D Day

[Ian Anderson]

70 years ago today

Lots on the news

All I can say to th:sad: veterans is Thank You
Compared to what they did it does not seem to be enough.

Ian

 

[Keith]

70 years ago today

Lots on the news

All I can say to th:sad: veterans is Thank You
Compared to what they did it does not seem to be enough.

Ian

Thanks for posting this timely reminder. I was going to at 0300 then my pad died.

Any thoughts gentlemen?

Personally I believe this to be the last 'honourable' war any of our nations engaged in...and perhaps the last war that everybody understood and pretty much supported the necessity...

We'll not see the like of this type of clear cut good vs evil battle ever again.

 

[Larry L.]

As far as the U.S. goes, IMHO neither today's general population nor our so-called "leaders" are fit to shine the shoes of even the least of those who did what they did back then. 'Sad but true in my view.


The only clear exception I can think of right now would be our military personnel..........surprise, surprise.

 

[Pat]

This is a special day and tribute to those that were able to swallow their fears and parachute out of a rocking airplane into the darkness or off a landing craft into murderous fire so those that come after can live without the horror of Nazi tyranny. Bless them all.

 

[Gus Richmond]

Keith, no war is honorable full stop.
Larry, nice thoughts, what about our guys and gals? We're mates.
Veek, I agree bless them all. The poor souls who perished.
Let's all agree the less conflict the better.
I love my kids like I love my parents and grand parents.
I am from a lucky generation. I hope my kids don't have to do what my grand parents generation had to go through.
Bless their souls, Gus.

 

[Robert May Eng.]

Keith, no war is honorable full stop.

Perhaps and honorable is probably too smaller a word to describe the efforts of the soldiers sent into battle but its the only one we have.

Bob

 

[Doug S.]

By this time 70 years ago today my dad would have already flown one mission and had to return to England for fuel, was probably well on his way across the English Channel in his P51 for a second mission.
I ran across his flight gloves recently, and still have the scarf full of schrapnel he was wearing one of the times he was shot down.
He would never talk about the things he saw and the wartime experiences he had...he said it was out of respect for his fellow aviators who did not make it home.

Cheers to all who fell on those beaches, those who made it home and those who did not. I agree with Keith...that was probably the last war that enjoyed popular support...not to mention the last time our country actually followed the right process and DECLARED WAR before sending our troops into battle.

Doug

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

I asked my dad about his experience in combat ONCE. That was enough. I never asked again. Honestly, I wished I hadn't asked the first time.

I was way too young to understand that those experiences affected him for life. We didn't like each other, and we never got along worth a damn, but I respect his service to his country and his fellow men and women, and the fact that even though frightened as they all were, he went and did his duty as called upon. So many were in the same situation, and so many died, on both sides.

I have a lot of respect for those who fight in wars- I don't think I could do it, and I am glad I was never asked to. I have a lot less respect for those who start them. Few of them if any actually have to fight them.

 

[Jack]

Today we raise them up with honor and dignity. "Lest we forget" those survivors and those who have given all.

 

[Doc Kaler]

"This is a special day and tribute to those that were able to swallow their fears and parachute out of a rocking airplane into the darkness or off a landing craft into murderous fire so those that come after can live without the horror of Nazi tyranny. Bless them all."

And bless those whose final resting place is at the bottom of the Pacific and those who survived that gruesome campaign as well...

 

[Keith]

Keith, no war is honorable full stop.
Larry, nice thoughts, what about our guys and gals? We're mates.
Veek, I agree bless them all. The poor souls who perished.
Let's all agree the less conflict the better.
I love my kids like I love my parents and grand parents.
I am from a lucky generation. I hope my kids don't have to do what my grand parents generation had to go through.
Bless their souls, Gus.

Gus, I am far from gung ho and I agree with you about the concept of war bring honourable, but that is why I accented the word to imply a paradoxical meaning in that it was honourable in respect that the conflict largely followed the 'rules of war' (which I have always viewed as a pretty stupid premise) and was as 'honourable' an engagement as it was possible to get in these recent times. I do not include the Pacific War in this statement as that was as down and dirty as was possible to get - a condition forced upon us by our enemies, and yet, at wars end, much humanity was shown to the defeated nation(s) a benign state I'm not at all sure would have been shown had the situations been reversed, which they were in the early stages.

So I think it is right and proper to call it the last 'honourable' war for many reasons not least of which I would call also 'Righteous.'

 

[Randy V]

I asked my dad about his experience in combat ONCE. That was enough. I never asked again. Honestly, I wished I hadn't asked the first time.

Sort of similar here - although my dad just looked at me stone faced and said nothing... So instead I had to find out for myself and enlisted...

My hat is off and a prayer said for all the men and women that have died in combat... They and their families all paid the ultimate sacrifice..

My God - why do we war with each other??? Why can't we just live and let live? I am so sick of it all...
And as odd as it may sound - the guilt I feel as one who came home, when others may have been far more deserving of life, is sometimes overwhelming....

 

[Larry L.]

Larry, nice thoughts, what about our guys and gals? We're mates.

The same sentiment applies regarding those in the UK too, Keith...with the same exception applying to your people in uniform. :sad:

Just MHO, you understand...

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

My Father fought in New Guinea, and also would not speak about it. He also totally refused to buy anything manufactured in Japan.
Bless all who served and are serving today.

 

[Doug S.]

I was way too young to understand that those experiences affected him for life.

So was I. By all accounts my dad returned a changed man. He was an alcoholic for all the years I knew him, but the alcohol had such a hold on him that he was not around much.
My cousin asked how I felt about my dad and my answer was "I loved him for the things he did for us and hated him for the things he could have done, but didn't."
Years later a good friend, who was a paratrooper in Viet Nam, looked at me in disbelief and said "Jesus, Doug, your dad went through The Shit. You should really think about that."
Now I say "I loved him for what he did for us and have forgiven him for what he could have done, but didn't."
We lost more than those who died in that war...
I am now saving $$ so I can go to Loiusville and put flowers on his grave on what will be his 100th birthday.

Doug

 

[Larry L.]

So was I. By all accounts my dad returned a changed man. He was an alcoholic for all the years I knew him, but the alcohol had such a hold on him that he was not around much.
My cousin asked how I felt about my dad and my answer was "I loved him for the things he did for us and hated him for the things he could have done, but didn't."
Years later a good friend, who was a paratrooper in Viet Nam, looked at me in disbelief and said "Jesus, Doug, your dad went through The Shit. You should really think about that."
Now I say "I loved him for what he did for us and have forgiven him for what he could have done, but didn't."
We lost more than those who died in that war...
I am now saving $$ so I can go to Loiusville and put flowers on his grave on what will be his 100th birthday.

Doug

My hat is off to you for 'getting it', sir.

Seriously.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Doug,
I'm sure he was a proud man. Hiding himself in alcohol could well have been a way of averting an even worse outcome, for you and your family.
Don't dwell on what you percieve he didn't give you... remember all he did give, including the time you know little of....for he surely gave to us, more than we will ever be called upon to.
I found the intense coverage on tv here, too much, i had to go to the garage and do something, anything.

 

[Paul Brameld]

Guess this says it all :sad:

 

[Mike Pass]

On the way back from the Le mans Classic we visited Arromanches where the Mulberry Harbour was used to support the D day landings. We also visited the landing beaches and the gun emplacements. How those men advanced up open beaches in the face of a hail of fire I do not know.
Here are a few pics I took of Arromanches showing what remains of the huge concrete caissons of the harbour, a piece of the ramps and what I think may be an 88mm gun.
Cheers
Mike

 

[Keith]

Yes 88mm. One before is Bofors 40mm. Our own excellent 3.7" high angle A/A gun (93mm) was easily capable of emulating the extraordinary versatility of the German 88, yet our very own WD refused to allow it to be used in an A/T role or even manufacture special ammunition for it.

Can you imagine. Just another of the vast number of blunders in procurement by the faceless Whitehall Mandarins that cost thousands of front line lives, ad infinitum ad nauseum.