Some gave all

In the Memorial Day piece posted below, Lex wondered where America got its long deep unbroken line of heroes. The Griffin sheds some light:

The Griffin sends:
Today is Denise's birthday. She was born 6/6/62. D-day has a double meaning for me. My mother had three brothers that went ashore at Normandy on June 6th and 7th. Within one week all three were causalities. Uncle Farrell Davisson was dead and Uncle Bob Davisson and Uncle Wade Davisson were wounded.

A couple of years ago at a family reunion Uncle Bob told the story that had until that time been family gossip and guess. We were told not to bring it up as children but I wanted to know what happened. Farrell was killed in a hedgerow attacking a German machine gun emplacement. Bob was bayoneted in the right hip and shot. As the German was trying to pull the bayonet out of uncle Bob's right hip Bob killed the German with a rifle shot. Wade was running across the beach and was shot in the left calf and foot.

In the late 1960's Wade had his left leg amputated below the knee. The circulation never was good after his wounding. Uncle Wade never complained. He started a radio repair shop which became a TV repair shop where worked everyday until a stroke took him in 1978.

Bob still has a farm he works and has since he returned from the war. His story is even more interesting. He was bayoneted just after dusk on D-day as he and his buddies were looking to find a place for the night. They found a barn and were checking it out. As he stepped around a corner he was stuck by the German which he then shot. His buddies separated the rifle from the bayonet but it remained in his hip for 5 days as they were afraid to remove it. Uncle Bob still walks with a limp.

That same night at the barn they were counter attacked through the night. He said he would load and return fire until he would pass out. Then he would wake up and do it again. This went on all night. He was shot in the left forearm. The next day there was fighting all around the barn. He said everyone was wounded and they were out of ammo. They sent a runner but Uncle Bob never knew what happened to him. He said everyone was wounded and out of wraps, medicine, etc. He said he woke up and other American troops had rushed in and the doc's started treating them. He had been there the night of the 6th, all day the 7th, and left the barn the morning of the 8th. The next time he woke up he was being put on a transport ship headed back to England. He still had the bayonet lodged in his hip joint.

My mom was born in 1937 and said she remembered that my grandmother would "shush" the room when listening to the radio war reports. Mom said my grandmother called it "Mr. Roosevelt’s War", and just despised him. My Grandpa did not talk about it because he said it upset my Grandma and Uncle Bob would get moody. Uncle Farrell was their oldest child and my mom the youngest of the nine. A few years later my Uncle Gail was wounded in Korea.

My uncle Denzil Davisson never served but three of his sons (my first cousins) were wounded in Vietnam. He had four sons serve in Vietnam. My cousins Steve, Dwight, and Maynard were wounded but Bucky was not. Steve was wounded at Da Nang as a marine machine gunner. Dwight rec'd mortar fragments and Maynard was wounded in a helicopter crash.

I have a book called "The Settling of the Ten Mile Creek" that mygrandmother gave me in 1986, the year she died. The Davisson history is in the book. Our family history in the book gives names and dates of Davissons that have been in every major conflict since before the Revolutionary War. In Clarksburg, WVa there is a cemetery called the "Nathaniel DavissonCemetery for Sons of the American Revolution". I will take a digital photo and send it the next time I am in Clarksburg. My mothers' side of the family rarely talks about their service time. They would rather talk about tractors, hunting dogs, trucks, or farm machines.

It seems strange to have ice cream and cake on the anniversary of D-day which happens to my wife's birthday. Mom just likes it that the family gets together for some event, any event. She usually has more fun than anyone else. Getting the family together means a lot to her.