While my wife and I were catching brunch to celebrate my 37th birthday today, an elderly couple caught our eye as they came shuffling into the restaurant to do the same. I instantly focused on the "World War II Veteran" hat the gentleman was wearing as well as the tank destroyer unit insignia on the side. I looked at my wife and we said in unison "we should pay their tab", then we chuckled and made arrangements with our server to do so.
I decided before leaving, I'd introduce myself, thank the gentleman for his service and inquire to see if he was a local resident in the hopes that I could fill a seat in the Halftrack with not only a WWII vet, but an Armor Vet as well.
**side notes: My Halftrack is a living memorial for the our local Armored unit (40th Tank Company of the National Guard....Federalized to become, Company C of the 194th Tank Battalion) that saw action in the Phillipines and is credited as the 1st American Armored Unit in conflict during WWII. The last survivor of our hometown unit passed away two years ago. See this link for more unit history
http://ciar.org/ttk/mbt/armor/armor-magazine/armor-mag.1996.mj/3c194th96.pdfOkay, back to the original story.......After learning that he was from a town just 20 minutes away I inquired if he partakes in the annual Vets Parade in Salinas. The response was that he does, and his wife followed with "why do you ask?" So I whipped out my iPad and showed them a picture of my H.T. in staging for last years parade. Then I pointed and asked if he'd like to ride in it for this years parade. What happened next was the greatest thing...... He lit up and pointed at the screen and said "I drove one of those onto Utah beach with a 75mm gun during D-Day, but it didn't have all this fancy stuff" as he pointed about the front of my H.T. The fancy stuff he was referring to were the nick-nacks I had piled on the front bumper. He want on to explain how they were stuck on the beach for over an hour while positions ahead of them were being bombed. He had so many many eye witness details that only someone there that day would know, it was really something to just be able to hear what he had to say.
His wife helped in exchanging contact information and and I'm looking forward to chatting with him again.
Below are photos of an actual H.T. from Company C of the 194th, and my memorial H.T. with "all the fancy stuff" according to one old vet.
