Ain't No Lie, GI!

[dragoon500ly]

India 22 was a brand new IPM-1 on a REFORGER exercise when it ran into the worst possible thing.

The driver never saw it coming and had no chance to dodge what was waiting.

You see, a German farmer was towing a honey wagon behind his tractor. The tank slammed into the back of the wagon and sent a shower of "organic fertilizer" all over the the tank.

After the exercise, the tank was steam-cleaned from one end to the other...several times.

But forever afterwards, India 22 always had this odd odor!

[waiting4something]

That is very disturbing. I feel bad for the crew that had to use that vehicle. I think I would feel like taking a shower everytime I crawled out of that thing.

[dragoon500ly]

During World War II, our bomber crews had to have special diets that avoided foods that created a lot of gas. There really was a good reason since the bombers were unpressurized and no aircrew member liked using the little paper boxes provided in subzero temps.

Except for one navigator.

This rather odd individual would eat like a horse before any mission and then loaded up with plenty of paper boxes that he would "fill" during the trip in.

As his plane would make its bombing run, the navigator would stand near the bomb bay waiting for his moment of fame. As the bomb load would drop, he would add his contributions to the war effort.

His "flingenschissbomben" actually made it into a Stars and Stripes article!

[pmulcahy11b]

My former neighbor, Michael Marsh (he died two weeks ago -- another WW2 vet lost) was a Sherman tank driver who got to Europe just after D-Day. The Sherman his crew got put into was, as he put it, a "reissue" -- it had been hit badly enough to kill the previous crew, but not badly enough that it couldn't be repaired and put back into action. Mike told me that every time the engine got the tank warmed up, you could smell a little odor of the previous crew...

[natehale1971]

My grandfather was a combat engineer who had been part of the D-Day invasion... we didn't know until he died that he had earned the Bronze Star and several other medals during his time in the war. He had knee problems due to breaking it when he went into a foxhole while carrying another soldier on his back who had been shot. he wouldn't complain about how much it hurt until the last years of his life while i was taking care of him and grandmom.

The three years i took care of them was the hardest and most stressful thing that I have ever done. But it was the right thing to do, and i'd do it again in a heartbeat. And who knows, my sister and I might end up having to do it with mom. After dad died, she's been... she just doesn't seem to want to do anything anymore.

[pmulcahy11b]

That's how Mary Marsh is now. She's in a nursing home, doesn't seem to understand or be willing to accept that Mike is dead, doesn't understand where she is, and Connie (their daughter) says she's slowly understanding less and less -- she's just sort of fading away. They'd been married since 1946.

Their dogs are at Connie's house, and just sort of wander around aimlessly. Connie thinks they're looking for Mike and Mary -- Anya (one of my dogs)did that for a while when first Shadow, then Wolfie (two more of my dogs) died. Connie has other dogs and trains service dogs on her property -- but Mike and Mary's dogs don't seem to have taken to anyone else.

I pay the people who take care of my yard to take care of theirs, at least until Connie can sell the house. But CPS has already cut off the power and the lawn service uses water from our house to water the rose bushes that are basically dying from the lack of care, care that Mary used to give them and that neither me, my mother, or the lawn service knows how to do. I learned a lot from Mike -- he could fix just about anything except modern cars, and we had stories to tell each other. ( I could not for the life of me teach him how to do more than the basics with a computer, though!) Mike kept a yard that was immaculate and weed- and pest-free, and his house sharp. I hope my next neighbors are at least quiet.