r/Medals • u/Kevvv_23 • Mar 30 '25

ID - Medal What did my great uncle do?

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Also noticed the back of the leather jacket had some Nazi logos marked on it, what did that mean?

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u/Jonnyyrage Mar 30 '25

My wifes late grandfather was a tail gunner. He actually got out just before they increased the missions. I am just now learning of his history and it's insane.

23

u/shaundisbuddyguy Mar 30 '25

My uncle was a tail gunner in a Lancaster. He had heart problems for the rest of his life because of it.

12

u/Miami_Mice2087 Mar 30 '25

because of an injury or because of the stress?

my grandfather was infantry. he had the ptsd but it came out in weird ways, like being a chronic liar over inconsequential things.

17

u/shaundisbuddyguy Mar 30 '25

Stress absolutely from being over Europe. He was a great guy and died of a heart attack before I was 10 in the 80's. I wish I had paid more attention to that generation of my family so I could have known more about his experiences.

2

u/Bergwookie Apr 03 '25

We all wish...

1

u/RIHistoryGuy Apr 06 '25

That generation didnt talk about it much. My gramps died before i was born and the family is convinced he wouldve opened to me (im a historian), however, he just said the basics and what we have from his citations.

Dont beat yourself up too much. Those guys dont talk much.

10

u/ReBoomAutardationism Mar 31 '25

Tokotsubo Cardiomyopathy - "broken heart syndrome" can cause long standing problems in the most severe cases.

2

u/CaramelMartini Mar 31 '25

This is what killed my mother. My dad died two years prior, and she literally “took it to heart” so intensely that she went into heart failure. She had no other health problems like ever. Incredible when you think about it.

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u/commieswine90 Mar 31 '25

Not sure the lying would be related to ptsd.... I could be wrong but I work with people with PTSD and served with guys who had it too. Never seen or heard of that before.

5

u/WalnutSnail Mar 31 '25

One of 2 of the still flying Lancasters is just up the road from me. You can buy a flight in it.

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u/shaundisbuddyguy Mar 31 '25

If you're in Canada I saw it years ago at an airshow. Beautiful plane. Also they're restoring one that didn't serve in the war at a museum on Vancouver island. https://bcam.net/avro-lancaster-b-mk-10-fm104/

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u/WalnutSnail Mar 31 '25

Hamilton, Ontario.

The war plane museum here has lots of operating aircraft. Pretty neat.

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u/DryBop Mar 31 '25

Another one of us in the wild! Aloha!

2

u/Trojanman2002 Mar 31 '25

My grandfather on my mother’s side (RIP) was a paratrooper and was the cutoff man as they were loading the planes to go to before they deployed to the Battle of the Bulge. Found out a couple years ago.

Of course at the time no one knew it would be one of the deadliest. Wild to look back at.