tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post3519849842303752214..comments2024-03-25T22:59:30.053+00:00Comments on Desperate Reader: V E DayDesperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-39187957485977221532020-05-17T16:20:57.906+01:002020-05-17T16:20:57.906+01:00It's only fragments of diary, but it's rea...It's only fragments of diary, but it's really interesting to be able to read. Dad is getting very fed up with my trying to get him to write his memoires, but I wish he'd commit at least some of his stories to paper. He went to America in his early 20's and found a job in Wisconsin, then got called up for Vietnam. He and his friend decided it wasn't for them so they bought a car, drove to San Francisco, and managed to get on one of the last possible boats to New Zealand (I'm vague on the details about the boat situation). He says his life has been ordinary, but it's full of stories like this. <br /><br />The current fascination with the war bothers me now that it's no longer really tethered to lived experience and so many of the things that people would like to forget have been forgotten, so that it's mostly the their finest hour stuff that remains. <br /><br />Your poor mother, what a thing to have to grow up listening too. Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-86580535451098621212020-05-17T15:18:30.923+01:002020-05-17T15:18:30.923+01:00How fascinating to have your grandfather's dia...How fascinating to have your grandfather's diaries! My grandparents were too old for WWII, though one of mine worked in an auto factory that must have made some wartime machinery. My uncles and my dad were too young. My father is the youngest in his family and was too young for the Korean War and too old for Vietnam. But even though my mother was only 5 when the war ended, she doesn't share the current fascination for the war. Even though she grew up in the US, the coverage and the Nuremburg trials afterward gave her nightmares for years. Karen K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-53872217390676571692020-05-11T16:23:24.255+01:002020-05-11T16:23:24.255+01:00I think both my Grandfathers would have talked abo...I think both my Grandfathers would have talked about it if asked, but I don't know that they put any particular value on what for their generation was a universal experience rather than a definitive one, and that in both cases must have raised mixed memories. My German grandmother was unwilling to talk about her past at all which is understandable, and my other grandmother died when my father was 16 so I don't really know anything much about her. What your father did must have demanded considerable fortitude, the very thought of a submarine makes me feel claustrophobic.Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-84157384647191964462020-05-10T10:47:41.948+01:002020-05-10T10:47:41.948+01:00Indeed, my father (North Sea convoy gunner and the...Indeed, my father (North Sea convoy gunner and then a submarine officer) never took part in any VE day "celebrations". Too much loss, too many dark memories I suspect though he was certainly open to talking about many of his experiences.Dark Pusshttps://morganas-cat.tumblr.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-40051024103101741132020-05-09T22:12:20.336+01:002020-05-09T22:12:20.336+01:00He only included extracts, and by the time he wrot...He only included extracts, and by the time he wrote his memoires he was already losing his memory. I miss him, and really wish I'd had the chance to talk to him more, not even about the big questions his book raises (some quite juicy family scandal) but just more of the details. They eventually moved to Ireland, my grandmother came from an Anglo-Irish background, and that would be fascinating. What is clear from what he included though was that he saw those war years in terms of loss and waste. It makes quite sad reading.Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-36610537083316159782020-05-09T21:41:04.985+01:002020-05-09T21:41:04.985+01:00Yes I agree with your thoughts in this post. I li...Yes I agree with your thoughts in this post. I like the measured tone of the diary entries. Very poignant.Vintage Readinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05971819409379613967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-66306948308983868222020-05-08T20:09:16.880+01:002020-05-08T20:09:16.880+01:00It must have been a huge relief, and a moment of h...It must have been a huge relief, and a moment of hope that loved ones would be returning soon, bombing would end, not having to worry about black out anymore - I mean, seeing the lights come back on at night must have been something as well... But obviously not an uncomplicated moment of joy for everybody. The last time I saw great uncle Dick's wife, Jean, she told us about her first marriage - to an airman who was shot down and killed the day after the wedding. It was more than 50 years and a happy marriage later but the sadness hadn't gone away.Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-35650609606175752232020-05-08T19:55:31.451+01:002020-05-08T19:55:31.451+01:00A thought-provoking and moving post, Hayley. Than...A thought-provoking and moving post, Hayley. Thank you. It underscores the point I heard made by Max Hastings on Radio 4, this afternoon, that VE day seems to have been celebrated least by those who suffered most, and vice versa. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com