New Guy

[majchuckie]

Hello my name is Kyle Thomas. My uncle Harold G. Parnell served in WWII. He was part of the 34th Inf Div, 135 Inf Regt. He was part of the 34th as a Guardsman and was activated in February 41. He trained in Ireland with the 34th and went to North Africa. He was a section sergeant in company D and was seriously wounded on 8 April 1943 during the fighting at Fondouk Pass. He died of his wounds on 15 April 1943. One of the ways I found to honor his memory is through re-enacting. I have tried my best to outfit myself with what Harold would have had in 43. I have been to several re-enactment camps in the past few years and its a wonderful feeling to help teach and tell the stories of our fallen heros. I am an 18 year veteran of the US Air Force and am currently serving in Germany. I have visited many sites over here and still have many more to go visit. I hope I can be of some help in this forum.

 

Hello to all,

 

Kyle Thomas

[Walt's Daughter]

An especially warm welcome to you. So glad you took the time to join. You will find at least two 34th Div veterans right here along with other veterans, historians and interested folks, so I'm sure you'll have lots to talk about.

 

We'd love to see some of your photos, so feel free to post them here.

[roque_riojas]

Hi Kyle!!! Welcome aboard. I am sure happy you joined our little club.

Now that makes three RED BULLS, I am glad I sent Marion the pics.

you sent me. Stay sharp, and our prayers are with you ALL.

Just heed to what Marion says cause she is quite a GAL!! Roque

[Walt's Daughter]

Rocky: You are making my head swell. Really, thank you for your very sweet words. I was just telling my friends last night about you and all MY OTHER VETS. Said how special you were to me and how you've touched my life and made me a better person. Wouldn't trade it away for ANYTHING in the world.

 

Lil' ole me in Alger...

[Walt's Daughter]

I posted these photos earlier in another section,

 

http://208.56.11.96/Invision/index.php?showtopic=2363

 

but am going to post this one here too:

[Custermen]

My uncle Harold G. Parnell served in WWII. He was part of the 34th Inf Div, 135 Inf Regt. . . . . He died of his wounds on 15 April 1943.

You probably know this but I thougth I would post it for other readers. This is from the AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION site.

 

Harold G. Parnell

Sergeant, U.S. Army

Service # 20708092

135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division

Entered the Service from: Minnesota

Died: 15-Apr-43

Buried at: Plot C Row 7 Grave 1

North Africa American Cemetery

Carthage, Tunisia

 

Sometimes people forget about those buried in our cemetery in Tunisia.

Steve

[Dogdaddy]

Hello Kyle,

It is a pleasure to have you join us here, and I look forward to hearing more about your late Uncle. I am quite interested in the African campaign myself, and it has become the focal point of my WWII collecting. Welcome!

 

Jim

[Parnell-H]

Thanks for all the kind words.

 

I agree that many people forget about our fallen soldiers buried abroad. Especially in areas like Tunisia. I for one will go visit my uncles grave while I am here in Germany. I will be the only family to have visited him.

 

I also do lots of re-enacting over here and try my best to portray my uncle and the 34th ID. In May I went some Belgian friends to a few places to lay wreaths on some memorials for our troops in WWII. We spent the weekend camping at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. I got to spend a good bit of time talking to the operator of the cemetery Hans Hooker. What a great guy and loves his job. He told us how disappointed he is with some of the military personnel in the area. He expressed that as a military person stationed in the area you should go visit these sites to pay respects to the men who made it possible for us to be there today. Well he says he doesnt get enough Americans to visit his cemetery especially since we are so close. I promised that aleast our group from Spangdahlem AB, Germany will be there this Veterans Day to be part of his ceremony.

 

Kyle

[Walt's Daughter]

I got to spend a good bit of time talking to the operator of the cemetery Hans Hooker. What a great guy and loves his job. He told us how disappointed he is with some of the military personnel in the area. He expressed that as a military person stationed in the area you should go visit these sites to pay respects to the men who made it possible for us to be there today.

 

Not uncommon and that is sad. I was talking with a young man who is currently in the military. We were discussing places like Anzio, etc. He had never even heard of them. Then we were talking about Band of Brothers, which he had recently seen, but until he had watched it, never heard of many of the main battles of WWII including the Battle of the Bulge. Now don't you think that's pathetic? I think that should be included in your military training. A BIT of history of the battles that made us who we are. Sorry, but that just blows my mind.

[Parnell-H]

I agree Marion.

 

One thing the Air Force is doing for guys who go to Korea is a mandatory trip to the DMZ.

 

Its a graphic reminder of what happened during the war and the tentions that are still going on.

 

I enjoyed my trip up there and learned quite a bit.

 

Kyle