Take a minute to remember, and say "Thank you". "You are about to embark on the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere are with you..." Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower June 6, 1944
Thanks for posting Buck. I was just about to. I am grateful for our Armed Forces everyday. There were a lot of great men lost on the beaches of France 58 yrs ago. Thank You. www.dday.org http://www.ddaymuseum.org
how frightening it must have been when those boats hit the shore and the big plank fell down in front of them.... what a debt of gratitude we owe.
Here's a great site that has soldiers first hand accounts of the "Invasion of Normandy." Excellent read for anyone interested: http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent1/?file=dday_index
There's also a new Discovery Channel special called "D-Day: Beneath the Waves" that revisits the events of that morning. http://www.calendarlive.com/top/1,1419,L-LATimes-TV-X!ArticleDetail-61806,00.html It airs again on Saturday at 12 noon.
I had family on those beaches. I used to thank them personally this time of year, but unfortunately they have now passed on. A war couldnt kill them, but age and cancer did. The one who died of cancer actually went the rout of a self inflicted gunshot wound. Always a fighter. Their brother My pop pop is the only one left in the great generation. Its kinda sad. I am thankfull that he satayed on the ships, and never hit a beach. Talk to your vetran relatives, they have stories to tell. stories that changed the world. Because all those men suffered on this day, hopefully I will never have to.
My great uncle was in D-DAY he didn't die but he spit up a bullet from that battle at the dinner table one night much respect to the people who fought for our country in any battle or war.
See that battle could have been worst b/c the germans where ready for the americans but they landed on a different part of the beach so where lucky that it was a mistake b/c alot more people would have died.
My grandfather was on Omaha beach on this day, he told me about it before he passed on...what a great man. If anyone would like to experience it in a PC game, Medal of Honor allied assault does a fantastic job recreating it. DaDakota
Thanks, Buck T., for this worthwhile thread. And thanks BobFinn* for the link. I will share an excerpt from one of the stories on that site: First Lieutenant James Posey Alford of Gonzales, Texas, led a platoon of M4 Sherman tanks with the 746th. He discussed his experiences with Roger Steinway in an interview for Military History. At the outset of the interview, Alford made one thing clear: "I'm no hero. The only reason I am sitting here today is because I never went gun to gun against a German tank. I was always very cautious with the lives of my men, and my life, too." However, the ride through Europe was far from uneventful. Alford commanded platoons of both medium and light tanks engaging the enemy from Normandy's hedgerows to the Rhine's Remagen Bridge. Military History: How did you come to join the U.S. Army? Alford: I am a genuine "Aggie," having graduated from the Texas A&M University ROTC program in January 1943. We were the first class at A&M not to take a summer break so we could finish early. I was trained as an infantryman at A&M, so I was surprised when my assignment was to the Armored Corps at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After training there, I was sent to the 14th Armored Division at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. MH: How did you do in the 14th? Alford: Not too well. I was a maintenance officer for the Headquarters Company, so I was under constant observation by the senior officers. Our commanding officer (CO) loved to chew people out for violating regulations. He carried an air gauge with him and would spot-check vehicles to see if tires were properly inflated. If they weren't, I would hear about it. An Aggie friend who was also serving with the 14th swears that my transfer out of Camp Chaffee was hurried along after I rode a bicycle onto the dance floor at an officers club party, dismounted and checked the air pressure of the tires in front of the colonel and the assembled officers and their wives, then climbed back on the bike and rode out. Shortly after that, I was declared a surplus officer. emphasis mine Thanks also to my father-in-law, an Aggie who fought in WWII and won the Silver Star in Italy. And thanks to my uncle who I never met, who was killed in the Battle of the Bulge.
Soldiers' Stories: Roy Arnn "I was one of the last ones off of the boat as we had to put a rubber raft, filled with plastic explosives, into the water so it could be taken to the beach. We waded in about 2 feet of the water to reach the beach. As I went through the obstacles I disposed of the plastic explosives that were on my back and chest and then hit the ground as a machine gun in a house to our left pinned us down. I was trying to get the mine detector out of the box but couldn't as the lid was jammed. There was no place to hide in the open and people in the house kept firing. As I got my rifle up to my shoulder to shoot, a tank came up out of the water. The gunner put a shell into the house. About the same time, a sniper shot at me. The bullet kicked sand in my face and passed under my left armpit, which caused me to flatten out. At the same time a shell from a German 88 artillery piece exploded near my feet. Had I not been flattened out, the shrapnel from the artillery shell would have probably killed me. Instead the shrapnel hit my right shoulder and leg. The explosion and concussion seemed to push me into the ground and knocked the breath out of me. The force of the explosion blew my helmet off and cut the corner of my left eye. I soon lost sight in my eye because blood was running into it. I turned to look back of me and tried to yell to Corporal Lee to get a medic. He looked at me with astonishment and started screaming for the medic as though he were hit. Max Norris was the medic and as he tried to get the rifle from my shoulder; it hurt something awful. I found out later that the scapula and clavicle were broken besides the deep wounds in my shoulder and leg. He took my first aid kit and gave me a shot of morphine, also some sulfa drugs then bandaged my shoulder and leg. I must have been one of the first ones hit as calls for medics started coming from all over. As I lay there wondering just how badly I had been hit, the tide water started to go around me from the incoming tide. I tried to get up and run or crawl to the high water mark, but I couldn't get my leg to work. I fell back down a couple of times." http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent1/?file=dday_0043p1
If all the Tanks didn't sink (27 out of 29) the unfortunate soldiers would have had the armor support they were suppose to get...Can you imagine 400 yards, no cover, no nothing, and you have to run towards the guns?!?! Thank you to the heros!
