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Georgia WWII veteran, now 98, to be honored by French government
Asked what message he has for fellow Americans, Graziano kept it simple: “Fight for their country. Do what has to be done.”
From the AJC today:
Louis Graziano remembers the grim-faced German troops arriving in the little red schoolhouse that day in 1945 in Reims, France. A U.S. Army master sergeant, his duties including helping rebuild and maintain parts of the city, including that building, where the Germans showed up to surrender at the end of World War II.
He remembers feeling glad the war was over and that he would be able to return home after serving nearly three years abroad.
“They came in straight-faced. They didn’t have much to smile about,” he recalled about the Germans. “I had the room set up where they were all going to sit. It didn’t take them no time to sign the papers.”
This Friday, the French government will present Graziano with the Legion of Honor, France’s highest decoration. It is given to French citizens and foreign nationals who have served the country and its ideals. Gens. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur are among its best-known American recipients. Scores of Graziano’s family and friends are traveling to see him receive the honor at a 1 p.m.
He is the son of Sicilian immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island. While his mother, Filipa, raised him and his four older siblings, his father, Pietro, worked as a railroad watchman and as a brick mason. After his sister opened a beauty salon, Graziano followed in her footsteps, becoming a hairstylist.
He was drafted in 1943 and boarded a ship for Scotland before arriving by train in England. After landing in France as part of the Allied invasion, he pushed all the way to Reims, where he was put in charge of plumbing, communication, electrical and construction work.
Graziano met his future wife, Bobbie, there. He remembers first seeing her pitching in a softball game. An Alabama native, she was also serving in the U.S. military. “She was a staff sergeant, and I was a master sergeant, so I pulled my rank on her,” he joked. When the war was over, they settled in the Augusta area. They were married for 62 years before she passed away in 2007.
Graziano, who survived a battle with COVID-19 in September, is also often asked about the secret to his longevity. He points to a habit he picked up from his Sicilian parents. “I cook everything with olive oil,” he said. Graziano still cuts hair in the same brick salon he built with his bare hands in the Augusta GA area. He works near the front of his shop, where he can look out the window and see the world.
His children include a son who served in Vietnam and who has received three Purple Hearts. Fittingly, that son, Louis “Butch” C. Graziano II, is scheduled to speak at his ceremony Friday.
Copies of his book, “A Patriot’s Memoirs of World War II,” sit on the counter next to his salon chair. Graziano didn’t talk about the war for years, his daughters said, and decided to write his memoir after Bobbie died.
“I think he wanted people to realize what they went through for our freedom,” said his daughter, Moira Johnson.
“He is having a hard time thinking of himself as a hero and a famous person,” she added, “because that is not Dad.” Another daughter, Kim Evans, agreed: “He says the heroes are the ones who died.”
^^^^
[There are so many great things in this story about what it means to be an American]
"Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"
Harry / Marietta GA -
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Into fiber? Like to knit crochet? Here's a cool pair of slippers you can make!
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I don't know but I'm lookin' to find out. Would love to stay there one day.
Tom
Thanks, Tom
One more reason to visit Jamaica!Family Room, Innuos Statement streamer (Roon Core) with Morrow Audio USB cable to McIntosh MC 2700 pre with DC2 Digital Audio Module; AQ Sky XLRs to CAT 600.2 dualmono amp, Morrow Elite Speaker Cables to NOLA Baby Grand Reference Gold 3 speakers. Power source for all components: Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One with dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel.
Exercise Room, Innuos Streamer via Cat 6 cable connection to PS Audio PerfectWave MkII DAC w/Bridge II, AQ King Cobra RCAs to Perreaux PMF3150 amp (fully restored and upgraded by Jeffrey Jackson, Precision Audio Labs), Supra Rondo 4x2.5 Speaker Cables to SDA 1Cs (Vr3 Mods Xovers and other mods.), Dreadnaught with Supra Rondo 4x2.5 interconnect cables by Vr3 Mods. Power for each component from dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel, except Innuos Statement powered from Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One. -
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Don't see that working very well.
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"Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"
Harry / Marietta GA -
This image is of Lt. Rick Rescorla, an Army infantry officer who was photographed as he fixed his bayonet in the Ia Drang Valley in 1965. The image graced the cover of the first edition of the book, We Were Soldiers Once and Young, written by Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and Joe Galloway.
Rescorla would earn a Silver Star and Purple Heart and other awards, surviving the famously fierce battle. During battles, he was known for singing battle hymns which helped calm those around him. He went on to serve in the Army Reserve until his retirement as a colonel in the 1990s.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Rescorla was a director of security in the south tower of the World Trade Center. After the aircraft hit, Rescorla went up into the towers to help people evacuate. Evacuees who were helped by Rescorla said that through the smoke they could hear a man singing so they followed the sound which led them to Rescorla. He directed them to safety, down and out of the building.
He is credited with saving more than 2,700 lives. He was last seen climbing higher into the towers with his security team to help those that were trapped in the higher floors who still needed help. His body was never found.
#911 #patriotsday #patriotday #military #veterans #veteran #army #vietnamwar #vietnamveteran #vietnamveterans
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SeleniumFalcon wrote: »
That guy will never make it in the music biz... -
Family Room, Innuos Statement streamer (Roon Core) with Morrow Audio USB cable to McIntosh MC 2700 pre with DC2 Digital Audio Module; AQ Sky XLRs to CAT 600.2 dualmono amp, Morrow Elite Speaker Cables to NOLA Baby Grand Reference Gold 3 speakers. Power source for all components: Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One with dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel.
Exercise Room, Innuos Streamer via Cat 6 cable connection to PS Audio PerfectWave MkII DAC w/Bridge II, AQ King Cobra RCAs to Perreaux PMF3150 amp (fully restored and upgraded by Jeffrey Jackson, Precision Audio Labs), Supra Rondo 4x2.5 Speaker Cables to SDA 1Cs (Vr3 Mods Xovers and other mods.), Dreadnaught with Supra Rondo 4x2.5 interconnect cables by Vr3 Mods. Power for each component from dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel, except Innuos Statement powered from Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One. -
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^very cool!
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(from ASR)
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An oldie.
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Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
Gustard X26 Pro DAC
Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)
There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
Gustard X26 Pro DAC
Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)
There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
That's a mighty big box if it can fit your balls too.
afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
aprazer402 wrote: »
An oldie.
That Sanyo/Wollensak is, arguably, the best 8-track play/record deck ever made.
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SeleniumFalcon wrote: »
Might be a tad microphonic"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson
