D Day 70 years on

Belgian thought

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Belgian thought
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I am being sentimental and so forth, but for me today, in Europe, it is an exceptional day. Thank you USA, Canada and the British forces. Today is the day we remember what freedom is all about.

Not a real post - no questions asked

But, today, my last post.
 
As a Canadian whose four uncles were part of the invasion (three made it back) - I humbly accept your thanks on their behalf.
Like most veterans of the war they never really talked about it much. However, they marched with pride and tears in their eyes every Remembrance Day until they lost their battle with time.
 
I visited the D Day beaches a few years ago, and it was one of the most emotional times of my life, even though my country had only minimal involvement (our troops were defending the nation against the Japanese). The USA and the other allies involved are owed a debt which will never be repaid.
 
Side note. "D-day" is actually a variable in the invasion equation. They put in "D-day" instead of the date of the invasion because it can (and in point of fact did) change. So you get phrases like "Land 13th Division on D+4", meaning the fourth day after the invasion actually started. This allows flexibility and prevents a proliferation of documents with a fixed date that has to be updated, and also might fall into the hands of spies.

And yes, there is an H-hour and M-minute too. The actual letters can be changed, X-day and Y-day come to mind, but usually the H and M remained to avoid confusion.

/boring
 
Unpublished letter to the LA Times earlier this week:
"Here's an amusing anecdote Brooke McEldowney in "9 Chickweed Lane" can use from WWII since he feels it was a humorous event.
One of the WWII vets I fly r/c planes told me that soon after D-Day
he and his buddy were walking through a French village
when they heard the distinctive firing of German submachine guns behind a house.
They investigated, and captured two German soldiers walking from the backyard.
The Germans did not want the Yanks to go back there, but were forced at gunpoint to go.
There on the ground was the farmer and his family shot to death.
The Yanks immediately shot the two Germans dead.
Just another humorous comedic anecdote about fighting the Nazis.
Should be easy to work this into the current script. "
 
Belgian thought said:
Thank you USA, Canada and the British forces. Today is the day we remember what freedom is all about.
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The Normandy invasion and subsequent liberation of western Europe would have been vastly more expensive in blood and treasure without the assistance of the ordinary residents -- who knew the risks and too often subject to horrific consequences -- in aiding the joint efforts. Even outside the Normandy theater, allied planners gleaned information about German troop disposition and infrastructure that saved lives.
 
If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

Article III, Code of Conduct for US Forces


Of course, this code was adopted later in time and on a different continent, but I can't help but think of it reading this story:

A British D-Day veteran who was reported missing from a nursing home turned up in Normandy today after traveling to France to mark the invasion's 70th anniversary, authorities said.

Bernard Jordan, 89, sneaked out of the home on England’s south coast on Thursday after being told by staff he could not make the trip to Normandy. Donning his war medals, the Royal Navy veteran joined his former comrades on a coach and then a ferry to travel to France.

The nursing home staff called police Thursday to report Jordan missing. Officers started searching the area, including checking nearby hospitals but failed to find him.
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I am disheartened by how many "99% wont post this" type memorial posts on facebook or the like. The idea of a memorial is to remember the few who sacrificed, not draw attention to the "brave" 1% who make a post on the internet.

I appreciate the sacrifice made on D-Day, and also those who on the day were in Italy, on the homefront, or fighting on other fields. I hope such a sacrifice is never required by any person of any nation again of course, and I would not want to glorify the loss of life. But I am grateful to those who ensured I have the freedom to share my views.
 
One time in an army training environment the entire platoon was told to go wait in a big room in the basement for a briefing. Over an hour later a DI came down and spent 5 minutes telling us things we had already been told. I started complaining about the cadre wasting "over a hundred man hours" that could have been used to do finish packing and cleaning the building. A soldier next to me quietly told me "(large number I don't remember) of men died on Omaha beach in the first hour." I was so humbled by that thought I kept it in mind as a meditation for the rest of training, where we were routinely parked in formation for an hour at a time.
 
ApolloGnomon said:
One time in an army training environment the entire platoon was told to go wait in a big room in the basement for a briefing. Over an hour later a DI came down and spent 5 minutes telling us things we had already been told. I started complaining about the cadre wasting "over a hundred man hours" that could have been used to do finish packing and cleaning the building. A soldier next to me quietly told me "(large number I don't remember) of men died on Omaha beach in the first hour." I was so humbled by that thought I kept it in mind as a meditation for the rest of training, where we were routinely parked in formation for an hour at a time.
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I think I missed the connection between a pointless hour of training and a bloody hour of combat. The second makes the first significant?
 
quixotecoyote said:
I think I missed the connection between a pointless hour of training and a bloody hour of combat. The second makes the first significant?
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In fairness the combat was equally pointless. The other beaches provided an adequate beachhead and Mulberry A was in any case destroyed in short order.
 
geni said:
In fairness the combat was equally pointless. The other beaches provided an adequate beachhead and Mulberry A was in any case destroyed in short order.
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This seems to presume the other beaches were relatively easy to take. That certainly wasn't the case with Juno Beach. The casualties there in the first waves were every bit as bad as at Omaha. The difference was the geography allowed the forces to make their way inland after the costly first waves whereas at Omaha the geography kept the forces bottled up for longer, with the consequent heavier toll in total casualties. (It didn't help that Omaha's DD tanks were launched from too far out, meaning almost all of them foundered in the channel. Plus the Americans eschewed the type of specialized combat vehicles that were to prove themselves quite useful on the British and Canadian beaches.)
 
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Corsair 115 said:
This seems to presume the other beaches were relatively easy to take. That certainly wasn't the case with Juno Beach. The casualties there in the first waves were every bit as bad as at Omaha.
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However the other beaches had been cleared by time the searious Omaha casualties were racked up.

Logisticaly though it would have been hard to redirect the attack. That said logisticaly the loss of Mulberry A so early rendered omaha beach a poor showing.

Against that there was the moral value of showing that americans could fight and the advantage of having some troops under effective comanders. For that 3K causulties is fairly cheap.
 
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