D-Day 72nd anniversary

Southern

Well-Known Member
I know of lot of you in the UK and France are more aware of today than the younger generations in the USA, but I have to give a shout out here to those in my family who all made it across and home:

My father-in-law and his brother, MSGT and SGT, landed on Omaha Beach.
Uncle John, a radar operator, landed Omaha Beach day two.
Uncle Robert, 82nd airborne.
Uncle Larry, flew many recons in a P-38 before and during the invasion.

It's a day to remember to children and grandchildren, if only to plant a seed which will someday grow into understanding and appreciation.
 
Yes, all my kin made it back, only one with a scratch: Robert, 82nd Airborne, broke his back in when his parachute failed, or was shot up, in a night jump.

My father-in-law was lucky to survive battles like Arnhem Bridge.
My uncle Larry went on to become a base commander in England in late 1950s.
My father's college roommate made it back, wounded, the only survivor of his company.

My father went to a military college, and only 38 of 442 in his class survived. He was busy that day bombing a Japanese shipping terminal in China, so they did not hear about France until the next day.
 
And meanwhile, from the other end... A month later, my mother was Born on the Fourth of July in Alsace during an American air raid. So thank you very much to the guys in the bombers for being careful with their aim!
 
My sons stand in granddad "Wil" was in 1para he was hit while trying with the rest to move up the lower Rhine to Arnhem with a groin wound he still managed to keep up, but lost his right nut and most of his man hood? :eek: and why he is my sons step in granddad and grandma the poor bugger couldn't have his own , at 76 we had to take his hand glider away as his wife hated the thought of him flinging himself off the kent cliffs :british: now at just 92 he still drive's and is up for all kinds of jolly gapes .
sharp as a pin and tough as old ammo boots he wont stay in even with real bad skin cancer from his time in Egypt .
just got to hold your hand out to our forebears.
 
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my great uncle was a civil engineer and a royal engineer in both WW1 and WW2 and ended up a Brigadier General. helped design the mulberry harbours used to very good effect on the 6th June and following days. Dont think he actually went ashore on d day though. Tough days for all those involved in the landings and I for one am grateful. regards SBM
 
Good friends living in Normandy near Utah beach/Saint Mere Eglise are actively engaged in entertaining the US veterans and their families since last weekend. Most turn up regularly and each year there are fewer veterans make the journey.
The commemorations and celebrations are a major occasion in Normandy though. Lots of photo's of those who turn up with their militaria of the period.
The Sainte Marie du Mont facebook site has lots of pics of the D Day attendees. My wife & I were there last year and it's a fantastic gathering.
 
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I'm in awe of all those who fought in WW2. Whether it was getting ashore on D day, the BEF before, or the fighting through Europe, on the ground, in the air and on the seas. We often speak about how society has deteriorated since and in a lot of ways it has, but we must be grateful that we don't have wars like we used to!

it may seem a long time ago, but in my lifetime (60 years old), I have seen the last survivor of the American Civil War die (he was a drummer boy as I recall), the last Tommy of WW1 and WW2 veterans are now getting scarce. But only go back a generation or two and my grandfather, who was gassed in the trenches could well have rubbed shoulders with soldiers from the Napoleonic Wars. So to have gone 70+ years with no (major) conflicts is good. Long may it continue.
 
That's a very good point about a major war every generation. But the alternative is sometimes creeping tyranny. At least many ancestors put up with a lot less, then threw off the yoke, in Scotland, Alsace, Bavaria, or the colonies. Today's people seem to care less about freedom, and more about being fed and entertained, and no care about the next generation.

Back on a more cheerful subject, to this topic, I still have friends, 98 and 96, one who survived Bataan and the other a Marine who fought at Iwo Jima, New Britain, and other islands. Another died last year, a Navy pilot with two planes and a carrier shot out from under him ( good swimmer ). Tough guys.
 
I wonder if anyone will remember VJ day?

Many never saw any action in Europe as they we in the Far East, India, Burmah, Malaya fighting Nippon. Also never mentioned is the treachery of the Indian National Army who fought for the Tri Axis ......................... lest we forget! Japan (Nippon) will never apologise for what they did or their treatment of our people or the natives to them it was normal ............... yes lest we forget.
 
I wonder if anyone will remember VJ day?

Many never saw any action in Europe as they we in the Far East, India, Burmah, Malaya fighting Nippon. Also never mentioned is the treachery of the Indian National Army who fought for the Tri Axis ......................... lest we forget! Japan (Nippon) will never apologise for what they did or their treatment of our people or the natives to them it was normal ............... yes lest we forget.

The Japanese are still in denial. I say that, having worked for Japanese firms and having Japanese friends.

My family has always been aware of VJ Day, because my father was a pilot in the CBI theater ( along with a stint helping Montgomery in Egypt ). One of his childhood friends, and our neighbor who is still alive, was a B-29 pilot in the group which bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Several family friends were prisoners at Bataan, and many fought with the Marine Corps in the islands. My great uncle was a Navy commander at the surrender on the USS Missouri. One family member was captured by the Japanese after his bomber destroyed a group of fighters on the ground at new base set for an attack on New Zealand. After a year in prison camps, the captors learned through spies that he had been given the Congressional Medal of Honor in secret, so they executed him and the rest of his surviving crew. The atrocities my father saw in China and Burma make ISIS look tame. He flew many missions to make low-level drops to British Chindits who were far behind enemy lines.

What makes my blood boil about Obama going to Hiroshima on our Memorial Day, to apologize to the Japanese, is that their war memorials make no mention of their aggression. The plaques and posters insinuate that they were minding their own business, when the British and Americans attacked them.

I have a rare 1930s book, in English, by one of the Japanese officers who planned their invasion of China and the islands. It is a real insight into the mentality of the rulers and the military, and the deception of the Japanese people. I will find it and see if there are copies available in the UK, for any other fans of military history.
 
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