Meant to do this yesterday . . . I would've puked and crapped my fckn pants at the same time. Please don't politicize. Thanks in advance.
The Greatest Generation, unfortunately the list of surviving veterans from that day is dwindling fast with most of them in the mid 90's. Glad you started this thread @jetophile but I am sad that no one else remembered it yesterday.
I was part of the 50th anniversary celebration of d day back in 94 while in the navy,well the ship I was on was. Sitting off the coast of omaha beach and thinking about what they did that day will give you chills at the minimum.
I am sorry I did not start the thread and replied so late,,,,Jetophile nice job ! The guys that stormed that beach were a different generation indeed,,,,,,I am certain that no one burned the American Flag back then either but I stray!
think about the odds of you even making it to the sand and even being able to take a few steps more. ballsy motherfuckers.
Unreal to imagine to courage and sacrifice that was demanded, especially when one considers that these were mostly young kids. Truly heroic. RIP to all who perished and a profound Thank You to all who participated.
Although I'm British, I lived on the Cotentin peninsula for a few years and took my kids back to the area a couple of years ago as a sidetrack on holiday. Visited Utah Beach, St Mere Eglise and the La Fiere bridge which was the inspiration for the bridge in Saving Private Ryan. There's something awe inspiring in those places. You can't help but be moved by it.
Eddie Albert (died at 99) got a Bronze Star for badassery. Not D-Day related, but I was just looking to see if Leon Cooper (97) was still cursing like a sailor (hah) because I love him (and yes, thankfully, he still is f-bombing away). It turns out that Eddie Albert saved 70+ Marines on Tarawa. I vaguely remember my Daddy saying something about it, but I'll never look at 'Green Acres' the same way again. Yes, The Water Boy, they are dropping like flies. Wilburn Ross died in May. : ( Richard Overton is still alive at 111. You read that right, 111. Last I heard, he was hospitalized for pneumonia again. Please keep putting whiskey in your coffee, Sir. It got ya this far. 111, GTFO. Probably one of my favorite WW II kickass mofos is Daniel Inouye. Holy Mother of Shitness. RIP Captain Hook. And of course, Richard (Dick) Winters. Anyway, I have a few cool WW II stories to share. They're pretty neat.
Thanks for sharing. I remember several years ago there was a big to do because trees in Normandy that American soldiers who were still stationed there during 'clean up' (euphemism) and afterwards had carved doggerel into many of the beech trees in the forest (their names, the names of their girlfriends, wives, hearts, the state they were from, etc.) Mankind can never resist the urge to say 'I was here'. It's what we do. Most of the trees were tragically cut down and sold to a paper company. I think it was around 2008. The locals were really, really upset. The trees were on land that was privately owned, but it all came to a bunch of bureaucratic crap that it was almost four times more expensive to trim the trees that were impinging on the road than it was to waste them. Personally, I think it was just plain old greed. Anyway, petitions were signed, and the ones that are remaining will be saved.
There's a documentary running on PBS called D-Day: Over Normandy. It's narrated by Belicheat, but it's quit good. It a real good, new look at the area, some from the sky perspective. It also shows how difficult and vicious the fighting was moving in land, especially through the hedgerows. Something that I got a much better idea about how savage that shit was.
^Yeah, I saw it. Highly disappointed that there was no mention about how we cheated to gain an advantage.
What, the faux fleet and maneuvers? I think they feinted towards Calais also and may have leaked fake communications?
Big thanks to all the rave motherfuckers past and present who make it all possible for the rest of us.
OK, so here's one of my first WWII stories. Two very close friends of mine, their Dad was in the 82nd Airborne. Parachuted behind enemy lines, saw a lot of shit, was deaf in one ear because a bullet pinged off the rim of his helmet. Killed some Nazis, and was going back for an Iron Cross that he saw on an SS who was lying dead in a ditch. Mofo keepsake, but someone else beat him to it. Was part of the liberation of Bergen Belsen. People were hugging their knees, kissing their faces. German Jewish surgeon that he personally helped out all of that death inspired my friend's Dad to become a Dr. (he became a neurosurgeon). He told us that you could smell the human decomposition for miles, and some guys were puking on the way down. German Jewish surgeon guy sent him a Christmas card every year until he died to thank him for his life. He became incredibly close friends in the trenches with a British RAF. Became blood bros. When my friends and I went to the UK in '86, he put us up. Wonderful man, lovely wife, and incredibly gracious. That guy? Bill Woodward, the man on the cover of the iconic board game 'Mastermind'.
Bill Blass is a great story. Let's see who can fool Hitler! Inflatable dummy tanks, made up shit on speakers blasting through the forests. I love me some fruity designers, stagehands, and artists who kicked Nazi ass. Ghost Army for the win.
