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June 6, 1944

Never forget

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My FIL was in the second wave on the 2nd day. After advancing into France and then Germany, approximately 3 to 4 months, he was captured and was a POW for the balance of the war. Then liberated by the Russians and made to walk to Odessa to get picked up on a ship and sent to Italy where they tried to add some weight on him. (He was 6' tall and weighed only 110 lbs.) From Italy he was shipped back to New York on the Queen Mary.

It was very hard for him to talk about it but these are some of the details we did find out.
 
My FIL was in the second wave on the 2nd day. After advancing into France and then Germany, approximately 3 to 4 months, he was captured and was a POW for the balance of the war. Then liberated by the Russians and made to walk to Odessa to get picked up on a ship and sent to Italy where they tried to add some weight on him. (He was 6' tall and weighed only 110 lbs.) From Italy he was shipped back to New York on the Queen Mary.

It was very hard for him to talk about it but these are some of the details we did find out.
Stalag 13?? LoL
 
We were married on June 4. I've always been a military history guy and I never remember dates. So my wife would ask me when our anniversary was and I'd say June 6 because it's the only date in June I have basically on muscle reflex.
 
I'd like to think we'd never forget but we have/will. 9/11 already a distant memory for many. I still run into people who don't know who the participants of WW2 were.

Shoot there's active duty Army I work with don't know who Schwarzkopf is.
 
My grandpa served under Patton in the 3rd Army group. Was at the Battle of Bastogne aka Battle of the Bulge. Wish I could have met him. Bet he had some great stories. Died before I was born. Much respect to the greatest generation for all their sacrifices.

My wifes great grandfather the same unit. He was from NW Iowa. First time I went up there to meet the family he was the first to warm up to me because I was pretty much the only one in his family had any idea of what he had been through owing I was a history reader.
 
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My grandpa served under Patton in the 3rd Army group. Was at the Battle of Bastogne aka Battle of the Bulge. Wish I could have met him. Bet he had some great stories. Died before I was born. Much respect to the greatest generation for all their sacrifices.
Wow, my dad had a cousin that was in the same unit. My grandpa was is the war the end all wars WWI he would never talk about it except the mustard gas was nasty stuff
 
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My great grandma had 9 kids, 5 boys and 4 girls. She lost a son fighting in the European theater and one in the Pacific. All five served.
 
I know people were tougher back then but damn, I can't even imagine the boat ride across the channel. The amount of amazing stories that came out of that time period is mind boggling. And I think about what a tiny fraction probably got told and now will never be told.
 
We shall never forget.
My extended family sent many to the Military
Dad was called up with NE NG for WW1 He was sergeant in NG and came out Captain serving in Europe
Manny Uncles both sides of family, like wise cousins, 9 sibling each side so we had them to spare :)
Brother and I both Korea. he during activities me after in "Fightin Finance)" easy duty
Most notable was Uncle Everette and son Dwayne, as a team they wired up the major communications net work in SE Asia
They were from Fairbury
After the war Burlington RR hired them to wire up, mostly stations, get rid of teletype, brother joined them as a three man team
Like all old men I love to polish up my memories
No ataboys please, like many of you and your relatives we did our duty
 
I know people were tougher back then but damn, I can't even imagine the boat ride across the channel. The amount of amazing stories that came out of that time period is mind boggling. And I think about what a tiny fraction probably got told and now will never be told.
As rough as landing on the beaches was and the terror felt during the ride over in a Higgins boat, can you imagine being one of the Rangers that had to scale the 100-foot cliffs of Pointe du hoc with full gear while Nazis fired down upon you? Casualty rate was 70%. But they did it. Truly our greatest generation. Now, we witness our weakest every day.
 
As rough as landing on the beaches was and the terror felt during the ride over in a Higgins boat, can you imagine being one of the Rangers that had to scale the 100-foot cliffs of Pointe du hoc with full gear while Nazis fired down upon you? Casualty rate was 70%. But they did it. Truly our greatest generation. Now, we witness our weakest every day.

We shouldn't be too harsh. America has generally found a way to rise to the challenge. We havent faced anything as intimately challenging as scaling a cliff facing superior firepower since that time and place but we surely have folks today who would do so if the need arises.
 
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Apparently no thread on this board will ever again be safe from political dipshittery.

This thread? Seriously?
 
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Hiroshima doesn't have dems ruining their city RollingLaugh.
Now go ahead and post pictures of, oh, I don't know, every Republican led small town in the midwest that doesnt have a packing plant nearby. Sure wish those Republicans in my mom and dads small towns could have stopped the decline.

Or maybe Detroit fell victim to some of the same things that led to the population decline of rural America?

As long as were going to make this political let's discuss bravery and our president. Takes a pretty brave man to have your daddy pay off a doctor and fake bone spurs. Then to say years later your biggest regret is not serving in the military. Yeah, my biggest regret in life is not playing in the nfl. I had as good of shot of that as Trump did of actually fulfilling his patriotic duty.
 
Now go ahead and post pictures of, oh, I don't know, every Republican led small town in the midwest that doesnt have a packing plant nearby. Sure wish those Republicans in my mom and dads small towns could have stopped the decline.

Or maybe Detroit fell victim to some of the same things that led to the population decline of rural America?

As long as were going to make this political let's discuss bravery and our president. Takes a pretty brave man to have your daddy pay off a doctor and fake bone spurs. Then to say years later your biggest regret is not serving in the military. Yeah, my biggest regret in life is not playing in the nfl. I had as good of shot of that as Trump did of actually fulfilling his patriotic duty.
Your disgusting. Piss off you tool
 
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Your disgusting. Piss off you tool
Typical. Ignore the first post attacking Democrats in a D-day remembrance thread but attack me for responding. Your clearly the tool. I have the ability to conduct independent thinking. If people want to bring their pro-trump hatred into every thread then this is how it will be around here.

Or the pro-trumpers could just stop?
 
I'd like to think we'd never forget but we have/will. 9/11 already a distant memory for many. I still run into people who don't know who the participants of WW2 were.

Shoot there's active duty Army I work with don't know who Schwarzkopf is.
Seriously? WTF. I know of our famous generals and leaders. How could you NOT know of General Schwarzkopf?
 
I'm 81 and of course don't really remember the war. I now have a neighbor that is 97 and was a tail gunner in a bomber that flew missions all over. He doesn't talk about it much but he went on one of those honor flights back to Washington DC and he loved it.
 
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Seriously? WTF. I know of our famous generals and leaders. How could you NOT know of General Schwarzkopf?
I have his challenge coin that was given to me by him. I can't believe people don't know who Stormin' Norman was! That's toooooo funny!!
 
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