D-Day

[Seiji]

64Wing

•••-

Yes to Victory.

 

[JPE.88305]

Went to Normandy in 2013 after residency; just a deeply impactful experience. Plan on taking my kids there some day, maybe for the 85th anniversary.

 

[Evitzee]

I was in Normandy in April, it was on the bucket list. The Normandy American Cemetery is strikingly beautiful, manicured to the nth degree, all 9,388 gravestones perfectly aligned, all facing west towards home, you knew something profound and significant happened there. There are various cemeteries in the Normandy area, even German military cemeteries.

Edited: Jun 7, 2024

 

[Seiji]

I was curious about the beret William Parkin is wearing in the photo, I think this is the better answer, he is wearing the first generation Blue with Red Tombstone in about 1943, there were no Green Beret yet. At present time, the Blue beret is given to marines in training. The green beret is given to a commando that has become fully qualified.

Edited: Jun 7, 2024

 

[noelekal]

JPE.88305

Went to Normandy in 2013 after residency; just a deeply impactful experience. Plan on taking my kids there some day, maybe for the 85th anniversary.

I have the near the same set of photos from 1997 when we took our boys to the U.K. and France. We made the entire lengths of the Normandy beaches. The concrete coastal defense battery site you depict appears to to be the same one we also visited that was eliminated by the U. S. battleships Arkansas and Texas. The design appeared formidable until one encounters the side that sustained the naval gunfire.

My jaw dropped when I first saw what 14-inch guns could do to many feet of combined earth and reinforced concrete as well as the artillery piece itself. I recall seeing a small split in the gun shield of the piece, puckering outward, that wouldn't admit one's fist. My Royal Marine host friend exclaimed: "That's where one of the gun crew went out."

https://defenceindepth.co/2021/06/30/battleships-d-day-and-naval-strategy/

The Texas (BB 35) is my avatar.

 

[noelekal]

Evitzee

I was in Normandy in April, it was on the bucket list. The Normandy American Cemetery is strikingly beautiful, manicured to the nth degree, all 9,388 gravestones perfectly aligned, all facing west towards home, you knew something profound and significant happened there. There are various cemeteries in the Normandy area, even German military cemeteries.

We spent time there as well. While taking in the cemetery I found the marker of a Texas boy having the same exact birth date as my dad. It was as if an electric current struck me through the soles of my shoes. I though to myself: "By the grace of God I live!" My dad was in the U. S. Navy on a Patrol Craft Escort in the South Pacific at that time in the War.

This photo of my dad on board his ship while docked at Pearl Harbor was taken the next year in June of 1945.

 

[JPE.88305]

Hard to not have the randomness of circumstances send chills down your spine.
Leaving for Hawaii next week--spending a week on Maui but taking a flight to see Pearl Harbor and spend the day there; my boys are only 7 and 10 but I'm sure it will leave an impression and hopefully spark more interest.

 

[noelekal]

It will leave an impression. Our two sons were 9 and 12 at that time. With both parents having a keen interest in history, they didn't stand a chance.

 

[JPE.88305]

noelekal

I have the near the same set of photos from 1997 when we took our boys to the U.K. and France. We made the entire lengths of the Normandy beaches. The concrete coastal defense battery site you depict appears to to be the same one we also visited that was eliminated by the U. S. battleships Arkansas and Texas. The design appeared formidable until one encounters the side that sustained the naval gunfire.

My jaw dropped when I first saw what 14-inch guns could do to many feet of combined earth and reinforced concrete as well as the artillery piece itself. I recall seeing a small split in the gun shield of the piece, puckering outward, that wouldn't admit one's fist. My Royal Marine host friend exclaimed: "That's where one of the gun crew went out."

https://defenceindepth.co/2021/06/30/battleships-d-day-and-naval-strategy/

The Texas (BB 35) is my avatar.

Pointe du Hoc, where the 5th Ranger BTN scaled the cliffs, is also nuts. The ground is just pockmarked with artillery holes.

The whole thing seems like ages ago despite being fairly recent. I recall seeing some vets at the recent 80th memorial and was reminded that it won't be very long before they, and everyone who fought in that war, will be gone. It made me quite sad thinking about it. A different world inhabited by different people.

Edited: Jun 7, 2024

 

[noelekal]

Different people with different values.

Are they superior values?

 

[Seiji]

V.J. Thomsett was there at Dunkirk.
These are his medals.

 

[Spruce]

The first, third and fourth medals (from the left) are 1939-1945 campaign medals. The interesting one (IMHO) is the second on the red and yellow ribbon, which is the Dunkirk medal.

 

[Turpinrr]

JPE.88305

Pointe du Hoc, where the 5th Ranger BTN scaled the cliffs, is also nuts. The ground is just pockmarked with artillery holes.

The whole thing seems like ages ago despite being fairly recent. I recall seeing some vets at the recent 80th memorial and was reminded that it won't be very long before they, and everyone who fought in that war, will be gone. It made me quite sad thinking about it. A different world inhabited by different people.

It doesn't seem that long ago 2000ish that the last of the UK 1st world war Tommies were filmed for TV.
I can remember 60 years ago seeing a big photo of Douglas Bader and asking my dad who he was ??
At the time some WW2 vets were only 40 and besides my dad, lots of our neighbours had fought in the war plus teachers at school.
I received a Guiness book of records one Xmas (1970 maybe) and remember reading about the last of the American Civil War veterans who'd passed away in the 1950's, the phrase used was 'faded away'

And there's still no-one funnier than Laurel and Hardy 😜