Today's the 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, Operation Overlord, D-Day. Please pause to reflect upon the sacrifices of those soilders and sailors, mostly Americans, who died to bring freedom back to Europe and the rest of the world. We should all think on what we each can do to honor their memories by remaining watchful so that such tyranny will never rise again against our great country.

 

Amen, Koda, and thanks for posting. They truly were "The Greatest Generation" in so many ways. I salute them all, with tears in my eyes. Words can never describe the sacrifices they made.............they must be remembered forever.

 

I'm honored to have served as an Infantryman like my grandfather who landed on Omaha Beach 70 years ago today, RIP Opa.

 

The world owes a lot to the men, woman, and their families for their sacrifices on this day. We cannot comprehend nor fathom the extraordinary courage, the casualties, or the loss of life, in one of the most defining battles in the history of this great country. They truly were the greatest generation.

 

x2

Could not have said it better.

 

We still have two D-Day vets here. Great guys- both 91 years old now and proud to say they're friends of my family from even before the War.

Three busloads of WW2 Vets from Raleigh NC made a pit stop at the welcome center here yesterday afternoon, on their way to the D-Day Memorial in Bedford VA. The high school JROTC cadets were there to welcome them and assist as needed.

We owe these fellows.

Read yesterday that the last Navajo Code Talker had died, and about 900 of the Tuskegee Airmen are still with us.

 

These guys saved the world. Their ranks are getting pretty thin.

God Bless Them.

 

Well said Eric and redoldsman.
God bless them and their familys.
And God bless our great Nations
that fought against the tyrants.

 

I never served, but have immense respect & admiration for all who did.
On a slightly related note, we saw Lone Survivor the other night, great movie.

 

Bless the veteran who "broke out" of his nursing home in Eastbourne, England, to make his own way to Normandy.


I watched some of the ceremonies on the news, a very appropriate touch was the French president welcoming Angela Merchel, the German chancellor, to honour the Germans who died in the fighting as well.
Let us never forget that most servicemen (and women) who died in combat were never involved in the politics of why they were fighting in the first place.


Roger.

 

Just yesterday, I had a great conversation with a gentleman who crewed an 80' plywood torpedo boat in the Channel, and was there that day.

Great bunch of guys, and seems like every one is a character with a great story.
Sadly, my own grandfather passed long ago.
They don't make 'em like they used to.

- Eric

 

RIP Bernard Jordan.
He was the WW2 Royal Navy veteran who walked out of his care home and caught a ferry to France to attend the Normandy reunion last year.

He died in his sleep aged 90 yesterday. The world is a lesser place without him.

Roger.

 

I feel sad but still glad, when someone remembers the greatest generation.

Many of them could never tell their story, and yet we are here to read and learn from the ones who could.

 

Gods speed Bernard.. rest easy

 

My father in law was involved in this Battle. He passed away yesterday at 92. He would not talk about it. Rest in Peace Bill.

 

Sleep well Bernard, sleep well.

 

About 10 years ago 2 gentlemen came into where I worked and started talking with my father. I just listened. One was from 101st and jumped on D-day. The other was a marine that went in on the first wave at Iwo Jima. The thing I remembered the most is how the both thought my father was crazy for spending 6 years in WWII vintage subs in the early 60's. Bless the all.

Larry

 

Rest in peace.

He joins my father in law who came up through North Africa and Italy (and his three brothers who were also in the War), my mother in law, who was a nurse (her sister, who was a nurse and cared for the injured in Nagasaki days after the surrender, is still with us), my great uncle who was an Engineer in the Navy, my other great uncle who was in China, Burma, and India, my grandfather, who was 4F because of a hernia, and worked on the docks refitting ship engines, and more former coworkers than I know, from when I was a kid working in the harbor (I remember sitting out on the weather deck, eating lunch, when one guy, shaking his head in disgust, pointed to the flag on the stern of a huge Japanese car carrier passing slowly by and said, "We used to shoot at those.").

We never thought twice about the fact that ALL of our elders (and betters) fought in the War, and now essentially all of them are gone, and I feel like I, for one, never showed them the appreciation that they deserved.

- Eric

 

Amen to that
Everyone pulled together to get stuff done. Every family had skin in the game. Get that brass in for recycling. Cut down on gasoline use and other resources. Break that code. Pull off the distraction. Execute the landings thru a hail of hell.

Greatest generation, to be sure.

 

A coworker and friend back in the late '70's and early '80's, Tom Underwood, in his '60's at that time,
was a bomb disposal guy in the army.
He was in the first wave that landed at Normandy, 85% casualties, basically a slaughter.
He showed me shrapnel still embedded in his skin all over his body to that day, 35 or so years later.
He said every so often the shrapnel would still come to the surface and break through.
He had a twin brother who was injured in the same battle to the point that he was permanently bed ridden.
He was a little guy, not more than about 5'-6", but,
I think he had more guts in his little finger than I had in my whole body.
Talk about heroes and sacrifice for their country, Tom and his brother definitely went above and beyond.

Without a doubt, the greatest generation.
I'm very proud just to have had the privilege of knowing Tom Underwood.

 

Hey, we got a thread revival. Good one, too. My granddad served in the Army Corps of Engineers, and I think my other granddad was essential occupation as a farmer.

I lived next to a man growing up who was Army Air Corps; Leonard Janson. He was a tail gunner/mechanic/radioman on a B-29 under Major Heinz. Said bomber was, of course, named the Heinz 57 Variety with a ketchup bottle nose art. He commented that, near the end of the war, the Zeros always came for them from behind since they were so high. So, they faired over all gun ports except the tail and Turtle Waxed that plane and picked up ten mph or so. He also saw the Enola Gay on Guam, and said there were MPs standing around the plane in a circle guarding it, and that circle had more MP than airspace in it (which is a lot of MPs).

Mr. Janson passed a few years back, liked golf, gardening (and his pipe smoking at the same time), woodwork, was a devout Baptist, and liked our family cat like it was his own.

 

My Dad was in England that day and followed the invasion a number of weeks later into France. My Uncle was a navigator on a bomber that emergency landed in Switzerland, he was there until the end of the war. Interesting, Dad went over on the Queen Mary.
Those that got through that time were indeed the greatest generation. I fear that no one in the free world today could ever survive and repeat the sacrifices that all military and civilian had to do. And I pray they never have to.

 

Normally a post this old would be noted by a seasoned member but in this case as should be it is timeless. The men and women, often friends and relatives (loved ones) who stand and fight without regard for self preservation to protect others deserve every shred of heaven they surely have earned. Thank God some are still with us and still protecting us, refuse to talk about it so we wont have to remember the horror they do. God bless them and thank them every chance you get because heroes like them are not around forever. Tell them while you can.

 

The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth and other fast liners were used as troopships during the war. They normally travelled independently (not in a convoy) because they were so fast U Boats couldn't intercept them.

Let us also reflect upon the many thousands who gave the ultimate sacrifice on a D+ Day, or in a forgotten theater of war away from the news headlines.


Roger.

 

I hate to say it but if our present young civilian generation was called to do what was asked by the country back in in 1941...we would be in trouble

 

Naaaah. Not if we fought it with drones...

- Eric

 

One will never know unless we are put in that position. I do know that right after 9/11 people enlisted in great numbers. With that said, I hope we don't have to test this theory.

 

I think that's a horrible thing to say. People rise to the occasion, and our military today is light years better in training and ability. It's just as wrong to judge a person by their age group as it is by any other demographic.

 

Sadly Bernard Jordan's wife passed away a few days ago as well.

Would we pull together as our forebears did 65 years ago?. Generally, those in power are regarded with a lot less awe than they were then.
I also think that with complex international trading, nations at war with other nations is most unlikely. What we have now is idealogical warfare, as demonstrated by 9/11, 7/7 in the UK and the cowardly shootings in France.
We have to learn how to fight a modern war. There is an old dictum that we prepare to fight the last war, not the next one.

Roger.

 

Today, the problem isn't getting the people to rise to the occasion.
Enough people still have the values and principles to rise.
The real problem is getting our sorry-a$$ed leadeship to rise.

 

... Which is exactly what they said before World War I.

We freak out over a few Arabs with a couple of clips in their belts, while over a billion Chinese patienly wait, with the technology that we gave them.

- Eric

 

The enemy is hiding in plain sight.

What do we do with that? Is it the same as it used to be or is it different now?

I don't want to defer off topic. We must remember and not forget.

 

I don't think the problem would be in getting people to step up and fight. The trouble would be getting people to sacrifice on the home front the way they did. Gas rationing, etc. Also no free world country has the manufacturing base to jump into building the ships, planes etc. the way it was done then. And how many would allow the government to take charge of the factories and businesses as was done at that time.
I fear that if another country actually tried world domination, the only re-course the free world would have is the nuclear option. JMHO

 

Patrick, I don't think the large scale nuclear option will ever be on the table. I disagree that in todays world that we could not duplicate the actions we took during WWII. I truly believe that even though we have a divided country politically, that if the situation arises we will pull together as 1 nation to defend ourselves.

 

I was there on the 70th anniversary. It was a very touching thing to stand at the edge of the water with hundreds of people, in total silence. Omaha Beach is very, very long - they were brave.

 

Forgive me if you've read my story before. I had an uncle who landed as an engineer. Lived to be in his 80's married, kids, loved to play golf and very jocular fellow. Only thing is He never went back to the beach. Any beach he'd has enough sand and water.

 

Well, I feel no desire to go back to Afghan, so I understand the sentiment.

 

The late Bernard Jordan mentioned in a few posts, was sadly followed by the death of his wife a week later.
It seems Bernard was a keen fundraiser for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a charity wholly funded by donations, which provides boats and crews who go to the aid of mariners in distress in coastal waters.
His estate has been left to the RNLI, a matter of £600,000, nearly a million dollars.
I may have met men who were his equal, but I doubt if anyone ever met a better man.

Roger.

 

Was on a cruise ship last week and my father and I met a 92 year old Marine. He went in on Guadalcanal and stayed until the army came in and realived them. He was still standing striaght and walking without a cane. Not overlord but probably just as tough.

Larry

 

George Pattons' speech to the Third US Army, June 5,1944 https://greatspeeches.wordpress.com/...june-5th-1944/