It's About Liberty: A Conservative Forum
Topics => History => Topic started by: LadyVirginia on June 06, 2014, 12:34:39 PM
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::USA::
My WWII veteran father was older when he got married and had children so in our family there was only one war. (My mother was a lot younger but she had 2 older brothers who served.) I had little awareness of Korea or Vietnam as a child and when I got to high school I read about WWII on my own because dad had a bunch of books around the house. My youngest today asked about D-day and I gave her a brief history lesson. It's hard to impart the idea that the WWII era was so part of the culture of my family growing up and not just a date on a timeline.
Anyway, I can't read stories about Normandy and other events and not feel a sense of pride and a thrill at the American spirit.
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72nd Anneversary of Midway too (6-4-1942 to 6-7-1942), if not for that Victory perhaps major segments of the nation would be speaking Japanese...
I lost my Uncle last year, fought from Normandy to Germany...
Uncles and Father in Korea, cousins in Vietnam, me in the Cold War...there wasn't a war our family wasn't aware of one way or another...
(http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/libertasinfinitio/Patriots/Arlington2009.jpg)
Thanks to all! ::USA::
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They rightly earned the moniker "Greatest Generation". ::USA::
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Y'all see this?
This week, George received a call from the White House, who said they knew he would be over in France during D-Day, and wondered if he would attend a private meeting the White House was arranging for veterans with President Obama.
George thought about it for awhile and concluded he just couldn’t. “I have so many issues with the president’s policies, including the most recent ones,” he told me ruefully. “I just couldn’t convince myself to do it.”
He is not alone. The recent Bergdahl prisoner swap in which five hardened Taliban terrorists were released from prison is rubbing a lot of the military veterans attending D-Day events the wrong way. “It’s not that we don’t want to respect the commander-in-chief,” one told me sadly. “It’s just that he makes it so hard to do so.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/379738/d-day-veteran-politely-declines-obama-invitation-john-fund# (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/379738/d-day-veteran-politely-declines-obama-invitation-john-fund#)!
::clapping::
(http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/libertasinfinitio/Patriots/militarysalute.gif)
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Uncles and Father in Korea, cousins in Vietnam, me in the Cold War...there wasn't a war our family wasn't aware of one way or another...
Oh, we had family in all those too but being a WWII vet was so part of who my dad was. I knew so-and-so was in the military or had served but as a kid my dad was "it" and out shined everything else. No disrespect to other family members who served but that was the way it was for me as a kid. Believe me now I'm quite proud of the fact that there are many. many veterans in all branches of the military in my family tree starting with the French & Indian War through today.
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Uncles and Father in Korea, cousins in Vietnam, me in the Cold War...there wasn't a war our family wasn't aware of one way or another...
Oh, we had family in all those too but being a WWII vet was so part of who my dad was. I knew so-and-so was in the military or had served but as a kid my dad was "it" and out shined everything else. No disrespect to other family members who served but that was the way it was for me as a kid. Believe me now I'm quite proud of the fact that there are many. many veterans in all branches of the military in my family tree starting with the French & Indian War through today.
Yeah, Vietnam was weird for us, with people in WWII and Korea we felt more in tune with that...with Vietnam the cousins were older and didn't share much, and seeing that stuff on TV every night for my whole gradeschool years...it felt kinda ho-hum, couldn't figure out why all these long-haired hippies are so po'd about this war when up till then all the wars we went to were to fight fascists and commies...I figured they liked commies and were whacked in the head and went about my business...
Lineage to French & Indian is impressive, my avatar is the Ancient & Honerable Artillery Co, our oldest traced ancestor belonged to that, the oldest military unit in America. Heck, we could have common kin if any of yours mingled in New Englanders of ours back then!
::thumbsup::
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I have a real passion for WWII history. What these young men went through to retain our freedom and the gratitude and respect I have for them is beyond words. To think many of these young men never felt the touch of a women, never went to a baseball game with dad or the joys of spending a peaceful day on a lake fishing makes me sad.
I cannot imagine how I would feel if I was a parent of one of these wonderful young men and somebody would have came to me when my son was born and tell me someday when your son is 18,19,20......... a despicable, vile human monster from Austria would rule Germany who believes that the Jews are the cause of the worlds misery and start a world war and my son would die on the sands of Normandy France because of him.
I just watched this video last night; many emotions overflowed within me.
As I grow older I realize everything possible must be done to stop evil as these men did. They and all others who fight evil then or now will forever be hero's to me.
SURVIVING D-DAY (Full Documentary) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-dPjlwsBTQ#ws)
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Heck, we could have common kin if any of yours mingled in New Englanders of ours back then!
Well, on my mom's side we have an ancestor who got off the boat in Plymouth in 1620.
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Nicely said, Magnum.
My mom remembers hearing her mom crying at night in her bedroom because she had 2 sons serving in Europe. They came home.
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In the church I grew up in, there was a very fine woman we were friends with. My mom was college roommates with her daughter in college, and that's how our family got to know hers. She was only married briefly no more then three years I think, as her husband was one of the first GI's KIA on the beaches of Normandy. She was pregnant with their one daughter at the time.
She never remarried, and never showed one iota of bitterness about being a widow for the majority of her adult life. She managed to visit France to see his grave a number of times over her lifetime. She spent her life helping other families in need around the country. She passed away about 7-8 years ago and the daughter passed away from cancer last summer.
Not only should we remember the surviving and lost soldiers, but the families that life was never the same afterward.
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Not only should we remember the surviving and lost soldiers, but the families that life was never the same afterward.
So true.
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Chilling Normandy facts;
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial - St. Laurent, France
172.2 acres
9,378 Americans laid to rest
1,557 missing listed on Memorial
most all are from D-Day - June 6. 1944
(http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv176/rustybayonet_2009/Veteran%20Cemeteries/normandymemorial.jpg) (http://s681.photobucket.com/user/rustybayonet_2009/media/Veteran%20Cemeteries/normandymemorial.jpg.html)
(http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv176/rustybayonet_2009/Veteran%20Cemeteries/JohnKowzan-273x501.jpg) (http://s681.photobucket.com/user/rustybayonet_2009/media/Veteran%20Cemeteries/JohnKowzan-273x501.jpg.html)
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My dad wasn't a part of the D-Day landings that most recall. He took part in the Battle of Cherbourg. He had received a dinner invitation by some Brits he had befriended and was en-route to his party when he learned that his unit had been called to deploy. He hurried back to base but the ship literally sailed without him. He had to catch another ride on a transport hauling equipment.
It turned out that the transport that his unit was on was sunk with all hands. He lost every friend he had before he ever hit the beach.
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My dad wasn't a part of the D-Day landings that most recall. He took part in the Battle of Cherbourg. He had received a dinner invitation by some Brits he had befriended and was en-route to his party when he learned that his unit had been called to deploy. He hurried back to base but the ship literally sailed without him. He had to catch another ride on a transport hauling equipment.
It turned out that the transport that his unit was on was sunk with all hands. He lost every friend he had before he ever hit the beach.
::USA:: RIP
Footage of D-Day Invasion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzgKMDydr5Y&feature=youtu.be&sf27046445=1)
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Obama shows his respect for the hallowed ground and the sacrifices made there, as well as to the other nations involved in D-Day, by smacking his chewing gum during the ceremony.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jun/6/obama-chews-gum-d-day-ceremonies-twitter-outrage/ (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jun/6/obama-chews-gum-d-day-ceremonies-twitter-outrage/)
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Can he really be that clueless? I say not, because he manages every single time to offend in one way or another.
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Can he really be that clueless? I say not, because he manages every single time to offend in one way or another.
I agree. If he really was that clueless then his people would make sure he was "clued in". And he would then make an effort to not make so many "mistakes". But , no, he does it time and again because he wants to.
Narcissist.
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Malignant Narcissist.
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Watched the History Channel's D Day in HD.
Listening to those first hand accounts was breathtaking.
Bravery and heroism but it was just duty to them.
No one on my dad's side served (that I know of) in WWII
Dad went to sign up but was refused because he was a coal miner and was needed here.
On my mother's side, 4 of her 6 brothers were in.
At least one, maybe two were in the Battle of the Bulge
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They had 60, 70, 80 pound packs, really who thought that was a good idea? Some landing craft were hit and guys sunk or they stopped short and guys drowned. A lot of guys just dumped those things and ran like hell. Things could have been better, it is amazing the losses were not worse.
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They had 60, 70, 80 pound packs, really who thought that was a good idea? Some landing craft were hit and guys sunk or they stopped short and guys drowned. A lot of guys just dumped those things and ran like hell. Things could have been better, it is amazing the losses were not worse.
Yeah I really hate to think about the number who just drowned in the surf. A lot of the paratroopers drowned too, when they landed in fields that the Germans had flooded.
I think in retrospect a better idea might have been to have the initial assault waves with a very light combat load for good mobility, then resupply them with subsequent landing waves. Everything was a huge question mark though, and I guess they erred on the side of bringing too much rather than not enough.
My granddad was in the Navy and spent the war in the Pacific Theater, piloting the amphibious landing craft. He had a lot of stories about the boats being raked with machine gun fire and shore artillery.
My other granddad spent the war on U-boat patrol, mostly in the Caribbean where the tankers transited out of the Gulf on their way to Europe. His uncle -- which I guess would make him my great-great uncle -- was a tank commander who was killed in action in the battle for Sicily. He was the first person from his county to be killed in the war and the American Legion post there is named after him.
I think it's very difficult for us to truly appreciate how "all in" the whole country was.
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One last glimpse (for now)...
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/06/scenes-from-d-day-then-and-now/100752/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/06/scenes-from-d-day-then-and-now/100752/)
Then & now pictures from Normandy.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
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If I remember correctly they were going to go on May 1 with 3/5th of what they used on D-day.
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They had 60, 70, 80 pound packs, really who thought that was a good idea? Some landing craft were hit and guys sunk or they stopped short and guys drowned. A lot of guys just dumped those things and ran like hell. Things could have been better, it is amazing the losses were not worse.
Yeah I really hate to think about the number who just drowned in the surf. A lot of the paratroopers drowned too, when they landed in fields that the Germans had flooded.
I think in retrospect a better idea might have been to have the initial assault waves with a very light combat load for good mobility, then resupply them with subsequent landing waves. Everything was a huge question mark though, and I guess they erred on the side of bringing too much rather than not enough.
My granddad was in the Navy and spent the war in the Pacific Theater, piloting the amphibious landing craft. He had a lot of stories about the boats being raked with machine gun fire and shore artillery.
My other granddad spent the war on U-boat patrol, mostly in the Caribbean where the tankers transited out of the Gulf on their way to Europe. His uncle -- which I guess would make him my great-great uncle -- was a tank commander who was killed in action in the battle for Sicily. He was the first person from his county to be killed in the war and the American Legion post there is named after him.
I think it's very difficult for us to truly appreciate how "all in" the whole country was.
Yup, I agree, they should have gone lighter up front and heavier in succeeding waves, but, what happened happened...
And it didn't take too long to get from a generation going "all-in" to generations mostly not giving a rip and saying "don't overreact to a few thousand dead" on 9/11. I had half thought those attacks would cut through the BS and wake this nation up to the mortal perils that Islam poses to Western civilization, our Judeo-Christian tradition and especially our version of American Liberty...but I say half thought because in the back of my mind were the hippie remnants that contaminated America for decades and gave us trash like the Clintons (who lest we forget loathed the military as well as most of our traditional values and notions of freedom), their selfish heirs and the plethora of libiot enclaves that loath war of any kind (there is no such thing as a "just war" in these fools minds, except of course US)...and I was sad and angry to see my doubts manifest into reality.
So, it will be up to us to save/restore America...but unlike our Founders, we'll need more than 3% (actually it was closer to 3.18%) of the population to do the heavy lifting...because unlike then where principle combatants on land were outnumbered 1.63:1 (at peak) as well as out-gunned and vastly out navied, we would be going up against more than 6-7% of the nation...
We'll see if another greatest generation can be found...Good Lord willing...