VE Day: Europe marks 75th anniversary of the end of WW2

Today is VE day  , its been  75 years since WW2 ended , 

There are very few WW2 vets left ,  but my hat is off to them !

at the 50th anniversary I went to a parade in  Pilsen 

https://www.pilsen.eu/tourist/information/news/come-to-pilsen-for-the-liberation-festival-in-may.aspx

This was the last place in the Czech Republic that the USA army liberated ,  we made a "deal" with the Russians that they could  "liberate" Prague  ,  which  sent them into the communist  government , 

The 50th year Parade was great as there were still many USA Vets who  went to that event ,  and many Military vehicles.

One of the days that make you proud to be an American  :)

I have seen no mention on the morning news.... which is a bid sad.  This is really something we should remember.  In this time of "numbers of dead", a little perspective:

Hard to believe. There's a lot going on right now, of course, but it's still an important date.

Thanks for posting.

Histrory channel is remembering-  WWII in Color.

Just remember that WW 2 didn't end on VE day, the Pacific theater was still hot.

The pacific did end in a bit more of a "bang" then a "wimper". 

Some will say, WWII did not truly end until the 90's...

alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:

Histrory channel is remembering-  WWII in Color.

Sadly, when I switched over to watch a bit of this, "History" has now gone over to "Ancient Aliens".  Seriously?

What those men and women did is astonishing, and should be celebrated while a few of them remain.

Just found a great BBC series on Netflix about Britians SOE.  Just happened to also read a book about that same subject.  Fascinating.

Of note, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are developing a mini-series from the book Masters of the Air (very good book on the 8th Air Force). Very unfortunately, it will be on Apple TV!

Greyhound (about the u-boat convoy battles in the North Atlantic) was supposed to be released this summer.

Its starting to look like others might, but Tom Hanks will never forget.

aircooled said:

I have seen no mention on the morning news.... which is a bid sad.  This is really something we should remember.  In this time of "numbers of dead", a little perspective:

There seem to be a number of countries missing from that chart.  At first I thought that was just non-combatant deaths, but Great Britain certainly suffered civilian casualties.  So where are the US, Great Britain, and the empire?

Hmmm weird, I did not notice that.  It appears to be deaths for continental Europe and Asia.  For what reason I have no idea.

UK was 385,000, US was 418,000.

Yes, plus Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, Indian, and Burmese troops, all of whom took it for the empire.

My Dad was a WWII vet. Didn't quite make it- he passed away a few weeks ago. 
 

Thank you, vets!

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

Same with my father.  Landed on the beach in France.  Fought through the war. 
Would be 96 now but only lasted to 48. 

I did get to spend last VE Day with him. 

My step dad (task force 58 in the pacific) who died a few years ago, never had much interest in remembrance.  He would answer questions if asked, but had no interest in any sort of honoring. I am honestly a bit suspicious of veterans who are.

I did try to convince him once that his stories, after 30 years in the navy, may seem silly and common to him but are very valuable historically.  We always hear the "big" and spectacular stories, but rarely hear about day to day stuff. 

I remember him talking about a battle his destroyer group had with a Japanese cruiser (maneuvering to try and get a torpedo shot) and when he discovered a hole from a 20mm (almost certainly another ship) right above his head (he was a Gun director) after a Japanese air attack. One of his more interesting ones was when the oil plug came out of the Corsair he was flying over the middle of the Caribbean.

I really do wish he would have writing down some memoirs.  All those memories are lost now.

In reply to aircooled :

My father was the same way. He'd answer the questions but never volunteered. I had to read his discharge records to find out he was field promoted  to an officer and 6 weeks later busted down to Private. 
My Grandfather knew the story second hand but  I wish he'd shared that with me. 
 

I find out I'm free to talk about the good stuff, the joy of landing on a carrier deck in a storm kinda thing  but I've never told the bad stuff  to anybody. I won't either. Not to anybody. 
luckily  I don't have sons to be drafted. 
 

When my dad told me I was going to get my draft notice in about 10 days  he told me to go to Canada.  That he'd support me.   I grew up wearing parts of his army uniform  to class on show and tell day. Thought that courage, honor, duty was what was expected of an American boy. 
 I left for the Navy disappointed  in him. Didn't write or tell him I'd been selected for NESEP  and flight school. Went all the way through that and for 2 years didn't bother writing. 
When I came home because he was dying. It wasn't until We talked just before he died that I heard some of the story.

We were both in the hospital.  He with terminal cancer, me with a ruptured appendix.  He outlined why. He wanted me to dodge the draft. I told him what I had done. 
They are called the greatest generation. Lived through the Great Depression, fought WW2  and made America the worlds leader. 

If you have a chance, please watch this.  It features my Great Uncle Noel (and Lateapexer's uncle) and is a great piece.