75th Anniversary of D-Day

[blueschica]

It's the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Growing up, I knew several WWII veterans. My best friend's dad fought at Bastogne. My father in law fought in Northern Africa. A friend's uncle won the Medal of Honor for his actions on D-Day. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_J._Pinder_Jr. ) I didn't understand their service when I was young. They had made our world safe, and sadly, the ones I knew are gone now.

 

Do any of you have veterans in your family? Or, like JohnRogers, maybe you served yourself.

 

Danforth and Pape posting-

 

 

 

 

"Oh the wind can carry

All the voices of the sea

Oh the wind can carry

All the echoes home to me

 

I hope you all have a great day today but if the train is packed, the car won’t start, the boss is being a pain, the kids are screaming the house down or if you're simply just having one of those days...

Thank your lucky stars you're not throwing up into a tin helmet as MG 42 shells ricochet all around you and the metal flap of your crowded landing craft slowly smacks into deep, freezing, blood and oil filled water and you are ordered, in the nicest possible terms, to “get onto the bloody beach and take cover...”

We almost certainly wouldn't have the freedom of speech to witter away on places like Facebook today if it wasn't for each and every single Allied hero who attacked German defences on the beaches, towns and fields of Normandy 75 years ago today. World War Two and history may have taken a very, very different course if they hadn't. Nazism may not have been defeated, the concentration camps might not have been liberated and perhaps a young Polish couple may never have met, moved to Canada and started a family…

So thank you to those brave men and women who gave their today for our tomorrow..."

Edited June 6, 2019 by blueschica

[goose]

:goodone:

[Lorraine]

My uncles, but not my father. He was a WWI baby (1915). Both my mother's sisters' wedding day pictures had their husbands dressed in uniform.

[blueschica]

My uncles, but not my father. He was a WWI baby (1915). Both my mother's sisters' wedding day pictures had their husbands dressed in uniform.

 

My father was in the navy, but later on in the 1950's.

[pjbear05]

My father was in Hawaii for training, and SoCal for assignment, with radar maintenance, due to anxiety over the possibility of a Japanese air strike.

 

My mother was a Registered Nurse in the Army, stationed first on Sicily, then in Naples.

[vaportrailer]

My dad was in WWII with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He lied about his age to enlist (and to get the hell out of rural Manitoba) and ended up, at 17, in London at the tail end of the blitz.

He was well past forty when I was born, and retired from service in the 70s.

 

He never talked about his experiences, although they affected him greatly. He passed away at 75 due to alcoholism.

He was a great guy, served his country, kept in touch with his RCAF buddies until the end. He never glorified war, never bragged about any stories; he never brought it up. Ever. He told me a pretty wild story once when he was drunk. I would guess that he suffered some kind of PTSD, but I dunno.

 

This is meaningful stuff, blueschica, and thank you so much for making this thread.

 

(and may I add, "And Never Forget What They Were Fighting For/Against." We're getting sloppy with that. :( )

[Lorraine]

My dad was in WWII with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He lied about his age to enlist (and to get the hell out of rural Manitoba) and ended up, at 17, in London at the tail end of the blitz.

He was well past forty when I was born, and retired from service in the 70s.

 

He never talked about his experiences, although they affected him greatly. He passed away at 75 due to alcoholism.

He was a great guy, served his country, kept in touch with his RCAF buddies until the end. He never glorified war, never bragged about any stories; he never brought it up. Ever. He told me a pretty wild story once when he was drunk. I would guess that he suffered some kind of PTSD, but I dunno.

 

This is meaningful stuff, blueschica, and thank you so much for making this thread.

 

(and may I add, "And Never Forget What They Were Fighting For/Against." We're getting sloppy with that. :( )

 

I honor your father along with you. We don't breed them like him anymore. Your post made me cry.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Lorraine

[vaportrailer]

My dad was in WWII with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He lied about his age to enlist (and to get the hell out of rural Manitoba) and ended up, at 17, in London at the tail end of the blitz.

He was well past forty when I was born, and retired from service in the 70s.

 

He never talked about his experiences, although they affected him greatly. He passed away at 75 due to alcoholism.

He was a great guy, served his country, kept in touch with his RCAF buddies until the end. He never glorified war, never bragged about any stories; he never brought it up. Ever. He told me a pretty wild story once when he was drunk. I would guess that he suffered some kind of PTSD, but I dunno.

 

This is meaningful stuff, blueschica, and thank you so much for making this thread.

 

(and may I add, "And Never Forget What They Were Fighting For/Against." We're getting sloppy with that. :( )

 

I honor your father along with you. We don't breed them like him anymore. Your post made me cry.

 

Thanks, Lorraine. He was quite a guy.

At times, he was kind of like Bob Newhart, if you can imagine that :D

[Derek19]

On my dad's side of the family, I used to have my grandfather, who was my dad's dad in the army. My grandfather didn't die, and get killed in the war(s) he was in, and a part of, though. I don't know too much. "Happy 75th Anniversary, D-Day". Edited June 6, 2019 by Derek19

[blueschica]

My dad was in WWII with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He lied about his age to enlist (and to get the hell out of rural Manitoba) and ended up, at 17, in London at the tail end of the blitz.

He was well past forty when I was born, and retired from service in the 70s.

 

He never talked about his experiences, although they affected him greatly. He passed away at 75 due to alcoholism.

He was a great guy, served his country, kept in touch with his RCAF buddies until the end. He never glorified war, never bragged about any stories; he never brought it up. Ever. He told me a pretty wild story once when he was drunk. I would guess that he suffered some kind of PTSD, but I dunno.

 

This is meaningful stuff, blueschica, and thank you so much for making this thread.

 

(and may I add, "And Never Forget What They Were Fighting For/Against." We're getting sloppy with that. :( )

 

Thank YOU for your post; and for your dad's service. I think it really did take a toll on them. I had another friend whose dad was in a prisoner of war camp in Germany for 2 years. We only knew because her mom told us. He would never talk about it with his kids, and only 1 or 2 stories with his wife.

 

My husband worked a summer job at the natural gas company the year he turned 21. He heard plenty of war stories that summer from some WWII vets who had been in southern Italy. The most memorable was, "Hey, there was a place in Italy where you could get a great haircut and a bl*wjob for cheap! I miss that place!" My husband was a coworker, though. A friend told me when my father in law passed that most vets tell their stories only to each other, or to "one of the guys" like my husband was.

Edited June 6, 2019 by blueschica

[Jack Aubrey]

My Paternal Grandfather (who I lost in 1986 and still miss to this day) was a Marine and fought at both Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. At Iwo Jima, he was in a fighting hole with his best friend and an enemy soldier lobbed a grenade that landed in the hole. My Grandfather watched his best friend throw himself on the grenade to save his life. He only ever told my Grandmother that, and I got the information second-hand from her. As a result of this, my Grandfather grappled with alcoholism for most of his adult life and I certainly understand why. My Father and I both have also had our issues with alcoholism, so not only did my Grandfather have the survivor's guilt to deal with, there was also a genetic predisposition.

 

I miss you a lot, Grandpa, and I can't wait until I see you again, I have so much I want to tell you.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Jack Aubrey

[Lorraine]

My Paternal Grandfather (who I lost in 1986 and still miss to this day) was a Marine and fought at both Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. At Iwo Jima, he was in a fighting hole with his best friend and an enemy soldier lobbed a grenade that landed in the hole. My Grandfather watched his best friend throw himself on the grenade to save his life. He only ever told my Grandmother that, and I got the information second-hand from her. As a result of this, my Grandfather grappled with alcoholism for most of his adult life and I certainly understand why. My Father and I both have also had our issues with alcoholism, so not only did my Grandfather have the survivor's guilt to deal with, there was also a genetic predisposition.

 

I miss you a lot, Grandpa, and I can't wait until I see you again, I have so much I want to tell you.

That's so sad, Jack. We cope the best way we know how. Some don't necessarily choose the wisest way

[OldRUSHfan]

My Father was in WW II, But he volunteered in '43, and was involved in a 'Secret Operation' Headed by Col. Boris T. Pash, an operation to try and find out how far Hitler's regime had gotten with creating an A Bomb. Col. Pash wrote a book about it. there's a pic of my Dad in the book also. The ALSOS Mission.

I got to meet Col. Pash in '76, the year I graduated, and became an Eagle Scout. He was an affable guy, and answered all my questions I asked! He was happy to hear I was an Eagle scout and it was a very interesting meeting! My Dad was basically a 'Go-fer' he was tasked with taxiing German scientists around the Forward base in France they were at. Luckily, the war was over before Germany got the bomb, and partially because we allies had starting making air incursions and military ones to keep 'Heavy Water' out of German hands. My Dad gpt to meet a Russian officer, whom he traded his american .45 A 1911 pistol for the Russian's T-33 Tokarev pistol, which I have a pic of here somewhere.

I honor ALL our veterans soldier, Medical, all of 'em.

[Lorraine]

My Father was in WW II, But he volunteered in '43, and was involved in a 'Secret Operation' Headed by Col. Boris T. Pash, an operation to try and find out how far Hitler's regime had gotten with creating an A Bomb. Col. Pash wrote a book about it. there's a pic of my Dad in the book also. The ALSOS Mission.

I got to meet Col. Pash in '76, the year I graduated, and became an Eagle Scout. He was an affable guy, and answered all my questions I asked! He was happy to hear I was an Eagle scout and it was a very interesting meeting! My Dad was basically a 'Go-fer' he was tasked with taxiing German scientists around the Forward base in France they were at. Luckily, the war was over before Germany got the bomb, and partially because we allies had starting making air incursions and military ones to keep 'Heavy Water' out of German hands. My Dad gpt to meet a Russian officer, whom he traded his american .45 A 1911 pistol for the Russian's T-33 Tokarev pistol, which I have a pic of here somewhere.

I honor ALL our veterans soldier, Medical, all of 'em.

 

ORF, that is very interesting. I'm going to see if I can get a copy of that book.

 

I honor our veterans also. They deserve the best of the best treatment our country can offer. It's unfortunate they've been treated so horribly.

[chemistry1973]

I wonder if millenials or even younger snowflakes can remotely fathom sitting on a cold amphibious vehicle as they approach a shore that is littered with landmines, barbed wire and dead bodies. Explosions over head and in the water. People shot and killed right next to you. And you haven't even landed on the beach yet.

 

We have idiots on twitter complaining of this terrible nightmare of an existence this life is right now.

[Lorraine]

Welp. Amazon is offering the used paperback book $399.99, but I can get a used hard copy for $80.97.

 

I will look elsewhere and see what I can come up with.

 

EDIT: The cheapest I can find is $41.82. :(

Edited June 7, 2019 by Lorraine

[Lorraine]

ORFie, there's another book about it by Clive Egleton. Is that one any good? I can get a copy of that one for $6.00

[OldRUSHfan]

ORFie, there's another book about it by Clive Egleton. Is that one any good? I can get a copy of that one for $6.00

 

I don't know, Lorraine. I've never heard of any other books about this subject. I've always figured that The Leader of the U.S. Military's operation would be the ulitmate source for the biggest Allied mission of WW II. I'm not sure what this other author could do to be any better.

[J2112YYZ]

My grandfather was a WW II vet. He was in the air force. He never talked too much about it though. I never pushed the topic with him because I figured he experienced some things that maybe he didn't want to bring up. I do know that he dropped bombs over Germany and various other countries in Europe that were occupied by the Nazi's.

 

He passed away in 2010 just before Christmas. If he was still around he would be pushing 100 years old now. The staff at the veterans hospital he used to go to held him in special reverence because there weren't too many WW II vets around anymore. I think he was the only one some of them even knew. If you know a veteran from this war, cherish whatever time you have left with them. There's not many left.

[Babycat]

I had an uncle who was killed a few short months before D-Day. I think, from what I heard, he'd been shot outright by a German soldier.

[Lorraine]

ORFie, there's another book about it by Clive Egleton. Is that one any good? I can get a copy of that one for $6.00

 

I don't know, Lorraine. I've never heard of any other books about this subject. I've always figured that The Leader of the U.S. Military's operation would be the ulitmate source for the biggest Allied mission of WW II. I'm not sure what this other author could do to be any better.

Well, I got the other one on account of the fact that I can't afford the one you have. It's a library book and it's coming from England.

[OldRUSHfan]

I had an uncle who was killed a few short months before D-Day. I think, from what I heard, he'd been shot outright by a German soldier.

 

Sorry to hear this Babycat.

[Babycat]

I had an uncle who was killed a few short months before D-Day. I think, from what I heard, he'd been shot outright by a German soldier.

 

Sorry to hear this Babycat.

 

Thank you, ORFie...

[Rhyta]

I listened to stories on the radio yesterday and interviews on tv of Veterans. They made me cry too, since we have so few of them left to thank. I am grateful to all the family members mentioned here in this thread who served their country with honor and bravery.

 

All I knew about my Uncle Gaylen was he killed in WWII because of that my dad enlisted in the Navy. My dad didn't see much active combat but was a mechanic in the Navy, stationed in the Pacific. Two years ago I discovered more information about my Uncle's service. His junior high school had a Veterans Day program and they were dedicating a memorial to the veterans who graduated from the school. They had an assembly and program honoring them. It was very moving with a Korean vet being there along with Vietnam and Gulf War vets. My brother and I went to it and received a beautiful picture of him with information about his service. They even made a video of part of the program on YouTube. I was completely surprised and touched by their gesture.

 

Private First Class Gaylen T. Jonas, enlisted with the 2^nd Mormon Battalion on August 20, 1942 and was sent to San Diego California for training.

 

He was killed on September 9, 1944 in action in Peleliu by an enemy sniper while removing a wounded man

 

Private First Class Jonas was awarded a Presidential Citation, A Navy Unit Citation with 3 stars. He was awarded a Bronze Star and A Purple Heart posthumously.

 

I can see why my Dad idolized him so much, I am so proud of them both.

Edited June 8, 2019 by Rhyta

[Lorraine]

I listened to stories on the radio yesterday and interviews on tv of Veterans. They made me cry too, since we have so few of them left to thank. I am grateful to all the family members here who served their country with honor and bravery.

 

All I knew about my Uncle Gaylen was he killed in WWII because of that my dad enlisted in the Navy. My dad didn't see much active combat but was a mechanic in the Navy, stationed in the Pacific. Two years ago I discovered more information about my Uncle's service. His junior high school had a Veterans Day program and they were dedicating a memorial to the veterans who graduated from the school. They had an assembly and program honoring them. It was very moving with a Korean vet being there along with Vietnam and Gulf War vets. My brother and I went to it and received a beautiful picture of him with information about his service. They even made a video of part of the program on YouTube. I was completely surprised and touched by their gesture.

 

Private First Class Gaylen T. Jonas, enlisted with the 2^nd Mormon Battalion on August 20, 1942 and was sent to San Diego California for training.

 

He was killed on September 9, 1944 in action in Peleliu by an enemy sniper while removing a wounded man

 

Private First Class Jonas was awarded a Presidential Citation, A Navy Unit Citation with 3 stars. He was awarded a Bronze Star and A Purple Heart posthumously.

 

I can see why my Dad idolized him so much, I am so proud of them both.

That's a beautiful story! We owe them all so much.