My paternal grandfather, Howard Gilbertson, was in the infantry and spent all of WWII fighting in the Pacific. He married my Grandmother one year after he got back and remained married to her for 54 years before he died in 2001. During that time all he ever told her about the war was what he ate and how he slept. My grandpa was able to live a completely functional life, raising two sons and a daughter, but the war permanently messed him up. When I was in high school and was learning about 'Number Two' (as he called it) I asked him to tell me a little bit about the war, but he said he wasn't ready to talk about it. The demons he met in the jungle never stopped haunting him. To my knowledge he never talked to anyone about his experience.
Not too long ago I found some photos I can only assume he took of the war. Some of them are obviously standard yearbook-type pics taken of his comrades at the base in Hawaii. Some are from the jungle. But they stand as the only record he left behind of the most traumatic and influential experience of his life. I put them into a quick slide show. The music is 'Burry Me Far From My Uniform' by my friend Joe Pug. I just embeded the video from YouTube and for some reason the right side got cut off. Here's the YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxcIGiYH820
Here's to peace...
