Honoring all Allied Soldiers who did their job to help others to be free.
My Dad. US Army. 21 years old. Landed on Omaha Beach in June 1944.

 

Yes. Coming from a Jewish family living in Germany and the Netherlands... thank you!

 

Now that is a spitting image of you @gemini4!

I fully agree as well, respect and gratitude to all those who served and gave so much.

 

My grandfather... still alive. He lied about his age and enlisted at sixteen years and jumped into D-Day a hour before and cut down communication lines before the first wave. A french family took him in to hide from German patrols. My aunt Collete was named after the women that hid my grandfather out. Later my grandfather was in the battle of the Bulge where he was shot in the head, now has a steel plate in head. I was so close to not being here as well as him.

The greatest generation.

 

I can't begin to comprehend what those boys went through. Most started the day as boys, but all ended the day as men. Words cannot express the magnitude of respect and gratitude I have for them.

 

Tell your grandfather thank you and that the sacrifices he and his comrades made will never be forgotten!

 

Here is a nice short piece from PBS Newshour on some of the today's events.

 

Here is another good one, 97 year old veteran parachutes into France on anniversary.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2...e-orig.cnn/video/playlists/remembering-d-day/

 

Yes, I'm struck by this thought frequently.

My dad graduated from high school in mid 1941. Went off to Georgia Tech, and December 7th changed everything. He was pulled out of GT, trained as a combat engineer, and went ashore at Normandy several weeks after the landings 75 years ago today. His unit was first assigned to Pattons 3rd Army, Then transferred to Dever's First Army. He was involved in the Ludendorff (Remagen) bridge operations. He ended up in the eastern part of Germany at VE Day, meeting up with the Russian army.

The trajectory that these men followed shaped their lives-and ours- for many years. Many had quickly learned a very pragmatic, problem solving approach to circumstances during their time in the service that they then applied vigorously in the civilian post war years. I'm grateful to them all. @davidher - pass my best wishes on to your grandfather.

High school senior:


ROTC freshman at Georgia Tech pictured at home with Mom for the holiday


With his buds. Top right, sporting the Ray-Bans, somewhere in Eastern Europe in early 1945 I believe.

 

My mom's dad arrived in the ETO a few weeks after D day. He was a young tank commander as a SSgt. I have the Mauser Kar 98 he brought back as a souvenir. Once home, he had no interest in that old German rifle, and he NEVER, not once, discussed he war.

We lost my dad's dad during the first month after the landing. Never could get the details, and many of those records were destroyed by a massive fire in St. Louis where millions of files were stored. We owe them all a debt we cannot possibly repay. (trite, I know, but true) Below a photo and note for my mother who was 3 at the time. I think they all thought they were very cool wearing the "Ike jackets."


With regard to what those boys went through in the moments leading up to the dropping of that ramp on their landing craft, the moment they hit the water, tried to make their ways to shore, watching many of their good friends die almost immediately, scared beyond any fear we could imagine, (short of being in combat) and this was just the very beginning if they were lucky enough to survive the first few hours, we will never be able to relate. I heard Saving Private Ryan is being aired today, and if you've seen it, the sequence near the beginning in which the landing is re-created must be the closest anyone could come to experiencing that horror from home. It is an incredibly emotional and intense scene. And the scenes of the aged John Ryan character at the cemetery bring tears to my eyes no matter how many times I've watched. Great movie.

If you can watch that scene and not get a little choked up, well, it's very moving. The opening scene is just as powerful. Seeing that cemetery filled with American boys buried in France makes me immensely proud to be an American.

 

No doubt D-Day 1944 was one of the most significant dates in the 20th century when the long term prospects for democracy hung in the balance. This will probably be the last time these aged warriors will be feted. What is troubling is young people aren't taught much of anything about WWII today. As the Greatest Generation and their sons and daughters (Baby Boomers) leave the scene who will be there to teach coming generations the significance of the achievements of these brave men?

I had a great uncle who was lost at sea in July 1945 on a B-29 bombing mission over Japan. He was scheduled to go on R&R the next week, he would have come back in early August just as the atomic bombs ended the war. Timing is everything in life.

 

Golly, you're obviously not from the UK. We are obsessed by WW2 here (and before anyone takes that the wrong way, I don't for a minute suggest we forget these enormous sacrifices).

 

My grandfather was in the British forces on D-Day, and vividly remembered (as a non swimmer) the orders to jump off the boats into the sea without any idea of how deep it was. Some drowned. He didn't, thank goodness. I can't imagine the courage.

 

@Flatfoot and @Swissmister

Thanks for sharing! It is so good to hear the personal stories. My paternal grandfather trained in the army air corps, but had to be pulled for some medical condition. He later trained in tanks, but never left Texas. My maternal grandfather was younger. He was training to be the invasion force of the Japanese homeland, but a group of physicists and engineers made that unnecessary.

 

As We honour the Great Men who stormed those Beaches 75 years ago today
Let Us All resolve to work to prevent the need to ever have to do this in the future.
History can and does seem to repeat itself. Since the Longest Day, We have bumbled Our way into several perhaps not completely thought through military
Adventures. Removing the Nazis was the last Just War. The Greatest Generation
Paid dearly Both in Europe and the Pacific. Unchecked Nationalism leads to the idea of Racial and Cultural superiority which is a recipe for Disaster.
I had 2 close Uncles, step into Normandy that day- One on the beaches, the Other a paratrooper. Both Made it. When I was old enough to understand the sacrifice of their comrades and themselves I asked how did You both make it...
Their answer was identical...Plain Dumb Luck.
ThankYou ! Angus and Mac.

 

They should subsidize a visit to those beaches! A must see for all people

 

I have been watching the news about the commemorations today. Listening to the stories of those took part is very poignant. Young people are taught about WWII but it is hard for them to comprehend the true horrors that played out during the war as it is for us to really understand what it might have meant to fight in the Middle Ages. To the brave and the good, all we can do is offer our thanks and hope future generations never have to go through that again.

 

So you have to think that 90% of these guys especially the non coms or regular GIs were raised during the depression. I think that toughens you up. These guys at 18, 17 or 19 were already men. Thats just my opinion.

 

Wonderful, personal, contributions Gentlemen! Thankyou for sharing your treasured family photographs @gemini4 @Flatfoot and @Swissmister.

I remember conversations that I had (growing up in London back in the 1960's) with my Grandfather and Great Grandmother. There first hand accounts of loss and hardship during WW2 have stuck with me for many years.

6 years ago I moved to a village near Poole Harbour on the South Coast of England. Poole was the third largest embarkation point for D-Day landings of Operation Overlord, and afterwards served as a base for supplies to the allied forces in Europe.[12] Eighty-one landing craft containing US Army troops from the 29th Infantry Division and the US Army Rangersdeparted Poole Harbour for Omaha Beach in France.[25] Poole was also an important centre for the development of Combined Operations and it was the base for the US Coast Guard's'Rescue Flotilla One' of 60 cutters. The cutters patrolled the D-Day invasion areas, with 30 serving off of the British and Canadian sectors and 30 serving off the American sectors.[

One of my part time jobs involves caring for Studland Beaches, on the other side of the entrance to Poole Harbour. Our National Trust beaches, here in Dorset, were used for some of the preparations for June 6th 1944. This has given me a different insight into the sacrifices that were made by those young Men 75 years ago.


But as I go about my work, on these lovely beaches, and make my way up the cliff to Fort Henry, it is very strange to imagine Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower and King George vi, here, observing preparations and Tank tests for such an event as the D-Day landings. Sadly even these rehearsals and tests resulted in tragedy for some of those taking part in floating Tank exercises

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dorset/content/articles/2009/05/18/dday_exercise_smash_feature.shtml

I often stop and sit, with a cup of tea and a sandwich, on the Base of this old pillbox and ponder on the thoughts and feelings of those involved in those decisive events that have shaped our lives now. We have much to thank them for.

 

No, I'm not from the UK, I can only report what is taught in the US educational system, and historic events like the two world wars are just old events that happened a long time ago. Even our own Civil War of the 1860's when 700,000 men lost their lives in a young country is not given much discussion in context. Oh, we still get out and go to military presentations and parades on D-Day, Memorial Day and Veterans Day, but obsessed, not a chance. I find that very unfortunate. If the UK can still instill the importance of WW2 in their young citizens, great, but education forces here have had a different agenda for decades.

There is a new, excellent documentary of the US Army Air Force in WW2 called 'The Cold Blue' which is coming to HBO this month. Look it up....a must see, and keep watching at the end and learn how the footage was found and restored, originally shot by William Wilder during the war.