I didn't have family who served in WWII. My uncle spent some time at army camp, but my father wasn't conscripted. He was probably considered to be too old in his late 20s when the war broke out, and 30 in the middle of the conflict.
Sue's dad did serve, however, enlisting at the age of 21. I know that I have posted of him in the past, but I would like to add a little more on this Remembrance Day.
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| Louis Milton Morton |
At some point, not too long ago, Sue was finally able to obtain her father's war records. Following are some of Lou's army data. It outlines in point form where he was at different times according to what we discern from spotty documents. We wish we knew more.
- July 03 1942 - Enlisted
- December 09 1942 - Qualified to drive a tank
- October 18 1943 - North Africa
- October 21 1943 - Italy with Central Mediterranean Force
- October 23 - Wounded in action
- November 05 1944 - Wounded in action: bullet wounds to shoulder, chest, arm
- January 10 1944 - Awarded CVS Medal and Clasp
- June 03 1944 - Discharged from hospital
- July 03 1944 - Awarded Good Conduct Badge
- November 29 1944 - Allied Armies Italy
- March 9 1945 - France
- October 08 1645 - UK
- January 01 1946 - Canada
- January 24 1946 - Back in Toronto
In addition to awards mentioned above, he was awarded, the 1939/1945 Red Star, the Italy Star, and the France-Germany Star (left to right, below).
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There may have been other medals, as seen in this following photo of various memorabilia, and there are other items elsewhere in the extended family.
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| The other man in the above image was Sue's grandfather who served in WWI, including the famous Battle of Vimy Ridge. |
We have not forgotten.
20 comments:
Glad to see the history of Sue's ancestors who served. I sure wish we could stop having wars.
Sue must be proud of her father and grandfather for giving so much to defend the peaceful lives of not only their own nation, but others during the two world wars. I daily hope peace can be found between those currently at war.
A lovely tribute.
Very nice post. Have you ever seen the movie "And They Shall Not Grow Old"? Powerful, powerful stuff. I saw it in 3D in a theater, and I have never once seen an audience reaction like the one that I saw that night. The movie ended and there was dead silence. We all filed out of that theater as if we were leaving a church.
One of my grandfathers did a very similar route through Africa, Italy, France and then back home. I think he mainly drove supply trucks throughout his tour.
Nice remembrance.
An amazing record of service.
That is a lot of awards. Some thing to be proud of.
This is a nice tribute to him. We need to give thanks to all of them who risked so much.
Thanks for sharing, nice tribute. I can't even begin to imagine what he experienced. Glad he made it home.
Like Debby, I was blown away by "They Shall Not Grow Old." Such a powerful film. When you say that he served, he definitely saw action which makes him a combat veteran. They deserve such respect!
I had relatives in all wars in United States, even the French Indians wars. If I recall right one even got wounded.
Coffee is on
He deserves our respect.
Hope you and yours are doing well.
I hope we can somehow move beyond wars as a means to resolving differences. Somehow.
I was struck by his service record of apparently recovering from a wound enough to return to the war. I had a great grandfather, wounded at Bull Run who returned to fight at Antitum, and was gravely wounded and stayed in hospital a very log time.
Soldiers deserve all our respect.
This is a very lovely tribute to Sue's relatives. I do have uncles, cousins, many friends and my husband who served our country. I think it's very important to have this remembrance for us to recognize and express our appreciation for all they contributed.
Thank you, John, for remembering and honouring Dad.
Very impressive. He must have been in much the same group as my father-in-law who also did the Italian campaign and occupation after D Day. Good looking guy, too. It is almost impossible to imagine the bravery, day to day, of those men. And the women who nursed them.
What a great thing, to have such a hero in one's lineage. May he rest in peace. xoxo
You have amuch more complete record for Sue's dad that we have for mine. That's wonderful.
A lot of history.
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