dominicansoul Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Hey pham, I know here in America we remembered our soldiers just a few weekends ago... Well, today marks the 65th Anniversary of "Operation Overlord" better known as "D-Day" It was this battle that turned the tide of World War II. [img]http://www.historylink101.com/wwII_b-w/d-day/aerial/images/PICT4884.jpg[/img] It was an assault by air and sea and land. Many troops were flown silently towards the Coast of France in the wee hours of the morn in planes that had no motors. These "flying coffins" as they were dubbed, were attached to motorized planes, and cut at a certain altitude to slowly and silently drift over enemy lines and land behind enemy lines. Sadly, many of them crashed and soldiers were killed. And those that did land safely, landed far off their marks. It was chaotic, and a very dangerous gamble. But somehow our guys made it work. [img]http://www.historylink101.com/wwII_b-w/d-day/aerial/images/PICT4885.jpg[/img] Some of the paratroopers also were shot in the sky, many landed in the trees of Ste. Marie-Eglise and were killed by the Nazis, before they could even get out of their parachutes... [img]http://z.about.com/d/history1900s/1/0/a/4/dday4.JPG[/img] Many soldiers crossed the Channel on large transports and as soon as they were able, piled into landing crafts that flooded and took on water. Some of them sank before the soldiers could reach the beach. Many soldiers were shot and killed before getting out of these vehicles. The command was not to help the fallen soldiers, but to keep going.... the whole idea of Operation Overlord was "to keep soldiers going forward." But one soldier testified later, that a friend and comrade had been shot in the eye. His eyeball was hanging out to his cheek, and he struggled to swim with the heavy load he carried. This soldier could not ignore his fallen friend, grabbed him and placed him back on the landing craft, and kept going. How he was able to do this, he was not sure. They carried packs weighing 100 lbs. It was a heroic act. [img]http://www.rotary-sidcup.org/images/D-Day_on_the_beach.jpg[/img] Many of these guys were teens and in their early 20's. My dad was 19 at the time. Thank God he survived! But many did not... [img]http://z.about.com/d/history1900s/1/0/A/1/dday36.jpg[/img] [img]http://z.about.com/d/history1900s/1/0/u/4/dday33.jpg[/img] Please say a prayer for the repose of these men, and for those who are still alive. Thank God they were successful in finally stopping Hitler and Third Reich. These men are/were heroes and embody the true spirit of our democracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeology cat Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 My great-uncle was originally to be part of D-Day, but then got changed to the second wave, as it were, cleaning up after D-Day. My grandfather was a doctor at the Bulge and after the liberation of Dachau. These are just the ones closest to my heart, but they are heroes all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 I'm going to watch "The Longest Day" and "Saving Private Ryan" today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picchick Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 I am going to be part of a ceremony at a local military museum where they are unveiling a landing vessel from Normandy. Very neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominicansoul Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 [img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GK9vk5xxaSs/SRO77Ctuv4I/AAAAAAAACqU/Z6BG5pHnn9U/s400/Mass%20before%20Omaha%20Beach.jpg[/img] My dad said, on the journey towards France, soldiers became more somber and quiet. A great deal of prayers were going up to God. Soldiers were writing to their families. Mass was said on carriers, and the chaplains prepared these brave men for the battle ahead. They prayed for success, for protection... but they also prepared for death... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominicansoul Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 Some of the headlines 65 years ago today: [img]http://www.murdoconline.net/pics/nytdday-thumb.jpg[/img] [img]http://extras.newsandsentinel.com/images/1944_6_7_D_daySENT-01.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.pastforward.ca/perspectives/images/dday2.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.newsdesigner.com/blog/images/june04/nytddayt.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.atelierprav.cz/_cache/advocates/img/advocate_newspaper_3.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominicansoul Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 [img]http://southdakotapolitics.blogs.com/south_dakota_politics/images/2008/06/06/general.jpg[/img] Eisenhower's inspiring letter to his troops: [img]http://www.kansasheritage.org/abilene/graphics/ikesmessage.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominicansoul Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 there is a tremendous amount of information of this battle on the internet. These Google videos are very well done: [url="http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=d-day&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=2sIqSrf7HZuetwfcnP3rDw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#"]http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&...4&ct=title#[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin D Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Words cannot describe my level of gratitude (at least at 3:00am) that I have for the sacrifices those brave men made for our country and each other. I teared up earlier today just thinking about it... and it's sad how many kids today don't really appreciate what happened that day. May God have welcomed them in heaven with open arms, and comforted the families that lost their husbands, fathers, sons, family, and friends on the shores of Normandy. Rangers lead the way, all the way. Even into the beach hell of Normandy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hassan Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 My great uncle was in it. Although he never really talked about it until "Saving Private Ryan" came out. From what nI hear that's how it was for a lot of people who were there. Actually his unit was photographed in one of those iconic war pictures, but he missed it on account of his being injured shortly after the invasion and having to be rehabilitated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeniteAdoremus Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Thanks for kicking the Nazis out of our country, dudes At secondary school they showed us footage from 1943. With Nazi soldiers marching past [i]our school building[/i]. That made it pretty real to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle_eye222001 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Imagine your a soldier and your mission is to invade the beaches. You stand in boat in uncomfortable conditions for hours. You are deployed out a couple hundred feet from shore and as you swim to shore, you lose all your equipment. When you make it to shore, the only available equipment is from the dead soldiers who were in the front part of the invasion force. My Grandpa was at Normandy on the second day and had to get his equipment from the dead. He only talked about this once and it was in response to a question. He never brought it up again. I have seen the movie, The Longest Day, and read several books on D-Day and I often contemplate what it meant for the first guys on the beach. When you are in the front lines of an invasion force, your chance of making it through alive is next to zero. It was near slaughter on some beaches. Many men were brave and did their duty that day. ---------------- Now playing: [url="http://www.foxytunes.com/artist/matt+maher/track/come+to+the+water"]Matt Maher - Come to the Water[/url] via [url="http://www.foxytunes.com/signatunes/"]FoxyTunes[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominicansoul Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 [quote name='Paladin D' post='1885419' date='Jun 7 2009, 01:56 AM']Words cannot describe my level of gratitude (at least at 3:00am) that I have for the sacrifices those brave men made for our country and each other. I teared up earlier today just thinking about it... and it's sad how many kids today don't really appreciate what happened that day. [/quote] I didn't watch the news on d-day, only because I didn't want to see whatz hiz name dishonor Normandy with his presence... and i didn't care to hear his empty words... But my brother told me ABC was interviewing a WWII vet who was there 65 years ago. At the end of the interview, the vet told the reporter that he doesn't think america has learned anything about the sacrifice these men made. When the reporter questioned him as to why he feels this way, the vet told him, "we're slaughtering our citizens in the womb." ABC immediately went to a commercial... [quote name='Hassan' post='1885429' date='Jun 7 2009, 02:28 AM']My great uncle was in it. Although he never really talked about it until "Saving Private Ryan" came out. From what nI hear that's how it was for a lot of people who were there. Actually his unit was photographed in one of those iconic war pictures, but he missed it on account of his being injured shortly after the invasion and having to be rehabilitated.[/quote] my dad is the same way... he won't speak of his war experience in detail... only after watching "Saving Private Ryan" did he eek out some stories. They were quite horrifying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominicansoul Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 looks like Google posted yesterday's memorial on their videos website. What a shock to open up that website and see the prez' big face on the page... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 My dad as also one of those who wouldn't talk much about what he did during the war. Some of it is still classified. I think I learned more just by going to the VFW with him, and listening to him talk to the other guys. Having grown up listening to his nightmares, I'm probably better off for not knowing a lot of it. They did interview an interesting guy and his son on our news. He made the landing on Juno, and his son was born on DDay too. They went over together for the anniversary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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