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Memories of my Dad
George Garcia

Recon Co 661 TD Bn

(As told by his son, George R. Garcia)
olsargeusa@yahoo.com

 

My Mother once told me a really funny story about a V-Mail my Dad wrote while in combat.  It seems that Dad and his buddies had found some beer and a bunch of eggs.  While he was writing to her, they boiled the eggs and started drinking the beer. When she  received the V-Mail, the first part was pretty easy to read but then it got more and more illegible. I guess Dad and his buddies were having a real good time that day!

Anyway, in the V-Mail, Dad told Mom that he and his buddies got into the habit of putting C-Ration cans on the manifold of a Jeep's engine in order to heat them.  One day after doing so, the platoon sergeant ordered them to move down the road several miles.  In about 10 minutes or so, they started hearing what sounded like gun fire.  At that point, Dad and his buddies jumped out of the jeep into a ditch.  After several minutes and no Jerries, they remembered the C-Ration cans!  Apparently the cans had overheated and exploded in the engine compartment. In the end, they had a good laugh and a heck of a time cleaning the engine!

Mom kept that V-Mail for years and years, but unfortunately it was lost in a fire in1964.

My Mother also told us another story that I’ll never forget. One night she was in the kitchen of her parents' house doing the dishes after supper. She was only 20 at the time and had been married to Dad for about a year and a half. Suddenly she sensed somebody in the kitchen and heard my Dad call her name.  She turned around but nobody was there. She then screamed and my Grandparents came rushing into the kitchen to calm her down.

As she later found out, at almost the very same time she heard my Dad’s voice, the jeep he had been riding in had flipped over and pinned him down. The jeep then started to sink into the mud. Fortunately, his buddies were able to get the jeep off of him.  Other than a few bruises and scratches, he was OK.

Dad said while the jeep was on him, my Mom was the only person he was thinking of. And at almost the exact same time, she was thinking of him!

World War Two memories of my Dad and Mom.

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