The 80th anniversary of D-Day

[Baron Scicluna]

80 years ago today, Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy. I found this really good thread on what the parachutists had to go through on that day.

 

[Big Circus]

Was watching a local news report on the commemoration ceremonies and they said this might be the last year they have any living veterans.

 

[Neutral Corner]

80 years ago today, Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy. I found this really good thread on what the parachutists had to go through on that day.

One of uncles was one of them. He made three combat drops during WWII. Came out as a PFC. In Army terms he "wasn't a good garrison soldier", which translates as he got drunk and into fights too often. The other uncle was an artillery officer under Patton.

Bless 'em all. Brave, brave men.

 

[Liut]

I cannot begin to imagine the fear these men must have felt ... and the courage they possessed.
+1 what Neutral Corner just wrote.

 

[Neutral Corner]

Was watching a local news report on the commemoration ceremonies and they said this might be the last year they have any living veterans.

D-Day: US veteran, 102, dies on journey to France for anniversary

 

[Justin_Rice]

My Great Uncle, died fighting with the 82nd on D+5.

 

[Huggy]

My uncle was in the British Army for the duration of the war in Europe, my old man said he knew he fought in North Africa and Italy (and also found time to be an army boxing champion as a middleweight) but had few other details as he never spoke of his wartime experience. (He walked with a limp after being shot in the foot in North Africa.) At his funeral we found out he also landed in Normandy so he'd hit all the hot spots. A few years ago I got a FB message from a woman who knew my old man and his siblings in their little town outside of Glasgow and asked if I was related. I said I was and she said she was only a child but remembered what a big deal it was when my uncle came home from war.

My old man was drafted into the British Army in 1953 and said he spent three years in Germany and Holland doing little more than playing soccer against the locals. He always made it abundantly clear that he did nothing in the service, he'd always say, "Your uncle Billy did enough for a dozen men." My old man was a legit hard man, a Glasgow street thug, but the only person I ever knew him to be afraid of was his brother.

 

[Justin_Rice]

My uncle was in the British Army for the duration of the war in Europe, my old man said he knew he fought in North Africa and Italy (and also found time to be an army boxing champion as a middleweight) but had few other details as he never spoke of his wartime experience. (He walked with a limp after being shot in the foot in North Africa.) At his funeral we found out he also landed in Normandy so he'd hit all the hot spots. A few years ago I got a FB message from a woman who knew my old man and his siblings in their little town outside of Glasgow and asked if I was related. I said I was and she said she was only a child but remembered what a big deal it was when my uncle came home from war.

My old man was drafted into the British Army in 1953 and said he spent three years in Germany and Holland doing little more than playing soccer against the locals. He always made it abundantly clear that he did nothing in the service, he'd always say, "Your uncle Billy did enough for a dozen men." My old man was a legit hard man, a Glasgow street thug, but the only person I ever knew him to be afraid of was his brother.

My grandfather - brother to my great uncle who was killed - always dismissed questions about medals and so on and was just like, "Purple heart? Shot in the ass ... Mostly worked unloading gear in the rear."

I started doing some digging last year. Turns out his Silver Star was awarded (after he had already received a battlefield commission) for swimming across a river in Germany in March, 1945 - twice! - to scout enemy positions. If I could go back in time 30 years, I'd love to ask more questions about it ...

 

[Justin_Rice]

 

[Huggy]

I remember as a teen asking the old man about his brother's war service and he said, "You can ask but he won't tell you anything." I did hear, some years after he died, that in his later years my uncle attended a few receptions with German veterans in the Toronto area.

 

[Huggy]

View attachment 17696

That's a real man, there.

 

[Justin_Rice]

That's a real man, there.

On my bucket list is a trip to Germany to try to find the general location where this happened. I'm guessing the Jagst River in early April was cold AF.