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God bless them, they saved the world. We can never forget their sacrifices.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgm53nqvndo
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgm53nqvndo
June 6th
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People today have no idea, how bad it got in places:
"For the men of A Company, 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division, the German fire was murderous. Landing at the "Dog Green" sector of Omaha, within five minutes of hitting the beach, the company was essentially wiped out, with 91 killed and 65 wounded..."
https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-men-and-guns-of-d-day-bloody-omaha/
"For the men of A Company, 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division, the German fire was murderous. Landing at the "Dog Green" sector of Omaha, within five minutes of hitting the beach, the company was essentially wiped out, with 91 killed and 65 wounded..."
https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-men-and-guns-of-d-day-bloody-omaha/
Most of the participants are gone now and the ones who remain are close to 100 if not older. I have been fortunate to know some of them including a German soldier who was captured by American soldiers and became a POW.
The ones that I knew are all gone now but I will never forget them.
The ones that I knew are all gone now but I will never forget them.
Nineteen of those, known as the “Bedford Boys” were from my hometown, that is why the D-Day memorial is located there.
Growing up I knew or knew of most of the families, no one spoke of D-Day, just too painful.
Read Sam Fuller's account of hitting the beach and you will be humbled and forever grateful for their sacrifice....
My dad was there. He said when they stepped into the water, it was red. And you had to push bodies out of the way to make the beach.
OP
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It’s hard to believe anyone made it off those beaches.
contender
Ruger Guru
I never forget this day.
RIP Uncle Freddy. 6/6/44 Normandy.
RIP Uncle Freddy. 6/6/44 Normandy.
contender
Ruger Guru
My Dad,, and 3 of his brothers served in WWII. Freddy was our only family casualty.
My Uncle was there, greatest generation for sure.
Praying we never forget the sacrifice those soldiers made for our freedom
Regarding D-Day. Just saw the movie "Pressure". They were going to go on June 5, but the weather would have pretty much destroyed them. There was a small weather window on June 6, which is why they went then. The movie is about making the decision to go or not go on the 5th and 6th. Good movie.
THE GREATEST GENERATION!
Some Gave All, All Gave Some
Some Gave All, All Gave Some
Few years back I watched some mini-series TV movie where Tom Selleck plays Eisenhower and they even made a scene that duplicated the famous picture of the General meeting with the men of the 101st airborne.... the thing is in the movie at least Eisenhower had just gotten an updated briefing of the estimated casualties that there mission would have ... it was pretty much all of them would either be killed or wounded. Of course he did not relay this to them...
My dad was right there with him, 3rd Army, 6th (Super sixth) armored division.My dad was a tank driver with Patton's 3rd Army {610th Tank Destroyer Battalion} and they landed on Utah Beach several weeks after D-Day.
Was at the Battle of the Bulge, Bastogne, the Ardennes, etc.
Wife and I saw it today. It was good, and even my wife enjoyed it although it’s not necessarily her thing.
Seeing Damien Lewis in a D-Day movie when he wasn’t playing Major Winters was odd, though.
Something not mentioned was not too long after the landings, a storm hit that was so bad it wiped out the artificial harbors that had been erected.
Baxter6551
Single-Sixer
My Father enlisted in 1939. When the war started he was a company clerk (buck Sgt) in Fort Drum NY. He ended the war a 1st LT having served in the Pacific. He was hospitalized with what we now know to be PTSD for a year in 1963. His experiences led him to be opposed to war. He never told me he was proud of me when I enlisted during Vietnam. He attempted suicide in 1975 while I was away in the Army and had another legnthy stay in the VA. I wish I could have helped with his demons but even in the 70s there was not the wide spread appreciation for the Veterans of WWII. I’m glad we do today and wish he had lived to see the country appreciate him and his comrades. As others noted, truly “The Greatest Generation”.
Attachments
Yea, the Mulberry harbors were badly damaged, but not totally destroyed. The saving grace in supporting the logistics needed to sustain the invasion was one of the unsung hero's of the day. The Landing Ship, Tank (LST).
Today would be the anniversary of the day my dad landed on Normandy, one day after. Said it was a terrible sight & he couldn't imagine what it looked like the day before.
~27 years later we were having discussions on my draft status & my options. After they were all laid out, he suggested I not volunteer for anything as no man needed to see what he had seen unless he had too. Wait for them to come and get ya, they will if they need you.
~27 years later we were having discussions on my draft status & my options. After they were all laid out, he suggested I not volunteer for anything as no man needed to see what he had seen unless he had too. Wait for them to come and get ya, they will if they need you.
I expect they were still picking up the pieces.....
Few years ago I was listening to an interview of a WWII Vet from S.C. and he was in a company that hit the beach and he calmly said that there were 120 of them and less than a minute later 15 of them were left.
Gwitness
Single-Sixer
Everybody remembers D-day...no one seems to remember the meat grinder the Pacific theatre was.....June 4th-7th 1942 Battle for Midway, the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
xTopGun
Buckeye
I'm thankful for their sacrifice. However, I fear that if ever there's another such war the current generations will not have the fortitude to overcome such tyranny . . . . . 
In the early morning hours of D-Day, June 6, 1944, my father had members of the 101st Airborne jumping out of his C-47 over France.
We lost him in 2000.
