Post by jeffwho on May 6, 2015 7:39:18 GMT -5
For months at our biweekly breakfast (always Hardee's biscuit and gravy), my buddy Ssg Floyd Hennessee has been talking about "getting you boys together for a special hoorah" but until a few weeks back didn't elaborate. He had a plan, and he wanted my help. You see, May 5, 1945 is an important day in his and 1LT Bill Hamilton's wartime experience. They happened to be in Austria on that day, both with the 36th Division's 142d Regiment, "F" Co and "E" Co respectively - the day that Wehrmacht forces there capitulated. Their war was over.
The plan was to gather "his boys" for something. Anything. We decided on lunch, at a restaurant near the mall where the museum is. Bill lives close by, and Floyd picked him up. I ran through the museum and grabbed the 36th Division map that I'd made for them a few months before, and headed to meet them:
I was grateful that Archie, Mike and Steve were able to make it (sorry Moosey that plans got goofed up) to lunch to share this special day. I know it meant a lot to Sarge and Bill, who though we've known him less time than Sarge, has been more than generous in hanging out with us and sharing his stories about the raid on Castle Itter (yes, Castle Itter! Google it) and his experience being a young 1LT right out of OCS (Citadel class of 44, which is a story in itself) and "being way out of my league".
Now, as we were posing for this picture, other patrons of the restaurant got a little curious and started paying attention. One man came up and told us about losing two uncles at Normandy, and thanked both of these guys for their service. His wife got a little teary, saying "That's the sweetest thing I ever did see" as we were breaking up the party with handshakes and hugs.
Believe me this is the short version - I had already just about finished the entire story of how we met, how we keep meeting other veterans we bring into the fold and a whole bunch of photos, but I didn't want to blow up the server. Floyd has willingly served as a surrogate grandfather for me, and I suppose we surrogate sons since his own died early (age 52) from cancer without hearing any of his stories from his service. It's been an honour and privilege meeting both of these men, including them in museum events, parades and stuff, and I was thrilled to be able to share lunch with them on their special day.
