We Cannot And Should Not Forget

[Gringoboy]

Today being the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27737340

 

[Redpossum]

I'm always a little skeptical about anything glorifying war, particularly at this point in time, given the gross excesses of the US/NATO military machine in the last decade and a half. It's just a little too convenient to indulge in such flag-waving rah-rah business just when the public is sick of wars, and reluctant to get dragged into new military adventures in Africa and the Ukraine.

That said, I do respect the generation which fought WW2, and my respect is apportioned equally to all veterans of that era, regardless of which side on which they fought.

 

[camberiu]

Operation Overlord!

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

My grandmother's brother, Francis Hobbs, a US Army Lt, landed on Omaha beach in the first wave. Made it inland. Twice saved his surviving platoon from getting run over by taking positions in the open and laying down enfilade fire. Once he grabbed a hand grenade and threw it back. All documented in after-action reports. Shot by a sniper in hedgerow fighting 3 weeks after landing in Normandy. Awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and the Croix de Guerre. He was 26. I was finally able to get the Croix de Guerre presented to my grandmother 52 years later.

This is the day I always think of him.

GS

 

[wineguy999]

There is one story that, for me, perfectly sums up the significance of that day.

[background=rgb(246, 247, 248)]When President Eisenhower died, he was buried as a soldier, not a president - in battle dress uniform, in an $80 casket. The only medals he wore were: the Army Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit - the three awards given for his service at Normandy.[/background]

 

[ghost]

and my respect is apportioned equally to all veterans of that era, regardless of which side on which they fought.

?
I guess on Dec 7th you out there waving the Japanese flag over Pearl? What a guy.

 

[JoeGillis]

My late father, a career military man with the US Army, partook in Operation Overlord, D-Day, as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, and as a participant of the initial "night drops" early in the morning of 6 June 1944. Until his dying day, he said he never believed he would actually make it safely to the ground, for he and his fellow paratroopers had been advised to expect heavy retaliation if their parachutes were detected by German forces located in and/or near their landing areas. My father always said that 6 June 1944 was indeed "The Longest Day" for him, even though he had participated already in the invasion of Sicily and then continued on until the war's end with Overlord's steady move eastward and across the Rhine.

Interestingly enough, my father always said that if the Battle of Kursk (the largest land battle in recorded history, which took place during the summer of 1943 on the Russian Front) had not been won by the Soviet Union, he doubted if Overlord would have been as successful as it was, for that massive Russian victory effectively decimated the majority of the German's tank and aircraft strength, thus leaving the Reich's western front lacking as strong a defense as they had previously planned for the possibility of an Allied invasion. History has shown now that my father was absolutely correct in his assertion.

 

[AngelinBA]

For me, these days of remembrance are not for the glorification of war but for honouring a bunch of fairly average guys who did incredibly heroic deeds in one of the worst situations humanity can throw at you. In our Anzac day services we read the Ode of Remembrance and say "Lest we forget". To me that also means "Let's not do that again"

 

[Hybrid Ambassador]

Anyone remembering the "saving private Ryan" movie.? All these years after seeing Tom Hanks doin' the role. Memorable!

 

[Gringoboy]

It's odd that there are skeptics who ramble on about warmongering at a time like this, when the real message is that, if it weren't for the Allies and the Russian defeat of Nazism, the world would be a very different place to what it is now.
Hell in fact.