What did your family do in WW2?

[ReluctantSamurai]

My father fought with the 40th Infantry Division in the Pacific. Ports-of-call for the 40th were: Guadalcanal, New Britain Island, and Peleliu. All those ops were mop-up duty, but if Operation Olympic had been necessary, the 40th was slated to be one of the first divisions in....

[Dimeola]

My Father quit college to become a bombadier on B-29s at the very end. He later went on to fly the first jets in the USAF, became a flight instructor and then flew for and became the first flight instructor for american airlines when they built their flight academy in Texas.
My uncle Sam (seriously lol) was a tank commander in a Sherman. I remember the few family reunions I went to as a kid in Arkansas and remember him joking and telling stories tho dont remember any. he was the kind of guy who would walk into a room and just take over lol.
My great uncle Whitaker was the commander of a transport unit, he flew C-47s. At D-Day they towed the gliders over normandy to land paratroopers etc behind the lines. he was the first c-47 pilot over german hel territory on d-day.
Uncle Clate was a marine. He got his thumb partially shot off on Iwo Jima. I dont remember him ever talking about it. I just remember him as a quiet, loving funny guy. After dinner one time while all the folks were still gossiping in the kitchen he and I avoided doing dishes by sneaking out onto the porch and pretending to be napping lol.
Part of my family came over from Japan before the war. They had alot of land in what is now the Napa wine valley. During the war they were put in the internment camps where several died due to lack of food and medical attention. This is something that ive read about yet cant understand nor forgive. And I know it made them very bitter. Congress finally authorized small payments to the families who were interred but they lost everything they owned and never got it back and no amount of money could bring back our loved ones.

[Centurion1]

My maternal grandfather was far too young though he was in the Korean War I believe.

My paternal grandfather was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne I believe. Was part of all of that Band of Brothers type operations. Lost the tips of his fingers in the battle of the bulge actually. He later became an engineer and worked for nasa on space shuttles. JFK supposedly called their house after he said he wanted to talk to someone who knew what was going on down on the ground in sorts. A very interesting man he was.

[Gaius Sempronius Gracchus]

What I know is pretty patchy (others in the family know more). My paternal Grandfather served in North Africa and then Southern Italy. I know that he acted as a despatch rider for at least part of that service as he used to show us the entry and exit wound in his arm from when he was shot by a German sniper while relaying a message. He remembered Southern Italy very fondly, describing the vineyards and the people there as very friendly and generous - particularly with their wine.

My maternal Grandfather served as a Royal Marine, despite being an Irish Republican and a committed communist, living in Scotland. He didn't like to talk much about the war - he was involved at the crossing of the Rhine and lost his best friend (from the same village) there. My family also discovered, when he suffered from Alzheimer's later in his life, that he had served in missions behind enemy lines. They became concerned after he started becoming angry with them for knowing who he was and giving him away. I don't know the full details of that, unfortunately.

Both men were the gentlest men you could wish to meet (having said that they were both very proficient amateur boxers, but obviously not by the time I knew them) but, especially my maternal Grandfather,one could sense a...darkening at the mention of his service.

[Domen]

My paternal grandfather fought with the Polish 39th Reserve Infantry Division in 1939 (one of his brothers fought with the same division). He was mobilized late - as it was a reserve division - so he was transported (via train) to Zamość (where his unit was concentrating) already "under bombs" (after 1 September). He fought both against the Germans and the Soviets. He was seriously wounded in his hand (he didn't lose it, but it remained handicapped until his death). He was initially captured by the Red Army during a patrol but escaped, joined back to his units and in the end he went to German captivity. He said that he didn't lose his hand only thanks to medical help which he received while in German captivity.

First wife of my paternal grandfather was murdered by Germans in Auschwitz, while he was in a POW camp in Germany. His brother - a businessman from Gdynia - was executed by Germans during the Piasnica mass murders.

Brother of my maternal grandmother in 1939 fought with the Polish 17th Infantry Division - 69th Infantry Regiment. He fought in the battle of Bzura, which was the biggest battle of the invasion of Poland. Later he was breaking through the Kampinos Forests towards Warsaw together with his unit. His company (?) was surrounded by overwhelming German forces and in the end massacred - practically entire unit was killed or captured. He managed to hide in an empty trunk of a fallen tree and so he avoided German captivity. Then he somehow managed to sneak back to his home.

My maternal grandfather lived in a village in Greater Poland region and in 1939 he was too young to fight. He was transported to Germany for forced labour. Later he returned and worked for local German settlers. He witnessed the "liberation" by Soviet forces in 1945. He said that German soldiers during the occupation were much nicer to local inhabitants than the Soviets who came in 1945.

Some other members of my family participated in the resistance to German occupation of Poland - but I have no details at the moment.

Regarding earlier times - one of my maternal great-grandfathers fought in the battle of Verdun in 1916.

Some members of my family also fought in the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919 - 1921.

[Beskar]

My grandparents mostly died by the time I was born, so I never really spoke to them.

I do know my grandmother was in the WAAF, and my grandfather was in the RAF (it is how they ended up meeting). Then another one was in the Merchant Navy doing supply line convoys whilst under constant threat of U-boat attack.

[Kralizec]

My entire family on both sides were in the Netherlands when it was occupied. My maternal grandfather received a letter in 1944 that he was ordered to Germany for work duty, and went into hiding; at that point he and my grandmother were a new couple but not yet married IIRC. The other one - I'm not sure really, he died before I was born. Both of my grandmothers did tell me stories from that time period but I can't remember anything specific right now; as far as I know they all kept their heads down mostly.

Now that I think of it; on my paternal side there was this story about a pig they got their hands on and had butchered for its meat, and other stories involving food that were strictly against the rules the Germans imposed because everything was scarce. This was in the north of the country though; compared to what other parts of the country went through during the "hunger winter" it was easy going, allthough it obviously didn't look that way for my family.