Great story!
I visited with one of my friends last night who is a WWII veteran. During the war he washed out of pilot school and later became an officer, teaching radio and electronics in the Army due to his background in ham radio before the war. You couldn't meet a nicer fellow and he is always full of good stories.
My adoptive grandfather served in the Merchant Marines during the war and was contacted about taking a flight to see the memorial a few years ago. At the time he was still recovering from some health problems and didn't feel up to the trip. I interviewed him a few years ago:
http://radiorestorer.com/merchantmarine.htmlTalking to these guys in person, you gain a very different perspective from that era. My friend Bill (adoptive grandfather) who was in the Merchant Marines can tell many stories from his experiences that you'll never read about in history books. I've heard many over the years, like him being just off the east coast of the mainland US and seeing burning ships out in the Atlantic that were torpedoed by German U-Boats, or dogfights between German and American fighters in between rows of ships off North Africa. There were times when he was at port in Venezuela (supposedly a neutral country who did not supply the Germans) and saw first hand loaded down tankers with diesel go out to sea and return empty only a few hours later. They were refueling German U-Boats who were preying upon Ally merchant ships hauling oil in the Caribbean.
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