A War Story From My Grandpa

"Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire" (arch-duke-maxyenko)
03/13/2014 at 10:53 • Filed to: None

So, my grandpa was a tank commander in the 1st Armored and he fought in North Africa and Italy. This is just one of his stories from the war.

After Rommel surrendered, the allies had penned up the surrendered Nazis. They had the officers in a separate holding pen from the enlisted men. They had been together in the pen for a while when commotion broke out. One of the British troops ran up to the allied commanders in charge and told them what was happening. The Austrians were beating the shit out of the Germans for forcing them into the war.

Yeah, it's not much of a story, but I like it and thought some of you might, as well. I'll try to get some others up here some day.

DISCUSSION (19)

Party-vi > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
03/13/2014 at 11:14

My grandfather was a Seabee in the Pacific Theater. He told stories about constructing airfields while under fire from Japanese forces and about how bodies would bloat and swell after sitting in the water for a few days.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
03/13/2014 at 11:16

This book . Read it. Read it now.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
03/13/2014 at 11:19

I loved my grandpa's war stories. Wish I could've heard more of them though before he died.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole
03/13/2014 at 11:21

Yeah, we've been trying to get him to write them down for years now, just so that they'll always be here.

Agrajag > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
03/13/2014 at 11:28

My paternal grandfather was an engineer in the 29th division. They were among the first on the beaches in the Normandy invasion, but I'm told he wouldn't talk about. He passed when I was 4, but I certainly would have asked him when I was older.

My maternal grandfather was blind in one eye and color blind in the other, but after numerous enlisting attempts was finally accepted and placed at a radar station at Sandy Hook, NJ. He passed before I was born, but I keep his hat on my wall.

Kinja'd!!!

Yes, that's a Guy Fawkes mask with a Blues Brothers hat and glasses.

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
03/13/2014 at 11:37

My grandpa was a cartographer in the south pacific. He never saw battle, but I'm assuming his job was still important.

Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
03/13/2014 at 11:44

I did that, caught some shit for it (a couple of his stories weren't known to other family members and were a bit, risqué). Here's one I found on my old Myspace:

It's unwise to throw a Navy Ensign into the water, when you are supposed to be promoted the next day. All in all, he was promoted from Sgt, 3 times. Once he walked in to the commander's office and was promptly handed Staff Sgt stipes. As soon as he had them in his hand, the commander said, "Ok, now give 'em back."

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole
03/13/2014 at 11:50

LOL

Kugelblitz > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
03/13/2014 at 12:32

Brazen Chariots, I thought, when I saw the link. Has to be. Great book.

Kugelblitz > Agrajag
03/13/2014 at 12:35

One of the 29th's landing craft took 100% casualties o D-Day. As a unit they really took it on the nose. They are our NG unit here in Maryland.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Kugelblitz
03/13/2014 at 12:43

I just had a thought: I've threatened doing a play-by-post of some RPG for Oppo members, but I didn't have a good idea how to tie vehicles into it.

Tanks. Tanks are the answer. Maybe... Dark Sun... BUT WITH TANKS

Kugelblitz > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
03/13/2014 at 15:35

Twilight 2000, GURPS Special Ops, GURPS WW2, anything Traveler related. Hey there is a Traveler convention kickstarter setup for October of this year...
I could see Dark Sun but GURPS let's you design your own vehicles, that could break the site if that got started. Heh.

Kugelblitz > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur
03/13/2014 at 15:36

Navy?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Kugelblitz
03/13/2014 at 15:59

I said Dark Sun as mostly what *sort* of thing, rather than necessarily Dark Sun 4 or 3.5. Most likely, it would make sense to homebrew adapt the vehicle rules from the d20 Mecha SRD or similar and run lightly tweaked (low-er magic, maybe) Pathfinder. That way, Elves + Orcs + Rommel, in a setup in which gunslingers/tinkering characters exist and a fairly easy (and even-handed in its brokenness) system.

I'm thinking having a pan-dimensional desert is the best thing - it allows for more traditional D20 desert fun and wild anachronism. Tanks, planes, lost oasis cities, and ancient djinni, that sort of thing. All these deserts from different existences overlapping, etc. Shit, I need to make that stop sounding like Rifts with pants on its head. Anyway, I'm intransigent on learning Traveler stuff because I'm more in my comfort zone with d20 and its bastard children - despite the fact I'm running Shadowrun 4 and have down various White Wolf things. Also, that copy of the Sandstorm sourcebook ain't gonna DM itself.

I refuse to elaborate on whether an astonishingly similar site to the Lady Be Good would make an appearance, and/or whether the crew might now be horrifying undead.

Kugelblitz > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
03/13/2014 at 16:14

"Shit, I need to make that stop sounding like Rifts with pants on its head." Okay I cracked up. Hmmm, Steven King's Dark Tower books had Midworld, which was all kinds of monsters and dimensional stuff. As for d20, I never played it much but I loved the intent of licensing the system to everyone.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Kugelblitz
03/13/2014 at 16:23

Pathfinder is 3.5 with most of the obvious flaws resolved and some extra classes - particularly the alluded to Gunslinger and the possibly helpful for our purposes Alchemist. They also have a flying beast rider class that could be adapted into a pilot class tout suite. The whole system's free online, which is a major attraction.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

I'd probably call the game some permutation of Timeless Desert, with effort to allude to the idiom "sands of time" without sounding like too much of a hack. Also, Dark Tower-esque "muties" and other semi-post-apoc freakishness would work well, but I'd probably plunder some of it secondhand through Deadlands.

Kugelblitz > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
03/13/2014 at 16:42

Oooh, ghostrock powered mechs and freaky zombie infected hordes. I like it. I love Pathfinder, it works the way 4th edition doesn't.

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > Kugelblitz
03/13/2014 at 18:39

Think so

Kugelblitz > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur
03/13/2014 at 20:59

My dad spent much of the 50's mapping the South Pacific, tiny islands with rotting zeroes and other Japanese militaria.