Prefab Sprouter
12-15-04, 10:25 AM
My apology to Bernie
Nolan’s post about the Battle of the Bulge reminded me of something that happened to me a few years ago and I want to recount it with you guys.
1995 I spent a week on mainland Spain in a region called Torremolinos with my wife. It was a good place to be and the bars were filled with a mixture of colourful and interesting people. In one of the bars, an old man was sitting beside and I discovered he was an American.
His name was Bernie and he was from Minnesota. He had been drinking a fair bit which probably loosened his tongue and he told me he was visiting Europe one last time. I asked him when he was last here and he replied in 1944. He was in the 5th wave of troops that came ashore in Normandy. To be precise it was Omaha Beach. I sat and listened riveted as he explained what it was like to be under fire and to have fought back then. He said that he was visiting France and Belgium and paying respects to his dead comrades as he probably wouldn’t be coming back across the Atlantic again. Then Bernie got very angry, angry at the way that the younger generation, in his eyes, treated his generation like dirt. In his eyes, we treated them like old men and laughed at them when he felt that they should be more gracious due to what he and his pals had gone through. I then interrupted and told him that not all young people felt that way and at this point he exploded “WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW, YOU’VE NEVER FOUGHT UNDER FIRE, YOU’VE NEVER SAT IN A FOXHOLE, YOU’VE NEVER CARRIED YOUR DYING FRIENDS BACK TO A FIRST AID STATION AND SAT HOPING THAT YOUR BEST BUDDY WASN’T GONNA DIE IN A CRAPPY PLACE LIKE NORMANDY OR BELGIUM!!! YOU’VE NEVER CROUCHED AS A GERMAN MG42 FIRED OVER YOUR HEAD
At this point (cos I had a few drinks too) I lost it too and shouted back: YOU THINK THAT WE DON’T KNOW ANYTHING WELL YOU’RE WRONG. I KNOW THAT AN MG42 FIRES OVER 3000 ROUJNDS A MINUTE SO I CAN IMAGINE IT WASN’T A PRETTY SIGHT!!! He stopped talking then and turned away. I tried talkling to him again but he wouldn’t listen and then he left. Because I was drunk at the time I didn’t give it much thought but as the years have gone by I have thought about it more and more, especially as so few WWII vets are still alive.
I never forgot the bitterness on his face as he believed that all he had fought for and stood for was for nothing and that was wasn’t respected.
Well Bernie, its 9 years on and I haven’t forgotten you and I’m sorry. Sorry for being such a smart arse and sorry for not respecting you more sir. You were truly of the finest generation. :flag:
Nolan’s post about the Battle of the Bulge reminded me of something that happened to me a few years ago and I want to recount it with you guys.
1995 I spent a week on mainland Spain in a region called Torremolinos with my wife. It was a good place to be and the bars were filled with a mixture of colourful and interesting people. In one of the bars, an old man was sitting beside and I discovered he was an American.
His name was Bernie and he was from Minnesota. He had been drinking a fair bit which probably loosened his tongue and he told me he was visiting Europe one last time. I asked him when he was last here and he replied in 1944. He was in the 5th wave of troops that came ashore in Normandy. To be precise it was Omaha Beach. I sat and listened riveted as he explained what it was like to be under fire and to have fought back then. He said that he was visiting France and Belgium and paying respects to his dead comrades as he probably wouldn’t be coming back across the Atlantic again. Then Bernie got very angry, angry at the way that the younger generation, in his eyes, treated his generation like dirt. In his eyes, we treated them like old men and laughed at them when he felt that they should be more gracious due to what he and his pals had gone through. I then interrupted and told him that not all young people felt that way and at this point he exploded “WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW, YOU’VE NEVER FOUGHT UNDER FIRE, YOU’VE NEVER SAT IN A FOXHOLE, YOU’VE NEVER CARRIED YOUR DYING FRIENDS BACK TO A FIRST AID STATION AND SAT HOPING THAT YOUR BEST BUDDY WASN’T GONNA DIE IN A CRAPPY PLACE LIKE NORMANDY OR BELGIUM!!! YOU’VE NEVER CROUCHED AS A GERMAN MG42 FIRED OVER YOUR HEAD
At this point (cos I had a few drinks too) I lost it too and shouted back: YOU THINK THAT WE DON’T KNOW ANYTHING WELL YOU’RE WRONG. I KNOW THAT AN MG42 FIRES OVER 3000 ROUJNDS A MINUTE SO I CAN IMAGINE IT WASN’T A PRETTY SIGHT!!! He stopped talking then and turned away. I tried talkling to him again but he wouldn’t listen and then he left. Because I was drunk at the time I didn’t give it much thought but as the years have gone by I have thought about it more and more, especially as so few WWII vets are still alive.
I never forgot the bitterness on his face as he believed that all he had fought for and stood for was for nothing and that was wasn’t respected.
Well Bernie, its 9 years on and I haven’t forgotten you and I’m sorry. Sorry for being such a smart arse and sorry for not respecting you more sir. You were truly of the finest generation. :flag: