Originally Posted by senior citizen (Post 778693)

Yours is the quintessential memory of a family member who served in WWII era. They were humble guys; did their duty and never talked about it much when they returned home..........just went on with life.

Your Uncle Joe reminds me of my Uncle Mike / Michael. My mom's younger brother.

Uncle Mike served in the South Pacific.....in the Mariana Islands.

When he tried to enlist in the U.S. Army he was told his eyesight was so poor that he would be 4F. He persisted and they accepted him.

I think I inherited his eyes, for sure. Thus my "big print" on a former post that so outraged one other person.

Due to Uncle Mike's poor vision and thick eyeglasses, they didn't put him into combat per se......except he really was "cleaning up the messes" as they put him into a Medics Corps.

His job was to remove the dog tags and put the deceased soldiers into body bags. He came back after the war with nightmares.......but still retained his pleasant personality and just "went on with life".......rarely talked about his war experiences, except to my mom, and of course, his own wife....my Aunt Jo. He was a great uncle and my Godfather.
My Ukrainian uncle. Handsome young man.

I have great photos of him in Hawaii and on Guam plus in the Mariana Islands, South Pacific.

Speaking of the SOUTH PACIFIC........great DVD series "THE PACIFIC".
Presented by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman.
"The Pacific" is well worth watching........makes one realize what these young men went through fighting the Japanese.

Another good DVD series which we also own, is "BAND OF BROTHERS"
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg

"They Depended on Each Other and The World Depended on Them".

I just took both "sets" out of our entertainment center....very much worth watching over again this month of November.......

p.s.
My dad was named Joe (Joseph), I had several Uncle Joe's, cousin Joe's, and nephew Joe's........I can also go back to one of the original Giuseppe's in 1599......the name was prevalent through 1799 in our family tree, and then on and on.........with the Italian naming tradition. Nowadays, everyone gives their new baby a unique individual name........but back then they kept naming the newborns after the ancestors.....that's why so many Joe's.