My dad's dad died before I was born so I have no idea what he did in WW2. Just know that he fought during it. My mom's dad, on the other hand, fought in both WW2 and Korea. His step-mom was a witch so he lied about his age and joined the Navy when he was 15. No idea how to swim and his English kinda sucked since his family only spoke German at home. Was on a ship in the Pacific that sunk. Later ended up serving in China at the end of the war. Never told anyone about this until a couple years before his death when I asked him about his Navy time (I mean, the battleship tattoo was kinda a giveaway). No one ever picked up on that before. Shocked the whole family. Later he transferred to the Army and become an electrician. Was deployed to Korea and thanks to a paperwork screwup, ended up on the frontline with the infantry. Survived a plane crash in the Army because he was taking a piss in the back of the plane. Dude had multiple guardian angels working over time. He was hit by a car. He was in a terrible electrical fire and needed some skin grafts. Smoked for 50 years (killed him 15 years after he quit). So, so much. I miss him every day.
This deserves exemplary and special mention: http://www.newser.com/story/260557/wwii-navajo-code-talker-samuel-holiday-dead-at-94.html https://www.stripes.com/news/samuel...-last-navajo-code-talkers-dies-at-94-1.532480 RIP, Code Talker.
Not D-Day related, but I'm a Smithsonian geek and I thought @The Waterboy would appreciate seeing this. This guy was a badass. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/remains-tuskegee-airman-found-austria-180969787/
It's nice that his 76 year old daughter will finally get to put him to rest in Arlington. Before I clicked on your link I was wondering if it was Fred Hagen, they guy who found my great uncle but by now I think Hagen is getting too old to be climbing mountains looking for wrecks. Pretty sure he mostly searched in the South Pacific.