75 years ago

[eaglescout526]

Now I know y’all probably have very little info about who I am and what my likes are. Well here’s one of them. I’m a huge history buff and WWII fan. 

Well today 75 years ago the brave men and some women who enlisted under the allies landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6th 1944 to liberate France from the clutches of the Third Reich. Some might know this but there were three other operations along side overlord. Neptune, Bodyguard and fortitude. Neptune was the largest seaborn invasion since the landings of Gallipoli in WWI. Fortitude was the operation to safe guard the D-day landings information from the Nazis and bodyguard was the operation that pissed off Gen. Patton and used him along with the inflatable decoys to fool the nazis into a land invasion that will occur in Belgium. 

Today we shall remember and honor what all those men and women did on that day and the life they gave to ensure the world would not be in the fist of the Third Reich. 

 

[87MJTIM]

I had 5 uncles server - 3 in the Pacific and 2 in Europe.  One of them - Julian - was killed in France in Aug. He was not part of the first wave.  He landed in July.  His unit turned west to capture the Cherbourg peninsula.  All of them are gone, including a 6th that served in Korea.

[Eagle]

I took an adult ed tour of the Normandy beaches with my then-GF in 1994, at the time of the 50th anniversary. Seeing the beaches, seeing the terrain and the way the German defenses were set up, visiting Pointe du Hoc ... it's amazing that any of the Allied troops made it ashore.

 

My father served in WW2, but not in Europe. He was sent to India and then into China.

[eaglescout526]

Neat!

87, I will keep your uncles in my mind as I go through the day. 

Eagle, it truly is amazing we even pulled off that landing. Britain was highly against another sea based invasion after what happened at Gallipoli and Churchill had a hard time living that down. It took our generals to convince Britain to aid in the operation. 

 

[13 Legion]

When I first moved in I noticed my next door neighbor had POW license plates. I too am a bit of a history buff. I later found out he was captured by the Germans at the Battle of the Bulge. Now I didn’t want to seem overzealous to question him about his experience and I also at the time had two German Shepherds ( Rommel and Otto) so I wasn’t sure how he’d respond me questioning him. After a week of friendly hellos I finally got my courage up to ask him. I just had to know because of what it must have took to surrender, all the stories, from both sides, just lining up prisoners and shooting them. I asked weren’t you scared to surrender? He told me, ‘we had no ammo, no food and hardly any men. A lieutenant came down the line and said we were surrendering.’ He was sent to a POW camp   around Christmas of 44 and released around Easter of 45. He said to this day he would never eat sauerkraut. They treated him ok he said but the Russian prisoners didn’t fare as well. The Germans would take them out of the camp and they never returned. He said a Russian soldier had given him a medal as a keepsake before he was marched out to meet his fate. I’ll tell you I couldn’t have asked for more honorable and sweeter neighbors than Norman and his wife Martha Schoon. You are both missed. I honor you today Sir for your sacrifice, those that served and to all those who never made it back home. To the greatest generation... a sincere and heartfelt Thank You.

[Pete M]

My mom's dad saw the 70th anniversary and would have loved to be around for this one for sure.  He came ashore a couple days after D-day attached to an engineering battalion building/rebuilding bridges for the rest of the war.  He wore his WW2 hat everywhere the last couple decades of his life.  

 

My dad's dad fought in the Pacific.  I don't know much about his experience except for the last day of active participation in the war when his platoon got ambushed and he took a round to the gut and one through the wrist, but the BAR he was holding took 2 more rounds that were meant for him. 

[Keyav8r]

This nation, as well as all of Eastern Europe, owes a debt to that generation that can never sufficiently be repaid.  We are free because they fought, were wounded and died for us.  Those who came home were greeted as the heroes they are/were.  Unfortunately, the later effects on their minds and personalities of the things they saw and did were not recognized at the time.  Many WWII survivors, such as my father and uncle, never spoke much about their experiences until late in their lives.  Some never recovered their former lives.

Many others of later generations have since fought other wars.  Some of them (Vietnam) were not universally welcomed home and recognized for their sacrifices, others (Korea and the Middle East) have been recognized to a lesser or greater degree.  All who serve our country should be recognized for their service regardless of the “popularity” of the conflict or the “spin” by politicians and the media.

We now recognize PTSD as an after effect of combat and are belatedly working to help our heroes deal with it and return to “normal” lives after their service.  

Personally, every time I see a member of the armed services, a law enforcement officer, or other serving in public safety I thank them for their service,p.  If I can’t speak to them in person,  I say at it in my heart and mind.

If you have served or are serving, Thank You for my freedom and safety.  If you have not served, remember that others have sacrificed for us and thank God for them and ask Him to bless them and their families.