a different type of hero

[latinmajorac]

Not that anyone here knew him, but my 100 Year Old Great Grandfather Died yesterday in the early evening.

kind of a cool life story though, nothing directly soviet or directly involved with combat, BUT...

in 1941 when the US was bombed and entered the great world war, there was a lack of steel for building building on tghe homefront, what that meant was you had to find an alternative to that, and the altenative was wod (easily found, but not needed for the war efforts in the same quantity as steel). well, the War Productions Board (a us economic board that did rationing, production quotas, etc) hired my Great grandfather and his patent on a laminated wooden I-Beam to build bases, buildings, factories, etc in the US. he worked on Sulfridge airbase, willow run airbase, worked in places down in fort wayne, i mean the list goes on for pages. but those military types out there, if you were ever stationed at a US military base any time in the last 40 years and the base existed or was built in the 40's, my great grandfather probably had a hand in building it or somethign in it.

aside from military building, he allowed private businesses to thrive because his invention allowed for easy and cheap construction of domestic and comercial buildings other than for military use.

thousands of buildings were constructed using his invention, thousands of lives were made easier and he was an integral, but often overlooked part of the Arsenal of Democracy

that is my story... hope it was interesting to all of you. his world war two efforts were truly unique and expansive.

thanks everyone for taking the time to read it

[Lapa]

LatinMajorAC,

All condolences on you Grandfather's passing. An interesting side story to the greater History.

Marc

[Nack]

Sorry for your loss. Your great grandfather had great accomplishments, and kudos to you for keeping those accomplishments alive.

And BTW, good point that these wartime innovators (and their innovations) are often overlooked, yet were integral to victory.

[Esteban_cool]

My condolences on your grandfather´s death as well, Marc.
It is good to know that men like him were the backing paper in which the words of victory were written. 100 well lived years for him.

Esteban

[desantnik]

Condolences. One of my grandparents who only made it 78 worked in the Ford motor company making aircraft engines. He too was proud of his quiet contribution to the war victory.

[Riley1965]

Marc,
You have my condolences on the loss of your Great Grandfather. He was a Hero!! You should be VERY proud of him. My Grandfather was working on the P-38 night fighter (Black Widow).

Doc

[willie777]

You have my condolences, Marc. The US should have created labor awards long ago and awarded one to your great grandfather. You should be proud of him for living and making the most of his 100 amazing years. My grandfather was in China and fought off the Japanese as a guerilla when they invaded.

[Dante688i]

Marc,

My sincerest condolences to you and your family on the loss of your great grandfather.

I hope you have many good memories to keep with you.

Thanks for sharing his story. I think it's always important to learn more about the individuals who made history what it is, no matter how big or small their contributions appear to be.

- Sean

[latinmajorac]

thanks tgo everyone! i agree with willie, labor awards should have been created and awarded years ago! but the funeral was today, it was quite beautiful and i was the keynote speaker.

but yeah, stories like that one and a thousand lothers from a thousand other individuals like him that i didn't learn about before he died are what kept this nation and others free of nazi tyranny!

thanks again to everyone for their well wishes