80th anniverary . . . can we not wonder?

3TrueFans

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Whoever “Dumbed” the OP., you suck
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JP4CY

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I think it's CBS Sunday that usually shows this story: every year the French take Omaha's sand and rub it into graves to be able to see the names better, place flags, etc.
Quite the remembrance.
 

Sousaclone

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It’s all fine and good to post about it. But very few of us do much to actually remember and honor it.

So out of genuine curiosity, how would you remember and honor this? Not being a smartass, just curious as to what you and other people would think is appropriate?

I would be willing to be that more people know D-Day and the Attack on Pearl Harbor (two major inciting events) compared to VE and VJ day.
 

BoxsterCy

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Certainly Europe does as it was a war that will forever effect them geographically. America has a bad memory but there are still some who care.

^This.

I was on a battlefield tour in 1994 just prior to the 50th anniversary of D-Day with my dad and sister. My dad had landed on Utah Beach early on the morning of the 12th*** so was a veteran of the Normandy campaign and was attending the 50th year ceremonies the next week. Most everyone we met in Normandy was super nice and the French were all in on the commemorative exercise. They even issued veterans of the campaign a nice special medal which I have in my dad's memorabilia box.

*** He was in Battery B of the 980th FAB and that battery landed on D-Day. He arrived with the rest of the battalion on the 12th. He was hurt in a truck accident the week prior and was hospitalized with a back injury. He bluffed and blustered his way out of the hospital by waving a x-ray, swearing a lot and saying the doctors said he was good to go (he was not) and got back to his battalion before they departed. Buddies had to brace his back with life preservers and put him in the back of the a weapons carrier while making the passage on an LST. He was afraid he was going to be left behind and thrown into a replacement pool and end up god knows where. As he told me "I damn well wasn't going to have been in training with these guys since late 1942 and than get thrown into another outfit". Couple months later, as a combat medic, he got a Bronze Star for treating and evacuating some of those same guys while under intense German fire.
 

DSM4Cy

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I care, and from this post it looks like I’m not alone…thankfully. My grandfather fought in Europe and while unfortunately I never got to meet him, I still feel great pride for the sacrifices that he and so many others of that generation made so that we can be here today.

Every American should be required to watch Band of Brothers.
 

BoxsterCy

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The truth and sacrifice behind those who were there is truly amazing. BoB is just an amazing mini series. Characters, story telling, all of that.

What's even more impressive to me (especially as an engineer) is the logistics behind the war. The ability of the USA to effectively mobilize all of the industrial resources we had is borderline unfathomable.

The whole supply chain was insanely effective. Thanksgiving 1944 for dad's outfit included a turkey dinner. They were in combat from June 1944 till the wars end and per the unit daily history only had to preserve 155mm shells a couple of days. To say nothing of all of the letters my dad got and sent home (my grandmother saved them all). My dad even got letters from his Marine brother in the South Pacific. Image a letter posted from Peleliu in the South Pacific finding my dad somewhere in France, half way around the world.
 
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BoxsterCy

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lol. Ok. I admit. I must have fat fingered that. That’s embarrassing. I absolutely never meant to “dumb” the OP. Hopefully the other person didn’t mean to do it either.

You can click on like and undo a previous emoji response. I've hit the wrong one before and had to correct it.
 

2speedy1

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I wish I could get Masters of the Sky.

The Pacific was amazing but yeah BOB is still my favorite. Every time I watch just such a sense of pride. What heroes those guys were.

My great uncle (died 6 years ago) was a combat vet in WW2 and when asked about his time in the war he just simply said "It was just something you had to do". Didn't want any recognition is whole life.
Just pay for a month of Apple+ and cancel. Binge the series in that month. It is worth the $10. Also, several other great shows and movies to watch in that month, there are some great shows on there.
 
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Sousaclone

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The whole supply chain was insanely effective. Thanksgiving 1944 for dad's outfit included a turkey dinner. They were in combat from June 1944 till the wars end and per the unit daily history only had to preserve 155mm shells a couple of days. To say nothing of all of the letters my dad got and sent home (my grandmother saved them all). My dad even got letters from his Marine brother in the South Pacific. Image a letter posted from Peleliu in the South Pacific finding my dad somewhere in France, half way around the world.

It's even more impressive when you consider it was all done with pen and paper. I guess there is no replacement for sheer overwhelming manpower. Just thousands of people doing one specific task.
 
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NickTheGreat

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My grandfather died before I was born, but I have his M1 Garand that he carried in Germany. I don't think he ever saw combat, but it's still a very cool piece.
 
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BoxsterCy

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It's even more impressive when you consider it was all done with pen and paper. I guess there is no replacement for sheer overwhelming manpower. Just thousands of people doing one specific task.

Read a musing somewhere that said if Xerox copy machines had been around in WWII we might have lost the war due to the additional tidal wave of bureaucracy it would have unleashed. :rolleyes: As it was in the 1940, initial copies were mostly limited to how many thin tissue duplicates you might get from the typewriter and carbon paper.
 
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ClubCy

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80 years later and I am still in awe of all of them. Every single man and woman who fought or contributed to the war effort.

I realize many of them have wanted no recognition for their efforts but I hope for the ones still with us today, they realize how important they were not only to Americans but to the entire world.
 

CascadeClone

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What's even more impressive to me (especially as an engineer) is the logistics behind the war. The ability of the USA to effectively mobilize all of the industrial resources we had is borderline unfathomable.

Imagine what we could do with even 20% of the USA committed to an effort like that.
 
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BoxsterCy

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Another D-Day invasion story. My dad told me one of the LST's in the convoy he was in hit a mine and sank off of Utah Beach. It wasn't until after my dad died that I learned that the museum ship LST-325 was one of the LST's that landed his battalion. Reading the ships log (and history book of the LST-325) I can confirm his recollection. LST-496 hit a mine and sank late on the June 11th. And because LST-325 crewmember Stan Barish was quite a photographer I have actual photos of my dad's battalion disembarking from LST-325.

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