Wartime Comments
I was with Patton in Sicily in July 1943. We landed at Gela, and started due north. We went through many small villages. They were making tomato paste. The crushed tomatoes were placed on boards in front of the houses, in the steaming, hot sun.. Also, in the very hot weather, were millions of flies all over the crushed tomatoes. Enjoy your spaghetti and meat balls. Hot dogs tomorrow for sure.
Bernie
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The other heroes in my book are the hundreds of veterans standing in line to get treated at the VA hospitals. The ones now in their last bed on earth. For the most part they die alone. All the paper says is "He was a WWII Veteran" and that closes the book on them. Oh! I wish I could get people to add to their death notice the unit that were in and rather they were Army, Navy or Marine. It is to short just to say "he was a WWII Veteran,"
Thanks,
Milt Long
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Brian, I read your e-mail and you are a credit to this country. Sometimes it is hard to see the good side of what this country is trying to do, but you have been able to do just that. I hope when you get home that you will share your story with the people. Please talk to seniors and veterans groups as they will be very interested.
As a WWII Veteran I can appreciate what you have experienced. I saw this same thing in Germany after the war. I drove a truck hauling wood and bread for the Germans so that they could survive the winter of 45-46. Without our help I am certain that their life would have been worse.
Please tell your story and remember you owe it to all your buddies. The price of freedom comes high.
Good luck,
LTC Milton J. Long, AUS (Ret)
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Starting March 12th thru September 5, 2005, the display (Titanic Exhibit) will be open to the public Wednesday thru Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, Sundays noon to 6pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Cost. 13 yrs to 59 years $20.00. Seniors 60 plus $17.00, youth 2 yrs to 12 yrs $13.00. Children 23 months and younger are free. They are looking for Descendants for Saturday April 16th, Descendants Day, any Descendant is urged to call COSI at 614-629-3114. I am a Descendant, a relative of mine Milton Clyde Long, the son of Judge Charles Long of Springfield Mass., died in the sinking. My father was named after Milton C. Long and I after my father Milton Long Sr. His brother was named after the Judge, Charles Long. Milton C. Long was born on October 19, 1882 and died on April 15, 1912. He is buried with his family in Springfield, Mass.
Milton Long
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If it's the same Titanic Exhibit my bride and I saw several years ago (in Tampa, FL), it's quite impressive and yes, it's done in good taste as well. Along with the artifacts, they created a set which portrayed the night sky and it was as though you were along the rails of the ship. Quite moving and
would like to see it again.
Bill B.
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Comment:
Damn, where did all those years go with those twin Allison's purring like two Cadillacs!! Even taxing, the sound and the feel was distinctive...and at night, on the TO roll you knew you had some real friends when those turbos cut in and the cockpit lit up with a warm glow from the waste gates. A weapon of love to those of us lucky enough to have flown her and a weapon of destruction for those
unlucky enough to have tested her resolve!
chk6
bob
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The sight of P-38's over the Salerno beach-head (at Paestum) was indeed, a wonderful, reassuring sight. Never forgot,
Bernie
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Bernie:
Did you see the one that crashed into the USS Stanton's bridge?
Swarts
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From Anjum Wasim Dar
Story for US legacies Monthly Columnist writer
Not long ago, in June 1949, in the beautiful valley of Kashmir, a beautiful Kashmiri woman, Saeeda Begum, gave birth to her second child, a baby girl. She was named Anjum, meaning a Star in the constellation of Gemini, either Castor or Pollux, this is not known till today.
The Grandmother, Hamida Begum, had prayed for a son.....
It was dark outside the old three story mansion called ‘Barzala Baghat.’ The small, barely covered room smelt strangely, dismally oily. Perhaps the kerosene lamp wick was at its last end. The light flickered as Grandma Hamida Begum bent to put the wrapped, little life on the bed beside her exhausted semiconscious mother. The labor ordeal was over at last.
Grandma mumbled under her breath, "Ah my poor back. I wonder what son Rashid would be doing in Burma at this hour? The Japs are close they say..this World War ..will it ever end…..and here the Gurkhas and the Indians, what a time , what future! It should have been a boy' Ah God!..but then ..he would have gone to the war front..maybe its better this way..…' Grandma was not happy at all. And so began the Life of Anjum in an occupied land; she was a born refugee.........destined to cross barbed wire fences, destined to breathe in captured airspace, destined to hear gunfire instead of rhymes and songs, but who knows, maybe destined to shine, as she was born in the brightest of the Gemini skies.
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Dead as a door nail.
Nails were once hand tooled and costly. When an aging cabin or barn was torn down, the valuable nails would be salvaged to they could reuse them in later construction. When building a door however, carpenters often drove the nail through, then bent it over to other end so it couldn’t work it’s way out during the repeated opening and closing of the door. When it came time to salvage the building, these door nails were considered useless, or “dead” because of the bend. Thus, you have the phrase, dead as a door nail.
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While the Battle of the Bulge was going on, we had a jeep pull up to our CP with a Captain and Master Sgt. as a driver. We thought it was strange for a master Sgt. to be driving a jeep. So we took them inside and went through what they were hauling in the jeep. They had a case of C Rations and upon close examination found that they contained explosives in lieu of food. Needless to say we took them prisoner. The captain could speak perfect English and was up on world news. We talked to them while we waited for the MP’s to come and pick them up. It turned out they were very happy that the war was over for them. I am certain that our people at division got some valuable information from them.
Milton Long.
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U S Legacies Magazine
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