We like to make fun of people making up opa stories and/or using opa stories to push a political agenda. So do you guys have any interesting stories we can share without doing this?

I'm particularly interested in Allied grandpa stories because I only know German ones. Of course I'd also like to hear German stories, especially because I know you guys won't use it for Wehrmacht apologism.

My Geman opa had no stories to tell because he was damn lucky. He joined the navy for an officer career and when the war ended he was still at the naval academy. He was pretty much a Nazi for today's standard and his views didn't actually change much after the war.

I do know an old man though, a long-time friend of my mother. He was Sudeten German and got drafted to fight on the Eastern Front when he was 17. He has a lot of interesting stories to tell. E.g. he'd tell about his experiences operating an MG and how terribly easy it is to aim an MG at groups of soldiers and gun them down. Many soldiers in WWII never killed an enemy combattant so being in a position to kill them in droves left an unreal impression in him.

My other opa was Russian, got drafted to fight against the Germans and went MIA never to return.

So do you have something to share? Maybe some Americans grandpas?