Normany Beach:

[sportsterpaul]

Every year on its anniversary the French caretakers travel to the beach and gather sand. They then return to the cemetery using the sand to scrub the names on the crosses in memory of the 9,000+ that sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom.
I did not know this and bow my head in a moment of silence to honor them. From one disabled veteran I salute everyone who has served, thank you!

[Andy56]

79th anniversary today.

Row after row all perfectly aligned. I was there last week.

[sportsterpaul]

Thank you for sharing that Andy, bless you!

[Steve9]

That's a fine picture.

We take so much for granted, good to remember.

[Stairman]

[Nibelungen]

i remember the stories of our grandfathers who served in Sicily during yours successfull operation Husky the year before that of the D Day... 9 july '43...

they told about a sky totally controlled by enemy planes... and the vastness of ships... in the thousands... spread through the sea...

no force in Earth could stop such powerful mechanism back then... soldiers thought what kind of fool could ever wage war against a so rich and powerful country
they crushed our defenses and bombed our cities... but it was Italy who declared war... because governed by a tyrant... not the other way round...
that force delivered us from evil... we started our civil war against fascism... and then the same force helped our economy after the war...

[ZTatZAU]

I don't recall where I came across this one-of-a-kind photo and I don't know anything more about it, other than the caption up top. But thought I'd share it here...



ZT

[skien]

They were the greatest generation as they say. My uncle landed on Dday he was a medic. The one thing and only thing he told me was one of the first things they did was find a rifle as I said the only thing he talked abount.

[ZTatZAU]

Originally Posted by skien

They were the greatest generation as they say. My uncle landed on Dday he was a medic. The one thing and only thing he told me was one of the first things they did was find a rifle as I said the only thing he talked abount.

I think that's quite typical, Skien! Many WWII era vets never spoke about their wartime experiences. I believe many, if not most, suffered from PTSD after the war, long before the condition was ever officially recognized, diagnosed, or treated. To a large extent, these vets were left to deal with it in their own ways.

My wife said she never heard her Dad speak a single word about the war; despite having served with the Army's First Division, making three separate amphibious landings and the ensuing battles from North Africa, then on to Sicily, and finally landing in the first wave at Omaha Beach on D-Day. After pushing their way up through France, Belgium, and into Germany, they headed back to the Ardennes to help push back the German's last gap armored offensive in the Battle of the Bulge before heading back east to Germany and later liberating a number of SS concentration camps in what is now the Czech Republic. He finished his active duty as part the the American Occupation Forces in Germany.

Shortly after our first child was born, my father-in-law came to our house for a visit. One of the first things he asked was, did I had a TV as there was a movie he wanted to watch that evening. I said sure and turned on our little black and white television only to see and hear a lot of snow and static until I gave it a routine side-arm whack to bring up the picture and sound. Without hesitation, he pulled out a couple of hundred bucks, handed it to me and told me to go buy ourselves a new TV. I was happy to do so and soon returned with a giant 27" color TV.

The movie he wanted to watch, it turned out, was the story of "The Big Red One" during WWII; from it's first landings in Algeria right through to the end of the war. As we sat quietly watching the movie, my wife for the first time ever, saw her Dad cry and his memories and emotions came pouring out as he told us about being one of only two soldiers who made it from his landing craft to the beach in Normandy.

God bless you Leroy! May you, and all who served with you, rest in peace. You truly were "America's Greatest Generation".
ZT

[Steve9]

Yeh
Four of my Uncles and my Father were WW2 vets

They spoke little of it

My one Uncle could have been in that picture-101 Airborne paratrooper, dropped behind the lines at Normandy
He got us boys throwing knives no handles, and showed us how to use them

That was the only reference he made to the war

They all came back thank God