6th June 1944

[Backintothesky 0]

Beautifully haunting "then and now" pictures of the Allied Landings in June 44.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/ng-interactive/2014/jun/01/d-day-landings-scenes-in-1944-and-now-interactive

[xsniper 1]

That is so cool. Very brave men and women endured a point in history that was desperate.

[skygypsie 2]

I hope this applies to the thread somewhat.
This past weekend I attended a funeral & met a 93 survivor of WWII.
As most elderly are, he was very interesting to talk with.
He was radioman on B24 bombers, flying over 50 missions.
One of his missions was flying the last US bombing mission of WWII.
He said that B24 is still airworthy.

[jclalor 12]

skygypsie

I hope this applies to the thread somewhat.
This past weekend I attended a funeral & met a 93 survivor of WWII.
As most elderly are, he was very interesting to talk with.
He was radioman on B24 bombers, flying over 50 missions.
One of his missions was flying the last US bombing mission of WWII.
He said that B24 is still airworthy.

It's sad, the day is fast approaching when the last WW2 Veteran will be gone.

[normiss 622]

There's this coming soon!

Normandy Jumps
Normandy 2014

A friend of mine is making the jumps!

[Skyrad 0]

jclalor

***I hope this applies to the thread somewhat.
This past weekend I attended a funeral & met a 93 survivor of WWII.
As most elderly are, he was very interesting to talk with.
He was radioman on B24 bombers, flying over 50 missions.
One of his missions was flying the last US bombing mission of WWII.
He said that B24 is still airworthy.

It's sad, the day is fast approaching when the last WW2 Veteran will be gone.

It is sad, I was thinking the same thing only the other day. As a child our family had a Launderette on a Saturday I'd sit there and listen to the people now my age tell their stories of the war and the people in their 60s would talk about life in at the front and in the trenches of the first world war. They're all gone now and soon those who remember WWII will be gone too, but I'll never forget their stories or what they did for us.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[xsniper 1]

jclalor

***I hope this applies to the thread somewhat.
This past weekend I attended a funeral & met a 93 survivor of WWII.
As most elderly are, he was very interesting to talk with.
He was radioman on B24 bombers, flying over 50 missions.
One of his missions was flying the last US bombing mission of WWII.
He said that B24 is still airworthy.

It's sad, the day is fast approaching when the last WW2 Veteran will be gone.

So true. I heard a number the other day and it seems like they said we are losing 1000 a day. I was so lucky to be at the WWII memorial in DC when an "Honor Flight" arrived. Very Moving.

[devildog 0]

Backintothesky

Beautifully haunting "then and now" pictures of the Allied Landings in June 44.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/ng-interactive/2014/jun/01/d-day-landings-scenes-in-1944-and-now-interactive

Can we move this to Bonfire? It saddens me to think such an awesome thing would be soiled by being in here :)

You stop breathing for a few minutes and everyone jumps to conclusions.

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

Hi jclalor,

Quote

It's sad, the day is fast approaching when the last WW2 Veteran will be gone.

Yup. My dad died back in '97, a month short of his 90th birthday. He was in the Navy in the Big One.

My mother, who will be 92 one month from today, was a welder in the shipyards.

Time passes,

JerryBaumchen

[propblast 0]

I happily have friends that live in Normandy and others that participate in the celebrations every year.

I have been lucky in life to know many D-Day paratroopers. They are a breed apart and to this day I am in awe.

Propblast

[regulator 0]

If any of you haven't watched band of brothers I would recommend it. In the beginning there was a man explaining how there were several men in his home town who weren't drafted because of various reasons...some medical. He said they committed suicide because they didn't have the ability to represent their country in battle. He then goes on to say 'It was a different time back then".

I would say so at the very least. It seems like americans have lost something since those times. And we need to recapture some of that if we ever plan on staying a superpower.

[jclalor 12]

JerryBaumchen

Hi jclalor,

Quote

It's sad, the day is fast approaching when the last WW2 Veteran will be gone.

Yup. My dad died back in '97, a month short of his 90th birthday. He was in the Navy in the Big One.

My mother, who will be 92 one month from today, was a welder in the shipyards.

Time passes,

JerryBaumchen

Every time I'm still fortunate enough to meet a veteran of WW2, I'm more and more in awe.

[normiss 622]

I don't understand it being here either.

makes no sense at all.

Welcome to dropzone.com I guess.

[kallend 1,623]

Another anniversary.

www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-0605-museum-u505-20140604,0,670136.story

The U505 exhibit is well worth seeing if you're in Chicago.

...

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

[mr2mk1g 10]

Cross posted from a car forum I also read:

www.telegraph.co.uk .. -about-the-D-Day-landings.html

1. Lieutenant James Doohan of the Winnipeg Rifles was shot in the hand and chest on D-Day. A silver cigarette case stopped the bullet to the chest, but the shot to his hand caused him to lose a finger.

Doohan later became known to generations of TV viewers as the actor who played Scottie in Star Trek. While on camera, he always tried to hide his injured hand.

2. Celebrated war photographer Robert Capa was in the second wave of troops to land at Omaha Beach. His pictures of the event are known as The Magnificent Eleven – a title that reflects their number. Despite taking two reels of film, totalling 106 pictures, only 11 survived after 16-year-old darkroom assistant Dennis Banks dried them at too high a temperature.
Related Articles

3. Juan Pujol was a double agent working for MI5, who helped convince the Germans that D-Day wouldn’t be in June. Bizarrely, his first code name was BOVRIL – but that was soon changed to GARBO as he was such a good actor. GARBO fooled the Germans so completely, Hitler awarded him the Iron Cross. As he was living in Hendon at the time, Pujol asked if they could post it to him.

4. On the morning of D-Day, J.D. Salinger landed on Omaha Beach with six chapters of his unfinished novel Catcher in the Rye in his backpack. In the afternoon, Evelyn Waugh, recuperating in Devon after injuring his leg in paratrooper training, finished the final chapter of his novel Brideshead Revisited.

5. The giant wall map used by General Eisenhower and General Montgomery at their HQ Southwick House was made by toy maker Chad Valley.

6. Lord Lovat led the British 1st Special Service Brigade. An inspiring but eccentric figure, he landed on Sword Beach wearing hunting brogues and carrying a wading stick used for salmon fishing.

Working as an adviser on the film The Longest Day, Lovat woke up in a taxi surrounded by German troops and instinctively dived out of the car, but then realised they were just extras.

7. On the morning of D-Day, the House of Commons debated whether office cleaners should no longer be called ‘charladies.’

8. News of D-Day reached POW camp Colditz via an illegal radio hidden in an attic. To avoid detection, the POWs used shoes with no tread that left no mark in the attic’s dust.

On hearing the news, POW Cenek Chaloupka vowed that if the war wasn’t over by December he’d run round the courtyard naked. On Christmas Eve 1944, Chaloupka ran round it twice. It was -7 degrees Celsius.

9. Like many troops, Lieutenant Herbert Jalland of the Durham Light Infantry ran onto Gold Beach wearing pyjamas underneath his battledress, in order to prevent chafing from his backpack.

10. General Montgomery helped mastermind D-Day, the largest invasion the world had ever seen. His diary entry for the day read: ‘Invaded Normandy; left Portsmouth 10.30.’

[Amazon 7]

kallend

Another anniversary.

www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-0605-museum-u505-20140604,0,670136.story

The U505 exhibit is well worth seeing if you're in Chicago.

Been there ......Done that

[skygypsie 2]

jclalor

***Hi jclalor,

Quote

It's sad, the day is fast approaching when the last WW2 Veteran will be gone.

Yup. My dad died back in '97, a month short of his 90th birthday. He was in the Navy in the Big One.

My mother, who will be 92 one month from today, was a welder in the shipyards.

Time passes,

JerryBaumchen

Every time I'm still fortunate enough to meet a veteran of WW2, I'm more and more in awe.
------------------------------------------------------------------
As am I !

I'm closing in on 60 myself, so have had many

conversations with many who "were there", over the years.

My former father in law was a gunner on a ship at Pearl

Harbor bombing, shooting down Kamikaze

Pilots. My husband's grandfather was an Air Force T-6 Texan pilot during the "BIG WAR".

So bittersweet is the fact those who are still here to

pass on their accounts, are yet so cognitive given their age.

Though; as most war veterans I suppose, don't go into

vivid detail, it seems the remarkable memories for their

age, has been left in tact to pass down the history.

At best, WWI, WWII, Koreon, Viet Nam are briefly touched

upon in class room education & until recently, by the public





* Jerry, you're mom would truly be my hero....

a real "Rosie The Riveter" !

[kallend 1,623]

One of my college friends was a guy called Richard TEDDER. He is the son of Air Marshal Arthur Tedder, Eisenhower's deputy. He had two huge Nazi flags hanging in his dorm room - trophies taken from one of Hitler's hideouts (not sure which), along with a signed photo of his godfather - Ike.

Richard is now a professor of virology at London University.

...

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

[skygypsie 2]

kallend

One of my college friends was a guy called Richard TEDDER. He is the son of Air Marshal Arthur Tedder, Eisenhower's deputy. He had two huge Nazi flags hanging in his dorm room - trophies taken from one of Hitler's hideouts (not sure which), along with a signed photo of his godfather - Ike.

Richard is now a professor of virology at London University.

Now, that's fascinating !
Bet some interesting conversations & history lessons took place in that dorm room, as well !!!