Great job starting this thread FJF , and I am forever grateful to all who were there that day and served. Once again the # of acknowledgements compared to views of this thread astounds me to no end,,,,,,sad.
Maybe a moderator or admin. can merge last year's with FJF's? That way it will have the higher visibility it deserves (more total posts). There was also another one that I started back in '06, I believe, perhaps maybe some more by some other members? I should PM Cman,and perhaps when he's not too busy he can track them all down and merge all of them. Hopefully there's not just three. I know there are a few different Memorial Day threads (not just the recent one) that go way back, perhaps those can be merged as well? Where the hell did that soldier get a tophat?! LMAO.
Look at the soldier towards the middle. If he's a day over 15, then I'm a monkey's uncle. Looks like a mix of Canadians and Americans (?). EDIT & P.S.: Canadians and Belgians? Americans and Belgians? I'm just not sure. I hope someone will know and correct it. I'm sticking with Americans in the back, though.
Gruesome, I know; but I found it very meaningful. If a mod thinks it's inappropriate, please feel free to remove it.
I've mentioned before how our idiot basement used to flood in Flushing (really old Titans/Jets memorabilia damaged or lost). One victim - or victims, I should say - of one those idiot floods was my Mom's 'Screen' magazines. She managed to salvage a large number of them, but they are rapidly deteriorating, and you have to be EXTREMELY careful when you turn the pages. They span from 1938 - 1947. Basically what they are are synopsis//summary/mixed with actual transcripts from whatever films came out that month, and interviews and photos of Hollywood stars. Betty Grable, Gary Cooper, Bette Davis, Rita Hayworth, Tyrone Power, Shirley Temple, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Katherine Hepburn, Eva Gardner, Marlene Dietrich, Clark Gable, Maureen O'Hara, Jean Tierny, etc. and also a ton of B-listers (but the B-listers were never on the cover). It's mind-blowing how many films Pervywood churned out on a monthly basis. The magazine was basically geared towards teen girls/early 20s women demographic (some of the ads are absolutely hilarious and some are 100% WWII related). I was considering selling them a few years ago. Even in their degraded condition, I could get a pretty penny. I changed my mind. They're time pieces. You can kind of trace the progression of the War through them simply on the movies that were being released year by year. My Mom was kind of a loner, and she would go to a matinee by herself every Friday after school. She adored going to the movies. Before the feature film, they would show you the news - primarily about the War. Propaganda in some ways, urging people to enlist in other ways, not to waste electricity, public morale, donate your broken down car (and not a lot of people owned cars) because they needed they needed the steel. Anyway, lucky me, 'Rosie the Riveter' is on one of the back covers, also along with some great Chesterfield cigarette ads. Will try to scan in sometime.
Canadians being unloaded at Juno Beach. Yes, I would've shit my fckn pants. EDIT & P.S.: It is so poignant to me when that soldier patted his fellow soldier on the back as if to say it will be alright, you'll make it. You can clearly see his wedding ring. I hope they both made it.
Note the pack of "Lucky Strikes" (heh). The soldier back left looks nervous. The soldier front left is all F the Krauts, I laugh in the face of death. The guy on the right is saying, "Hi, Mom!" The soldier in the middle? FML. The guy way in the back right has one helluva war face on. Great, great photo.
U.S. troops headed towards Omaha Beach and about to storm it. I wish watermelon head Peyton Manning's 'Omaha, Omaha, Omaha!' was in deference to it. "I know a lot of people ask what Omaha means," Manning continued, "and it's -- Omaha is a run play, but it could be a pass play or a play-action pass depending on a couple things: the wind, which way we're going, the quarter and the jerseys that we're wearing. So it varies, really, play to play, so, that's -- there's your answer to that one." It was right there, you idiot.
