Living Legend of the 101st Airborne

UnderMiner

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Jul 27, 2014
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Robert O'neill came into my store today. Very old man accompanied by his daughter. WWII Veterans cap on his head. Extended my hand and thanked him for his service to our country. He was almost completely deaf but understood me and his daughter explained that he has been deaf ever since the war. Now he is 92 years old and still very healthy and living an active life.

So I asked him what battles he fought in. "Normandy." he said. I never met anyone who fought at Normandy so I asked him what unit he was with. He answered, "101st." I couldn't believe my ears, "THE 101st? The 101st Airborne?" I asked with amazement and disbelief. The man nodded his head and his daughter confirmed, "yes, they dropped him in the woods during the invasion on the first day." "They overshot our drop zone," the old man said loudly. I could not believe I was in the presence of a member of the 101st Airborne, never thought in a million years a living legend like this would appear in my store.

Long story short the man ended up telling me some of his story. "What was it like on the first day?" I asked. He responded, "It was Normandy, chute on my back and another bag in front. Pieces of flack ripped through the plane but didn't get me, got others but not me. We overshot our drop and I landed in the woods very far from the beach." Were you in a glider or a plane? "Normandy I was in a plane. They had me in a glider later in the war." (He told me specific names of places in Europe where he was dropped but I can't remember the names, one was a forest somewhere and another a small town). "How many times did they send you up during the war?" "Four times. Three planes, one glider." How was the glider? "The glider was the worst." Was there flack? "Everywhere. It ripped holes in the floor, the walls,...." His daughter then explained that it was shortly after his drop from the glider that a German attack caused him to lose his hearing. I told her that I had a friend who's grandfather was in Iwo Jima who lost a kidney to a grenade attack. The daughter then told me that the explosion that hit Robert not only made him permanently deaf but also took large pieces of flesh from his right leg and side which left him with permanent scars that he still has.

I told the man that I wish more people knew of the sacrifices endured by him and the men who served in the 101st, how nowadays hardly anyone knows of what they did so long ago. I told him that our nation owes him a debt that can never be fully repaid, the sacrifices of those men were just too great to ever compensate with any amount of worldly goods or services. The daughter explained how as a people we never learn the horrors of war and how even now the mistakes of the past are just repeating over and over.

I wish I was able to talk to this man and his daughter all day but they had a train to catch. I didn't even get to ask him if he was able to bring back any treasures from Germany. But here's the cool part, the items he bought from my store he paid for with a credit card - so he had to sign my copy of the receipt. I told the daughter that this was the best transaction I'd ever processed as I will now forever have the signature of a member of the 101st Airborne.

And here it is...

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Wonderful story. My one uncle didn't qualify for WWII for health reasons. He died in 1976. One Uncle was on the USS Helena when it sank at Kula Gulf in 1943, he lived until 2010. Other uncle was in the Army Air Corps, was on a bomber, he died in 2012. Dad was in the US 21st Engineers in Africa and Italy, he died in 1997. I was taking a flight from New Orleans to Baltimore a few years back, the TSA had an honor guard there, plane was carrying vets to visit the WWII museum in Washington. It was really great to experience it. I have met some of the crew of the Enola Gay and some of the Tuskeegee Airmen. Got some autographs too. Time is passing quickly.

I read on Wikipedia last week there are only about 600,000 WWII vets left.....there were 16,000,000 who served in the war.
 

Great read Im glad you thanked him They are the reason we have the freedoms and rights that we do !!!!!!!
 

To our WWII heroes, as with all other wars: :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:


Thank you, Underminer, for 1) recognizing his service and 2) taking the time to care. :thumbsup:
 

Great post ! these guys are going fast - You have to be over 90 now to have served in WW II . I know one gentleman named Eric Craik who was an R.A.F. pilot (he's a Scot ) Really amazing guy , I like to just shut up and listen , he has tons of stories to tell . I probably should be getting them on tape - he's 91 !
 

A number of years ago, I knew a man who had taken part in the D-Day landing. I do not know which beach he landed on, but as night fell, he was still on the beach. As it got darker, he dug a hole in the sand underneath a trailer and crawled under for some protection. As morning came, he heard someone yelling at him, "Warner, get out from under that trailer!!" It turns out that the trailer that he had taken shelter under was an ammo trailer. Not the best choice for protection.
 

Great job Mr Underminer.....All though it may not look it but Vet's appreciate the gesture. Very classy on your part. Merry Christmas!!!
 

My grandfather was in demolitions in ww ll he didn't speak of it often but when he did I listened.
 

:usflag: ;) Great Tread ! God Bless our countries WW II vets !
June 6th , D -Day , Screaming Eagles , 82nd ABDiv , Ist Inf. , 29th Inf. 2nd Rangers , all the invasion forces that liberated Europe , so much courage.
All were heroes ...
 

Great story! While some debts can never be repaid - they should NEVER be forgotten!
 

Another great story from the greatest generation....Those people from that era were just the best, the WWII guys in my family were so unique. My grandfather on my moms side was a B-17 top turret gunner in the European theater, my grandfather on my dads side was a staff officer with Douglass MacArthur in Japan during the occupation. Both are gone now, I sure liked talking to those guys....
 

Nice story, thank you for showing him the proper respect.

I had an uncle who also was with 101st and parachuted behind enemy lines on D-Day and he survived the War also, sadly he is no longer with us. I had another uncle who was on Bataan when US surrendered and he was part of the Bataan Death March. He was 6 ft 4 and 240 lbs when captured and barely 100 lbs when he was liberated. Sadly he also has passed away.

My father was a tail gunner on B-17s over Germany...He has also passed away.



November 9, 2016 A New Future
 

I often think about all those old veterans during those wars, but I have a special affinity for the paratroopers. I was one 25 years ago. A bunch of the guys from the 509th came out and they would joke and pick on us when were sitting on the tables getting rigged up and waiting. One asked me if I had whiskey in my canteen and then told me he always had one full of water and the second full of whiskey during the war. I would sip water a lot before a jump to re leave my nerves. When we received our wings, they came back out and beat our wings into our chests. I think they were probably in their 60s and 70s at the time.

There aren't very many left in 15-20 more years there won't be anymore sadly. That generation shaped me through my entire life and I knew I would join the army one day since I can remember.
 

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Wonderful story. My one uncle didn't qualify for WWII for health reasons. He died in 1976. One Uncle was on the USS Helena when it sank at Kula Gulf in 1943, he lived until 2010. Other uncle was in the Army Air Corps, was on a bomber, he died in 2012. Dad was in the US 21st Engineers in Africa and Italy, he died in 1997. I was taking a flight from New Orleans to Baltimore a few years back, the TSA had an honor guard there, plane was carrying vets to visit the WWII museum in Washington. It was really great to experience it. I have met some of the crew of the Enola Gay and some of the Tuskeegee Airmen. Got some autographs too. Time is passing quickly.

I read on Wikipedia last week there are only about 600,000 WWII vets left.....there were 16,000,000 who served in the war.

First thing : hats off to rob oneill, and to you underminer for paying respect to a true hero who sacraficed so much for us. He literally gave his flesh and hearing for us. Smokey and pointman : my grandfather was Lt. Colonel james A Conway 509th bomb wing. He trained Tibbetts and the boys on Enola gay. He took delivery and flew the first group of active B-29s. He flew every type of bomber in service at the time. He led the longest bomb raid in ww2. By the time the bomb was dropped he had completed his mission log and was gen ramey's personal pilot. He was the single biggest influence in my life. I never saw him lose his cool, he had a presence about himself that everyone respected. He was a natural leader. He got along with everyone and even when he was quite old women of all ages would melt around him. I love and miss him to this day !! He never ever gave me a piece of bad advice, and he succeeded at everything he did. Hats off to the greatest generation !! They truly are special !! God bless them all.

P.S. my grandfather could drive a car father and longer than anyone on the planet. It was like he was back in the bomber and we werent stopping till the mission was complete.
 

Thank you Underminer, and thank you Mr. O'Neill...I get very little time off at this time of year, and will haunt my favorite little breakfast spot downtown. That's where I Met Malcolm Hamilton, or "Mac"...who lied about his age to join the service after WWII broke out. He loves to talk, and I love to listen. He might have told me the same stories dozens of times, and I'll listen every time. Like Argentium says..these guys are going fast, so I give Mac every second of my time. He also served in Korea so there's plenty of war fodder, his days aboard a minesweeper, etc..soon there will THAT day when our last WWII vet passes and there will be no one to listen to, no stories..so I cherish..savor every moment with Mac..Great post...GREAT post...ddf
 

My dad was a Ranger during WWII.
He served in the African and European theaters.
He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
He never spoke about the war.
God bless the Greatest Generation.
 

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