What did YOUR grandfather do?

My adoptive paternal grandfather was a drill sergeant in the Army during the Korean War. He mostly uses those skills now to yell at Colts and Indiana college basketball games, now that he's retired. He was a truck driver for over 50 years, and I used to go on the road with him when I was a kid. That's when I learned what a "lot lizard" was! ROFL

My maternal grandfather was a hoot. He was a self-employed trash hauler, and a freelance dog catcher. He ran for the local school board once, and the bios of him and his opponent were PRICELESS. His opponent was a lawyer and a college grad, and my grandfather said he graduated from third grade, and listed his occupation as "independent sanitation worker!"

ROFL ROFL ROFL

Both of them were hilarious!
 
My Paternal grandfather ran a Pizza Barn that was all the rage in the 70-80's in my hometown and when he died they had a parade through town with 6 or 7 fire engines as he did a lot of work with the volunteer fire department up there. Most all of the fire department is volunteer up there. He was a sassy man, but a good man. Yesterday was the 9th anniversary of his death :( .

My Maternal grandfather was in the military but when he got out he became the town drunk and beat the crap out of my grandmother and mom and aunts and uncles. He would blow his whole paycheck at the bar and they lived poor because of this. When he'd come home he's wake his family up just to beat them. He'd sometime even shoot the place up.
But you would never know that now. I still can't fathom some of the stories my mom has told me. No way this God loving and fearing man ever did those things! He was an a*hole for a long while, but after being alone for so long (after my gma divorced him) he realized his faults and changed. I think it is beautiful to know that. What polar opposite his is know.
 
My paternal grandfather was a great man, in my eyes, but great nontheless. Born in 1912 he has seen many things like other grandparents have, wars, depression's births and death of their family members. His parents and grandparents migrated north from the war torn south during the civil war, highly against slavery and such they settled in boston and finally moved to worcester with ties on the cape and in boston. Schooled in banking managment he was moving up the corporate ladder when he was drafted at age 32 in 1942 with 3 million other us men.

He was made an officer due to his schooling and high rankin in the banking firm and sent to india, a god awful place he has told me many a time. He was incharge of All incoming food used to suplly the troops us and british during the african and middleeast campaigns, i guess if he could count money and keep it safe, he could do the same with livestock and k-rations. He was redployed as a Colonel to england in 1944 and was incharge of overseeing all the meat inspections and distribution of rations for every division in the european theartre till the end of the war.

He came home and raised a small family, my mom and my uncle and continued working for the federal goverment as head postmaster in boston and then in worcester, he led a simple life and was a happy man, we used to sit and talk about some of the stuff in the war, though he was far from the front, you werent really that far. He showed me alot of pictures of friends and locations he was deployed or visited on leave, alot of the time shedding a few tears, he never returned to europe again.

My dad, what i know of him died in nam in 1970, i was a year old, ive got a few photos of him while home on leave, he did three tours of duty, my mom said he wasnt the same after the 1st tour so he kept going back, anyways, my gramps " I called him Pup " was the stand up guy that helped raised me, taught me everything, fishing, hunting, sports, girls, you name it, everything i am today is because of him and my mom, and i love him dearly for it.....

Pup was sick for a long time, we lost my gram to diabetes back in 95 and i thought for sure that pup wasnt going to be far behind, just like myself and my sister, pup waited on gram hand and foot to make sure she had everything she needed while she was ill. He fell in 2004 and broke a hip, and had to be put in a nursing home for a bit, broke my heart to see that happen, so after i was diagnosed with cancer in 04-05, i sold everything and moved in with my grandfather so he could recover at home and i would have the chance to stay with him, well all in all, both him and i had hard times with our illnesses, he was diagnosed with liver and prostate cancer, and my cancer was putting up a fight, lot of chemo took its toll on me. Around may of 2007 i was doing alot better and was feeling great but pup got worse, dimentia, alzheimers, crapping himself in the middle of the night, being scared all the time, it was ****ing heartbreaking shit to see, he hung on up until december 2nd, he passed with me and our family beside him, giving him the love that he would need to make that final journey. He was married for 55 year, and he passed on his wife's ( my grams birthday ) and was buried december 7th ( pearl harbor ) with full military honors at the age of 95..... A Great Man Indeed.
 
Minuteman07 on 01-24-2008 at 10:50 PM said:
My paternal grandfather was a great man, in my eyes, but great nontheless. Born in 1912 he has seen many things like other grandparents have, wars, depression's births and death of their family members. His parents and grandparents migrated north from the war torn south during the civil war, highly against slavery and such they settled in boston and finally moved to worcester with ties on the cape and in boston. Schooled in banking managment he was moving up the corporate ladder when he was drafted at age 32 in 1942 with 3 million other us men.

He was made an officer due to his schooling and high rankin in the banking firm and sent to india, a god awful place he has told me many a time. He was incharge of All incoming food used to suplly the troops us and british during the african and middleeast campaigns, i guess if he could count money and keep it safe, he could do the same with livestock and k-rations. He was redployed as a Colonel to england in 1944 and was incharge of overseeing all the meat inspections and distribution of rations for every division in the european theartre till the end of the war.

He came home and raised a small family, my mom and my uncle and continued working for the federal goverment as head postmaster in boston and then in worcester, he led a simple life and was a happy man, we used to sit and talk about some of the stuff in the war, though he was far from the front, you werent really that far. He showed me alot of pictures of friends and locations he was deployed or visited on leave, alot of the time shedding a few tears, he never returned to europe again.

My dad, what i know of him died in nam in 1970, i was a year old, ive got a few photos of him while home on leave, he did three tours of duty, my mom said he wasnt the same after the 1st tour so he kept going back, anyways, my gramps " I called him Pup " was the stand up guy that helped raised me, taught me everything, fishing, hunting, sports, girls, you name it, everything i am today is because of him and my mom, and i love him dearly for it.....

Pup was sick for a long time, we lost my gram to diabetes back in 95 and i thought for sure that pup wasnt going to be far behind, just like myself and my sister, pup waited on gram hand and foot to make sure she had everything she needed while she was ill. He fell in 2004 and broke a hip, and had to be put in a nursing home for a bit, broke my heart to see that happen, so after i was diagnosed with cancer in 04-05, i sold everything and moved in with my grandfather so he could recover at home and i would have the chance to stay with him, well all in all, both him and i had hard times with our illnesses, he was diagnosed with liver and prostate cancer, and my cancer was putting up a fight, lot of chemo took its toll on me. Around may of 2007 i was doing alot better and was feeling great but pup got worse, dimentia, alzheimers, crapping himself in the middle of the night, being scared all the time, it was ****ing heartbreaking shit to see, he hung on up until december 2nd, he passed with me and our family beside him, giving him the love that he would need to make that final journey. He was married for 55 year, and he passed on his wife's ( my grams birthday ) and was buried december 7th ( pearl harbor ) with full military honors at the age of 95..... A Great Man Indeed.
Wow. I am amazed by your Grandfather. And you as well. What love. How beautiful. :)
 
My paternal grandfather was a factory machine repairmanin and around the Chicagoland area. He would live in an apartment in Chicago during the week, and drive home to his wife and kids in Belvidere for the weekends.

My maternal grandfather sold insurance in the greater Buffalo area for New York Life, and in his younger days, led his own big band. He had the chance to have his band play on the same bill as Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman on several occasions.
 
Both my grandfathers were in the service during DubDub2, which was awesome unto itself (for a war buff like me, at least.) My mom's dad died when I was very young, but like almost everyone in the D during his time, he worked in the auto industry, for Chrysler. My dad's dad died in the early 90s, and he worked for a newspaper, and did cartoons among other things.

The old guy who lived down the street when I was growing up was also in the war, and had badass stories. He was part of a division that entered Munich, and his MO was robbing the nazis blind. He would kill a nazi, and then take their guns, medals, knives, anything of worth and ship it home to his wife. He showed me his collection one day, and it was awesome. He had so many German military artifacts as well as nazi silver that he took from the buildings they seized. He even had one of the last flags that flew in Munich. His entire squad signed it.
 
TomWaits & you on 01-25-2008 at 12:09 AM said:
Selfish bump. I simply love reading these and want to hear more.

Absolutely. Great thread bound for the Classics.
 
Paternal grandfather was an unsavory character; raging alcoholic, gambler, paperhanger ( as in passer of bad checks ), barroom brawler, an all together bad seed from a well respected southern family. He was murdered in Galveston in 1969 when someone beat him to death with a length of pipe. His father was in the moss business in Louisiana, buying up Spanish moss, cleaning, bundling and shipping the moss to High Point, NC where it was used for stuffing furniture prior to WWII. My father never speaks of his father and only references his grandfather as he was the one who raised him.

Paternal grandfather worked on the Mississippi steamboats as a youth. Went on to become an industrialist and engineer. Developed a method for bonding steel and cement, built a plant in Eastern PA that did rubber coatings for steel products. He died of a heart attack in Venezuela in the early 50's while negotiating contracts with oil companies located there. Was listed in Engineering Who's Who in the 1940's without the benefit of a college education. He bore a striking facial resemblance to Chief Sitting Bull.
 
Jh on 01-25-2008 at 02:40 AM said:
Wow. I am amazed by your Grandfather. And you as well. What love. How beautiful. :)

X2. I've "felt" the writer's intentions in several of these, but yhis one was the most intense, I think. I felt this one very much.
 
TomWaits & you on 01-25-2008 at 12:39 PM said:
X2. I've "felt" the writer's intentions in several of these, but yhis one was the most intense, I think. I felt this one very much.




Thanks tom, its amazing how free words flow when you care about something or someone. I could've went on for hours :)
 
Minuteman07 on 01-25-2008 at 01:19 PM said:
Thanks tom, its amazing how free words flow when you care about something or someone. I could've went on for hours :)

Go ahead. I'm sure there are plenty of folks that would enjoy it.
 
Not my grandfather but...

Went out to dinner with my dad and his wife this past weekend and we were talking about this thread.....

My dad's wife... Her father ( who I guess technically is my step-grandfather, although I really don't consider her my step-mother considering I was 30 when my dad married her :shrug: ) was in the 101st. For those who aren't familiar with that one ( although I'm sure most are ) that is the airborne division that Band of Brothers is about.

Spielberg actually pays for all the guys and their wives to fly over to Normandy every year, which impressed me.
 
My Paternal Grandfather worked under Sen. Joe McCarthy, seeking out communists throughout the Northeastern US. Occasionally my Dad finds info on him on the internet, and has a bunch of literature on him, including a pic of him with Sen. McCarthy. He was sort of his right hand man, but a few steps down. He was very close to McCarthy, though.

My Maternal Grandfather was killed during the bombing of London, and my mother was only three at the time. Don't know what he did for work, though.
 
My grandfather, whom I was very close to and spent a lot of time with on a regular basis, passed away on the morning of Super Bowl Sunday. It was not unexpected, but it is always a shock to lose someone close to you, no matter what their age or health is.

I just wanted to share with you all the passing of a true hero, in my eyes, so here are a few things about him...

He was very poor as a child. Both of his parents were dwarves, and as such there was no work for them, particularly in the depression. He used to go to the fish market and buy or dig out from the trash unwanted fish heads to take home so his mother could make stew. He used to go to the train yard and tracks to gather coal that had fallen so his family could have heat. He suffered a lot of painful abuse from his peers due to his parents' condition.

When the war came, he lied about his age to join the Army. He eventually served in the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. With the GI bill, he educated himself as an engineer, and worked on the Manhattan Project.

He got married and had 3 children, one of whom, my aunt, turned out to be mentally retarded (the term that was used). He was instructed by the social services to have her sent to a home, the infamous Walter Fernald State School for the handicapped. For those who don't know, back in the 50's and earlier, a handicapped child was considered an embarassment and ostracized. They would be sent away to these schools and forgotten, where they were often abused, both physically and mentally, and were the unwilling subjects of human experiments, volunteered by the state for these studies. Those who could not afford these schools often kept these children hidden in the basement, or the attic, and not allowed to come out if there was anyone around who might see them. They were generally not acknowledged by their own parents when the parents were asked about their children.

My grandfather brought her to the school, had a look around, didn't like what he saw, and took her home. She was raised by my grandmother and taught to cook, clean, do laundry, set the table, and basic household chores.

In the meantime, my grandfather was a founder of a group called the Association of Retarded Citizens, who fought for the rights of these persons, and for better treatment, and hellped establish support for people who wanted to raise their children at home, just like any other child. He helped fight for the right for these people to work, and be treated as human beings.

Today, my aunt has held the same job for 36 years, and lives in her own apartment, does her cooking, cleaning, shopping, and laundry. She has an assistant that helps her get through life, much like those who help the elderly in assisted living. She has an IQ that is too low to measure, has speech problems, and cannot drive, but she is friendly, social, has countless friends at her job, and is almost entirely self sufficient. She was one of the first to be given a chance at life like any other.

So, the next time you see a mentally handicapped person greeting you at Sam's Club, bagging your groceries at the store, or emptying trash or sweeping the floors, try and remember what these people used to be treated as, unwanted animals, to be shunned and ostracized.

That person you see is my grandfather's legacy. He changed our society. He made society realize that we have a responsibilty to treat those who have handicaps with human decency and respect. He fought for the rights they always deserved, but were never given, because they had no voice.

So, for all he did for me, in my life, and for the honorable and brave service to his country, and for his contribution to make us a better society, he will always be a hero to me.
 
That's a fantasic story Baron. Your Granddad's a man to be admired. I'm sorry he passed so recently.
 
Thanks again for sharing this Baron. Your grandfather was the man...sorry for your loss...but at least he was something in this world...to you and to others as well.
 
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