62 years... - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**Joker** · 06-05-2006, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gen Dwight Eisenhower
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Forces:

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944. Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory.

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory.

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

in pace requiesat...

**space virgin** · 06-06-2006, 01:19 AM

My grandfather was taken as a POW at Normandy and held for almost a year. When he got out he weighed 85 pounds from eating nothing but boiled weeds (sometimes with worms in the dirt if they were lucky).

He didn't talk about it much.

**worldwidemike** · 06-06-2006, 03:00 AM

"The Day of Days..."
Good call, Joker. I always try to read a book dealing with WW II, watch a movie or whatever on June 6th...
I think I'll crack out the first two episodes of Band of Brothers...

worldwidemike

**Joker** · 06-06-2006, 09:52 AM

Gracias, Mike. I think I'll be watching that as well today...

**omisan** · 06-06-2006, 09:56 AM

This stuff makes me sad, though. I hearken for the good old days - before I was alive - when we went out for noble causes. *sigh*

**tumblezweedz** · 06-07-2006, 02:07 PM

On Memorial Day (well, that Sunday, actually), my husband flew a Missing Man formation over St. Avold cemetary in France. There was low cloud cover, but he happened (by pure fluke - or maybe divine intervention) to pull straight up into a little pocket of blue sky and disappear from view. Brought a lump to his throat, and great humility and thankfulness for all the sacrifices made, both then and now.

**SuDz** · 06-07-2006, 02:10 PM

Excellent post Joker. A lot of people got all caught up in the hype of the whole 666 thing and it went sort of unoticed this year it seemed.

SuDZ

**goyincognito** · 06-07-2006, 02:18 PM

They went through hell that defies anything our generation can dream up in our worst nightmares.

As a result of their incredible courage through unbearable suffering and pain and the inevitable triumph it brought, we don't have to endure such things ourselves.

Thank God for them. I hope I, personally, can learn something from their bravery.

**Joker** · 06-07-2006, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tumblezweedz@Jun 7 2006, 02:07 PM
On Memorial Day (well, that Sunday, actually), my husband flew a Missing Man formation over St. Avold cemetary in France.*

[snapback]124814[/snapback]

For those of you unfamiliar... St Avold holds the graves of 10,000+ American soldiers that died fighting in France, its the largest single American WWII cemetary in Europe.

Aerial view:

The cemetary at Omaha Beach, site of some of the bloodiest fighting on D-Day: over 3000 casualties on Omaha from V Corps alone. The 29th Infantry Division, which was mostly from the Mid-Atlantic and still HQ'ed (via National Guard) in Maryland, the 1ID, 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions. All told, Omaha alone saw 40K soldiers hit the shore. Omaha is the bloodiest of the beaches. More men lost their lives here than all other Overlord landing points combined, plus the casualties by the 101st and 82nd Airborne, who were 10-15 miles inland.

9,327 Americans are buried here.

Utah saw 23,500 Americans land, 200 casualties.

Juno, the Canadian beach, saw 15,000 land. 574 dead, 360 wounded.

Sword, the UK's beach, saw 29,000 land, but had 630 casualties.

Gold, the UK's other beach, saw 29,000 land, and about 400 casualties.

Anyone that has seen "Saving Private Ryan," or "Band of Brothers" can not even begin to fathom the sacrifice our grandfathers, and in some cases, great-grandfathers made on a day in June 62 years ago.