Watching Gurren Lagann invariably leaves me in a contemplative mood; so, I wasn’t surprised when my recent rewatch of it ended with me reflecting on the quiet heroism that my grandfather (on my mother’s side) displayed throughout his life, which includes fighting in World War II. I decided to be a bit selfish and write something for this blog about him so others can read how incredible he was. I chose today to this so I could also remind people to thank a vet for the sacrifices that they have made.

My grandfather was a man of little words and he didn’t like talking  about his experiences in WWII or his earlier life so I’ve only heard parts of the story of his life from other family members over many different times and have had to put them together. It goes something like this.

Like so many other immigrants living in the Mahoning valley, my grandfather’s father worked in the steel mills and in those days it was a dangerous job. So, it wasn’t all that surprising that his father was killed while working in a steel mill nor that my grandfather’s mother decided to remarry. (That there was no welfare state like there is today probably contributed this decision.) Several years later, my grandfather’s step-dad contracted a bacterial disease while working in a steel mill and, since this was a couple of decades before the invention of antibiotics, he ended up passing away too. This left my grandfather’s family in a bind. By now there were several younger siblings that needed to be fed as well as my grandfather’s mom; so, even though my grandfather was still elementary age (once I was told he was in fourth grade and another time in sixth grade), he dropped out of school and got a job in a steel mill to support his family. Which he was able to do.

He continued to work in a steel mill until WWII and eventually joined the Army Corp of Engineers. I’m not sure if he was drafted or volunteered to go but he ended up going to the European theater and seemed to primarily work on building bridges. Like I said he didn’t talk often his war experience but I do remember hearing that he went to France soon after D-Day. (I think D-Day+3 but I’m not too sure.) One thing he did say about his time in Europe was that he disliked the French because they were a rude people.

After the war he returned to Youngstown to settle down and raise a family; he rarely left the area again. One of his war buddies offered to set him up to be an apple farmer in Washington state but he declined (thankfully, or else I wouldn’t be here ). He continued to work at a steel mill, tinkered with machines, and single-handedly built an addition onto his house when the family got to large. He literally did everything from digging out a full basement to laying the roofing shingles. The backdoor steps that he poured where so massively overkill that when a drunk driver tried to drive his full-size SUV at a high rate of speed through my grandparent’s house about ten years ago, those steps were able to stop the SUV before it could hurt anyone in the house or even cause major structural damage to the house.

I wish he’d have lived a little longer then he did because I was just starting to get old enough that his curmudgeon-like nature no longer scared me and I could appreciate him. Looking back I love how he’d show up for a family doing for about 30 minutes – just long enough to eat and engage in a small amount of socializing – before going back home. I have a couple mementos of him including his telescope and the wooden box he built to hold it and the various accessories.

In keeping with remembering Veteran’s Day, here our some pictures and postcards that have been digitalized that come from his time in WWII.

Picture of my Grandpa and Grandma at Mill Creek Park

Picture my Grandma sent over for my Grandpa while in Europe

I believe this picture was taken while he was still in training.

The next three are pictures that my Grandpa wrote notes on the back of.

I don't know if this is one of the bridges he helped build or just one that interested him.

They look cool in this picture

edit: I was looking through some of the other pictures I got and was wondering what exactly this contraption was:

I love how my Grandpa writes "of" as just an extra loopy "f".

Filed under: anime, off-topic, other wallpapers and pictures

While I could have continued to talk about Klaus and Kureha in my Episode 09 post, I figured I could do better by devoting a post to them alone.  Kureha holds Klaus up as an idol, and very clearly has a crush on him.  On the other hand, Klaus is nowhere near the man she thinks he is.  The episode delivers a contrast of the idealized hero with the realistic hero.

The man. The myth. The legend.

First, we have Kureha’s idol.  Right off the bat, she calls him the Desert Wolf, as well as Miracle Klaus.  This guy is so amazing that he has two nicknames!  He tattooed his platoon insignia on his chest, so you know this person is loyal to his comrades and takes his duties seriously.  We also have Kureha’s testimony from episode 05.  There, she says the Major once crossed a desert in a tank with no supplies.  It took him three days and at the end of the journey, he took down an entire enemy fortress!  Klaus is a man’s man and fits the ideal heroic image almost to a T.  Clearly, he would be right at home in an action flick or an old war movie.

And he once killed a lion with his bare hands!

Klaus the Courier does not even come close to this image.  He’s shy and bad with words, so he can never find a way to tell Kureha he’s not the person she really idolizes.  He has more than a problem with speaking.  He also fears dangerous situations.  He’s so scared of sidling back up the rock wall that he sends Kureha ahead of him.  For those of you keeping track, she is not only a girl, she is also one-third his age!  When the rock slide strands the pair during the typhoon, he has no great plan to escape and consigns himself to their fate.  He does a good job of mustering some false bravado to cheer her up, but you can tell he doesn’t truly feel that way.

I'll stay and pray the rain stops in the next 10 seconds.

When the trumpet blares with a message of hope, though, he pulls himself together and vows to protect Kureha.  When the anchor fires he springs into action to secure it, but the unthinkable occurs.  The ledge starts to break apart, with Kureha stuck on the wrong side.  Would he let his fear get the better of him and leave her to die?  No, he puts himself into danger, reaching out to save her.  Yet he still can’t quite reach, and his half of the ledge drops into the torrent as well.  Somehow, he manages to pull her out of the water, and just before she collapses, Kureha tells him that he’s still the man she admires most.  The old wimp of a courier has become a hero.

That Klaus is the coolest guy I know!

Why don’t we hear more about this type of hero?  When we watch an anime, read a book, or view any other medium, we look for a specific type of person.  We want to see the man or woman who can give a stirring speech, rallying the forces of good in their darkest hour.  We want to see a person who puts their life on the line and ultimately prevails.  We want Kamina!  We want Saber!  We want this ideal hero, in the process glossing over the details.  In short, reality is unrealistic.  Take some time to notice the details.  Kamina maintains a constant sense of bravado so Simon can believe in him.  In reality, Kamina fears death, and he actually looks up to Simon ever since the kid saved his life.  Saber has her greatness thrust upon her when Britain needs a ruler.  Throughout her reign she dealt with feelings of inferiority, and even while dying reflected only on her failures and wished for a different life.

Even heroes feel weakness.

The idealized hero has no place in reality.  There isn’t a single person out there that wakes up in the morning, decides they’re going to save the world, and then does it.  That person exists in only one realm: fiction.  A true hero is a person just like you and I.  They live.  They fear.  They bleed.  They die.  What perhaps makes them different is that when faced with insurmountable odds they can swallow their fear and ignore the pain to protect those precious to them.  Even if only for a second, one person can make a world of difference.  Klaus closes with these words:

Listen up young lady.  What someone watching sees and what the person front and center feels are completely different things.  The glasses we call admiration are always out of focus.

The experience doesn’t magically transform him.  He’s still a coward.  With those words, though, you have to reflect upon the legendary Desert Klaus.  Was he really this great hero like the history books read?  Alternatively, was he just a normal kid that repeatedly found himself in impossible situations?  Perhaps he crossed that desert without any supplies, not out of a sense of duty, but because he had no other choice.  We probably will never know.  What I do know is that Klaus the Courier is a true hero.

And really, everyone needs a hero.