regan mode... "Was it salty, Mr. O'Donnell, sir? When you were in the water, was it salty? When the sharks came, the water, was it salty?" or maybe I'd have pulled a Larry King... "Grrrr... How important is the life preserver?"


That I pulled it off with my dignity intact... truly one of my finer moments.

[bill333]

, and then you're going to go home, jerk off..."

well, did ya?



That would have been really cool to meet him. My friend that I work with, his father was one of the only survivng members on the landing of Normandy Beach, out of his Reg. on the first day. Needless to say, needless to say, he was speechless during Private Ryan.

I think that scene in Jaws was one of the finest acting moments in movies. He fucking sells it like he was there.