Brietbart-
“June the sixth is the price of freedom”, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at the American War Cemetery in Normandy, France on Friday morning.
Veterans, dignitaries, and members of the public gathered in Normandy on Friday morning to commemorate the Normandy Landings that began on D-Day, June 6th 1944. The largest amphibious invasion in history, the landings opened a new front in the Allied war against Nazi Germany and opened a path for the invasion of Germany. more
I’m pretty sure if you told my grandfathers the rats they fought and died to save. Now consider me and anyone who likes me just as bad, if not worse then the nazis. They would have switched sides.
I can never thank them enough for what they did back then.
Wish younger people understood what was sacrificed for them.
I grew up with WW2 veterans and remember the stories and advice.
I consider myself privileged for what they taught me.
God bless them all.
Comprehending what they went through is something I’ll never be able to do; my lifetime of tame experience is simply inadequate.
God bless my late father (1918-2012), too. He was a submarine officer (USNA ’42) somewhere in the Atlantic on D-Day. He never did talk about what his WWII experiences were. I can’t really comprehend that, either.
Those young guys being mowed down when the Higgins Boats dropped their ramps is one of the saddest spectacles in world history. And what did we learn? Open helicopters in Viet Nam and Unprotected Humvees in Iraq.
My Father-in-law, 1915-1988, USN 1940-1945 was stationed aboard the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor in December 1941. He had shore leave that weekend so he work rescue and recovery for 72 hours straight after the attack. At that time he was a radio officer and, in addition to English, he spoke French, German, Spanish and a bit of Italian. Obviously the Navy put him in the Pacific.
Once war was declared he was moved to the Atlantic and, later was aboard one of those ships supporting the D-Day invasion. I learned all of this from my Mother-in-law since her husband never talked about his wartime experiences.
My Dad told me something several times that he never thought could belong to a “trained” enemy who fired at his front-leading Bear Cat, as he was the Squadron Leader during the Pacific Theater.
He said that they would fire directly at his Bear Cat but by the time the artillery reached the squadron, it took out the fighter pilots behind him. He just couldn’t believe anyone was that stupid. From then on, he knew we would win.
There were a lot of his buddies still alive who attended his funeral at the chapel in ’97 at Arlington Cemetery where he and my Mother are buried.
God Bless the United States of America.
None of my relatives were at D-day, but I had three uncles who were all seriously injured in either the European or Pacific theaters. All of them kept their experiences to themselves. RIP uncles Frank, Harry and Scotty.
I’m awed by the unvarnished, clear-eyed patriotism displayed by our young Americans in WWII. And those who served and fought gave no quarter to those American armchair observers who doubted America’s involvement. I think the scene in “The Best Years of Our Lives” where the Airman confronts the lunch counter subversive best describes what I’m saying.
I met an older gentleman who was the owner of a flower shop in Moscow, Idaho about 20 years ago when I was delivering flowers to his florist shop. He was part of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, and survived that battle and went on to fight the Nazi’s in Europe until the end of World War 2. Talking to him and this was just after the 9-11 attacks on NYC, he told me that he hated war because of what he had seen and experienced in the Army during W W 2. he died a few years ago, he was a great man from the greatest generation.
I’ve seen that D-Day picture of those brave guys about to hit the beach many times.
Most of the men are looking left – one guy is looking to the right. Maybe he was a little more of an independent thinker. Outside the box sort of guy.
They all had great courage and that’s the main thing.
My Daddy was there +2 and rarely spoke of it! Aircraft sheet metal mechanic who saw more at 21 than I can ever imagine. I miss him dearly.