D DAY

[big al]

just watching some of the coverage ,surely makes you feel humble to remember how many brave people gave their lives for freedom.

 

i wonder if the present generations would be prepared to take a 9 hour sea journey in a rocking landing craft covered in seawater and vomit then get off and start to fight up a beach .

 

so today take a couple of minutes to say thanks ,i will raise a glass today to the heroes.

cheers big al

[SharSam]

Same here.

[yoxer]

"i wonder if the present generations would be prepared to take a 9 hour sea journey in a rocking landing craft covered in seawater and vomit then get off and start to fight up a beach."

 

Try fishing for cod out of the tyne

[Little Tinca]

No

 

It was a one off event in history and nobody will ever be asked to do it again.

Methods of warfare have changed, and to a large extent 'hand to hand' fighting has become obsolete in favour of remote and almost virtual warfare. Our culture and thinking has changed to accommodate these less 'confrontational' ways.

 

The Normandy veterans were an army of very, very brave men fighting not only for their lives but a way of life.

This family has a member of the NVA just an ordiary bloke who was asked to do a very extraordinary task. As a seargent he led his platoon up the beach and up until quite recently

(he has alzheimers disease now) could tell you the names of all the soldiers in his unit that fell.

We must never,ever forget them and what they did for us and all the following generations.

It's very upsetting that he is oblivious to the celebrations and cannot remember "WE" must always remember.

[Mister Toad]

Hear, hear.

 

Each and every one of us owes an irredeemable debt to them all - the ones who fell and the ones who survived.

 

Thanks for starting this thread, Big Al.

[jeepster]

thanks indeed to everyone involved, especially those who paid the ultimate price but lets not forget those in other areas, particularly the russian front whose efforts made d-day possible too.

[chesters1]

quote:

---

It was a one off event in history and nobody will ever be asked to do it again.

---

they probably said that in 1919

[severus]

Here's a toast to all the D-Day veterans, and the brutal experiences they endured. I'm not sure many people today understand how horrible or important that event was, or how many guys got killed.

 

I have an uncle who served aboard a US Naval tender at Okinawa who saw his share of kamakazes and death. He also went ashore as part of his duties. I recently loaned him Tennozan, a graphic book about the land battle there, and he recognized the towns and places mentioned and became very emotional and opened up a bit to describe some of the things he saw and did there. One place where they had an impromptu "beer party" - two cans per man - is now a cemetery. When news of Hiroshima and the end of the war came he felt as though he had received a reprieve from a death sentence, because he knew Japan didn't have to be invaded.

 

Ken

[bluezulu]

heroe`s everyone of them

 

[ 08. June 2004, 12:54 AM: Message edited by: bluezulu ]

[kleinboet]

I second all the thoughts on this thread. The one thing that shone through was PRIDE! Thes ordinary guys went and did an extraordinary task, came back to the hum-drum life and faded away. Today was THEIR day! GOD BLESS THEM EVERY ONE!