Warbird Information Exchange

Pat M · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:21 am

I'm of the opinion that for a lot of these guys, the rest of their lives were anticlimactic. When I was a kid, the guy next door flew a Dauntless, the guy two houses down flew PBYs with VP-101, a guy around the corner was awarded a battlefield commission in the Marine Corps, and a guy around the other corner was a navigator in the 493rd bomb group. My dad had a bad time in Biak with the 41st. When I knew them, they were a bunch of working family guys living in suburbia.

Pat Carry · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:23 am

What a fantastic set of photos!

TROJANII · **Joined:** Thu Oct 27, 2011 6:18 pm **Posts:** 184

Interesting! Thanks for posting.

Mark Allen M · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:21 am

michaelharadon · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:38 am

Fantastic...thank you. I think of my father, now long gone, and wonder...how did those guys, all of them, deal with life after seeing and doing during the war years, what was it like being on ships and flying planes that were totally brand new, how did it feel being at Ulithi, surrounded by just about more ships than the entire Navy has now a days, and, after the war, in the 50's, 60's, and beyond, did it make any difference to sailors on ships launched during the Second War that they were on pieces of history?

Maybe I've read so much and photographed ships and aircraft so much because I've been looking for answers that are impossible to find...

Mark Allen M · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:38 pm

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:59 pm

great pics!! all unique!! some of those escort carriers i have never heard of, which is cool!! interesting pic of the uss charger with the curtiss seagull being craned with no beaching gear or cradle to move it around the deck!! explain that!!

Pat M · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:14 pm

The deck on those escort carriers looks awfully small. Imagine having to set down on that after a long mission on a rough sea.

Chappie · **Joined:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:40 am **Posts:** 669

Great photos. It's great to be able to look back at your father part in the war. Did you get these photos off the internet or do you have the original photos?

My father-in-law told me six months before he passed away that he drove a landing craft at Normandy, the ones that took the tanks ashore. Nobody in the family knew that and I was never able to get much out of him after that. It's been impossible to find any documents on his service, but my mother-in-law has a big attic, somethign has got to be up there.

Chappie

T33driver · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:34 am

Thanks for sharing those very compelling photos Mark! I know you are very proud of your dad and his service. Looking forward to seeing more.

Versatile · **Joined:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 1:35 pm **Posts:** 493

Great stuff,Thanks

Mark Allen M · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:28 am

Mark Allen M · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:52 pm

Mark Allen M · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:15 am

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