We spent last night in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, about half way between London and Oxford. My father spent several months there during World War II working on photo reconnaissance matters before he crossed the English Channel onto the European continent with General Patton’s Third Army.
High Wycombe is far enough out in the countryside that it wasn’t subjected to the V-1 and V-2 attacks that were terrifying London during that period, and my father was safe there.
But he wasn’t allowed to remain safe. He was a staff sergeant at the time, and one of the American captains assigned to High Wycombe regularly requisitioned him as a driver into London, where the V-1s and V-2s were raining down. Why? Because the captain, who had a wife back in the United States, was carrying on an affair with a female English military volunteer in the city. So my father was obliged to sit in London during the Captain’s adulterous trysts, under German assault. At one point, the captain was standing by a window in his love nest, looking out and smoking a cigarette, when a bomb or a rocket exploded nearby. The window shattered, and a shard of glass scratched his face. He received a Purple Heart for having been wounded by enemy action. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... ction.html
the dates of the invasion DCP's father participated in:
On June 3, 1944, after intensive preparation during the spring, the landing force for the Normandy Invasion was mostly assembled along the southern coast of England for the nearly one-hundred mile journey across the English Channel... https://www.history.navy.mil/content/hi ... annel.html
the dates of v-1 and v-2 bombings:
Rescue teams and civilians help to recover a casualty after a V1 attack at Clapham in south London on 13 June 1944, the day the first flying bombs hit London. A week before, on D-Day, Allied armies had invaded German-occupied France... https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-terr ... -world-war
For what it's worth: Patton wasn't directly involved in the D-Day invasion -- he was instead part of the diversionary Operation Fortitude. The Third Army's move to France was executed throughout July, where it became operational on August 1.
We spent last night in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, about half way between London and Oxford. My father spent several months there during World War II working on photo reconnaissance matters before he crossed the English Channel onto the European continent with General Patton’s Third Army.
High Wycombe is far enough out in the countryside that it wasn’t subjected to the V-1 and V-2 attacks that were terrifying London during that period, and my father was safe there.
But he wasn’t allowed to remain safe. He was a staff sergeant at the time, and one of the American captains assigned to High Wycombe regularly requisitioned him as a driver into London, where the V-1s and V-2s were raining down. Why? Because the captain, who had a wife back in the United States, was carrying on an affair with a female English military volunteer in the city. So my father was obliged to sit in London during the Captain’s adulterous trysts, under German assault. At one point, the captain was standing by a window in his love nest, looking out and smoking a cigarette, when a bomb or a rocket exploded nearby. The window shattered, and a shard of glass scratched his face. He received a Purple Heart for having been wounded by enemy action. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... ction.html
the dates of the invasion DCP's father participated in:
On June 3, 1944, after intensive preparation during the spring, the landing force for the Normandy Invasion was mostly assembled along the southern coast of England for the nearly one-hundred mile journey across the English Channel... https://www.history.navy.mil/content/hi ... annel.html
the dates of v-1 and v-2 bombings:
Rescue teams and civilians help to recover a casualty after a V1 attack at Clapham in south London on 13 June 1944, the day the first flying bombs hit London. A week before, on D-Day, Allied armies had invaded German-occupied France... https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-terr ... -world-war
hmmm.....
It's bad enough that DCP constantly lies, plagiarizes and fabricates evidence/stories, but now he has to drag his deceased father into his web of lies?
DCP, stop trashing your father's legacy.
"I'm on paid sabbatical from BYU in exchange for my promise to use this time to finish two books."
Everyone tells exaggerated stories. in my opinion, the stories that are exaggerated but reflect well on everyone are not an issue. This story reflects badly on Peterson's father's captain. Combine that with the fact that it cannot possibly be true given the timeline, it sounds like a bad plot out of a bad romance novel, and is only meant to cast aspersions on someone else, under the guise of complimenting Peterson's father. Peterson has made quite the habit out of this kind of backhanded character assassination.
To more clearly answer your question, no, I don't think this type of story adds to his father's legacy, at all.
Yes, DCP's Mopologetic career, his actions, how he treats others, and his life choices have been reprehensible by any standard. That has certainly tarnished his family's legacy.
"I'm on paid sabbatical from BYU in exchange for my promise to use this time to finish two books."
It has all the elements of a good first Sunday open-mic testimony building story. A good Mormon boy, dragged into a situation involving a non-member engaged in some sort of sin. And the sinner getting what he deserved. The twist with the Purple Heart is a nice addition, showing that the world doesn’t know the truth but the Mormon knows the real story.
DDay landing vs Patton issue aside, it’s a shame there isn’t a database of Purple Heart recipients. Families are encouraged to submit stories to several websites for collection.
One wonders if the captain’s story has been catalogued.
... Combine that with the fact that it cannot possibly be true given the timeline ...
This is the bit I don't follow -- V1s were launched at London on June 13 and V2s followed a week later. As mentioned above, "Patton's Third Army" was not part of the Normandy invasion force in June and didn't move to France until July. Aside from the questions of whether or not the story is true or gracefully told, I think the timeline is technically plausible, isn't it?
