75th Anniversary of VE Day

[Sir Lawrence]

My dad, my father-in-law and two uncles were all still fighting in the Philippines.  But another uncle was in Germany, which brought relief to my mother and her parents I would think.  Disappointed that the celebrations are muted. 

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

My great-uncle and his twin brother landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day.  (He was married to my grandfather's sister.)  He had the keys to Berchtesgaden at the end of the war.
Two more great-uncles fought in Italy.
Another great-uncle fought on Guadalcanal.

My wife's great-uncle has the crazy story.  Was in the Polish Army on Sept 1, 1939.  Was taken as a POW by the Soviets.  When the Nazi's invaded the Soviet Union the Soviets let all the Polish POWs out.  He worked his way through the Stans, Iran on the way to Egypt where he joined the Free Polish Army.  He was later wounded at Monte Cassino. 

[Warriors4ever]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-52576176

A message from Vera Lynn, still going strong at 103.
Some nice articles on the BBC site, click through to the UK section. They really-broadcast Churchill’s speech today, Prince Charles laid a wreath, and there was a flyover over London. Tonight the Queen addresses the nation -she is the only head of state now who was in uniform.
I have been to the railcar in Reims where the surrender was signed ( as well as Westerplatte in Poland, where the war began). Lost an uncle in the Phillippines, an aunt was a Navy Nurse on Guam, and her eventual husband came ashore at Omaha, though not on D-Day itself.

[Sir Lawrence]

An interesting article from Germany regarding today:

https://www.dw.com/en/end-of-world-war-two-marks-zero-hour-in-germany/a-53352628

[MU82]

My dad served under Patton. My dad never liked talking about it, but my son interviewed him for a school assignment many years back, and it was really interesting hearing him open up.

That generation really sacrificed everything for America. We all owe them debts that we can't possibly ever repay.

[HutchwasClutch]

My dad served under Patton. My dad never liked talking about it, but my son interviewed him for a school assignment many years back, and it was really interesting hearing him open up.

That generation really sacrificed everything for America. We all owe them debts that we can't possibly ever repay.

The Greatest Generation- very aptly named. All are heroes!

[Hards Alumni]

The Greatest Generation- very aptly named. All are heroes!

But they raised the Boomers.

Are they still great?

[MU82]

But they raised the Boomers.

Are they still great?

Hey ... get outta my yard!

[Tortuga94]

My dad served under Patton. My dad never liked talking about it, but my son interviewed him for a school assignment many years back, and it was really interesting hearing him open up.

That generation really sacrificed everything for America. We all owe them debts that we can't possibly ever repay.

The funny thing about that is, I had a client who every time I met with him, he would open up to me and talk about WW2. He would get extremely emotional, tears and all, when he would talk about his experiences, friends he lost, even recalling some of the Germans he fought against very vividly. Being a son of German immigrants in Sheboygan, he spoke fluent German, so he would be the interpreter when they took POWs.

After he died and I met with his kids, I made a comment about how he would talk to me about the war and all three looked at each other and basically said, he never talked to them about it. They only remember him talking to the grandkids once about the war.

Not sure why he picked me to open up to, I felt honored but also a little bad for his kids. Because of my job, I had a lot of opportunities to speak with WW2 vets, some would be very open about their experiences, but a few never spoke about it. I also had a client that fought for the German side. The guy was on a U-boat, he always said he was extremely lucky to survive the war.

Definitely have a great amount of respect and admiration for that generation of Americans.

[mu03eng]

My great-uncle and my son's namesake crewed a B-17 for 35 missions as part of the 303rd BG and was shot down a month short of the end of the war in Europe. He was one of two guys who bailed out, but was eventually executed by the SS.

http://www.303rdbg.com/358murray.html

[HouWarrior]

My....Grandpa was in WWI, Dad was in WWII, lots of uncles/relatives in WWII, My age group ...many were in Vietnam, etc.,... but...I digress.... as the topic here is D-Day ....

Many years back....I made a point of visiting Normandy with my then living Dad; during the same  summer time frame as of the super low tides at our WWII landings ...wow.....here are some of my take aways

As you recall,.. to avoid and expose the underwater barriers Allies landed during  a narrow time window of very low tides. BUT....did you know that....At lowest  tide, Omaha and Utah have an average of 400-550 yards wide beach .  Imagine full pack charging over 4-5  wide open football fields with all machine guns pre -sighted to kill and mow you down. No resting no cover no stopping or ducking until you complete the 1/4 mile gauntlet . It was ....a sobering sight and realization for me to see.  To be frank, I thought it was impossible to not be mowed down over the 500 yd wide Omaha beach by the perfectly placed higher ground emplacements... Whereas Sword and Juno were near kind of settled areas with buildings etc....further west ...Omaha and Utah were in areas of almost no population lots of beach, dunes and cliffy dropoffs (although point du Hoc is massive). I saw it all but still cant see how we pulled it off

It was hard for to imagine/visualize  the Axis' vast inland flooding or its effects....but ...even now it was easy to see the the fields and hedgerows of the bocage areas just inland from the the beaches. Field after field , each about 100- 200 yards wide with absolute walls of thick old vegetation, bushes. I have seen some WWI trench works and the hedgerow cover is  almost as good...Frankly that it only took us weeks to finally bust through (Operation Cobra) is amazing.

The most sobering of all, of course,  is the Normandy soldiers cemetery. My parents hated and always called BS on them and theirs receiving the "greatest generation" talk. They'd scold, "We just did what we had to and were asked to do during what the times demanded. We dont want to hear that greatest generation BS. Talk about something else"....
Like many here, I did not understand the stonewalling. Then...Years ago ....My Dad was still alive and he was with me at that cemetery and he explained some of the "why" ( i am summarizing his points)....

DAD: These are the ones all of us cared about back then. We came back to our families alive...but they didnt. We all knew closely, many widows and parents of the dead; our friends. We guys in the war dont  talk about this because ....well ..... first of all,.. they (military) told us to not talk, put this behind us and try to forget  (it was a time where all of us obeyed orders), but also you need to understand ....
anyone who started to talk,  brag,  or detail their action was considered by us other vets as a total jerk. Quickly we shut them up by reminding him of someone we mutually knew who died. All of us there always agreed .....The ultimate price is paid by the dead. So we all also believed...No one alive should dare talk of this as... hell (to the jerk -guy whos talking) you made it out...these dead guys  didnt ....so....our deep tears/emotions  for these dead guys led to the implied social rule we still living would enforce on each other....out of our shared respect for the many many dead ....none of us living should ever dare speak or brag talk of any war actions...
frankly, son, ....after WWII all us just hoped wars like this would never happen again. We dont talk and dont want to talk about this stuff

(back to me)...Today I am still not sure I understand all of the above...Grandpa and Dad were enigmatic to me.  Early on, My dad and I clashed over Vietnam...he thought hell...the govt approved it...its communism... we have to fight, thats it... no questions ..we go

...and that my agers questioning Vietnam bordered on being like the 1% cowards of his age who avoided doing their bit in WWII. Those folks were hated and ostracized ...so this analogy was ....for him.... a pretty forceful insult to me and my agers. We argued

 However.... in Early 70s ...Dad actually came around. Unlike WWII, Vietnam had much less propagandized /controlled news and every day, my dad read and soaked up the Vietnam news.   Finally, I think it was Dads respect for the dead thing ....b/c he switched to thinking it was actually "their" war and we had no business fighting or being over there. Amazingly...He started saying, .. "no one should ever die for  the wrong reason". 
 
We boomers and all younger ones who followed really have not experienced a "total"or even a  "good" war.  Mostly, ...We have tied and lost...so I am and remain hopelessly ambivalent over war talk.  Guess I just smile at some point ....and remember ole dad  saying ....did this (fill in blank) war kill 75 million .....no? ...well then, we're doin' better.

WWI and WWII .....RIP ...100 million dead (approx 3 of every hundred people then on earth)
COVID will need to kill 228 million before it has numbers like these two wars

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I was at Normandy last year.  The thing that struck me odd is that they still use Utah and Omaha beaches as...well...beaches.  Kids and families were sitting and blankets and swimming in the water.  But the cemetery was incredibly moving.

[MU82]

The funny thing about that is, I had a client who every time I met with him, he would open up to me and talk about WW2. He would get extremely emotional, tears and all, when he would talk about his experiences, friends he lost, even recalling some of the Germans he fought against very vividly. Being a son of German immigrants in Sheboygan, he spoke fluent German, so he would be the interpreter when they took POWs.

After he died and I met with his kids, I made a comment about how he would talk to me about the war and all three looked at each other and basically said, he never talked to them about it. They only remember him talking to the grandkids once about the war.

Not sure why he picked me to open up to, I felt honored but also a little bad for his kids. Because of my job, I had a lot of opportunities to speak with WW2 vets, some would be very open about their experiences, but a few never spoke about it. I also had a client that fought for the German side. The guy was on a U-boat, he always said he was extremely lucky to survive the war.

Definitely have a great amount of respect and admiration for that generation of Americans.

I'm guessing that client didn't want to "burden" his family with details of his experiences but he was grateful for the opportunity to talk to somebody about it. That generation just about never used the services of psychologists, but they obviously could have used them just as following generations have.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I was at Normandy last year.  The thing that struck me odd is that they still use Utah and Omaha beaches as...well...beaches.  Kids and families were sitting and blankets and swimming in the water.  But the cemetery was incredibly moving.

I visited in 1986.  Omaha, Pont du Hoc, the Cemetery, and the Mulberries at Arromanche.  Very somber and humbling.

[Warriors4ever]

A group of us went in 1984. We stayed at the Hotel du Casino in Vierville, which literally sits on Omaha Beach. The hotel is still there. We visited each beach and several cemeteries, including a German one . They had some very young soldiers. It was right after the 40th, and in one town the owner of the crepes place showed us a book he kept for veterans to sign.
When you see the bluffs the Rangers has to climb, honestly one wonders how they did it.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

We stayed in Bayeux the night after. Bar owner kept buying us rounds of Grimbergen beers because she loves Americans. The next morning was rough.

[dgies9156]

My 21-year-old son and I visited Normandy last May, just before the 75th anniversary of the invasion. The tide at Omaha Beach was low so we walked about 200 years out from the high water mark and looked back at the shore and the Nazi emplacements. The courage our troops had was amazing as one can only imagine what it would be like to be shot at from all sides as you waded toward the shore.

We visited both the Canadian and US cemeteries. As we walked through the latter, all I could think of was this was what America is about — helping out where we can!

Brother Fluff, we spent four days in Bayeux and loved it. Great small town!

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

We stayed in Bayeux the night after. Bar owner kept buying us rounds of Grimbergen beers because she loves Americans. The next morning was rough.

I believe I stayed in Caen.  I remember sitting on the front steps of the church well I recall it was just the facade of the church that was left.
I did visit Bayeux.  They have a famous tapestry showing the Norman invasion of England.  It also depicts Haley's comet which passed earth in 1066 as well as 1986 the year I viewed it.

[buckchuckler]

My great-uncle and his twin brother landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day.  (He was married to my grandfather's sister.)  He had the keys to Berchtesgaden at the end of the war.
Two more great-uncles fought in Italy.
Another great-uncle fought on Guadalcanal.

My wife's great-uncle has the crazy story.  Was in the Polish Army on Sept 1, 1939.  Was taken as a POW by the Soviets.  When the Nazi's invaded the Soviet Union the Soviets let all the Polish POWs out.  He worked his way through the Stans, Iran on the way to Egypt where he joined the Free Polish Army. He was later wounded at Monte Cassino.

The Polish participation in, and eventual taking of, Monte Cassino is a great testament to their perseverance and dedication.  Truly heroic in all measures. 

[WellsstreetWanderer]

I have a neighbor who made that landing and I was talking with him just the other day. He is quite a celebrity in Belgium as he helped liberate many places. He has a school named after him in a Belgian town and has been feted many times over the years when he traveled back to visit.
My own father traveled on the Marine cruise line and fought on  Tarawa, Marshall Islands and Samoa. The little he did say about the experience fills me with awe for what that generation had to endure and overcome.

[Herman Cain]

My....Grandpa was in WWI, Dad was in WWII, lots of uncles/relatives in WWII, My age group ...many were in Vietnam, etc.,... but...I digress.... as the topic here is D-Day ....

Many years back....I made a point of visiting Normandy with my then living Dad; during the same  summer time frame as of the super low tides at our WWII landings ...wow.....here are some of my take aways

As you recall,.. to avoid and expose the underwater barriers Allies landed during  a narrow time window of very low tides. BUT....did you know that....At lowest  tide, Omaha and Utah have an average of 400-550 yards wide beach .  Imagine full pack charging over 4-5  wide open football fields with all machine guns pre -sighted to kill and mow you down. No resting no cover no stopping or ducking until you complete the 1/4 mile gauntlet . It was ....a sobering sight and realization for me to see.  To be frank, I thought it was impossible to not be mowed down over the 500 yd wide Omaha beach by the perfectly placed higher ground emplacements... Whereas Sword and Juno were near kind of settled areas with buildings etc....further west ...Omaha and Utah were in areas of almost no population lots of beach, dunes and cliffy dropoffs (although point du Hoc is massive). I saw it all but still cant see how we pulled it off

It was hard for to imagine/visualize  the Axis' vast inland flooding or its effects....but ...even now it was easy to see the the fields and hedgerows of the bocage areas just inland from the the beaches. Field after field , each about 100- 200 yards wide with absolute walls of thick old vegetation, bushes. I have seen some WWI trench works and the hedgerow cover is  almost as good...Frankly that it only took us weeks to finally bust through (Operation Cobra) is amazing.

The most sobering of all, of course,  is the Normandy soldiers cemetery. My parents hated and always called BS on them and theirs receiving the "greatest generation" talk. They'd scold, "We just did what we had to and were asked to do during what the times demanded. We dont want to hear that greatest generation BS. Talk about something else"....
Like many here, I did not understand the stonewalling. Then...Years ago ....My Dad was still alive and he was with me at that cemetery and he explained some of the "why" ( i am summarizing his points)....

DAD: These are the ones all of us cared about back then. We came back to our families alive...but they didnt. We all knew closely, many widows and parents of the dead; our friends. We guys in the war dont  talk about this because ....well ..... first of all,.. they (military) told us to not talk, put this behind us and try to forget  (it was a time where all of us obeyed orders), but also you need to understand ....
anyone who started to talk,  brag,  or detail their action was considered by us other vets as a total jerk. Quickly we shut them up by reminding him of someone we mutually knew who died. All of us there always agreed .....The ultimate price is paid by the dead. So we all also believed...No one alive should dare talk of this as... hell (to the jerk -guy whos talking) you made it out...these dead guys  didnt ....so....our deep tears/emotions  for these dead guys led to the implied social rule we still living would enforce on each other....out of our shared respect for the many many dead ....none of us living should ever dare speak or brag talk of any war actions...
frankly, son, ....after WWII all us just hoped wars like this would never happen again. We dont talk and dont want to talk about this stuff

(back to me)...Today I am still not sure I understand all of the above...Grandpa and Dad were enigmatic to me.  Early on, My dad and I clashed over Vietnam...he thought hell...the govt approved it...its communism... we have to fight, thats it... no questions ..we go

...and that my agers questioning Vietnam bordered on being like the 1% cowards of his age who avoided doing their bit in WWII. Those folks were hated and ostracized ...so this analogy was ....for him.... a pretty forceful insult to me and my agers. We argued

 However.... in Early 70s ...Dad actually came around. Unlike WWII, Vietnam had much less propagandized /controlled news and every day, my dad read and soaked up the Vietnam news.   Finally, I think it was Dads respect for the dead thing ....b/c he switched to thinking it was actually "their" war and we had no business fighting or being over there. Amazingly...He started saying, .. "no one should ever die for  the wrong reason". 
 
We boomers and all younger ones who followed really have not experienced a "total"or even a  "good" war.  Mostly, ...We have tied and lost...so I am and remain hopelessly ambivalent over war talk.  Guess I just smile at some point ....and remember ole dad  saying ....did this (fill in blank) war kill 75 million .....no? ...well then, we're doin' better.

WWI and WWII .....RIP ...100 million dead (approx 3 of every hundred people then on earth)
COVID will need to kill 228 million before it has numbers like these two wars

Thanks for taking the time to chronicle your Dads experience.

[Goose]

I have not been on scoop of late and glad that Sir started this thread. I could never thank those who served, including my Dad in WWII and my Uncle (I am named after) that died in the Korean War. I wish this thread had lasted longer than a one page thread. Sadly, the folks posting a thousand posts on every other topic do not take the time to respect the folks that fought to give them the right to speak foolishly on every other thread.

[HutchwasClutch]

I have not been on scoop of late and glad that Sir started this thread. I could never thank those who served, including my Dad in WWII and my Uncle (I am named after) that died in the Korean War. I wish this thread had lasted longer than a one page thread. Sadly, the folks posting a thousand posts on every other topic do not take the time to respect the folks that fought to give them the right to speak foolishly on every other thread.

Well said and couldn’t agree more Goose. I had the privilege of attending an Honor Flight welcome home a few years ago in Milwaukee and it’s an experience I’ll always treasure. Everyone there was united behind love of country and deep appreciation for the bravery and sacrifice of service to our nation.  Personally, it gave me the chance to do something I really had never had the opportunity to do, thank a veteran who served in war, and show them appreciation for what they’ve done for our freedoms and way of life.

Sadly, many have passion now only to dump on our country, so a topic like this is generally ignored.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

So now we don't appreciate the troops if we don't post such appreciation on a message board dedicated to Marquette basketball.

[Pakuni]

So now we don't appreciate the troops if we don't post such appreciation on a message board dedicated to Marquette basketball.

Virtue signaling?
I tend to show my appreciation for those who fought for this country, including my father, by expressing gratitude to those who fought for this country.
But maybe I should stop that and instead call attention to myself on an internet message board.