THE PAVILION ANNEX

[K. M. Kirby]

Every non-medical topic should get shunted over to this space.

[Coil 2.0]

No problem on the previous delete, Steve. In fact, feel free to delete anything I post (even this post, too!) if it seems inappropriate or in the wrong place.

The subject of Harlan's house has come up a few times in the last couple weeks. Harlan has seemed to indicate he doesn't wish to discuss it, and if that is so, I agree. In today's world, there are too many wackos looking for fame who are willing to do stupid things to gain that fame.

[Steve Evil]

I dunno, I always thought cryptic thread titles just generated curiosity about what lay within. . .

[Moderator]

I dunno, I always thought cryptic thread titles just generated curiosity about what lay within. . .

Well.

So make it cryptic content as well.

[Jan]

Did you guys have any parents or grandparents that took part in a war, and do you know anything about it?

My grandparents never talked much about it voluntarily (WWII), but then they'd surprise you with an anecdote or two. I got more information from asking others and reading what documents are left. It's my impression that soldiers' experiences aren't traditionally discussed much in the U.S. either, but I'm sure you'd know enough to answer where and when and as part of what kind of unit they fought.

My one grandfather fought on the eastern front, and the other was an officer in the navy. The latter once manuvered the battleship in the harbor while drunk, during the war, and rammed it into the pier.

[cynic]

Did you guys have any parents or grandparents that took part in a war, and do you know anything about it?

father was an army corps engineer
an earlier witness to the remains of dachau.
i have been told of more crap than anyone should need to hear. he hardly spoke of it .

[cynic]

whathefuk, was this on the pav.?
start a "worror story" thread.
no, that might be inaccurate as well as cryptic.
try "good war stories"
and"bad war stories"

[Jan]

No need to be alarmed. This is a conversation thread. People can write about anything they like.

We may need Frank to do his dancing maniac bit to draw more people.

So what is good and new in American culture right now? Any interesting developments in the comedy area? Any good music on the radio? Anything interesting on tv in first run? Any good comedy happening?

[Steve Evil]

Actually, I like the soldier stories idea.

My own gradnparents had some extraordinary experiences, but never discussed them much, grandpa rarely, grandma not at all. I was too young to appreciate them, and never really pushed them for more.

I did hear snippets here and there. I do know that Grandpa was a lieutenant in the Polish Home Army. He said he lost many of his friends at the front. He apparenlty watched his uncle get executed by the SS - Dad says they shot him with a Luger, and his body was flipped over 180 degrees by the force. During the bombing of Warsaw, he was separated from my Grandmother, and later he just happened to see her from a streetcar window, ala Dr. Zhivago. Except this time, he did catch up with her.

They fled Poland through Romania. The SS were looking for Polish refugees, so Grandma had to feign illness to hide out in a hospital. One day, she saw Gestapo inspectors making their way through the ward, and managed to sneak out.

They made their way through Italy (don't ask me how), and into France, then escaped at Dunkirk (I saw the photos. Soldiers jammed into boats like sardines) and resettled in the UK, and later Scotland where my father was born. Somehow or other they got a post-card from his sister during this time - we found it not too long ago in a pile of papers. The Nazi eagle and swastika is stamped prominently on the back, right next to the postage.

After the war, rather than return to live under Stalin, they emigrated to Canada and opened up a general store, specializing in Kielbasa.

Had he lived longer, I would have tried to get more details out of him. Not to bring back bad memories, but to get a fuller picture of how my clan endured history, and that all those textbook factoids are in fact real people and that somebody somewhere lived through it all.

[MichaelRapoport]

War stories: My grandfather was an Army medic in the troops that liberated Buchenwald. He was a voluble man who talked about pretty much anything at the drop of a hat, but that experience was the one thing he almost never discussed.

Cultural happenings: The thing that comes first to my mind is Breaking Bad, the TV show Adam-Troy and a couple of others have recommended over on the Pavilion. Just an amazing show. Don't know if it's hit the EU yet; when and if it does, it's very much worth checking out.

In terms of comedy, I could rave about how great The Colbert Report till I'm blue in the face. I hope you can see it in Europe.

[Chuck Messer]

My uncle Dean-o (he's my stepmom's brother-in-law, but I think of him as an uncle) was given a choice between prison or the army -- he took the latter. He ended up fighting in the Korean War. He was captured and ended up in a North Korean prison camp. There were two kinds of camps; the ones run by the Chinese and the ones run by the North Koreans. The former were bad enough, but the latter were hell on earth.

He survived it all, and a series of injuries, illnesses, etc. that have left him with so many metallic, non-original body parts that he's nicknamed the Six Million Dollar Man and when Airport security sees him they say, "Oh, God, it's him again."

He looks kinda like Mel Blanc, with those protruding, sleepy looking eyes, only with a white beard, no mustache.

His philosophy of life: "If I don't like it, fuck it."

Chuck

[Moderator]

Did you guys have any parents or grandparents that took part in a war, and do you know anything about it?

As I have mentioned, my father commanded what was called a radar picket Destroyer Escort during the mid-years of the Vietnam War, and a guided missile Cruiser in the late years. And yes, there are some hair-raising stories regarding rapid deployments during the Tonkin Gulf action; the rescue of the crew on a burning freighter in the midst of a monsoon; near offshore operations after American jets were downed; the post-war rescue of "boat people"; and another even more rapid deployment when the Pueblo was seized by the North Koreans (not the Vietnam War directly, but definitely Cold War).

The government (and our family) consider Dad a "war hero" for what he did, but I'm gonna guess Frank will see it differently.

Then there was that time Dad's ship was nearly (deliberately?) run down by the Enterprise as they were entering Hong Kong, but that's a story for another time.

[swp]

Did you guys have any parents or grandparents that took part in a war, and do you know anything about it?

yes

and glad you didn't ask about our own personal experiences.

swp

[FrankChurch]

Barber, you're the moderator; we picked you from a lineup of mashers and nogoodniks. Do what you see fit.

Not very anarchistic, but I didn't expect that from you. You are still learning.

---------------

Harlan has been kind to my political postings, as of late, but he usually doesn't like political debates that go nowhere. Gaza is a no no.

[Jan]

S.E.: Damn SS. Your uncle must have been seen as a possible long-term troublemaker because that's what the SS went there to take care of.

Michael: Thanks, I'll give B.B. a try when it comes over. I doubt we'll get Colbert but I should look at his stuff on YouTube to get an idea. I think I know who he is from an award show, but that's about it.
---
The prison camp my grandfather was in was, of course, a Soviet one. He was captured during the retreat near the end of the war and ended up spending three years in a distant labor camp. He was twenty and actually one of the more experienced soldiers in '45. He had been the last member of his divisions three times. Also survived standing next to an exploding tank, among other unpleasant business. His brother wasn't so lucky. That family didn't believe in the Nazi movement. The guy who wrecked the ship did, according to my dad, which is not really surprising. He was a miliaristic kind of guy because his dad was also in the navy and because of the whole indoctrination.