70 years ago...D-day and the Allied Normandy landings

A truly heroic effort that still has repercussions today. Ive been doing some reading and have just started to look through photos from that day. If anyone has any tales or interesting photos of the operation, feel free to post them. And finally, lets remember those hero's that gave so much on that day, they wont be forgotten.

Normandy landings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

US Conservative said:

A truly heroic effort that still has repercussions today.

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The cemeteries are awesome.

joG said:

The cemeteries are awesome.

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20 years ago, I was 13. And I watched Peter Jennings on ABC talk about the 50th anniversary of the invasion. Many more veterans from that day were alive then, and the stories they told did not make me think those cemeteries were awesome. They were tragic. Horribly so, but also in a way beautiful.

Amongst the things ive learned the last 2 decades, was that what they did truly was beautiful, and I think its in short supply these days. Sadly smart ass replies like yours are all to common these days, as these vets drop like flies. I hope they dont think it was all in vein.

US Conservative said:

20 years ago, I was 13. And I watched Peter Jennings on ABC talk about the 50th anniversary of the invasion. Many more veterans from that day were alive then, and the stories they told did not make me think those cemeteries were awesome. They were tragic. Horribly so, but also in a way beautiful.

Amongst the things ive learned the last 2 decades, was that what they did truly was beautiful, and I think its in short supply these days. Sadly smart ass replies like yours are all to common these days, as these vets drop like flies. I hope they dont think it was all in vein.

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You do not seem to have spent a day in one of those memorial cemeteries.
Otherwise, you could hardly give such an ignorant reply. That is very sad for you, because you have then missed quite an experience.

joG said:

You do not seem to have spent a day in one of those memorial cemeteries.
Otherwise, you could hardly give such an ignorant reply. That is very sad for you, because you have then missed quite an experience.

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Ive been to several here in the US, and I fail to see how my comment were ignorant. If you'd like to share, do tell.

All I can say is thank god for the British and Canadians... they saved the invasion by following instructions.

US Conservative said:

20 years ago, I was 13. And I watched Peter Jennings on ABC talk about the 50th anniversary of the invasion. Many more veterans from that day were alive then, and the stories they told did not make me think those cemeteries were awesome. They were tragic. Horribly so, but also in a way beautiful.

Amongst the things ive learned the last 2 decades, was that what they did truly was beautiful, and I think its in short supply these days. Sadly smart ass replies like yours are all to common these days, as these vets drop like flies. I hope they dont think it was all in vein.

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In 1990, while serving aboard the Eisenhower, we took part in a D-Day celebration with Britain that was pretty cool. We then hit port in Portsmouth, and while there some friends and I hit a small pub where two old British WW2 navy vets served. They filled us with war stories and beer(seriously, they would not let us buy a round, and told the waitress that they where not to take out money). One of the guys was involved in the bombardment of the shore and he talked at length about just how insane the bombardment was. Fascinating stuff, we listened to those guys for hours and where never remotely bored.

PeteEU said:

All I can say is thank god for the British and Canadians... they saved the invasion by following instructions.

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Thats all you can say? What language would you be speaking without the help of not just the Brits and Canadians, but also the Americans?

Are you thankful for what the US did? The US lost about 400K men, 10 times the number of Danes fighting for the Nazi's. Denmark without the Danish Nazi's lost 2-3K.

Something to consider, some day-regarding its all you can say.

Redress said:

In 1990, while serving aboard the Eisenhower, we took part in a D-Day celebration with Britain that was pretty cool. We then hit port in Portsmouth, and while there some friends and I hit a small pub where two old British WW2 navy vets served. They filled us with war stories and beer(seriously, they would not let us buy a round, and told the waitress that they where not to take out money). One of the guys was involved in the bombardment of the shore and he talked at length about just how insane the bombardment was. Fascinating stuff, we listened to those guys for hours and where never remotely bored.

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I love hearing stories like this! One can only imagine how it was to see or smell or hear or touch or to feel in that invasion. I wish these men werent leaving so fast, we really need them.

US Conservative said:

Ive been to several here in the US, and I fail to see how my comment were ignorant. If you'd like to share, do tell.

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Well, then it is sader, than I had thought.

The greatest generation indeed. Thank God for their sacrifices.

US Conservative said:

Thats all you can say? What language would you be speaking without the help of not just the Brits and Canadians, but also the Americans?

Are you thankful for what the US did? The US lost about 400K men, 10 times the number of Danes fighting for the Nazi's. Denmark without the Danish Nazi's lost 2-3K.

Something to consider, some day-regarding its all you can say.

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LOL why bring Danes into this? Seriously?

My whole point was that the Brits/Canadians followed the instructions on the Mulberry harbors, which the Americans did not, so when the big storm that was predicted did hit, the British Mulberry harbor survived and the American did not. The British Mulberry harbor was only to supply the British/Canadian forces, but in fact supplied all allies until the first major ports were captured. And without this harbor the invasion would have failed as resupply of men and material would have been slower than the Germans rushing to counter the invasion.

On top of that, the British and Canadians held up a majority of German troops around Caen, which meant that once the Americans finally did get off the beaches, they had a relatively free road ahead of them to break out of Normandy.

So yes, the Americans get all the glory because of the American biased history books and talking heads, but the reality is that on D-Day and the days after the invasion, it was in fact the British/Canadian forces that were critical to the success of the invasion (along with the French resistance of course).

Pete. Without the yanks its unlikely that D-Day would of happened when it did.

Shout out to the airbourne troops who always get over looked.

Point du Hoc and Rudder's Rangers.

Sure is a lot of penis waving going on.

My Grandfather went ashore D-Day, he wasn't part of the assault force, his MP company was to set up a POW compound for the thousands of third rate Infantry the Germans were said to have on the bluffs.

His unit hit the beach and were thrown into the chaos of Omaha beach. Those in his unit that survived the dash to the seawall clung there until the Infantry cleared the heights. He was always very terse about that day, apparently his unit didn't have many Germans to guard.

He would have a few men over for lunch every D-Day, they sat together in the main dining room and as a kid I wasn't allowed in, as a teenager later I had 'more important' things to do....

Much has been made of these men, I remember men who went to do 'the job' and then those who could, went back to doing what they did before 'the letter' arrived. When I learned of the thousands of men who returned home but would never recover from what they saw and did to be able to reflect on the other vets who went about their daily lives with little if any notice, what they risked from outright death to crippling physical and mental injuries...

Well I was determined to try and follow in their footsteps.

For some the need to heap accolades on these men is overwhelming- "The Greatest Generation" and such... for me they were simply men who would show all vets how to pick up life and lead 'normal' lives after such a life altering experience. Back to being clerks, educators, plumbers- but with little fanfare would meet on 'that day'.

I wear a single dog tag that sums the attitude up for me on coming out the other side... "Every Day a Holiday, Every Meal a Banquet"

My Grandfather passed in his sleep while I was overseas, I didn't hear about it til after he was buried. I'm not sad about missing his funeral, I just remember the once a year lunches and his dignified way of meeting the rest of his life.

https://music.yahoo.com/photos/the-d-day-landings-70-years-later-1401298310-slideshow/


Then and now in pictures: 70 years later, Normandy's beaches retain memory of D-Day invasion - The Globe and Mail


Very interesting pictures of Normandy then and now. That's the thing with WW2 we can't even begin to imagine the sheer scale of it, the fact it's been 70 years and the scars are still there is unreal. Even recently they found a unexploded bomb near where I live.

My own Grandfather never fought in D-Day but he was involved in North Africa and Market garden. Like most WW2 Vets he was a humble man and shunned the word "hero" whenever it was brought up, he died a while ago now but I will never forget him and some of his stories. He left me his medals which I will pass on with pride to my own son.

PeteEU said:

All I can say is thank god for the British and Canadians... they saved the invasion by following instructions.

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People like you are why I wish we had just left you there for Hitlers taking and pounding.

Higgins86 said:

Pete. Without the yanks its unlikely that D-Day would of happened when it did.

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Clearly somewhere in the UK education system they are being taught that we were only just in the way and only came for the glory.

CRUE CAB said:

Clearly somewhere in the UK education system they are being taught that we were only just in the way and only came for the glory.

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Hes not a product of our educational system. Blame the Danes

Our town will have a service and commemoration which I will be taking my students to - it's important for me that the memory lives on beyond the few left; I'm sorry for the rubbish that's happened on this thread so far but I suppose those guys died so we could make inane comments to each other in the freedom we have now.

joG said:

You do not seem to have spent a day in one of those memorial cemeteries.
Otherwise, you could hardly give such an ignorant reply. That is very sad for you, because you have then missed quite an experience.

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I have 5 members of my family buried at Arlington. What was wrong about his reply. Its tragic that it has to be, but. It has to be.

CRUE CAB said:

I have 5 members of my family buried at Arlington. What was wrong about his reply. Its tragic that it has to be, but. It has to be.

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Mostly it was his aggressive tone that found disgusting. Of course the wars were ugly and harsh, though, a great uncle thought of his battlefield time as valuable and something to be proud of. But anyone that thinks that the Normandy memorial cemeteries not awesome ist odd.