You know you are getting old when:

[Turnip]

...you don’t lock your car on Friday afternoon anymore, not opening it earlier than Monday morning.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Do you remember the times, when you needed gloves in the winter??

 

[Turnip]

No, because those who can remember the 80s didn’t experience them (Falco)...

 

[GHT]

After Vietnam I did an advisory tour with the Greek Army near Thessalonikki, and I recall walking
into a bar there and the bartender, a Crete native, poured me a free drink to commemorate his first
German kill. The knife used hung on the wall behind him. The Second World War was much in evidence
with concrete German pillbox; wild Alsatians intermixed with indigenous breeds; stories told by local
villagers about Nazi cruelty. I served at a time when there were still WWII veterans on active duty,
not yet retired and full of piss and vinegar and a zest for life and the simple joy of being alive.'

Fascinating story, appreciated you sharing it. War is indeed cruel, yet human kindness can still prevail. My father had a talent for languages. He spoke most a the western European Latin based languages, within six months he could add German to that list.
As a prisoner he was working on a railway track. He had climbed onto one of those low, flatbed carriages that are used for transporting military vehicles, he went to stand up and a guard shouted a warning. Dad's knowledge of the German language allowed him to understand that warning. Had he stood up he would have touched the overhead live electricity cable with his head. A small act of kindness that meant a lot.

 

[Harp]

^^^Your dad sounds like an interesting man. I noted his garrison cap tilt, a uniform practice then
common in British and Canadian forces, most non regulation in the US Army but a bit of nice touch swag.

 

[GHT]

^^^Your dad sounds like an interesting man. I noted his garrison cap tilt, a uniform practice then
common in British and Canadian forces, most non regulation in the US Army but a bit of nice touch swag.

Kind of you to say so, thank you. Both my father and father-in-law died in 2009 just three months apart, father-in-law served in the RAF, he was tail gun Charlie, the name that crews called the rear gunner, although in father-in-law's case he was "Exceptional Edward." The rear gunner's life expectancy was just one sortie, father-in-law flew many sorties and always returned home unscathed, that's how he got his nick-name. His luck ran out in Italy when his base came under attack, he lost his right leg from the knee down and although he had a prosthetic limb fitted the RAF wouldn't allow him to fly. He remained grounded for the rest of the war.

 

[EngProf]

^^^Your dad sounds like an interesting man. I noted his garrison cap tilt, a uniform practice then
common in British and Canadian forces, most non regulation in the US Army but a bit of nice touch swag.

Your phrase: "most non regulation in the US Army" reminded me of my Dad, a WWII combat vet, who in his Army photos had his cap so tilted at an angle that as a kid I couldn't figure out how he kept it on his head.
I asked once why he wore it so tilted and he said, very succinctly, "Because they didn't want me to."

 

[Tiki Tom]

Ahh, the WWII generation. I knew many an associate of my father’s who had a certain reckless charm... I kinda miss that confidence that was full of humor.

 

[EngProf]

Ahh, the WWII generation. I knew many an associate of my father’s who had a certain reckless charm... I kinda miss that confidence that was full of humor.

Very well put!
Did you know my dad?? Your description sounds just like him.
He never told conventional jokes of the "Three salesmen went into a bar..." type, but his general demeanor and way of talking was almost always humorous.
I wonder if living through a Depression in poverty, and later being shot at by people who were working hard to kill you, made everything afterwards seem fairly pleasant by comparison.
I think my pals liked him better than they liked me since he was always so much fun to be around.

 

[belfastboy]

Very well put!
Did you know my dad?? Your description sounds just like him.
He never told conventional jokes of the "Three salesmen went into a bar..." type, but his general demeanor and way of talking was almost always humorous.
I wonder if living through a Depression in poverty, and later being shot at by people who were working hard to kill you, made everything afterwards seem fairly pleasant by comparison.
I think my pals liked him better than they liked me since he was always so much fun to be around.

My uncles who were all very damaged in the war never spoke about their war experience.. It was all they could do to cope with the life they were left with......damaged in body and in spirit.

 

[EngProf]

My uncles who were all very damaged in the war never spoke about their war experience.. It was all they could do to cope with the life they were left with......damaged in body and in spirit.

My dad would not describe any of the serious combat situations he was in - despite my best kid-style interrogation: "What did you do in the war, daddy?"
He would usually divert the questions to innocuous or humorous "war stories" such as how bad the food was or how he got seasick on the way over. Over time, he would actually tell quite a bit about his war experiences, but only up to a point, which didn't include combat.
However, on the serious side, I do remember him talking about how badly Germany was destroyed, but that wasn't something that he as an infantryman was directly responsible for.

 

[GHT]

Spending ten minutes looking for yours glasses before remembering that you pushed them up onto your forehead.
My memory exercise goes like this. I check for grocery provisions, then household and finally, anything else. It all gets written down on my shopping list. Then I try to memorise it as I wander around the supermarket, knowing that, once again, I have left the wretched list at home.

 

[Harp]

^^^
As a totally disorganized bachelor, I play a catch-as-catch-can mental grocery list
that typically misses a complete roster. I always buy a newspaper and stop by the reading
section for any literary needs but the essentials are relegated to the back of memory.

 

[Trenchfriend]

When did you have yummy canned Cod liver, the last time?

 

[Turnip]

Canned never so far, fresh about four weeks ago.

 

[Zombie_61]

When did you have yummy canned Cod liver, the last time?

Damn, you Europeans eat some weird sh...uhh, stuff.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Damn, you Europeans eat some weird sh...uhh, stuff.

The 90s, Bro, the old-fashioned 90s.

 

[Zombie_61]

The 90s, Bro, the old-fashioned 90s.

Hey, I lived through the 90s...and the 80s, and the 70s, and the 60s...and, to my knowledge, I've never eaten fish guts. I mean, there's a reason most people rip that stuff out and throw it away before they cook the rest of the fish.

 

[Turnip]

Maybe you had to eat a nice daily spoon of cod liver oil instead as a kid...

 

[Turnip]

But even I didn’t...got Mulgatol instead as a kid in early 70s which was really very yummy, like orange concentrate, still available just looks different now...