My grandpa was a bomber in the 418th squadron during World War II. As I have worked at the Air Force I find myself wishing I could see his paperwork and realize just what kind of a hero he was :). My grandpa never talked much about his experience with the war, only on rare occasions. During the last few years of his life he seemed to open up about it more, which I am glad because if he hadn't I never would have heard his story.
My grandpa was seriously a tough guy. He farmed and raised four boys in his lifetime along with fighting in the second world war. He was really quiet all the time and I remember him having a sense of humor much like my dad's. I never saw him cry, except once. One night we were sitting in the kitchen, it was really late and it was just my grandpa and my mom and I. My grandpa started to talk about the war. He told us stories of how they would drop bombs and how one time their plane crashed in enemy territory and the horror he felt. He started to cry when he told us how terrible it was. How many people died. I had never in my life seen my grandpa so emotional, and I will never forget it.
Fast forward to 2011, I took a history class in the fall and we talked about the World War's-- naturally. Our teacher decided to show us a video documenting some surviving veterans experiences and some actual footage from the war. In the video it showed towns being bombed (hard to think that those bombs could have been dropped by my grandpa) and soldiers being killed- by the dozens. They showed veterans telling their stories and I saw the same emotion in them that I had seen in my own grandfather. These were grown men who sat there shaking and crying as they told stories. They were all heroes, and I am so proud that my grandfather was among those who protected our freedoms.
When my grandpa died I was heartbroken, I never got to say goodbye to him and it was so sudden that I wasn't prepared for it. I had never had anyone in my life die, he was the first one. I had a really hard time being okay with it. Just a few months after he died I was in the Sacred Grove and I had the strongest feeling that he was finally at peace. He didn't carry the horrors of the war with him any longer and he was happy. I am so grateful for my grandpa who did what he had to do. I know that he struggled in this life with memories and scars that the war left on him. How sweet to know that my grandpa is happy in heaven and that I will be able to see him again. I am so grateful for the gospel that it gives my grandpa the peace that he deserves. I am grateful we have a Savior who has felt the pain that we feel and he is there to buoy us up. I look forward to the day that I will be able to thank my grandpa in person for the sacrifices he made.
