My grandfather didn’t go to WWII because he stayed home and ran the farm while his father was sick. He felt so guilty about it that when Korea came around he volunteered despite being in his late 20s by that time. His farm background made him a prime candidate as a tank commander, which he became.
He didn’t ever talk about his time in Korea either. No one knew he’d been decorated for his service including a Purple Heart until after he passed away. Not even my grandma.
smite me soy boys
"You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you’ll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go."
- Siegfried Sassoon, “Suicide in The Trenches”
"We don’t want one more person to become haunted too."
- Benjamin Sledge, "Why Most Veterans Don’t Tell War Stories"
My father served "over there" in WWI. He also never talked about it.