D DAY +75 Years

Bob Marino

Bob Marino

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
3,263
 
Give a few moments and more of thought and thanks for those engaged in that battle June 6, 1944. That was such an incredible endeavor never before seen in history and the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany. And the leaders - Roosevelt, Churchill, Eisenhower, I'm afraid we won't see men of that stature again.

  It's a story worth knowing and as the very last of those WW Vets- Greatest Generation pass on, I hope that younger generations never forget the sacrifices they made for us.
 
Freedom is not free.  Thanks to all that helped to shut down the march of tyranny during WWII. 

My Dad went to every army reunion with many of his buddies that were involved in liberating France.  What an amazing generation of courage and patriotism.

We owe them so much.
 
When we get political here anyway:
neilc said:
Freedom is not free.  Thanks to all that helped to shut down the march of tyranny during WWII.
Click to expand...
You realize that the ones that financed WWII are still at large and continue to profit from wars, destruction and suffering?

Please read the links before commenting on this post. Afterwards feel free to continue to be happy about your grandparents having killed my grandparents better - or don't in case you reached the conclusion that you're currently basically as misled as the germans had been 75+ years ago.
 
I periodically go to this German club for lunch. Its a private club that does have a resturaunt and bar open to the public.

I met this old guy there 90's. He was a german soldier on one of the beaches during D-Day. He told me he was 18 years old , just a kid when it happened. Its hard to get much detail out of him mostly because of his age.
He will talk freely about his experience but like I said age... One thing he has said is that due to the heavy bombardment (which scared the heck out of him)the only reason he survived was because he's so short (his words not mine)

When I lived in the UK I did go to the Normandy beaches on a tour. Saw Coville cemetary which had over 10,000 American graves. the guide said that America unlike most countries send our heroes home to be buried in the US. So there a lot more dead then were at te cemetery.

It was very very emotional to see all those graves to me. But I love and respected and admired each ad everyone to the point to where I did tear up along with my family who were with me.

As part of the tour they took us to a German cemetery that was near by. There were 56000 graves there. So many that the markers has 2-3 names on each of them.

I teared up there to. My thoughts are, how can we be so stupid to allow something like this happen... So many dead for what?
Germans fighting for their country, Us fighting for ours... both think theyre right...

We as people still havent learned
 
I have always been fascinated by war. In my elementary school a cupboard in one of the classrooms contained several years’ worth of newspapers (bound) from WorldWar 1. I used to study those instead of the regular classes (mind you, this is early 60-s Netherlands and my country was neutral for that one).

Later on I read everything I could get my hands on about WW 2. Thankfully my parents (though not rich by any means) subscribed to a multi-volume series of books on the subject by a great Dutch historian/writer, that covered a lot of what happened during those 5 years. Also a quite controversial book (at the time) about Dutchmen that joined the SS and their experiences.

My take-away: it is not just amazing, but absolutely unimaginable that millions of boys (I consider any guy under 25 to be a boy) were willing to give their lives for what ultimately was just propaganda. And also that millions of people looked the other way because the truth did not suit them.

Right now I am halfway through the two volume work by Nigel Hamilton about President F D Roosevelt and his decisive role in the fight against fascism. For the Brits it is a bit of a downer because it shows Winston lacking judgement and having clay feet at important moments. Well… so it goes.

Anyways, rumbling on… Even being born 11 years after V-Day I am extremely grateful to the young men ánd women that put their lives on the line to rid a great part of the cradle of democracy from the terrible forces of tyranny.

One amazing fact, 75 years later: the exercises to prepare the soldiers etc. for D-Day caused more casualties than the Allied Forces had during the day itself (in a 2.5 to 1 ratio!).
 
I highly recommend that any trip to Europe include a visit to Normandy. It is not accessible by train so a car is required, but well worth it. Plus you go can to Mont-Saint-Michel which is not too far out of the way.
 
As a first generation American citizen whose father fled his homeland Germany in the build up to World War II I offer my sincerest thank you to all who gave and suffered and ultimately allowed me to live a life so much different than otherwise.

May there never again be the need for the sacrifice and suffering like this war provided.

Peter
 
A solemn day indeed for all that contributed to the continuance of our freedom and equally important, the freedom of the rest of the world.

One can't help but draw parallels between the ongoing national situation in 2019 and the international situation in 1939. There are too many like-things happening to disregard the potential future consequences and ramifications.

My father was a marine that served in the South Pacific and volunteered to disarm errant bombs & explosives. He married my mother a year before he was deployed. To me, it's unimaginable to be a recently wedded person and yet still volunteer for munitions defuzement, knowing every munitions intervention could be your last.

His older brother was an Army medic that was on the front lines of combat in France, until he was captured by the Germans and placed in a camp for over 3 years.

They both suffered emotional anxiety from their war experiences, yet they never spoke about it until they were on their death beds...my father was 89 and dying from cancer before he would talk about it with me. [crying]

 
I have very mixed up feelings reflecting on the history of WW2 and some of the irony of current situations.
I had an uncle that suffered through torture after being captured, he also never spoke about it, it was my aunty that would tell us of his torment, and flashbacks etc. Despite this, he was a very warm and loving, and extremely funny man that I dearly miss. In his later years he developed alcohol problems, and visible mood swings.

Last year, and part of this year, we did a lot of work in an old people’s home in a leafy part of London. It was mainly extending the building both upwards, and outwards of the rear.
I got to know some of the residents, including two WW2 vets. I had chats with them sometimes at lunch breaks, they openly spoke about the war, the horror and reality of it, and the comradery and more cheerful things that happened.

I asked them both, if you knew then, what you know now, would you still have proudly fought?
Arthur said, yes of course I would, I’d fight for Queen and country and freedom any time I’m asked, and proudly explained what his extensive medals were presented for, bless him.

Percy, although a very proud and gallant man, with an even more impressive collection of medals, had a different perspective on things.
He said, when he thinks of what many gave and sacrificed, and endured, including himself, and has since slowly but surely watched our governments past and present, ruin and change our country, culture and heritage beyond recognition. He said there is no way he would do the same now. The country he fought for, is not the one we live in now.

I actually found it very sad, that although the home is in a nice part of London, and the residents seem well care for and comfortable, it’s not how you’d want an old soldier to live out their twilight years? Circumstance I guess, sad though.
 
I was only ten when Pearl Harbor was bombed. I was living on a farm in the Berkshires and have many memories of the things we kids did to help the war effort. The closest we got to the realities of the war was our farm was directly under the ferry route where planes would fly in groups on their way to England. We would all run out onto our lawn and start counting planes. There were sometimes around 100 and they made quite the roar.

years later, i met acute young lady who was a recipient of all those planes i watched fly overhead. the difference was, beteen the two of us, i was excited to see and hear those huge bombers fly over head. the young lady was frightened. She eventually became my wife. On our first visit to her home, she showed me where pieces of shrapnel had lodged in the roof beams of her house. She lived close to an iron smelting factory in her home land, Germany.

On several trips to visit her family, i met most of her family. Most that were stil alive were a little younger than i, but I did meet some of her family who were older during the war. I found them all to be good people. We had much comeradery during our visits.
Tinker
 
You know when people ask how come nobody realised Hitler was as crazy as he was and put an end to him much sooner? Then you look around at some current politicians and think Hmm...
I'm very grateful indeed for the people who gave their lives to put an end to him and his regime but its something to be on continual guard for.
This quote is quite telling as far as I'm concerned, especially when you read who said it.

Naturally, the common people don't want war ... but after all it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.
Click to expand...
Herman Göring's at the Nuremberg trials.
 
I’ve read and heard all kinds of things about politicians and people of power, and their behaviour at times of war.
Most of it doesn’t make very good reading. Hitler was blamed for a lot of atrocities but, if the archives are true, there were other powerful people doing very similar, or much worse than him, and from various countries.
Much greed and corruption, and lies and propaganda back then, much like today.  ;)
 
Lets avoid political comparisons and keep this topic a it is intended.

          To thank the veterans for doing the work and shouldering the burden of ridding the world of evil.

Seth
 
Gregor said:
When we get political here anyway:
neilc said:
Freedom is not free.  Thanks to all that helped to shut down the march of tyranny during WWII.
Click to expand...
You realize that the ones that financed WWII are still at large and continue to profit from wars, destruction and suffering?

Please read the links before commenting on this post. Afterwards feel free to continue to be happy about your grandparents having killed my grandparents better - or don't in case you reached the conclusion that you're currently basically as misled as the germans had been 75+ years ago.
Click to expand...

I thought if there were one war that is/was so blatantly good vs evil in recent history, it was WWII. A deranged lunatic in power with the goal of exterminating (and almost successful) the Jewish People along with gypsies , homosexuals, mentally challenged, etc as well as oh yeah, conquering all of Europe, destroying cultures and placing them under the Nazi boot. And thanks to America, England, Canada and our other Allies and later to Russia for stopping Hitler from achieving his goal. It was all those who literally saved the world - or at least the world as we know it. They sacrificed much to keep us free, so again a big thank you to those brave men who served and saved the world.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top