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**bigschuss** · 01-18-2008, 09:23 AM

It has been my experience that the feelings about medals to the veterans who earned them ranges from pride to modesty. Some vets hang them on their wall in nice display cases and will talk openly about their experiences. Others don't even have their medals tucked away in a shoebox somewhere and you'd never know they were veterans if you didn't ask.

There is one common urban myth that IMHO just doesn't hold water. I have read many and varied times in different forums and in different circles something like this....

"Veterans who talk about their experiences in combat are usually the ones who didn't see any. True combat vets don't talk about it."

I think this is complete bunk. All men are different, and all men experience war differently. Some choose not to discuss it. Some will.

I produced a documentary in 1999 about the 10th Mountain Division, a unit that, per capita, had one of the highest casualty rates during WWII. I interviewed 8 vets about their experiences in the war, and to a man, they all were more than willing to open up. Many had their medals proudly displayed. Some didn't.

I even interviewed a veteran of the German 4th Hochgebirge Division who lives in Lexington, MA. He showed me WWII propaganda films, sang along to the music in the films, and sat for an hour as I interviewed him about his experiences. Behind him on the wall were all of his pictures, his medal display case, and an ice axe.

As you said, regardless of the man, when they do open up like your uncle did, we should cherish these moments. Becaue they will someday be impossible to duplicate.

**crowback** · 01-18-2008, 10:15 AM

Myth

It has been my experience the vets who talk about their
experiences without being asked are the phoneys.
The real deal, when asked, will gladly share, with pride, their experiences. Exceptions are vets who are troubled
by what they did or saw.

**pete** · 01-18-2008, 10:40 AM

.

I have met many vets in croatia who have mentioned the topic of medals. In 1992 a freind and his freinds actually tore up their medal certificates and threw their medals in the garbage due to the fact that they had seen people were issued medals who were not even in the country! In the battle of Vukovar the brigade refused to accept the medal for Vukovar for various reasons and the whole battle is still very controversial. There were people who were about to be issued medals who were not even present in the battle. The constant I have seen in Croatia is that the veterans are modestly proud (no display of medals in wear, usually just in the boxes kept in safe keeping or displayed in offices etc) but strongly feel that there has been an unfair distribution of medals and benefits to the many different parties who served in the war due to what they say is a system which was not operating administrativly well for various reasons. Still more of them say that their medals mean absolutly nothing to them and they wish to forget the whole period. Many more including the foreign volunteers are not even in the system (not because its a secret thing- they were not mercenaries) and although they were even wounded in battles etc sometimes they have not been issued their medal which many would like to receive and feel they have been looked over.

A freind who was I will only say "High up" in the Rhodesian Light Infantry when I asked him which ones he had, did not really coment but did go into that he received the Zimbabwe independance medal which he did really understand why he got that and finally that he didnt think they had killed enough of them. I suppose that is a fair comment based on what they faced in Rhodesia in the bush war for those years.

I cannot remember the whole story but this is the jist: I read a good email once about a disgruntled post officer/ CEO (??) who was getting angry that people in the firm were not labelling departmental mail properly or his low level post nominals for a good conduct medal somthing. He made a comment to a gentleman in the line/delivering mail about this and said the man should get his letters right/ensure others got them right behind the address and that his initials were this and that. The gentleman replied that he had initials/post nominals too sir to which the postee replied: "and what would they be!?" (sharply) The gentleman replied "V.C! Have a good day now sir!"

Jean loup, I'm sure you have some comments from vets mate!

Best,

Pete

**A H** · 01-19-2008, 07:47 AM

Hi Pete,

One of my grandads will talk about the war if asked, he gave me his medals a few years ago " You might as well have these, I'm not that bothered about them 10 a penny". He gave me a lot of other items as well

My other grandad wont even discuss the war, he just changes the subject. My dad told me when I was about 10 that he was in the Raf and that he may have been aircrew, a gunner?. He just doesn't like to talk about it.

My step grandad was in the navy. In the engine room on aircraft carriers. He said he ended up in the drink a few times. He gets upset talking about it, because a few times he was the last one out before the water tight doors came down. A few of his mates were left inside

. He had to go into a home last year and we found his medals in the original box tucked away in an old cupboard.

Wish I had meet my great grandads. One was in the navy in WW1 and WW2 he was a gunner, he shot a stuka down the pilot and the gunner both got out and they were taken prisoner. He took a few "souviners" from the germans, they are in my grandads house somewhere he is going to dig them out. His medal bar is massive!

My other great grandad was wounded and taken prisoner at the somme. He got a big piece of shrapnel in his leg and foot and a dose of mustard gas. The germans patched him ip and sent him to work in the coal mines.

Adam

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