Please make sure you pause today and reflect on those who made the ultimate sacrifice on the beaches of Normandy 65 years ago today. Fly the flag and remind people of the day.

 

Can't forget, my father in law is a WWII vet. He will be 90 this year. Heard in the news today that we are loosing 1000 vets a day from WWII. It won't be long before their all gone. So if you know one as said above remember and call and say thanks

 

If you not been there please make a point to go. It is a awesome experience.

How those guys made it up Point du Hoc is amazing.

In Saint Mer Eglise they still have a 101st paratrooper hanging from his papachute that got caught in the spires of the church in the center of town.

At "Bloody Omaha" the hedgehogs are still out on the beach reminding visiters what some of the defences were againist LST.

I've written before here about my uncle who was and engineer who landed on the first wave. He never would go back to any beach. Waves sand and water brought back too many memories.

 

My dad was at Normandy lobbing 2000 pound shells on the Germans just before the invasion off of a Royal Greek Naval ship while my uncles (on my mom's side), members of the 3rd Canadian Infantry, hours later, were fighting the German 716th division with a 50% casuallty rate. Talking about it when I was a kid was like pulling teeth. They would answer the questions but would not go into detail unless pressed. One uncle later told me that they were given orders to "take no prisoners", white flag or not, until they heard that all the beaches, American, British and Canadian had all been taken.
I've got my flag hanging from the house.

 

If the greatest generation had not made the sacrifices they did we would live in a very different world today. Yes, we must pause to reflect on it and never forget.

 

http://www.dday.org/

http://www.wset.com/news/stories/0609/629650.html

The Overlord Memorial is certainly a worthwhile visit. I'm hearing they're having financial woes. If you have a WWII family member you want to honor or memorialize, this would be a good way to do it by a donation in their name.

I have a good friend whose dad was in the first wave. I saw him and his brother at tonight's cruise in and they had been to Overlord this morning.

The last of the local D-Day vets died last November. My parents were friends with a lot of those folks. Like Ken, I could never get them to talk about the War. My Uncle Edd would clam up tight if it was even mentioned, but he was part of the regiment that liberated Dachau so I understand.

What was strange was as bad as he and my Uncle Jute hated Germans and Japanese because of the War, they both bought Volkswagens and Toyotas in the 1980s. Mama and my Gramma gave them hell too, reminding them constantly their brother James was still in the Arizona.

 

Awesome story Ken.
My Dad's not around any more, neither are my uncles or aunts. Wish I had known more about their personal histories and the war.

My Flag flies proudly all year round. It's a shame that more people in our neck of the woods don't feel the same way. It's almost like the Generation X or Y doesn't understand what sacrifice is. To them, sacrifice means not being able to stay up late, or having to take the bus instead of driving. It doesn't seem to matter what or how you say anything to them.

What I've noticed is that the VETS (sadly - a dying breed) have a notable impact on the kids when they visit schools and share stories. I've seen a few interview with VETS and its heartwrenching to see them still struggling with the losses and horrors they've endured and still carry to this day. I wish time was a better healer for them.

 

Great stories you all are passing on. My flag was out all day, flying it proud!

 

My dad's not around either. He never attended a Remembrance Day event and didn't keep his uniform. I do have the Canadian medals my mother gave me from her brothers. My mother was in the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC).

My dad wanted nothing to do with remembering the war. He was a Lt. Commander on board a Greek destroyer and because he spoke 10 languages, he was transfered to a British destroyer as its first officer, convoying food from Canada to Britian and serving in the Mediterrian and Red Sea. He was only 20 years old.

 

My grandfather ferried avation gas across the North Atlantic in tankers as u-boats took shots at him. Brave man I miss him.
Larry

 

I guess I am alucky one as my father is still around at 84 years. He fought the Japs in the Burma Jungle. My dad has a picture of a Bengal Tiger they shot tracking it with the Gurkens. They had no choice because it was killing livestock and a coulpe people. The paws are as big as my head. The outfit my dad was in was a fighter control squadron that gave aircraft fixes when they had ice or lost there way over tin can alley going to and from China. Pretty cool stuff to listen too. thbey saved a lot of crews lives. We need to get our remaining world war II veterans on tape before they are all gone. I don't know about you guys but my Dad is my hero!!!

Tim72

 

A couple years before my Dad died I went to visit him with a cassette recorder and a box of 90 minute cassettes. I told him I was too focused on myself when I lived at home, and wanted to know what life was like for him growing up. He was flattered, and the stories just flowed. I filled 11 tapes during that visit, and really got to know my Dad in the process. He was born in 1923, grew up during the depression, went to Europe in WWII, back home in the booming 1950's, married my Mother and had 6 kids, then he became disabled with Mutiple Sclerosis. Important moments sitting by my Dad's bed listening to him tell the story of his life. I'd encourage anybody who's got a relative still alive who experienced those years to make the time for that.

Tim, I second you that my Dad is my hero too!

 

I know exactly how you feel Tim, because I fell the same way about mine. His mother was a Spartan and she lived up to the reputation. In Athens where they lived, an SS officer was about 20 ft in front of her. He offered a piece of chocolate to a small boy, of about 6. When the boy reached out for the chocolate the SS officer grabbed his arm and broket it over his knee. and then said "Heil Hitler". My grandmother spoke five languages and German was one of them. She yelled back in German "**** on Hitler! The guns cocked and she turned around and went into the crowd. She said it was like Moses parting the Red Sea. She never bumped into one person in the crowded square and the Germans ran into everyone. She couldn't go home because she was hiding three Jews behind a false wall in the basement of the house and the Germans warned anyone hiding Jews would be shot, but that's another story. A woman on a balcony saw what was going on and called to her to come up. My grandmother spent the night there and went home the next day. She didn't know the woman fron a hole in the wall.

 

my uncle lived through Normandy. he will not talk about it in any way. my aunt said that they will be driving down a road and now and then he will pull over and just cry for a while. she tries to keep conversation going to keep his mind from wondering back there. i am told that he has wrote some of his experiences down and that nobody is to see them. he wants them destroyed after he passes. i hope that she does not destroy them. not because i want to see them but because this stiff need documented.

may god bless this country and comfort all our veterans.

 

I know that this is kind of off the path, but I think that some of you are correct about the current generation. Now I know as we get older we tend to think that the kids of today (or whatever day your generation is) don't seem to care about anything, but here is why I am writing this. I was at Disneyland yesterday and as I was standing in line for a ride with my son, some teen agers got in line behind us. All I heard was F _ _ _ this and SH _ T that, and every one of them had an I-POD hanging in their ear. I had to stand there and wonder if they knew why they had the freedom to stand there at Disneyland and do the things that they were doing. I am concerned about the future of America when I see things like this. Anyway, God Bless the Vets and I thank them for their sacrifices!

 

I think one difference is that when our fathers and grandfathers were teenagers, they had a gun in their hand trying to save our way of live. It was a war we couldn't afford to lose. They had to grow up awfully fast...if they grew up at all. My mother told me when Canada declared war on Germany and Italy on September 10th, 1939 the volunteers were marching with broomstick instead of guns. By the time we delcared war on Japan on Dec 7, 1941, Canada a country of 10 million, had 1 million well armed soldiers - all volunteers and mostly kids. By May 1945 we had the third largest navy after the Brits and Germans and the fourth largest airforce. Most of these soldiers, seamen and airmen were teenagers or in their very early 20's. God bless them all.