D-Day

Date 06-05-2014 18:38

Seventy years ago today my Father prepared for one of the longest nights of his life. In the predawn hours of June 6, 1944 His mission was towing in gliders behind the lines and essentially began the Invasion on Normandy on D-Day. He told me years later (never talked about war very much, just snippets every few years) that every man and every plane in his Squadron made it back to base and alive. For the success of their mission and bravery, they were awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation which is not handed out that often.

Just a reminder to the memory of the greatest generation of Americans ever. Surviving the Depression, winning WWII (thereby saving the world from tyranny) and coming back to lead honorable, enviable lives through hard work, impeccable ethics and with strong moral values.

His reason for joining the Air Corps... $10.00 extra a month!

By Smooth Operator (***)

Date 06-05-2014 23:24

Superflux........ My dad was also in the air corps. , worked on aircraft engines on bombers ( B-26's ?????) had only 2 engines.......Spent whole time at an airfield in France working on bombers hitting Germany......... NEVER worked on anything mechanical after he came home...... "CARRIED MAIL" as he called it, worked for the Postal Service till retirement ..... Most ethical man I've ever known...... Know exactly what you mean " Greatest Generation ".......not many of them left........... :cool:

By lo-hi

Date 06-06-2014 01:42

Spent 3 years at Fort Bragg and went to the museum a few times. How anybody could get into those gliders more than once is crazy. Its amazing that air crews had to face flight after flight of watching their buddies go down and still have the nerve to go up again. I don't think people know how many airman were lost. A salute to your dad and all vets.

By SCOTTN

Date 06-06-2014 11:52

D-Day, A Soldier Remembers

Dedicated To:

All those who fought and died on 'Normandy Beach', so many years ago.....

Roland R. Ruiz
Texas, USA
2006

As I walk into this field of valor, in the early morning hours
I think of the many fine and brave soldiers, who lie beneath the ground
With multitudes of painted crosses, to mark their sacred graves
Thoughts slowly fill my mind, June 6, 1944, I remember only so well
The scare and terror of that day remains etched within my heart
I try to forget the screams of death, that passed before my eyes
But the scenes remain so vivid and clear, even after all these years
D-Day resides so deep in me, there's nothing I can do
To rid me of the dreams, which haunt me, in the twilight of my years
The sand, the water, the blood, mixed with the sounds of death
Caused me to pray to God, to forgive my mortal sins

I remember following my 'sarge', into the water, on that early misty morn
Just as we reached 'Utah Beach' a bullet struck his helmet, spinning him around
Showing me a bloody stump, that used to be his head
To this young innocent country boy, who just turned 19 two days before
Within seconds, leaving me no other choice, I suddenly became a man

As I raced past his lifeless shell, knowing at any moment
My life could end as well, somehow I survived thru this violent hell
And went on to fight in other battles, until the bitter end
Every so often I make this trip, to see my fallen comrades
And each time as I return, I leave a piece of me, between the blood-soaked sands

As I approach my eighty first year, I know this will be my last trip
To see my fallen friends, so I'll walk slowly thru this hollowed field
And say a final goodbye to all these gallant soldiers
Who gave their lives for God and country, as only heroes can

By Cumminsguy71 (*****)

Date 06-21-2014 11:50

My Grandpa served under Patton and came in a day or two after the initial invasion from what I could get out of him but hated to pry and would only inquire if the subject was already on the table. He told me one time what his unit was but it has left my brain briefly. He went all the way to Germany I know as he gave me a German bayonet he brought back. He told me he picked it out of a large warehouse in Germany, brand new. I had a knife guy look at it one time and he told me it was dated 1938 and said that he could not have gotten that out of a storage area. I spoke with my Grandpa before he passed and jokingly told him what this guy said. He said it was a large warehouse, full of crates full of weapons. Think that's where he got his Mauser rifles. I believe the knife guy was trying to say he got it off a dead German. Grandpa said no, so that's what I'm going with.

My Grandpa was one of the greatest guys I have ever known. Never talked much about anything from his time in the military over there, not even the good times but all those guys from that era that invaded the beaches, jumped in behind enemy lines, landed on death traps like Iwo and Tarawa and just did what they had to do have amazed me. I don't know how they did it but as a military man always hoped that if that situation arose for me that I would be able to do the same. "The Greatest Generation", with what was accomplished, what needed to be done and the men I have known in my life who served in that time, I have to agree.