Theodore Michael Tanin

Theodore Michael Tanin

I Interviewed my Grandfather, Theodore

Michael Tanin for my World War Veteran Report.

I learned a lot of interesting and useful information

about him, for example, what his job was like and

the conditions he was in everyday and how the war

affected him.

Theodore was born on July 19, 1917 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The war that he was in was World War II. He

entered the war when he was 24 years old (1941) and came back when he

was 27 or 28 years old (1948-49). He was the on the front lines of the U.S.

Army. He was in the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. He was a Airborne

Infantry Man (86 Airborne), and his job was to seek out and eliminate the

enemy. His job called for him to kill more before he was killed. His

“job=kill.” He was part of the 86 Airborne, which was someone who had

to parachute behind German lines to secure numerous bridges, etc.

Theodore says his most powerful

moment was when he was shot at. He said all he could do was “watch

people blow up right in front of your eyes.” He also said that the war

changed him because of all the killing of the innocent people. He said that

there should “just be peace....people should talk first before using

violence.....but we had to invade Germany because the Nazis were killing

innocent Jews. ”

I started to ask more serious questions as

the interview went along, and this question was one of the hardest I had to

ask; “Did you lose any friends while in war?” He sighed, but then

responded with a yes. He said the “majority of his friends were shot by the

Germans while parachuting onto there territory. ” But he said that he loved

his job even though it was hard work and the living conditions were

horrible.

Theodore said that the food was terrible

because it was all in rations. He also said that they had meat occasionally

and that they always ate canned food. (K-rationed food is what they called

it.) He said that he lived on a blanket in the mud.