D-Day

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Why no posts about D-Day today.

God bless those brave souls.

 

[skyhightree1]

Why no posts about D-Day today.

God bless those brave souls.

agreed

 

[Caustic Burno]

Had an uncle made the beach landing at Sword Beach.
Dad died today 2002.

 

[Jogeephus]

My daddy was a corpsman there. Never spoke a word about it and I was told by mom not to ask. Only thing he ever said anything about was his trip home and how he stayed by a wounded soldier's side the whole way to see him home. The soldier had been gut shot and had gang green and only wished to die at home - Indiana I think. When they crossed into the state dad told him he was home and he smiled then died shortly thereafter with my dad at his side.

 

[john250]

When the WWII generation ran the media, D-Day would get a lot of attention. News specials, etc.
Those guys have all retired or sadly, died. The younger generation talks about other things. For good or bad.

 

[John SD]

We salute the greatest generation today. The enormous sacrifices and suffering they endured makes our way of life possible today. We must do everything we can to preserve the freedoms they protected for us.

I don't see a salute smiley here, so this will have to do.
:tiphat: :tiphat: :tiphat: :tiphat: :tiphat: :tiphat: :tiphat: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[Caustic Burno]

When the WWII generation ran the media, D-Day would get a lot of attention. News specials, etc.
Those guys have all retired or sadly, died. The younger generation talks about other things. For good or bad.

I took a WWII vet to lunch today Navy Frogman fought on Iwo and Okinawa.
We spent several hour's together It is just an honor to have him for a friend .
I only know two left that served in WWII.

 

[Jogeephus]

I think many are growing numb to war. Its no longer a personal thing like it used to be. On D-Day we lost 2499 soldiers on June 6th 1944. This compared to the 6500 we have lost in the 12 years of fighting in the sandbox. That is less than 1.5 casualties per day on the whole battle front and we lost 1688 times this on a single day. What family would not be touched in some way by a death toll like this? War has no meaning to most people today. Its just a thing you see on television. This could be argued as dangerous.

 

[jedstivers]

Wish we still had more of them. God Bless them. A lot of boys turned into old men on this day.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I think many are growing numb to war. Its no longer a personal thing like it used to be. On D-Day we lost 2499 soldiers on June 6th 1944. This compared to the 6500 we have lost in the 12 years of fighting in the sandbox. That is less than 1.5 casualties per day on the whole battle front and we lost 1688 times this on a single day. What family would not be touched in some way by a death toll like this? War has no meaning to most people today. Its just a thing you see on television. This could be argued as dangerous.

I agree as this effected everyone, Dad and all my uncles were in the service, had one at Pearl on Dec 7 th, at Guadalcanal, Iwo, Okinawa, Normandy, North Africa and the North Atlantic. Dad was with the USS Guadalcanal CVE battle group. Mom worked in the war effort. Even if you were not in or working in the war effort you were effected by the rationing. We had 25,000 casulaties in the battle Iwo alone.

 

[greybeard]

Sadly, in spite of the huge sacrifices made at Normandy and elsewhere in WW2, many of today's youth look back on that Greatest Generation as the generation that "ruined" this country by spawning the baby boomers.
One thing's for sure, we owe them a debt we can never re-pay and their likes won't be seen again.

 

[HOSS]

When the WWII generation ran the media, D-Day would get a lot of attention. News specials, etc.
Those guys have all retired or sadly, died. The younger generation talks about other things. For good or bad.

I took a WWII vet to lunch today Navy Frogman fought on Iwo and Okinawa.
We spent several hour's together It is just an honor to have him for a friend .
I only know two left that served in WWII.

Good family friend was a frogman in WW2. He was also on Okinawa and Iwo. On Okinawa he was bayoneted in the neck by a Japanese Imperial Marine. The tip of the bayonet broke off in his neck and stayed there until he died in 1996. He killed the Japanese marine with his tommy gun and passed out from blood loss. A US Marine picked him up and was carrying him toward the beach when they were machine gunned. It killed the Marine and our friend took two bullets through the hips. Another Marine picked him up and continued to carry him when the Japanese threw a grenade. Our friend took a bunch of shrapnel in the back which protected the marine carrying him. They made it to the beach where they thought he was dead and placed him with the other dead marines. It wasn't until they were wrapping him up for removal that they discovered that he was alive. The stories that he had about battles in the Philippines, Iwo and Okinawa were amazing. There were only some 3,000 frogmen in WW2. They were the forerunners of the current Navy SEALS.

 

[HOSS]

My uncle Walter was at Normandy. He was on the first wave to hit the beach. He is still with us today but his health is really bad. He still says that he will never understand how he made it without being killed. Out of his platoon of 40 guys only 8 made it. He survived Normandy, Metz, The Bulge and the crossing of the Rhine before he was wounded. This is truly the Greatest Generation :tiphat:

 

[melking]

Thinking about this makes me miss my Dad so much. He was in an early wave. By the time he finished in Korea, he had 5 purple hearts and never spoke a word about them . I didn't even know that he had them until 20 years after his death. On a whim, I wrote to the Army and got a copy of his discharge papers. I wish I could tell him how proud I am to be his son.

 

[Caustic Burno]

When the WWII generation ran the media, D-Day would get a lot of attention. News specials, etc.
Those guys have all retired or sadly, died. The younger generation talks about other things. For good or bad.

I took a WWII vet to lunch today Navy Frogman fought on Iwo and Okinawa.
We spent several hour's together It is just an honor to have him for a friend .
I only know two left that served in WWII.

Good family friend was a frogman in WW2. He was also on Okinawa and Iwo. On Okinawa he was bayoneted in the neck by a Japanese Imperial Marine. The tip of the bayonet broke off in his neck and stayed there until he died in 1996. He killed the Japanese marine with his tommy gun and passed out from blood loss. A US Marine picked him up and was carrying him toward the beach when they were machine gunned. It killed the Marine and our friend took two bullets through the hips. Another Marine picked him up and continued to carry him when the Japanese threw a grenade. Our friend took a bunch of shrapnel in the back which protected the marine carrying him. They made it to the beach where they thought he was dead and placed him with the other dead marines. It wasn't until they were wrapping him up for removal that they discovered that he was alive. The stories that he had about battles in the Philippines, Iwo and Okinawa were amazing. There were only some 3,000 frogmen in WW2. They were the forerunners of the current Navy SEALS.

This is the guy that gave me a pile of picture's from Iwo and Okinawa.
Had an uncle marine sargent sharpshooter that made the landing's on Iwo, Okinawa and Guadalcanal.
His job was to take out the Jap sniper's. Told me stories of how they would tie themselves up in tree's .
He always said Iwo was he!! and okinawa is were he!! went.