I have a living Great Grandfather on my Mothers side of the family who served in the Navy during WW2 and over the years told some stories, most of which have escaped my memory sadly. I can actually still remember him coming into my kindergarten class to talk to the class and answer questions as a learning experience. He was among those who lied about his age to enlist, being 14 if I recall correctly. My grandparents on both sides of the family have already passed, so he is now essentially my siblings' and I only grandfather-like figure.
My immediate family as well as Aunt and Uncle help take care of him. He was rather interested and amused to hear about me going to Japan, not having any malice against the Japanese as far as I can tell.
That's incredible! Still having a living great grandfather is an incredibly rare privilege and I hope you'll continue to have interactions with him the next time you visit your family.
As I wrote, those stories are invaluable because this is a generation that will completely vanish in the next decade. Try to write some of them down or record your conversations if you get the chance!
I have a living Great Grandfather on my Mothers side of the family who served in the Navy during WW2 and over the years told some stories, most of which have escaped my memory sadly. I can actually still remember him coming into my kindergarten class to talk to the class and answer questions as a learning experience. He was among those who lied about his age to enlist, being 14 if I recall correctly. My grandparents on both sides of the family have already passed, so he is now essentially my siblings' and I only grandfather-like figure.
My immediate family as well as Aunt and Uncle help take care of him. He was rather interested and amused to hear about me going to Japan, not having any malice against the Japanese as far as I can tell.
That's incredible! Still having a living great grandfather is an incredibly rare privilege and I hope you'll continue to have interactions with him the next time you visit your family.
As I wrote, those stories are invaluable because this is a generation that will completely vanish in the next decade. Try to write some of them down or record your conversations if you get the chance!