D-DAY Remembrance Thread

[O.city]

Ultimate respect for what they did. Unreal.

We did the Pearl Harbor thing a few years back when we were there. Really interesting experience.

Planning to do the Normandy one soon.

[Iowanian]

My granddad was a medic but was across the sea in England and followed behind the wave to Berlin working mostly in the field hospitals from my understanding. He didn't talk about it very much.

The Ironic part for me is that he had boots on the ground in England, France, Germany and was in Berlin during the occupation hating Russians(hated them and said in many ways we fought the wrong People..not to dilute the obvious reasons to fight Germany, he said the German people were good.)

He was one of the guys who wouldn't stand to be honored when they ask for veterans and didn't want a Military funeral because he didn't think he deserved it because he wasn't Infantry. I understand...but I don't understand. Perspective I guess and he saw so many bad things that happened to the men he called the true heroes.

[BigRedChief]

Use to have a neighbor that was the only survivor of his unit that landed on Omaha beach. Served in Europe until the war was over. The neighbors had no clue he was in WWII. He was a retired teacher to them.



The guy walked bent over at the waist with a bad back. He insisted in bringing the trashcans back up from the street to our and the rest of the neighbors houses weekly. I went out one day to help and he said, "I may be slow these days but I learned a thing or two in the military, dont touch these cans or youll find out what I was taught". And then he smiled real big and went back to struggling with the trash cans.

[Amnorix]

So one of the neatest facts about D-Day is that on that day, in addition to the largest invasion fleet in the history of the world hitting the beaches of Normandy, the SECOND largest invasion fleet in the history of the world had just sortied out of Pearl the day before. The US Fifth Fleet, heading for Saipan and soon to engage in the Battle of the Phillipines Sea, often called the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, which ultimately ended Japan's ability to engage in large fleet engagements. Fifth Fleet included some 800 ships. As a result of this battle, Admiral Nagumo, who had commanded the carrier fleet which hit Pearl, committed suicide, and Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan since the start of the war, resigned.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle...Philippine_Sea

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saipan

[stevieray]

SALUTE.

Words can hardly express what they accomplished for humanity and the World..

[KS Smitty]

My uncle, Grant, survived the initial landing but lost his life in August. I cannot imagine the horror that man saw and suffered in those 60 days.

[MVChiefFan]

My great uncle landed at Omaha Beach and took a bullet in the back. It was about 1/8” from his spine and no doctor would touch it. He passed a few years back at 90 years old, with the bullet still there.

[Dunit35]

This thread had me opening up my dream to visit Normandy for the first time.

I booked a five day guided tour of Normandy in August. It cost a small fortune but it has been a dream of mine for many years.

[MarkDavis'Haircut]

Felt like this year's anniversary wasn't celebrated much.

[PHOG]

They mentioned it today on our local news, and I'm like, WTF? It's a day late?

[Dunit35]

We went in 2018. It was an awesome experience. Four days, checked out all the beaches, Pointe Du Hoc, one of the batteries (can’t remember the name), several museums. Their museums are incredible.

Wish we would’ve had more time to see more.

[TinyEvel]

I am so intrigued by D-day and what it must've taken for those boys to do what they did. Amazing.

One book I recently read, and it's surprisingly awesome. D-DAY THROUGH GERMAN EYES.

A journalist with the German version of "Stars and Stripes" G.I. magazine interviewed the soldiers manning the Atlantic wall in April of 1944. Five years after the war ended, he located some of the surviving soldiers he had met with, and interviewed them again asking what their experience was like on June 6.

You get a really personal account from many perspectives. None of them are pro-nazi. In fact, it almost is a report on the futility of the war. But several times you get to hear the fear in their words as they saw the might of the unstoppable Allied forces. Worth a read.

[Jenson71]

saphojunkie -- thank you!

I was fortunate enough to visit Omaha Beach in 2005. A cemetery is at the top of the bluff. It is peaceful and beautiful. Going to an American military cemetery in Europe should be on anyone's bucket list. Since I've been there, the Museum was built, and I look forward to a second visit, likely next year.

According to the squad leader that my grandfather served under, he landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day +44 -- July 20. He ended up getting shot three times (and survived, though the bullet in the ear impacted his hearing for the remainder of his life), but not on the beaches, which by then, had been secured. I believe he was injured in the Netherlands. He also made it to Germany. By that time, after the Bulge, some German citizens, even kids, were shooting at Allied soldiers from their home windows.