Buried Memories
One mans story of of survival. And the friends he lost.6 total reviews
Comment from Sally Law
I apologize for no six to give. I cried reading this, knowing it was true. I'm so glad the soldier depicted here hung on. It's amazing how a photo and a taste of heaven while in hell can keep us going. This is far and away my vote for the contest. Exceptional writing. Sending you my best today as always,
Sal :))
reply by the author on 24-Aug-2021
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I apologize for no six to give. I cried reading this, knowing it was true. I'm so glad the soldier depicted here hung on. It's amazing how a photo and a taste of heaven while in hell can keep us going. This is far and away my vote for the contest. Exceptional writing. Sending you my best today as always,
Sal :))
Comment Written 24-Aug-2021
reply by the author on 24-Aug-2021
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I cannot thank you enough for the kind words about my story. Not to worry about the amount of stars. I write for the joy and love of it. For me it is the words of people like you and how my writing touches them that are important. Unlike a lot of writers on this site and others I belong to. I do not have a following, so I enter contests to increase my chances of people reading my stories.
Comment from rockinm76233
I very much enjoyed your story and thanks for your service. I know there were many soldiers that endured the terrible tragedy of being a prisoner. Just glad to came home.
reply by the author on 23-Aug-2021
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I very much enjoyed your story and thanks for your service. I know there were many soldiers that endured the terrible tragedy of being a prisoner. Just glad to came home.
Comment Written 23-Aug-2021
reply by the author on 23-Aug-2021
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Thank you so much for the kind words. They are appreciated.
Comment from Allezw2
t's a long story with unnecessary errors. In the time period you are writing in, Catholics still abstained from eating meat on Fridays and always fasted before receiving communion.
You could celebrate the Mass without lay Communion. You could not have lay Communion without the Mass.
You did NOT receive communion after breakfast.
Ihttps://www.learnreligions.com/rules-for-fasting-before-communion-542845
You really need to carefully read your posting through. My notes would be lengthy indeed to cover everything, historical as well as grammar that you might reconsider.
Anyone familiar with B17s and the bombing campaign of the eighth air force will see some truths and also some goofs. Simply plugging in random vignettes does not a story make, at least not a coherent one. Overall, it seems a morass of truly epic experiences and awful juxtapositions. In every case, reading histories of the campaign and following the timelines with the personal experiences carefully drawn will create a stunning narrative.
No, it isn't Ford(s) as an example. Neither are you, "... lied on my bunk."
The B17s Ball, Dorsal, and Chin turrets were all powered. These turrets could not be manually traversed or elevated from inside the turret. It took an external hand crank normally used for inspection and repair. Anyway, I think you need to understand that historical fiction, good historical fiction, necessitates lots of objective research.
Read Randall Jarrel's, "The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner." I cover that in my portfolio, "The Cruelest Test."
One of the old timers I interviewed told of another tragedy. A new ball turret gunner was so frightened at the first contact with enemy fighters that he voided his bladder and bowels. The urine shorted out the circuits in his heated flight suit. They took him to the hospital after landing. The frostbite in the genital area was so severe, they had to cut away the frozen flesh, emasculating him.
Regarding fasting before Communion; here's a knee slapper for your amusement. In USN Boot Camp's advanced training (the last six weeks of training before graduation) you could leave the RTC for liberty in town. However, you had to attend Sunday religious services appropriate to your faith before going on liberty at 1000. The Catholic priests had an early Mass for those who wanted to take Communion by fasting before breakfast. The Protestants first service was at 1000 which meant they would not leave for liberty until after 1100. Consequently, the Catholic early Mass was mobbed, standing room only and out of the doors. Then the Protestant Chaplains pitched a bitch because their attendance was so low. The Catholic priests could care less who showed up for their early Mass. The Protestants did. Consequently, you had to show your dog tags to an SP before you could attend the early Mass. Then a black market developed with guys paying Catholics so they could use the the Catholics' dog tags to attend the early Mass. The Protestant Chaplains howled again. Now you had to show your ID card with its picture AND your dog tags stamped with that Capital C. So ended the side money for some Catholics and earlier liberty for all the Protestants.
Live long and write carefully, Fantasist
PS: FYI -- The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner BY RANDALL JARRELL
From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
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t's a long story with unnecessary errors. In the time period you are writing in, Catholics still abstained from eating meat on Fridays and always fasted before receiving communion.
You could celebrate the Mass without lay Communion. You could not have lay Communion without the Mass.
You did NOT receive communion after breakfast.
Ihttps://www.learnreligions.com/rules-for-fasting-before-communion-542845
You really need to carefully read your posting through. My notes would be lengthy indeed to cover everything, historical as well as grammar that you might reconsider.
Anyone familiar with B17s and the bombing campaign of the eighth air force will see some truths and also some goofs. Simply plugging in random vignettes does not a story make, at least not a coherent one. Overall, it seems a morass of truly epic experiences and awful juxtapositions. In every case, reading histories of the campaign and following the timelines with the personal experiences carefully drawn will create a stunning narrative.
No, it isn't Ford(s) as an example. Neither are you, "... lied on my bunk."
The B17s Ball, Dorsal, and Chin turrets were all powered. These turrets could not be manually traversed or elevated from inside the turret. It took an external hand crank normally used for inspection and repair. Anyway, I think you need to understand that historical fiction, good historical fiction, necessitates lots of objective research.
Read Randall Jarrel's, "The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner." I cover that in my portfolio, "The Cruelest Test."
One of the old timers I interviewed told of another tragedy. A new ball turret gunner was so frightened at the first contact with enemy fighters that he voided his bladder and bowels. The urine shorted out the circuits in his heated flight suit. They took him to the hospital after landing. The frostbite in the genital area was so severe, they had to cut away the frozen flesh, emasculating him.
Regarding fasting before Communion; here's a knee slapper for your amusement. In USN Boot Camp's advanced training (the last six weeks of training before graduation) you could leave the RTC for liberty in town. However, you had to attend Sunday religious services appropriate to your faith before going on liberty at 1000. The Catholic priests had an early Mass for those who wanted to take Communion by fasting before breakfast. The Protestants first service was at 1000 which meant they would not leave for liberty until after 1100. Consequently, the Catholic early Mass was mobbed, standing room only and out of the doors. Then the Protestant Chaplains pitched a bitch because their attendance was so low. The Catholic priests could care less who showed up for their early Mass. The Protestants did. Consequently, you had to show your dog tags to an SP before you could attend the early Mass. Then a black market developed with guys paying Catholics so they could use the the Catholics' dog tags to attend the early Mass. The Protestant Chaplains howled again. Now you had to show your ID card with its picture AND your dog tags stamped with that Capital C. So ended the side money for some Catholics and earlier liberty for all the Protestants.
Live long and write carefully, Fantasist
PS: FYI -- The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner BY RANDALL JARRELL
From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
Comment Written 23-Aug-2021
Comment from Anne Johnston
Your story is very well written. I was just a child when World War II was raging, but I do remember some things from that time. Thank God for the men who were willing to fight for our freedom. So many lost their lives but thank you for sharing this story of one who suffered terrible things and yet survived.
reply by the author on 20-Aug-2021
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Your story is very well written. I was just a child when World War II was raging, but I do remember some things from that time. Thank God for the men who were willing to fight for our freedom. So many lost their lives but thank you for sharing this story of one who suffered terrible things and yet survived.
Comment Written 20-Aug-2021
reply by the author on 20-Aug-2021
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That generation are why we are free. So many like Jack came amazingly came home, married and raised families all the time keeping their service time private.
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Thanks for sharing the story.
Comment from blondie560
A powerful story, not only about brotherhood, but the will to survive. War is a terrible thing and no one really wins. The casualties add up. I can't even begin to imagine what a P.O.W. is subjected to. Thank you for sharing this man's story.
reply by the author on 19-Aug-2021
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A powerful story, not only about brotherhood, but the will to survive. War is a terrible thing and no one really wins. The casualties add up. I can't even begin to imagine what a P.O.W. is subjected to. Thank you for sharing this man's story.
Comment Written 19-Aug-2021
reply by the author on 19-Aug-2021
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Thank you for the kind words.
Sadly, their sacrifices are being forgotten.
Jacks life as a prisoner was terrible. At one point of their forced march the Germans loaded the men into crowded box cars to be used as targets by our own planes. No one is sure how prisoners were killed.
Comment from Prova1
Amazing!I was deeply touched by the story.The author did an amazing job at writing it, that's for sure.You get all this emotions swirling in your head.One of the best stories I've read in a while. It stuns me to think about all those war heroes who have given their lives, and more people need to write about these people.
reply by the author on 18-Aug-2021
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Amazing!I was deeply touched by the story.The author did an amazing job at writing it, that's for sure.You get all this emotions swirling in your head.One of the best stories I've read in a while. It stuns me to think about all those war heroes who have given their lives, and more people need to write about these people.
Comment Written 18-Aug-2021
reply by the author on 18-Aug-2021
I would like to thank you for the kind words. I am still a relatively new writer. Comments such as yours encourage me to continue to write. I thank you for that.
Although written as a fictional account, I base it on true events. I would encourage you to read; ?Miracle at Twenty thousand feet.? It is in Fan Story.
Jack Flynn was my father-in-law. His surviving was truly a miracle. You will notice some differences between the two. Jack married his sweetheart after the war. The names are slightly altered. Sgt. Aldrich was not on the plane that day. They assigned him to another B-17. He would survive the war.
Thank you again for reading my story.
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Of course! Keep on writing more, I'll be sure to read them.
And I think what makes this particular story so good is because the real story behind it. My honours to Jack Flynn.