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06.06.44 - gailtate - 06-06-2022

Lest we forget.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ7IKM-jiJI

RE: 06.06.44 - Phogge - 06-06-2022

A few who were there made it to Normandy this morning. God bless.

RE: 06.06.44 - BobK - 06-06-2022

My Dad being one who made it. And home.
His birthday June 7 ironic

RE: 06.06.44 - Phogge - 06-06-2022

If you haven't traveled to Normandy, Brittany, Bastogne et al it is worth the trip.

RE: 06.06.44 - BigEasyCard - 06-06-2022

(06-06-2022, 08:03 AM)Phogge Wrote:  If you haven't traveled to Normandy, Brittany, Bastogne et al it is worth the trip.

I second that.  In 2018 I went to Normandy on a tour organized by the National World War II Museum based in New Orleans.  The American Cemetery is hallowed ground.  And visiting the beaches and inland terrain gives a real appreciation of the magnitude of the accomplishment by the Allied forces.  I'm returning on a tour called Band of Brothers this fall and look forward to visiting Bastogne as well.

In the Spring of 2018, Jim Harbaugh took the Michigan football team to Normandy.  I met him at a Michigan event that Fall and asked him about the impact on the players.  He told us that the players found it really sobering to realize that many in the invasion force who went ashore that day and now rest in the American Cemetery were 18 to 23 years old.

RE: 06.06.44 - gailtate - 06-06-2022

Every American should walk the rows of graves at the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer.
9,338 at rest, 307 unknown.

RE: 06.06.44 - Phogge - 06-06-2022

Walked the cemetery, strode the beaches and Pointe du Hoc. Hiked throughout the hedgerow country, did day trips from a wonderful chateau outside of St. Lo. To us the most moving places were at Vierville, down the beach from Omaha where the town erected a memorial to the US Coast Guardsmen who were killed during the invasion and the little village of Ste Marie Du Mont where the 506th PIR engaged the Germans just south of Utah. The small museum at Arromanches to me was more powerful than the museums at St.Lo and Caen. A Higgins Boat graced the upper floor. The remains of the concrete piers manufactured in the UK are still visible there off shore.

RE: 06.06.44 - Giants - 06-06-2022

I concur with the thought that every American should take time to visit the Normandy beaches.  My wife and I made the trip several years ago.  What an experience.  Walking the beaches, trying to imagine what it was like was quite a sobering experience.  And, of course, visiting the cemetery above Omaha Beach.  Wow.

We also drove over to the German cemetery as well.  What struck both of us were the ages of the German soldiers who were buried there - many, many were younger than the Americans who died.  In terms of available manpower, it was evident that by 1944 Germany was reaching deep into male population to serve in the war.  

I found the museum in Caen to be a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by the troops.  The stories of the Medal of Honor winners were incredible.  (and I saw a number of items that my Dad brought home from his time serving in the Pacific theatre - same stuff; opposite side of the world)

RE: 06.06.44 - Phogge - 06-06-2022

War is hell. The sooner that you kill them all the sooner you get home. That's what a couple of uncles told me.

RE: 06.06.44 - dabigv13 - 06-06-2022

Eisenhower's speech was ok, but can't hold a candle to Patton's. Maybe Phogge's uncles were with him in the 3rd Army. 

Quote:No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton%27s_speech_to_the_Third_Army

And a hearty agreement that visiting Normandy is very inspiring and incredible. Was really something to walk around Point du Hoc and along the landing beaches. The food and nearby Bayeux tapestry also make it easy to recommend. Worth planning ahead which museums you want to go to....we pretty much stopped at every one we saw on the road and some were good, some less so.

Didn't plan ahead to see this either, but would like to the next time I can go. Point du Hoc's artillery was not active at time of D-Day, but just inland the German's did have an active battery at Maisy, and you can walk through their old trenches now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maisy_battery

RE: 06.06.44 - Phogge - 06-06-2022

The 506th's acting CO was Richard Winters. The CO was killed by German AA. Winters led an attack on Brecourt Manor, a German strongpoint. As of our trip it was still there. The action was studied at West Point for years. The Winters character is the center of the Band of Brothers story. If you go to the area I recommend watching the first few episodes which also includes the attack on Carentan, a key city in Normandy.

RE: 06.06.44 - winflop - 06-06-2022

(06-06-2022, 08:03 AM)Phogge Wrote:  If you haven't traveled to Normandy, Brittany, Bastogne et al it is worth the trip.
Went to Normandy one weekend when I was studying at our program in Tours. Same feeling as I had when I went to the Anne Franke House in Amsterdam, The Arizona Memorial, and Le Struthof concentration camp near Strasbourg. I couldn't even speak while I was there and not for the better part of an hour afterwards. Truly moving.

My kids are named after my grandfather, who trained torpedo bomber pilots, and his brother, who was a Screaming Eagle. I got my grandfather to talk about a small part of his experience once. My great uncle would never talk about it, even to his kids.

RE: 06.06.44 - Giants - 06-06-2022

Quite a number of WWII vets don’t like talking about their experience during the war.  I know my Dad and father-in-law talked very little.  All I know is my father-in-law was on general staff and was involved in mapping (he later was on the team that developed maps of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, something my wife found out about years after the fact).   My Dad was responsible for training teams of LST personnel in anticipation of the invasion of Japan (thank you President Truman for making the right decision).  Other than that, they never talked about the particulars of their responsibilities.

RE: 06.06.44 - BostonCard - 06-06-2022

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ampol_moment/status/1533840651351212036?s=21&t=Fwo52ZO4TT7oremOV8xzUw[/tweet]

BC

RE: 06.06.44 - Phogge - 06-06-2022

And was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

On Utah TR Jr. and his staff had a quick conference while looking at a map.

Basically he said, “We didn’t land where we were supposed to so we’ll start the war right here.”

RE: 06.06.44 - treetop11 - 06-07-2022

Thanks for the thread Gail. Won't repeat what others have said about visiting Normandy other than to not that on a three week trip to GB, Ireland and France, visiting Normandy was hands down the best for everyone in my family on a trip that was overall fantstic. You can't visit Normandy and leave without deeply feeling what humanity is all about.

RE: 06.06.44 - lex24 - 06-07-2022

Thanks, Gail. D-Day is being forgotten.  Including from those that should know better.

RE: 06.06.44 - JustAnotherFan - 06-08-2022

Wonderful moment in history when most Americans became antifascists. I concur that Normandy is a must visit for all Americans.

I visited in early 2003 when the many French people (justifiably imo) were deeply critical of US policy. I wouldn't say the folks in Normandy were on board with what the GWB administration was doing, but there was still a certain reverence for America that I did not find in other parts of France.

RE: 06.06.44 - gailtate - 06-08-2022

(06-08-2022, 03:43 PM)JustAnotherFan Wrote:  Wonderful moment in history when most Americans became antifascists. I concur that Normandy is a must visit for all Americans.

I visited in early 2003 when the many French people (justifiably imo) were deeply critical of US policy. I wouldn't say the folks in Normandy were on board with what the GWB administration was doing, but there was still a certain reverence for America that I did not find in other parts of France.

The parents of the people who still revered the U.S. (specifically, American GIs) in 2003 had living memories of 6 June '44. Their grandparents had living memories of American "Doughboys", you can be sure.  That's TWICE in a span of one generation (27 years) that the U.S. literally came to rescue of France.  Many of these shockingly young men didn't make it home. May their beneficiaries and their descendants never, ever forget.