I Interviewed my Grandfather, Theodore Michael Tanin for my World War Veteran Report. I learned a lot of interesting and useful informationabout him, for example, what his job was like andthe conditions he was in everyday and how the waraffected him. Theodore was born on July 19, 1917 inMilwaukee, Wisconsin.
The war that he was in was World War II. Heentered the war when he was 24 years old (1941) and came back when hewas 27 or 28 years old (1948-49). He was the on the front lines of the U.S. Army. He was in the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. He was a AirborneInfantry Man (86 Airborne), and his job was to seek out and eliminate theenemy. His job called for him to kill more before he was killed. His job kill.
He was part of the 86 Airborne, which was someone who hadto parachute behind German lines to secure numerous bridges, etc. Theodore says his most powerful moment was when he was shot at. He said all he could do was watchpeople blow up right in front of your eyes. He also said that the warchanged him because of all the killing of the innocent people.
He said thatthere should just be peace people should talk first before usingviolence, but we had to invade Germany because the Nazis were killinginnocent Jews. I started to ask more serious questions asthe interview went along, and this question was one of the hardest I had toask; Did you lose any friends while in war? He sighed, but thenresponded with a yes. He said the majority of his friends were shot by theGermans while parachuting onto there territory. But he said that he lovedhis job even though it was hard work and the living conditions werehorrible.
Theodore said that the food was terrible because it was all in rations. He also said that they had meat occasionallyand that they always ate canned food. (K-rationed food is what they calledit.) He said that he lived on a blanket in the mud. It also rained most of theyear and it was very cold at night. Theodore said that he loved his job andhe enjoyed serving for the U.S. Army.
I enjoyed interviewing mygrandfather; it helped me catch up with him to see how he was doing. Ona final note, he said it was an experience he will never forget and thememories of joy, sorrow and loss will forever be remembered in his mind.
