Attn military historians— I have a very specific question for you.
My grandfather fought in World War II in europe (American Army, from NY). He didnt like to talk very much about the war, and all he ever said about what he did was that he “climbed telephone poles”. We even have a picture if him at the top of a telephone pole in uniform. I think he implied he was hanging communication wires...but I can’t imagine that that was all he ever did...
Anyway, I’m wondering if that description rings any bells? Does it indicate the specific kind of soldier or kind of work he did? If so, what kinds of activities did soldiers like that do? What units were they usually a part of? What sorts of missions were they generally engaged in? Were they likely exposed to combat? And if there were soldiers devoted entirely to this telephone pole task, what was the purpose?
In General Patton's famous speech to the Third Army, he told a story about a guy on a telegraph pole:
"One of the bravest men I saw in the African campaign was on a telegraph pole in the midst of furious fire while we were moving toward Tunis. I stopped and asked him what the hell he was doing up there. He answered, 'Fixing the wire, sir.' 'Isn't it a little unhealthy up there right now?' I asked. 'Yes sir, but this goddamn wire has got to be fixed.' I asked, 'Don't those planes strafing the road bother you?' And he answered, 'No sir, but you sure as hell do.' Now, there was a real soldier. A real man. A man who devoted all he had to his duty, no matter how great the odds, no matter how seemingly insignificant his duty appeared at the time."
At least in civilian life that job is called a "lineman" (as in the song Wichita Lineman). Maybe that's what your grandfather did (under fire or not!).
“climbed telephone poles”.
What are "telephone poles"? Never heared of these before (it could be a cultural thing, I'm living in the Netherlands). Maybe there are different English words for the same thing, so I know them as something else?