Today marks 70 years since D-Day.

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Hillbilly

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Take a look at Bill Mauldin's Willy and Joe cartoons, they are a great way to remember....

HB
 
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DDay-Courage.jpg
 

PJT

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A great many sacrificed and we must and should give thanks for the liberties we enjoy as a result of their unselfish and valorous actions to put on a uniform or take up tools for the war effort.

A Salute and Regards,


PJT
 

cobraboy

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Dad CB and a bunch of his high school buddies from McAlister OK enlisted the day after H.S. graduation. At the time the Army promised to keep buddies together the best they could, and they did.

A year later he and his buddies were part of the Normandy invasion, 18 & 19 y.o.'s. Some didn't make it.

Later they were part of the Battle of the Bulge. Some didn't make it through that, either.

He had a bad hand from wounds and a couple of Purple Hearts; never spoke about either. He got two battlefield promotions so some bad things happened.

Like many, he rarely spoke about the war. He'd just clam up.

I'm sure others can tell similar stories.

The Greatest Generation.
 

Chirimoya

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Even though being German I probably would have hated how Europe would have turned out if D-Day wouldn't have happened.
The BBC just broadcast an excellent interview with a German journalist who made that very point.

The ceremony moved me to make sure my son understood the significance of D-Day. He has some knowledge about WW2 but not a full picture. I grew up listening to the wartime experiences of my grandparents who were too old to fight, although they made their own contributions and sacrifices. I would not have been born had it not been for all these heroes.
 
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The men landing on D-day faced 58 divisions of the Wehrmacht, one of the greatest amphibious assaults ever.
In the east however, the soviets with Marshall Zhukov at its head, faced 300 divisions of germans, plus their allies.

1.5 million soviet soldiers yelled "charge" in more than 40 langauges, 4000 tanks, 20,000 odd artillery pieces thundered and tore the germans to bits allowing the brave, brave men from the west to enter France's northern coast and penetrate Fortress Europe.
Our debt to the Russians is great.

LC
 

Conchman

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I am also German and highly respect the sacrifice of the Allied soldiers that day, some of whom paid the ultimate price to defend their country and to rid Germany and Europe of the scourge of National Socialism.

Notwithstanding, many people don't know that most of the fighting in Europe duing WWII was actually on the Eastern front (Germany vs Soviet Union), proof of that is the 10+ million Soviets killed in combat and that Germany had 5 times as many divisions fighting East as compared to the West - even after Normandy. There were also 5 times as many Germans killed on the Eastern front compared to the Western front (any history guys please correct me if I am wrong, because I am going from information in my head learned in university and from relatives).

So in my opinion its false to suggest the war was won because of Normandy, Germany was losing it on the Eastern front way before June 1944 (basically since Stalingrad in early 1943). But were it not for the US/England's Normandy invasio, all of Europe may have turned from National Socialism totalitarianism to Soviet Communist totalitarianism. The incorporation of Eastern Europe into the Soviet Union after the war would present evidence toward that hypothesis. Had the Russians been the only major power on continental Europe after the war, who knows what current Germany, France, or Italy would like like today. Who knows how the cold war would have turned out with that scenario.

I don't mean to diminish Normandy at all, I just mean to put it in perspective. Its the Russians that really paid most of the price. They suffered the most military and civilian casualties by far.

The invasion of Normandy was an incredible feat, considering the weather and German defenses. The bravery of those soldiers that day, should never be forgotten.

Some of my favorite movies to this day are still 'The Longest Day' 'A Bridge Too Far,' and 'Saving Private Ryan.'
 

Chip

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I once met a participant in the Normandy Invasion for a project in West Palm Beach who was apparently considered by some to be an exceptional hero, although I can't remember his name but he was Jewish from NY.

As I was ex military, 82 Airborne, he talked with me a little about his experiences. He told me his infantry company was 90 persons from basic that were shipped as a whole to England for the invasion. He talked about the hardships and the cold especially. He said of the 90 original members of his company he believes he is the only one who made it to the end of the war as all the others were killed, wounded or got sick. He said because of the harsh conditions generally anyone over 25 couldn't handle it and got so it was mostly the very young on the front lines.
 
May 12, 2005
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The men landing on D-day faced 58 divisions of the Wehrmacht, one of the greatest amphibious assaults ever.
In the east however, the soviets with Marshall Zhukov at its head, faced 300 divisions of germans, plus their allies.

1.5 million soviet soldiers yelled "charge" in more than 40 langauges, 4000 tanks, 20,000 odd artillery pieces thundered and tore the germans to bits allowing the brave, brave men from the west to enter France's northern coast and penetrate Fortress Europe.
Our debt to the Russians is great.

LC

My understanding is that Stalin pushed and pushed the US/Britain for a second front to relieve the pressure on him
 

cobraboy

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I am also German and highly respect the sacrifice of the Allied soldiers that day, some of whom paid the ultimate price to defend their country and to rid Germany and Europe of the scourge of National Socialism.

Notwithstanding, many people don't know that most of the fighting in Europe duing WWII was actually on the Eastern front (Germany vs Soviet Union), proof of that is the 10+ million Soviets killed in combat and that Germany had 5 times as many divisions fighting East as compared to the West - even after Normandy. There were also 5 times as many Germans killed on the Eastern front compared to the Western front (any history guys please correct me if I am wrong, because I am going from information in my head learned in university and from relatives).

So in my opinion its false to suggest the war was won because of Normandy, Germany was losing it on the Eastern front way before June 1944 (basically since Stalingrad in early 1943). But were it not for the US/England's Normandy invasio, all of Europe may have turned from National Socialism totalitarianism to Soviet Communist totalitarianism. The incorporation of Eastern Europe into the Soviet Union after the war would present evidence toward that hypothesis. Had the Russians been the only major power on continental Europe after the war, who knows what current Germany, France, or Italy would like like today. Who knows how the cold war would have turned out with that scenario.

I don't mean to diminish Normandy at all, I just mean to put it in perspective. Its the Russians that really paid most of the price. They suffered the most military and civilian casualties by far.

The invasion of Normandy was an incredible feat, considering the weather and German defenses. The bravery of those soldiers that day, should never be forgotten.

Some of my favorite movies to this day are still 'The Longest Day' 'A Bridge Too Far,' and 'Saving Private Ryan.'
All true.

Hitler feared the Brits & US entering the war full-force. And while he squandered his military against the Russians, The Allies sealed the deal from the West.

It was the Russians that overran Berlin when he killed himself.
 
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