Thanks for your prayers everyone. It was... difficult.
He really was a great man and a great grandpa.
Like that article said, he got a Purple Heart for his service in WWII. He really did a lot of amazing stuff over in Europe. Originally, when he enlisted (as soon as he turned 18), he did so well in basic training that they wanted him to stay in the US and train other people, but he really wanted to go serve his country in Europe, fighting the Nazis. He asked his superior if he could "go over his head" to request service in Europe, and the officer agreed, thinking that my grandpa was just going to go to the person right above him...
Instead, he wrote a 12-page letter to the Secretary of War. Hehe. His commanding officer wasn't happy with that, but he did get sent to Europe, where he ended up commanding a group of tanks and helping to liberate part of Belgium from the Nazis. He also served in the Battle of the Bulge.
What impressed me especially, though, was that even though he was doing his duty and fighting what was an evil regime, he still mourned all his life for the men that he killed in the line of duty, because he knew that they were ordinary soldiers, just trying to protect themselves and their family, and he could see their humanity throughout it all, and he respected them as fellow human beings, even as he fought for his country and fought against the evils of Nazism.
Also, throughout it all, he kept his faith in God, and it was actually strengthened. His dad, my great-grandfather, served in World War 1, and after everything that he saw there, he never went to Church again, whereas my grandpa never missed a Sunday.
He was always kind of ornery in life, and liked to ask difficult questions in Bible studies, sometimes out of curiosity, and sometimes to see if he could stump the pastor ;-)
Anyawys, thank you all for your prayers for him and for my family. Please continue to pray for him. He had a deep and abiding faith in God, but was always a little scared by the fact that he had shed human blood.
Grace and peace,
John