My Grandfather

When we were assigned to talk to one of our relatives about their part in WWII I knew for certain I would interview/talk to my grandfather on my moms side. My grandfather fought in the US army during the middle of WWII. He fought in a couple major battles such as "The Battle of the Bulge", a 1 month battle which was the bloodiest of the Battles that the U.S. forces experienced in World War II; 19,000 Americans died, more than any one battle alone. Luckily My Grandfather was later stationed/defended a outpost on the border of France. My Grandfather, which is now 83 or so doesn't have the memory he once had and has early stages of Alzheimers but he still speaks with great pride and confidence in what he fought for. Although, when he enlisted in mid 1944 he said it was purely to impress his Dad, friends, and to "do something with my life". He had just turned 18 when he enlisted and wasn't fully educated about what was going on in Europe. Talking with my Grandfather about the war, it seemed to me like he needed to tell his story while he still could and he enjoyed that I cared about what he did in the war. Every year, my Grandfather visits with his companions from his platoon in the battles he fought. My Grandfather was simply a low ranked soldier and fought in the front lines of all the major battles he was in. It is actually astonishing that my Grandfather survived all of these battles and is considered one of the lucky. I asked him a fairly touchy question about how he felt about killing another man. He simply replied "it was my duty" and he said after the war, the extent of the holocaust gave me even more reason to do what I did. Lastly, my Grandfather has physical wounds from the war such as a missing finger and lung problems from being gassed, but he never was struggling from the mental side of the war, such as PTSD or any therapy. My Grandfather is a great man and I am very proud of what he did in the war.