Today, June 4, 2007, my Grandpa (Frank Ramsey) drove down from Seattle to visit us for a couple days. As soon as he walked in the house we sat down and talked about many things. Last memorial day that got me thinking, "what really did my Grandfather do for service in World War II?". So I asked him.
When my Grandfather was 17-18 or so, he and his friend agreed together that they would join the marines and serve with each other. But it turned out to be that they were too young and had to wait. Soon the draft arrived when my Grandpa was 18. He was transfered to Chicago, Illinois where he was tested and rewarded points on how well you did push ups, boxing etc.. My Grandpa was rewarded the most points out of his group so he was given the privilege to choose which position he would like to do in the Navy. He chose to learn welding so he can repair guns, ships, and pretty much anything made of metal.
He was transfered to Papa New Guinea where he was on his way to the Philippines. On his way to the Philippines, the ship he was on and other ships around was bombed by Japanese planes. He said there was 2-3 bombs dropped an hour. But after a little while my Grandfather went up on deck and spotted a Japanese plane heading right towards him, so he called to the guns men to fire upon him. The gun men shot at the plane but missed. The plane came stooping down and dropped bombs on there boat, but missed.
When there group landed at the Philippines he saw one boat that looked like swiss cheese. He thought that they were losing the war because of the damage that was done to there ships. But any how, he served in repairing damaged ships that came in from battle. Soon he got news that the war in Europe was over. Himself and his group were now getting ready to leave for China where from there they would soon invade Japan. But they got news that they had already dropped 2 atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So it was time for him to come home.
I know this is not your average war story, but it gave me just a glimpse of what sacrifice people made during world war II and how big our God is. My Grandpa was a war hero. I will never forget that story told by my Grandfather, because the story asked the question: How Great is are God?
4 comments:
Hi Benjamin - your Dad here.
I appreciate you taking the time to listen as well as the time to collect your thoughts and what you heard from grandpa sharing about WWII. It trully brings to life the events that we most often only hear about in movies or read in a magazine article or a book. Grandpa was a war hero. He did whatever he could in the service of the country that he loves, the United States of America. It's because of his love and sacrifice, along with thousands of other American service men/women that we enjoy the freedoms that we do today.
Keep on writing!
Dad
Hi Ben
I like your blog. Great Post.
Good post.
That's really cool, it's neat you got an opportunity to talk to your grandpa.
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