There's a friend of my grandmother named Mac. Now he's been almost like a surrogate grandfather for a long time, since my real grandfather on my mom's side died. Now I know he saw combat in WW II, and now that I know a lot more about it I was curious. My teacher last school year said that he wished he could've talked to his father more and learned more about his war experiences, so I decided that I think it's time I talked to him about it, and he didn't mind. WOW does he have some great stories. He landed on D-Day on Omaha beach and helped capture it, fought through the hedgerows in Normandy where he got into numerous bayonette fights (he told me about his first one he would've died if his buddy didn't save his life), he fought through Holland (where he was injured saving somebody's life), and then got treated for his injury and was going to get sent home but then the Battle of the Bulge happened, so he was sent back to Belgium, then when the war was over he helped with the occupation. I was astonished.
My point here is, if you know anybody that has been through any wars, talk to them about it. Get first hand accounts, because they're always the best. You can read the history books about wars, but your text books in school are NOT written by people who were there. You learn so much, and get a much better idea of what it was like if you listen to people who were there. So while you still have the chance, talk to your dad that served in Vietnam, talk to your grandfather that served in WW II, talk to that family friend that served in the Korean War, because they're not going to live forever, and you can learn some very interesting things from them. The best way to learn history is from the people who witnessed it.

My dad during WW II. He was in the 759th Tank Btln. Notice his tank in camo.

My Grandpa was in the navy during ww2

yea well guys u should talk to them and get as complete an account as u can before it's too late... spoken word history from first hand accounts like that are PRICELESS, but VERY valuable...

Same here! He was on a destroyer. Selfridge 357.
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My great uncle was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed. He won't talk about it. My wife's step grandfather fought in the Pacific. He has lots of great stories. I talk with him every chance I get. At family gatherings everyone gets pissed off cuz they've heard the stories countless times, but I can't get enough of them. Even in his 70's he still takes marine corp showers. He gets wet, turns off the water, soaps up and rinses off. That's hard core.

My grandpa worked on some battleship (forgot which one) repairing fighters and bombers. Had lots of sad and interesting stories, but the one I remember most clearly he told me before he died was about him repairing an aircraft and then taking a lunch break. The clean up crew or w/e checked it out and gave it an OK to take off. The bomber pilot started it up and started to take off, he got to the end of the carrier and plumeted to the ocean...Grandpa says he felt like he killed those men himself...

Also, if you're into that kind of thing, check out memoirs written by soldiers. Phase Line Green by Warr and Jarhead by Swofford are two very good accounts.