Today is the 67th anniversary of D-Day.
Mr. Neville’s grandfather was at D-Day. I’ll have to remember to call him after work today.
A very good reason to thank veterans of all wars everywhere ***and ***everywhen for their service to this country. We wouldn’t be what we are today without their sacrifices.
Bravo Zulu!
My mother was born in Montebourg and lived in Cherbourg, in Normandy. When I visit her tonight I will remind her that today is the 67th anniversary. (Likely she has been watching the ceremonies on the French channel anyway.) She has a long-standing hatred for les Boches, which, to me, is understandable.
The story she likes to tell is about her a new wool coat. She was walking home from the farm with her pockets full of eggs when a German plan strafed them. She dived in a ditch, in the mud, and the cow pies, etc etc… and ruined her new coat.
In the mid-70’s I met her aunt who made that coat. A small French woman who was then in her 90’s.
My father’s cousin Willard was a paratrooper who landed the day before D-Day, way off course. He spent the next three days alternately hiding and trying to get back to the Americans, sometimes joining up with other lost paratroopers.
He was a huge flower afficianado. For the rest of his life (he died a couple of years ago) he talked about a grapefruit colored rose he saw while hiding in a Norman courtyard and how he went back after the war to get some cuttings and the house was no longer there. Odd the things that become people’s most lasting memories.
I admire your sentiment. I hope you are including veterans who have also served their own countries. No snark intended. If you don’t mind, “Bravo Zulu” is new to me. Where does it come from?
Bravo Zulu is a Navy term - means good job / well done.
I made the anniversary part of my “Scoutmaster’s Minute” for my Scout Troop on Monday night (as I am sure many other Scoutmaster’s did).
My uncle Larry was in a tank unit and was at Normandy about two days after the invasion started. He was not a tall man, tank guys almost couldn’t be.
A very quiet man, soft-spoken, religious, and I never heard him speak word one about his service. I only learned about it very late in his life, and by then I couldn’t ask him about it, as he was suffering from dementia.
There’s a monument at Ft. Benning, Georgia, that commemorates the service of his unit. I haven’t seen it in person, but have found a picture of it online.
Thanks Algher.Bravo Zulu!
I think we should also remember that Normandy was an ongoing operation that took about three months to make the Germans retreat. D Day was only the start. But well worth commemorating, nevertheless.
I’m a sort of Navy brat - once removed. My maternal grandfather (a structural engineer who graduated from MIT at about 18 or 19 yoa) was a SeaBee during the second world war. His team built the airfield in Reykjavic, Iceland, that I *think *is still in use today.
Bumping for the 70th anniversary of D-Day. I don’t think the Mods will mind.
I saw some sobering documentaries this week on National Geographic. I can’t imagine the state of mind of so many men must have been that day.
An amazing achievement in the teeth of ferocious enemy opposition. Well done, and thanks, to the men of the Allied armed forces who pulled it off. The world is a better place for your heroism and determination.
Perhaps two months at most. The Germans were well away from the beaches and trapped in the Falaise Gap by the second week of August.
I tried to turn on the 1940s station on Sirius/XM to see if it was broadcasting the original radio reports (beginning with about an hour of “We are hearing reports from German sources saying that Allied troops have landed in France, but be aware that we have been warned that this could be a German trap to get the French / Belgian / Dutch Underground units into the open” before someone official (General Eisenhower?) made an official statement) like it did on the 65th anniversary.
Apparently, Billy Joel has invaded France. (The 1940s station has been removed temporarily to make room for an all-Billy Joel station.)
Accepted . But the Falaise battle took place from around 12th to 21st August , so maybe we can split the difference and call it two and a half months?
It was still part of the Normandy battle.
For anyone interested, here is a link to the main US cemetery at Omaha Beach in Normandy (one of several). I hitchhiked to visit this one in St. Laurent-sur-Mer when I ended my 22 months Mediterranean Sea duty in 1966.
And here’s an article with stats on other US overseas cemeteries:
My sincerest thanks and gratitude to the soldiers of D-Day.
There was a Dutch poster here who posted an amazing topic on D-Day’s anniversary about the situation in Holland. I would love to read it again! I am a child of a Hungarian WWII survivor so D-Day is one of the reasons why I exist. My eternal respect and gratitude to those brave soldiers.
Was this the thread?: May 5, 1945 - we shall remember. - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board
HuffPo UK published these interesting photos contrasting what some of the places involved in D-Day look like today, compared to then:
Very cool - thanks! Some of them, the juxtaposition is a bit speculative, I would think…