# Requesting stories, poems and quotes



## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 11, 2005)

right, a friend's mum's having a party to celebrate the 60th anniversairy of the end of WWII, and they've asked me to help find any short-ish stories, poems or quotes related to WWII that are very emotional and moving, any help would be gladly recieved, thanks!


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## cheddar cheese (Jul 11, 2005)

Why not just pinch some of the ones already here...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 11, 2005)

because most of them are about pilot's kills  not really what she's looking for.........


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## trackend (Jul 11, 2005)

Do you mean emotional boo hoo , ha ha or thats the spirit


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 11, 2005)

uplifting stories mainly, a bit of "boo hoo" and a bit of "that's the spirit" would go down nicely too, i've started to collect peoms already.....


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 11, 2005)

I've posted these before but here ya go Lanc....

Oh, Hedy Lamarr is a beautiful gal,
And Madeleine Carrol is too.
But you'll find, if you query,
a different theory
amoungst any bomber crew.
For the loveliest thing
of which one could sing
this side of the Heavenly Gates,
is no blonde or brunette
of the Hollywood set,
but an escort of P-38s.

Yes, in days that have passed,
when the tables were massed
With glasses of scotch or champagne,
It's quite true that the sight
was a thing to delight us,
Intent upon feeling no pain.
But no longer the same,
nowadays, in this game,
When we head north
from Messlina Straights,
Take the sparkling wine--every time
just make this mine
An escort of P-38s.

Byron, Shelley, and Keats
ran a dozen dead heats
Describing the view from the hills,
Of the valleys in May
When the winds gently sway
An army of bright daffodils.
Take the daffodils
Byron--the wild flowers, Shelley--
Yours in the myrtle, Friend Keats;
Just reserve me those cuties
--American Beauties--
An escort of P-38s

Sure, we're braver than hell,
on the ground all is swell,
in the air it's a different story.
We sweat out our track,
through the fighters and flak,
we're willing to split up the glory.
Well they wouldn't reject us,
so Heaven protect us,
and until all the shooting abates,
give us courage to fight 'em,
and one other small item,
An Escort of P-38s!

_____________________________________________________________

Don't give me a P-39 with an engine that's mounted behind
It will tumble and roll and dig a big hole
Don't give me a P-39.

Don't give me a P-38 with props that counter-rotate
They'll loop, roll and spin but they'll soon auger in
Don't give me a P-38!

Don't give me an old Thunderbolt. It gave many pilots a jolt
It looks like a jug and it flies like a tug
Don't give me an old Thunderbolt!

Don't give me a Peter Four Oh, a hell of an airplane, I know
A ground loopin' bastard. You're sure to get plastered
Don't give me a Peter Four Oh.

Don't give me a P-51, it was all right for fighting the hun
But with coolant tank dry. you'll run out of sky
Don't give me a P-51.

Don't give me a P-61, for night flying is no fun
They say it's a lark. but I'm scared of the dark
Don't give me a P-61.


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## cheddar cheese (Jul 11, 2005)

Cool!


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## evangilder (Jul 11, 2005)

I posted one about the Polish aviator that rescued a Jew who later saved his life. It is here:

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1064


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 11, 2005)

thanks FB but remeber most of these poeple don't have a clue about planes  so perhaps not so much plane related, i was thinking more of emotional stories......


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## cheddar cheese (Jul 11, 2005)

How about my story that I wrote?  My parents were shedding a few tears after they read it.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 11, 2005)

i'd mach rather it was true


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## cheddar cheese (Jul 11, 2005)

Oh right...well its there if you want it. 8)


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 11, 2005)

the lancaster kicks ass said:


> thanks FB but remeber most of these poeple don't have a clue about planes  so perhaps not so much plane related, i was thinking more of emotional stories......



I'll try to dig some up for you Lanc, I'm off today, going flying


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## cheddar cheese (Jul 11, 2005)

Im hoping to join the Air Cadets soon. Then I get to fly! Mwaha.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 11, 2005)

yeah but very little


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## cheddar cheese (Jul 11, 2005)

Its still flying


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## trackend (Jul 11, 2005)

True tale.
Antwerp middle of the V1 raids not long after its liberation.
A group of service men (Soldiers and Sailors) where billeted in the attic of a three story house various explosions where going off in the distance then suddenly theres a tremendous crash and clouds of dust and smoke as a V1 lands not 50 yards away.
There's cries of "Oh my god" and "is everybody OK?" as the dust and smoke cleared it became apparent that half the roof had been blown off and many nearby houses destroyed. 
There was a rustling and from beneath a plaster and roof tile covered army blanket a soldier stood up in his long Johns walked slowly over to where the roof once was looked out and exclaimed "BLOODY HELL, would you look at that!". 
His mates said anxiously "what is it Harry?, whats up? what can you see?" .
The soldier replied dryly.."its bleeding pissing down out there".
He then walked back to his blank shook off the dust and laid back down to finish his kip.


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## cheddar cheese (Jul 11, 2005)




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## trackend (Jul 12, 2005)

Montgomery too Churchill
" I don't smoke, I don't drink and I'm 100% fit" .

Churchill too Montgomery
" I do smoke and I do drink and I'm 200% fit"


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

Two old hens to Winston Churchill - "Mr Churchill, you're drunk."

Churchill to the old hens - "Yes I am, but you two are ugly. In the morning I shall be sober."


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## trackend (Jul 12, 2005)

Its and oldie but a goodie FBJ


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 12, 2005)

i thought it was 

"Winston, you're drunk"

"Bessie, you're ugly. But tomorrow, i shall be sober"


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## cheddar cheese (Jul 12, 2005)

Flyboys's is the one ive always heard


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

cheddar cheese said:


> Flyboys's is the one ive always heard


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## cheddar cheese (Jul 12, 2005)

What is that supposed to mean?


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

cheddar cheese said:


> What is that supposed to mean?


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## cheddar cheese (Jul 12, 2005)

Im getting tha hang of it now!


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

cheddar cheese said:


> Im getting tha hang of it now!


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 12, 2005)

any chance i can get what i asked for now??

oh, and the stories


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

Joseph F. Merrell - This guy was from my home town and attended my high school. In 1975 I found a desk with his name engraved in it. The school removed it and I think it's in a museum. There are several Staten Island streets and a Ferry named after PFC Merrel. Here's his story.....

Born: August 21, 1926 at Staten Island, NY

Entered Service in the US Army from Staten Island, NY

Earned The Medal of Honor During World War II For heroism April 18, 1945 at Lohe, Germany

Died: April 18, 1945 at the age of 18 
Private Merrell made a gallant, one man attack against superior enemy forces near Lohe, Germany when his unit was pinned down by brutal enemy fire. On his own initiative, he began a single-handed assault. He ran 100 yards through concentrated fire, and at pointblank range engaged four Germans with his rifle, killing all of them. As he started forward again his rifle was smashed by a sniper's bullet, leaving him armed only with three grenades. He zigzagged 200 yards through a hail of bullets to within ten yards of the first machinegun, hurled two grenades and then rushed the position ready to fight with his bare hands if necessary. In the emplacement he seized a Luger pistol and killed what Germans had survived the grenade. Rearmed, he crawled toward the second machinegun 30 yards away, killing four Germans on the way though receiving a critical wound in the abdomen. Pressing on, staggering, bleeding, disregarding bullets which tore through the folds of his clothing and glanced off his helmet, he threw his last grenade into the machinegun nest and stumbled on to wipe out the crew before he was killed. In his spectacular one-man attack Private Merrell killed two dozen enemy in order to facilitate his comrades' advance.


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## evangilder (Jul 12, 2005)

Wow! Now *that* is a hero! Amazing story, FBJ!


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 12, 2005)

that's more like it cheers.........


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## plan_D (Jul 12, 2005)

Did he get a Medal of Honour for that because he certainly deserved it! Now that's a soldier!


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

Thanks guys - Ya know Lanc, I posted that story about my Uncle in here about his friend who was playing inside the cockpit on a P-40 and was pretending to talk on the mike when in reality he had the piss tube up to his mouth!


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## evangilder (Jul 12, 2005)




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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

Here another one from when I used to live close to Edwards AFB.......

In order to prepare bomber crews for combat in the Pacific Theater during World War II, Army Air Force engineers constructed a full-sized replica of an enemy warship in a cove at the south end of the Muroc Dry Lake bed. The giant training aid was built of 4-by-4 timbers covered with chicken wire, flocked with chopped chicken feathers. Often erroneously called a battleship, it was in reality a surprisingly realistic silhouette of an Atago-class heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Bulldozers raised long earth berms along the sides of the ship to simulate wake and wave action. Immediately nicknamed the Muroc Maru,it was used for bombing and strafing practice, and for recognition training. Crews of medium bombers developed and practiced the skip-bombing technique which was later used to good effect in combat. 

Surprised visitors were often told, tongue-in-cheek, that the target vessel was only a desert mirage. Alas, stories and memories are all that remain of the imposing training aid. After the war, the Muroc Maru was deemed a safety hazard, and it was dismantled in the early 1950s. Not a trace remains today.


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

Here's another photo


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## evangilder (Jul 12, 2005)

That is a really cool story, FBJ. I think I am going to look a bit more into that for a newsletter article.


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

My wife's grandfather bombed it when he was stationed at Muroc in 1944. Look at the Edwards PAO website.


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## evangilder (Jul 12, 2005)

Will do, thanks! I will see what else I can dig up as well. Sounds like a cool story and I think the guys at the museum would enjoy that one as well.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 12, 2005)

thanks, but anything more emotional??


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

Hows this?!?......

A Classic Story

The Sullivan Brothers

Albert, Francis, George, Joseph and Madison Sullivan were born in Waterloo, Iowa, between 1914 and 1920. George and Francis enlisted in the Navy in 1937. Their three younger brothers joined the service in early 1942. All five were assigned to the commissioning crew of USS Juneau (CL-52) in February 1942. They remained with the ship through her Atlantic shakedown operations and subsequent combat actions in the Guadalcanal Campaign. All were lost with her on 13 November 1942, a tragedy that received wide publicity in the United States and resulted in a new Navy policy discouraging family members from serving together in the same ship.

In the aftermath of Juneau's loss, the Navy notified Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Sullivan of Waterloo, Iowa, that all five of their sons were missing in action. Two of the brothers had served previous four-year enlistments in the Navy and so, when all five brothers enlisted together on 3 January 1942, the Navy was the obvious choice. They had also insisted on serving together on the same ship. Although the accepted Navy policy was to separate family members, the brothers had persisted and their request was approved.

It was later learned, through survivors' accounts, that four of the brothers died in the initial explosion. The fifth, George Thomas, despite being wounded the night before, made it onto a raft where he survived for five days before succumbing either to wounds and exhaustion or a shark attack.

The brothers received the Purple Heart Medal posthumously and were entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four engagement stars and the World War II Victory Medal. They had also earned the Good Conduct Medal.

They were survived by their parents, Mr. Thomas F. Sullivan and Mrs. Alleta Sullivan, a sister, Genevieve Sullivan, and by Albert Leo Sullivan's wife, Katherine Mary Sullivan. Their son, James Thomas, was twenty-two months old at the time of his father's death.


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## evangilder (Jul 12, 2005)

Tragic


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

GOT ONE FROM MY FAMILY

Just remembered this one as it was told to me (way before my time)......

TRUE STORY!

VJ day, August 15, 1945. My family is having a huge party. Several family members have already been discharged from the military (including my dad) and there were a few family and friends attending in uniform as they were still active duty. My Uncle Joe was recently released from the hospital after spending a year in a coma as a result of a B-24 crash. During the jovial event, him and my dad came up with a devious practical joke.....

My dad had a talent for mechanical and electrical devices. Eventually he would go on and work almost 50 years as an auto mechanic. Anyway he and my uncle constructed a PA hookup to the house radio set. Sometime during the party they ran a microphone wire to the adjoining room. As the party continued my uncle eventually snuck into the room and turned on the microphone. Pretending to be a news reporter the following blared out from the radio....

"NEWSFLASH - THE JAPANESE HAVE JUST RE-ATTACKED THE PHILIPPINES AND OTHER STRATEGIC POSITIONS IN THE PACIFIC! WE ARE AT WAR AGAIN! ALL PERSONNEL ON LEAVE, REPORT TO YOUR UNITS, ALL RECENTLY DISCHARGED PERSONNEL REPORT TO YOUR NEAREST RECRUITING STATION." 

The whole apartment went into mayhem! Women starting crying, the men were in disbelief! One guy wanted to jump out a 6 story window! Seeing the panic he caused, my uncle calmed everyone down. As my uncle fessed up to the bad joke, the only thing that preventing the party goers from beating him senseless was he was still in a back brace.....

60 years later when the family gets together they could now laugh at a bad joke......


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## evangilder (Jul 12, 2005)

Oh man! That was a cruel joke. But it is funny now.


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

Yep - its brought up during family reunions.


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## trackend (Jul 12, 2005)

I think thats were they got the idea for Saving Private Ryan FBJ presonely I thought the film about The Sullivans was not very good. I know my old man said that after the death of the Sullivans even the RN adopted a policy of no relitives on the same vessel 
That last post of yours FBJ was Brilliant just the sort of humour I like I bet they called your dad all the names under the sun.


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 12, 2005)

He blames the whole thing on my uncle!


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## cheddar cheese (Jul 13, 2005)

That was harsh...funny, but harsh


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## MacArther (Oct 27, 2005)

Here's mine, follow the link provided to go to a historical(ly accurate) fiction I'm working on. Tell me what ya think, I need some reason to put the final chapters up, cause I won't if their just a waste of space.

http://www.fictionpress.com/read.php?storyid=1943010


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