[clpetersen]

Originally Posted by tdelahanty

Although my father didn't land in Normandy, June 6, he was in Patton's 3rd Army and fought all across Europe. He saw action in Holland, Battle of the Bulge, Bastone, Bridge at Remagen and crossed the Rhyne. He was lucky to survive.

Absolutely! Interesting times if you lived to tell about them.

In our case, my father arrived at Ellis Island from Norway when he was two, and our last name became Americanized. Somehow, he got into the FBI* and his first assignment was Oahu, arriving October 1941. So he was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed. Hitler took over Norway and my dad figured out to enlist in the Army to get to Europe. OCS, then England to train, then D-Day. So one of the few to be at both. The picture is of him saluting (back to camera) as Patton went by, location unknown, time unknown. Second is with some appreciative German women shortly after V-E Day, Berlin.

*We have two letters from J Edgar Hoover. The first to my Norwegian grandmother in January 1942 letting her know that my father was alive and well after the Pearl Harbor bombing. The second to my dad: "Your request to resign from the FBI is hereby denied, but since you have already enlisted there is nothing I can do but wish you Godspeed. Sincerely, J Edgar Hoover".