D Day plus 80 years

3 million people in motion that day. Now there's only a few thousand of them left. Remember them, and honor and preserve what they saved for us.
 

From The NY Times this morning:

In 2021, Harry Parham, believed to be the last Black combat veteranof D-Day — about 2,000 Black troops landed that day — died at 99. Last July, Leon Gautier, the last surviving French commandoat the Normandy landings, died. In December, it was Maureen Sweeney, the Irish weather observer whose reports of storms over the Atlantic changed the course of D-Day. In April, it was Bill Gladden, who had been part of the British Sixth Airborne Division’s glider landing on that day and had hoped, at age 100, to survive to return to Normandy, France, for Thursday’s 80th anniversary.

The incredible bravery to step out of those Higgins boats, knowing what awaited them and doing it anyway, is something I can scarcely imagine.

Written by Peggy Noonan:  President Reagan's Address at Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France, June 6, 1984 (youtube.com)

There have been some very interesting stories on BBC  radio the past weeks about the build-up to D-day , including  that it was delayed one day because of bad weather.

RIP to all 

If you want to go really in-depth WWII in real time (aka TIme Ghost) did 24 straight hours of coverage a year ago. Took me a few weeks to get through the whole thing. Pretty incredible coverage. 

Powerful place. Tour guide for my visit in 2022 was an 80 year old retired British general. We visited the beaches and the Allied and German cemeteries.

Aside from the incredible sacrifices one memory that blew my mind was that we floated 2,400 locomotives across the English Channel to transport supplies around France. 

I was talking to SWIMBO about this last night. She asked me what the D meant. I realized that I didn't actually know. I speculated Deployment-day. Then I looked it up.

Sometimes when you find the real answer you wish you didn't.

The D in D-day stands for Day.

OHSCrifle said:

Aside from the incredible sacrifices one memory that blew my mind was that we floated 2,400 locomotives across the English Channel to transport supplies around France. 

I'd never heard this fact, amazing! Found this article if anyone is interested in knowing a bit more about the railroad operations post D-Day:

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-trains-that-fueled-the-normandy-breakout/

AClockworkGarage said:

I was talking to SWIMBO about this last night. She asked me what the D meant. I realized that I didn't actually know. I speculated Deployment-day. Then I looked it up.

Sometimes when you find the real answer you wish you didn't.

The D in D-day stands for Day.

Yep, plus H-hour, and even M-minute.

I am pleased to see this post here; I post up FB every June 6th.

D-day is so important as it still shapes the world today.

I think of these young men wondering if they were going to live through the next 2 minutes and here they are 80 years later.

While remembering D-Day, do also remember the long fight to take all of Normandy. While today is famous, the ~2 month fight to get into France was a far tougher fight. 

Yes, sobering. And, sadly, fading into history. 

We had several family members who served in WWII: my grandfather, his brothers, several of my dad’s uncles. I have some photos of them home on leave. So young and looking ready to take on anything. 

I remember some of the stories, although they didn’t come up often. I once interviewed my grandfather for a class assignment. He served in both Europe and the Pacific. Signal Corps, as I recall. I’m hoping there’s a copy of the report around here somewhere. 

And WWII seems so far away yet also still tangible. Maybe I’m off that generation in that our grandparents were there. 

A few years ago, my dad and his cousin assembled a family history, much of it based on his aunt’s writings. (She was the best.)

Her family history discussed World War II and casually mentions a cousin, “the World War II hero.”

So I googled his name: Paul Staub. 

He was one of the four U.S. soldiers who ran into the Soviets: Elbe Day. Germany was now cut in two. VE Day would take place about two weeks later. 

He has since passed but like us also lived on Long Island. My dad never knew him–just another family member out there somewhere.

I found this interview with him.

Some day I'd like to see Normandy and the surrounding area - I have an uncle buried at one of the cemeteries in Belgium I'd like to visit, he died in action in 1945.

I entered the work force a little while before the WWII veterans started retiring so I was used to them being around, it seems weird that they're disappearing.

In reply to stuart in mn :

A visit to Spa's F1 race is really close to Belgium's cemetery. And then a trip to Normandy is pretty easy to do from there. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

My Grandfather was in the Pacific theater; he was part of the Philippines liberation forces.

We have a family friend who's father was part of the D-day forces. There was always this underlying aura with him. Like a lot of these guys he had an attitude of "we were doing a job".

When I was a kid our land lady in Brooklyn was a holocaust survivor; my father said she was the most gracious human being he'd ever known.

The experiences of this generation is why I don't use the word Nazi to describe overbearing people.........I think it cheapens everything that generation went through.

I grew up with the WW2 generation all around. My parents were both born during the war, and their families lived through it. My father was born in German-occupied Europe and had some harrowing experiences in his first years. The war is part of my DNA, despite having been born decades after it ended.

I've been to Normandy three times, including once Ford Econoboxing a British vet who landed on D+3 at Arromanches, fought through the battles around Falaise, and into Belgium, where he was wounded and shipped home for the duration. He had not been back since the war - 57 years at the time. I have photos at home, but I won't have access for a week.

If anyone wants some tips about visiting, let me know. I'm no expert, but I can at least give you some guidance.

My grandfather was on a Sub, lucky for me he missed a deployment, due to being sick.  I think it was this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Herring, it went down during that mission, If he was on that mission my family would not exist.  

He was in the engine room as a machinist, I have his books from 1937-40 and am a machinist myself.  I need to get the stories from my Aunt while I still can.

Wow, really puts in perspective how Grandpa lost the nerve to continue on after his crew perished.   As I live my comfortable life incomprehensible to what they went through.