The Day of Days

[2ndovc]

I've been fascinated by D-Day since I saw "The Longest Day" on tv as a kid. Since then I've been any book I can find on the landings. Plans to visit the beaches were put on hold for the last few years. Hopefully, I will get there in the next year or so.

[Old No7]

As I get older, I keep thinking about how young they were.............

It's a reminder for all of us to: "Earn This"

Old No7

Day At The Beach.jpg

[gamekeeper]

Living near the South coast I am never far from reminders of of that momentous time in both our histories, the sacrifices made by so many must never be forgotten.

finaldays3-1024x737.jpg

Click to enlarge photo.

[Grizz]

I lost an uncle there, . . . I imagine there are very few American families that did not sow blood in that ground. . . . †

[.45colt]

The Older I get the more it sinks in as to the level of Sacrifice not only of the GI's but Americans as a whole to win the war. God Bless Them All. I don't think it could ever happen again.

[TraderVic]

One of the fellows that worked in my state office (USDA-SCS, WI) was a soft spoken Forester. He retired in the early 80's (he lived to 95) and when I read his obituary I was floored.
He was a paratrooper with the 506 PIR and jumped Into Normandy. If you have read or seen the Series "Band of Brothers", you know the whole story.
George never talked about this, nobody knew.

[Ysabel Kid]

My uncle was there. Landed with Company F, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division in the 1st wave at Omaha Beach. He was a medic and very busy that day. Of the almost 200 men in the company, only 50 or so made it off the beach alive. He made it through the entire war, had a very full life, and passed away in 2020 at the ripe old age of 96. At 20 years old on the beach they called him the "old man". Unreal.



The photo above is from the book, "The Long Line of Splendor, 1742 - 1992" (The genealogy of a Regiment, the 116th Infantry, the “Stonewall Brigade”), page 120.

[2ndovc]

Jay, thanks for posting that. Throughout Ambrose's books, and others I've read when a veteran is being interviewed, many of them would say something similar to "the bravest man I ever saw was, ", and would go on to mention the name or nickname of the company medic.

When I was younger working for my dad's construction co. I met a lot of WWII vets. Some would tell some stories and some wouldn't. One D-Day vet told me that he was hit as he made his first step onto the beach, loaded back up, sent to one hospital after another, and then home. Said that Kraut doin' the shootin' that day, did him a huge favor.

One of the coolest, and nicest man we'd ever worked for was a man named Auten Hoff. He was one of Merril's Marauders. He would stop by and talk a few times a year. He wouldn't tell us any stories about being in combat, but other things about life in the South Pacific. He wasn't a big fan of Gen. Stilwell.

Jason