June 6th 1944 D-Day

[Doomsday101]

June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight **** Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded -- but more than 100,000 Soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler.

http://www.army.mil/d-day/

 

[Longboysfan]

Hit the beaches and win.

 

[Doomsday101]

Hit the beaches and win.

Frankly one of the most amazing things I have seen. With German on the cliffs and an open beach front with no protection US, British and Canadian troops move towards the cliffs under heavy fire. How does one do this? I can't imagine the courage it took for these men to do this.

 

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

My Grandfather was there and in the first wave landing on Omaha Beach with the 1st Infantry or The Big Red One. He was a high school principal in Ozona Texas before joining the service. I've got an old news paper clipping framed on my wall that tells the story of him blasting a pill box (machine gun bunker) with a satchel charge after being lowered down by his feet. When he passed away I got all of his WWII souvenirs including a pewter shot glass, a Japanese prayer flag with bullet holes in it, a German infantry hat, and a M35 German helmet. He also had a Luger, but traded it before returning to the U.S. for a wooden ship wheel taken off a torpedoed troop ship sunk off Algiers. I had the wheel re-brassed and it's currently living above my fireplace.

 

[Doomsday101]

My Grandfather was there and in the first wave landing on Omaha Beach with the 1st Infantry or The Big Red One. He was a high school principal in Ozona Texas before joining the service. I've got an old news paper clipping framed on my wall that tells the story of him blasting a pill box (machine gun bunker) with a satchel charge after being lowered down by his feet. When he passed away I got all of his WWII souvenirs including a pewter shot glass, a Japanese prayer flag with bullet holes in it, a German infantry hat, and a M35 German helmet. He also had a Luger, but traded it before returning to the U.S. for a wooden ship wheel taken off a torpedoed troop ship sunk off Algiers. I had the wheel re-brassed and it's currently living above my fireplace.

I tip my hat to your Grandfather, he was a true hero in every sense of the word.

 

[jobberone]

Yes, hats off to your GF and to all the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice that day. What a generation of men and women.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

The History Channel 2, (H2) is showing all 10 episodes of "WWII in HD" marathon today. They just started Ep 4.

It's really a very well done series, with almost all of it in color.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Frankly one of the most amazing things I have seen. With German on the cliffs and an open beach front with no protection US, British and Canadian troops move towards the cliffs under heavy fire. How does one do this? I can't imagine the courage it took for these men to do this.

You just do. You and I think we couldn't but at the end of the day, those guys were no different than us, just put in a situation they had to deal with and did it.

I stood in a shell hole at Pointe de Hoc, damn it was huge.

 

[zrinkill]

I tip my hat to your Grandfather, he was a true hero in every sense of the word.

Yup

Those men were a different breed.

Loved hearing the old stories,

 

[CowboyGil]

I had a great Uncle who died on D-Day. He is buried in an American Cemetery outside of a small town in the Netherlands I believe. My niece visited his grave and said the people of the town care for the cemetery and clean the headstones. They treat it with great reverance and respect. I have a framed napkin that was his from Christmas 1943 at the base he was stationed at before shipping out.

 

[NorthTexan95]

My grandmother's brother died last week in his mid 90's. Back in April we visited my Grandmother for her 100th birthday. While there we read a bunch of letters he and another relative wrote back home during WWII. Some of the comments where hilarious about how they could get almost any girl they wanted and that the married men were worse than the single ones.

Then in one letter he mentions that they came to a concentration camp but he said nothing else about it. In a latter letter he writes a line about how they wouldn't believe what he saw at the concentration camp. That's all he ever wrote about it, he never went into details, and supposedly he never talked about it when he returned.

One day we'll get these letters scanned electronically but for now it's facinating to handle these old letters and read them.

 

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

I had a great Uncle who died on D-Day. He is buried in an American Cemetery outside of a small town in the Netherlands I believe. My niece visited his grave and said the people of the town care for the cemetery and clean the headstones. They treat it with great reverance and respect. I have a framed napkin that was his from Christmas 1943 at the base he was stationed at before shipping out.

That could be The Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten. It's the only burial ground in the Netherlands and has over 8000 soldiers buried there and is huge. It sounds like your Uncle was probably buried by the community in a local cemetery instead. Airborne troops got scattered all over France, Belgium, and the Netherlands due to inclement weather and anti aircraft fire. Thousands missed their LZ and landed in small towns across western Europe. If you were killed there chances are your body wouldn't be retrieved and locals took it upon themselves to bury the dead. It's nice to hear the residents of the Netherlands haven't forgotten the sacrifice the allies made the way the French have.

 

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

You just do. You and I think we couldn't but at the end of the day, those guys were no different than us, just put in a situation they had to deal with and did it.

I stood in a shell hole at Pointe de Hoc, damn it was huge.

Yeah those guys were way different than us. They're called "The Greatest Generation" for a reason...because they were. I just looked at my desk calender and noticed there is nothing on June 6th. This month has Flag Day, Fathers Day, Summer Begins, and St. Jean Baptiste Day listed but not one of the most important days in the history of the world. That is the generation we live in now.

 

[WV Cowboy]

I tip my hat to your Grandfather, he was a true hero in every sense of the word.

Yes he was, .. and I tip my hat to JIMMYBUFFET for showing him the honor and respect that he is due.

A lot of people don't.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

My grandad landed on Utah beach with the 4th Division. He was in the 42nd Field Artillery. He never wanted to talk about the war much, but he did tell me that before D Day they would all load up in the ships every night before the actual invasion. He said most of the guys were joking around with the Brits about seeing them in the morning - not realizing this was the real thing rather than an exercise. He said they couldnt tell the guys this was the real thing until they were halfway across the channel.

My grandad survived the invasion and eventually made it home after the war. He and his jeep driver were the first Americans into Belgium. He was at the Battle of the Bulge. He lived to be 96 and is buried at Arlington.

That time was just a way of life for that generation. I dont fully comprehend what it was like for my grandmother, and my dad and his sister living here and always wondering how their dad was. They would get letters and of course sit around the radio to get updates.

For me the war is a nostalgic kinda thing. For that generation it was reality.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Yeah those guys were way different than us. They're called "The Greatest Generation" for a reason...because they were. I just looked at my desk calender and noticed there is nothing on June 6th. This month has Flag Day, Fathers Day, Summer Begins, and St. Jean Baptiste Day listed but not one of the most important days in the history of the world. That is the generation we live in now.

A good circular argument.

People born say 1915-1926 are really not much different from us today. They went through an economic downturn and then had to go to war. If there were a war today, those born say 1983-1995 would do the same as that generation.

Are we softer, perhaps, but that is just a benefit of progress and comforts but deep inside us, the tougher side is still there and we could do what they did if necessary.

 

[WV Cowboy]

Are we softer, perhaps, but that is just a benefit of progress and comforts but deep inside us, the tougher side is still there and we could do what they did if necessary.

Wow, now that is some big talk!

I don't see becoming softer a benefit at all, .. and personally I don't think a lot of kids today could make it through boot camp, much less Normandy Beach.

 

[CashMan]

Wow, now that is some big talk!

I don't see becoming softer a benefit at all, .. and personally I don't think a lot of kids today could make it through boot camp, much less Normandy Beach.

I don't necessarily think people went through boot camp then, like they do now. I think then, it was to prepare you for the war, now if you don't pass, you wash out.

I also don't think you can compare the two, by implying we are weaker now. If WW3 started, and we as Americans did not do the same or better as the people who were involved in WW1 or WW2, then I would agree with the argument.

 

[CashMan]

yeah because a history major would have nothing to say about that day and of course because what I wrote was so offensive

I think the shots at you, probably have more to do with the country you are from, rather than your comment.

 

[burmafrd]

I don't necessarily think people went through boot camp then, like they do now. I think then, it was to prepare you for the war, now if you don't pass, you wash out.

I also don't think you can compare the two, by implying we are weaker now. If WW3 started, and we as Americans did not do the same or better as the people who were involved in WW1 or WW2, then I would agree with the argument.

do a little research before you post next time

to be brutally frank we are weaker now. More pampered; more protected; awash in prescription medications for everything and everyone; offended by sports team titles; the list goes on and on.

Tom Brokaw was absolutely right in calling that group the greatest generation. They lived through the great depression and the most terrible war in history then built the US into the world power its been since. They were tougher and harder then any generation since because they had to be to survive.