I too had a recent discovery on the internet about my father and WW-II. My father served on LST-866 and was at the battle of Okinawa, although he NEVER talked about being there. I have done some serious family research since his death and I have uncovered his military records which included an accommodation he received from actions during the battle. My internet discovery has as much to do with me as with him, you see when he returned home I was a true baby-boomer with a brother and sister well into their teens when I was born. My birth was the cause of an argument between my parents; my father insisted that I be named after a shipmate of his from Minnesota that he survived the battle with and my mother objected, a man named Wallace Verner. Long story short, I was named Wallace Verner Lewis.
I was told this story but never anything about the man I was named after. Last week, while searching the internet I discovered the wartime roster of LST-866 and there on the roster was Wallace V. Ostlund born 1925 in Minnesota. I am quite sure this is the man who gave me his name. Sadly, with a little further research I found that he died 9 Dec 1977, that was just 9 months after my fathers death. It was my hope that I would get a chance to talk to him about my dad and why he insisted I be named for him, but that was not to be.
When I was a child I think every male in my family and all of their friends were veterans of WW-II. In my life, I knew many, many men who survived that war........ sadly, not a one remains today. They may be gone but they are forever etched into my memory. I truly miss them.
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