D-Day 75th anni

[Noah]

This guy is cool

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/ww2- ... index.html

For most people, a summer trip to France is a chance to relax in beautiful surroundings and to savor the country's fine food. For Tom Rice of San Diego, it's an opportunity to relive the time he nearly died jumping from a C-47 Douglas airplane, then was shot at, again and again.
Despite being 97, Rice climbed once more into the bone-rattling fuselage of a C-47 and, while flying over the Normandy fields where he first saw action in 1944, leaped into the unknown.
Those on the ground watched the anxiety-inducing descent as, strapped to another parachutist dangling beneath a stars and stripes canopy, the old man coasted through the sky, another gigantic American flag billowing out behind him.
Reaching the ground with only a slight stumble on impact, Rice proudly gave V for victory signs with his hands and, wearing a 101st Airborne baseball cap, said he felt "great" and was ready to "go back up and do it again."

[TurboPablo]

I saw that story on the news. Old timer looked good and sounded damn sharp.


Not many of those folks left these days. Which is sad because the lessons they brought home seem to be losing their meaning in todays world.

[ajaxlepinski]

They aren't called, "The Greatest Generation" for nothing.

[itchyfingers]

My nephews are 12, and currently into planes, ships and pretty much anything with guns mounted on it. I took them to the Midway Museum, which is an air craft carrier that sits in San Diego bay. The docents there are all guys who served in WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam, etc. They have some amazing stories that they share with the crowds of people that pass through, usually involving a near death experience or two, then laugh it off. Who is going to tell those stories when they are gone?

Respect to Tom Rice, and all those who served.

[fretless]

Thank you .

[Noah]

A few years ago I met one of the guys who was on a destroyer during D-Day. They saw what was happening on the beach and went in really close, risking grounding, to shell the German positions. He said after they ran out of ammunition the next destroyer to take their place got hit by artillery fire.

[TurboPablo]

The first day of my second job out of high school, I met a gentleman named Ed. He was a retired caretaker and one of the sweetest people I've ever known. When he was 18, he enlisted. After boot camp, he was stationed at Pearl Harbor. His first job in the Navy was pulling bodies out of the water during and after the attack.

I have never been able to imagine what that was like. It goes way beyond my imagination.

[ajaxlepinski]

My Maternal Grandfather was a sailor in the Merchant Marines during WW11. He crossed the Atlantic dozens of times, carrying munitions and supplies to England.
He saw other ships get torpedoed, in a few of his convoys.

My Paternal Grandfather was an artillaryman in WW1

My Father was an MP in WW11. He transferred German prisoners, by boat, from North Africa to Hoboken, NJ and then, by train to internment camps in Texas.
On the train ride, the Germans were amazed by how big the USA was. During the journey to Texas, my father fell asleep with a Thompson on his lap, while on guard duty.... a court martial offence.
When a Lieutenant walked in from the other end of the train car, a German woke my father up to keep him out of trouble.
Of course, being an MP, he was required to raid a few brothels to round up the wayward soldiers... he joked that, he literally caught them with their pants down!

My eldest Uncle took part in the Battle of the Bulge. When the war in Europe ended, he immediately joined the Navy to fight the Japanese.

My youngest Uncle was in the Navy, during WW11 and worked in the engine room of a ship.

They all made it through the war unscathed.

[BroSlinger]

My paternal Grandfather was a US Army chef on the Western Front. He was like 30 years old when he was drafted. Since he was a hotel manager, his job was managing the kitchen and feeding the troops.

They called him "genial Gene"

D-Day was freakin' crazy. I did some research, and there was no real alternative. Just nuts.

[clipless bumper]

Some pics posted by USA Today

[Noah]

The alternative would have been to do it in 1943, which might have worked out.