06-06 80 YEARS AGO

[Grizz]

An incredible investment of blood and treasure was made to preserve western civilization and . . .

I wonder about lots of stuff, but the sheer opposition to totalitarian genocide is amazing...

But now I am astonished at the universal championing of totalitarian genocide...

Kudos to all the soldiers who went, and didn't come back, RIP
Kudos to all the champions who made it back, RIP

[Bill in Oregon]

Here is another side to that story that I was unaware of until this morning. Note that the French victims still love us for our boys' great sacrifices.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/alli ... rcna154463

[Drawdown]

I truly Salute, say Thank You to all who served in anyway, honor those who died, their families in my prayers!
My Dad, landed on Saipan I believe, 6/15/44, (D-Day in the Pacific), USMC 2nd Marines, there thru entire campaign plus other afterwards! He'd just turned 17 few months before Saipan. That was our first time to step foot on Japanese soil in an invasion, just as In Europe we'd be in Germany aprix sime time as in Japan! He was on one the first ships to land in Nagasaki less than 2 weeks after the Abomb.
My Grandpa WWl Army, uncles in service, my dad's older brother in Army after HS, them after that joined Marines.
My oldest brother a Marine, killed 11/9/67 in Vietnam.
I verbally always said from time I was 8, that I would become a Marine. But while in HS, they'd even done away with the draft, pretty much peace all over, and I just couldn't devote to military it seemed under those circumstances! But I wanted to serve my country still. Coal Mining boomed in mid 70's, and I graduated in 77. I was and still am a believer in doing what was best! I'd done well in HS, grades, and I'd already been excepted for at least 2 years, free including books, to college, Mining Technology and Engineering. Few weeks before classes was to start, I determined I was going to work, si started underground Mining 9/6/77, but had already started at surface mining 1 week after I graduated, and actuallyin 76 when ever i wasn'tin school! I worked 39 years underground plus a year surface, and never went one day without a job until I had to retire 9/1/16. I still wish I'd been in military but my line work was a lifelong battleground, only days I missed was during a number hospitalizations, hurt, couple times almost killed! I don't regret none of it, Thank Lord for it, and all who served their families and countries and God best they could!

[oldebear1950]

GOD BLESS ALL THOSE THAT SERVED THEN , THE ONES WHO DID NOT COME HOME AND THE ONES WHO DID.
i evtered the service on 04/04/1968 and served till 02/28/1989, and was blessed that I did not have to go to war, But did loose relatives and friends to Vietnam war. I also lost relatives to WWII, and Korea.
My family was a family who served,
I retired from the US COAST GUARD, a brother retired from US AIR FORCE, and another brother served in the US ARMY.

None of us went to war, but we served.

[Griff]

Served, my father-in-law, father and step dad both served, my son served, & most of my friends served. Whether one saw combat or not, was never a choice, even among those that volunteered for it, it wasn't a given. We all signed the same blank check. I imagine that those of us that did, wished we hadn't. All deserve the same respect. Never forget, can't. 'Nough said.

[Ysabel Kid]

D-Day musings…

It was 1998 (yes, I know, well past D-Day), and I was a relatively new in sales for the company I work. I was in Atlanta seeing customers, and had my evening free, so decided to go to see the new movie, “Saving Private Ryan”. I had heard that people had been warned that the first 20 minutes or so, depicting the assault on D-Day, was very intense and may be too much for young children – but especially for older veterans who were actually there. The movie started, and I did see several older men come in after that initial scene had passed.

Later in the year I was visiting with my uncle, himself a D-Day veteran, and I asked him if he had seen the movie. He said he had, and had watched the entire thing. He found the overall story “entertaining”. I asked him what he thought about the opening scene, and his simple reply was that this was as close to reality as Hollywood had ever gotten depicting the beach at D-Day.

My uncle really didn’t talk about his experiences in World War II when I was young. Like so many of his generation, they were quiet heroes. He was also raised at a time that the horrifying details of war were not something one shared with women or children. Certainly not with your kid nephew. But now with me as an adult (in theory, anyway), he started to share stories. We stayed up until 3:00am that morning talking. I will never forget that night.

There are less than 200 living Americans left who fought at D-Day, and their average age is now over 100 years old. My uncle passed in 2020 at 96 years old… he would have been 99 this anniversary. He made many trips back to Normandy around 6 June over the years to honor those who never left the beach.

[RIHMFIRE]

THOSE WERE SOME REAL AMERICAN MEN!