This Sunday when we went to visit my grandfather I brought along the video camera. I also had Kyla write some "interview" questions to ask him. Basically, for over an hour, my grandfather talked about his life. Growing up in Manhattan and the Bronx, his jobs (he wouldn't say what he did at the Brooklyn Navy Yard aside jokingly saying "I probably sunk more ships than the Nazi's. Working with my hands isn't my thing."), and fighting in WWII. Some of these things I've heard before, and some I hadn't. One thing I didn't know is he "worked on the IBMs" for the SSA. One of the odd things is he really seemed to like talking about the war. He spoke a lot about his friend Sol Needleman, and actually still has some photos of them from the war. I also saw (actually now have, to make a copy) his Army discharge. I've had his lapel ribbons for a while. His discharge papers says he got a good conduct medal, and 5 bronze stars.

I didn't get too much family information, or too much post-war information, but it was nice hearing him talk about these things. And, even nicer that I have it on video. Something that was pretty funny is he'd say peoples names, which were all Jewish names, then he'd always say their nationality. Like "Josh Rubinstein, the Swede" or "Sal Silverman, the Irishman".

I'm hoping maybe I can get a bit more. For some reason, he thought this was being done as a school project for Kyla. But, he did say if we brought a map over, he could show us all the places he traveled during WWII. So, maybe if I bring a map, I can get in some more info or stories.

Love ya gramps.