June 6 1944

[Belgian_Draft 0]

66 years ago today thousands of brave men gave their lives so that we may enjoy the freedoms we have today. Please keep them and those who survived the day in your thoughts.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[skybill 19]

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66 years ago today thousands of brave men gave their lives so that we may enjoy the freedoms we have today. Please keep them and those who survived the day in your thoughts.

Hi B-D,
A big 10-4 on that!! Fly "The Flag!"

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[masterrig 1]

I have an uncle who was there. I also, used to pack a pilot rig for a man who flew gliders for the Army, who was there.


Chuck

[skyrider 0]

...

[ZigZagMarquis 8]

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2009/06/05/the-65th-anniversary-of-d-day-on-the-normandy-beaches/


Pretty soon there won't be many men left who were there during the invasion 65 years ago.

That thought always gives me pause to think what have I done meaningful in my life?

[ltdiver 3]

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http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2009/06/05/the-65th-anniversary-of-d-day-on-the-normandy-beaches/

Thanks for posting this link. After reading all the captions, and absorbing all the pictures there I was particularly touched by the very last photograph. Drives it home just how vast the number of troops we lost was.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[ZigZagMarquis 8]

I don't know if it is accurate or not, but I recently heard that only 10% of those who served during WWII are still alive today.

In a dozen years or not many more, WWII will truly become "history" existing only in books, photos and a old film.

I often think of men like my father, uncle and their friends who served during WWII... who, when I was a boy weren't much older then I am now and then seemed so strong... are now very old men, still active of mind, but failing in body and will not be around much longer.

Most of the books I read tend to be about WWII. When reading accounts retold by individuals and their experiences in combat, its almost to a man how humble and non-heroic they speak of their account. Even more amazed that in many cases its very late in life or only after their passing that their families learn of things like Purple Hearts, Bronze or Silver Stars their relative earned / were awarded.

[Bertt 0]

I've had the good fortune to meet several of those guys. Hearing them talk is the kind of history you can't get from books.
My dad was in the Navy in the Pacific in WWII. One year my sons and I went to an airshow where they had a replica of a Japanese "Betty" bomber. We were telling my dad about the airshow, and when we mentioned the "Betty", he said, "Yeah, those are the ones that used to come over and bomb us at night."
A few years ago, I landed off the DZ and just happened to land in the back yard of a WWII vet who had gone to Europe a few months after D-Day. Based on that introduction, I got to know him a little. He used to come over to the dropzone and watch the skydivers and airplanes. He had a Purple Heart, but never said what for. What I did find out was that he was part of an anti-tank unit that took over 30 percent casualties on its way toward Germany in the fall and winter of 1944.
I also got to go to lunch several times with a group that included one of the original Tuskeegee Airman and another WWII pilot who had 3 kills flying a P-38.
All those guys are gone now, but what a privilege to know them, if only for a little while.

You don't have to outrun the bear.

[ZigZagMarquis 8]

Amazing. I'm glad you got to meet those gentlemen.

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What I did find out was that he was part of an anti-tank unit that took over 30 percent casualties on its way toward Germany in the fall and winter of 1944.

If that's accurate, his unit was lucky. Some units that took part in the Normandy Invasion that saw action in the ETO through VE-Day suffered over 100% casualties by the wars end.

[Belgian_Draft 0]

My dad left us many years ago but one thing I remember frommy childhood was his story of how the Boogie Man lived in a submarine in the Atlantic My dad was in the Merchant Marine and their only defense was a deck gun, but most ships didn't even have that.
One old friend shows the true meaning of the word "courage". He and his best friend dropped out of high school to join the Army Air Corp after the US entered the war. They joined knowing their chances of ever coming home again were slim or none.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[Beerlight 0]

Thanks for the post. Lest we forget....

Those guys that went onto that beach that day knew, it was a good chance they wouldn't make it out alive. My profound thanks to them........

President Reagan gave a wonderful speech in 1984 about the invasion...

http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/reagan-d-day.htm

[JohnMitchell 14]

Thanks for this thread. What selfless young men it was that made their way to the beaches that day. A huge thanks to all of them.

[DFWAJG 4]

I had a patient once that had been a member of the Nazi party. He had Alzheimer's and was on a locked unit for dementia patients. As clear as day, he could recall past events of his youth. He told us that when he was in school, the Nazi's came to recruit. A few that refused to join, had never been heard of again. For his own preservation, he joined.

[MikeJD 0]

Not to diminish this thread at all, but it's funny how our view of military history gets distilled to a relatively small number of significant dates and battles. So World War 2 = the invasion of Poland, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, Pearl Harbour, the Battle of Midway, Stalingrad, D-Day and so on.

I think as a result a great deal of personal heroism and sacrifice has been overshadowed by these big Hollywood-friendly events.

Here's to everyone who made those sacrifices on D-Day (and during well over a year of subsequent fighting), but also those whose deeds are less well documented by popular history.

[kallend 1,648]

I have also to announce to the House that during the night and the early hours of this morning the first of the series of landings in force upon the European Continent has taken place. In this case the liberating assault fell upon the coast of France. An immense armada of upwards of 4,000 ships, together with several thousand smaller craft, crossed the Channel. Massed airborne landings have been successfully effected behind the enemy lines, and landings on the beaches are proceeding at various points at the present time. The fire of the shore batteries has been largely quelled. The obstacles that were constructed in the sea have not proved so difficult as was apprehended. The Anglo-American Allies are sustained by about 11,000 firstline aircraft, which can be drawn upon as may be needed for the purposes of the battle. I cannot, of course, commit myself to any particular details. Reports are coming in in rapid succession. So far the Commanders who are engaged report that everything is proceeding according to plan. And what a plan! This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever taken place. It involves tides, wind, waves, visibility, both from the air and the sea standpoint, and the combined employment of land, air and sea forces in the highest degree of intimacy and in contact with conditions which could not and cannot be fully foreseen.

There are already hopes that actual tactical surprise has been attained, and we hope to furnish the enemy with a succession of surprises during the course of the fighting. The battle that has now begun will grow constantly in scale and in intensity for many weeks to come, and I shall not attempt to speculate upon its course. This I may say, however. Complete unity prevails throughout the Allied Armies. There is a brotherhood in arms between us and our friends of the United States. There is complete confidence in the supreme commander, General Eisenhower, and his lieutenants, and also in the commander of the Expeditionary Force, General Montgomery. The ardour and spirit of the troops, as I saw myself, embarking in these last few days was splendid to witness. Nothing that equipment, science or forethought could do has been neglected, and the whole process of opening this great new front will be pursued with the utmost resolution both by the commanders and by the United States and British Governments whom they serve. I have been at the centres where the latest information is received, and I can state to the House that this operation is proceeding in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. Many dangers and difficulties which at this time last night appeared extremely formidable are behind us. The passage of the sea has been made with far less loss than we apprehended. The resistance of the batteries has been greatly weakened by the bombing of the Air Force, and the superior bombardment of our ships quickly reduced their fire to dimensions which did not affect the problem. The landings of the troops on a broad front, both British and American- -Allied troops, I will not give lists of all the different nationalities they represent-but the landings along the whole front have been effective, and our troops have penetrated, in some cases, several miles inland. Lodgments exist on a broad front.

The outstanding feature has been the landings of the airborne troops, which were on a scale far larger than anything that has been seen so far in the world. These landings took place with extremely little loss and with great accuracy. Particular anxiety attached to them, because the conditions of light prevailing in the very limited period of the dawn-just before the dawn-the conditions of visibility made all the difference. Indeed, there might have been something happening at the last minute which would have prevented airborne troops from playing their part. A very great degree of risk had to be taken in respect of the weather.

But General Eisenhower's courage is equal to all the necessary decisions that have to be taken in these extremely difficult and uncontrollable matters. The airborne troops are well established, and the landings and the follow-ups are all proceeding with much less loss-very much less-than we expected. Fighting is in progress at various points. We captured various bridges which were of importance, and which were not blown up. There is even fighting proceeding in the town of Caen, inland. But all this, although a very valuable first step-a vital and essential first step-gives no indication of what may be the course of the battle in the next days and weeks, because the enemy will now probably endeavour to concentrate on this area, and in that event heavy fighting will soon begin and will continue without end, as we can push troops in and he can bring other troops up. It is, therefore, a most serious time that we enter upon. Thank God, we enter upon it with our great Allies all in good heart and all in good friendship."

Winston S. Churchill, June 6, 1944

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.