6 June 1944

[namvet]

today marks the 64th observance of the Normandy invasion. deemed the largest in history as the allies storm the beach's to begin the liberation of France. and the downfall of the Nazi's. a salute to those that survived and died that terrible day.


http://www.history.army.mil/images/Reference/normandy/pics/CG-2343.jpg

http://www.skylighters.org/photos/hedgehog.jpg

http://www.paperlessarchives.com/DDAY3.JPG


aSmEpnHKr4M

[PostmodernProphet]

hats off....

http://www.momentonmoney.com/102307_1904_HatsOff1.jpg

[stephanie]

:salute:

[Kathianne]

Thanks for posting that, I remember my dad on D-Day! :salute:

[AllieBaba]

My dad, and 4 uncles were WWII vets, and another uncle fought in Korea.
One of my uncles was a POW in a Japanese POW camp for years.

Hats off to all those who served, alive and dead, and who recognized it's a dangerous business to defend freedom.

[Kathianne]

Losses from Normandy:

http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/faq.htm#casualities

[Kathianne]

It's beyond 'doomed to repeat':

http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=5568


COMMISSIONED ESSAY:

Memory and Civic Education:

The Perils of Cultural Amnesia

by Victor Davis Hanson



TTHE TRADITIONAL—and classical—definition of civic education rested on the assumption of a people's collective memory. Citizens in constitutional governments had to be reminded, taught—even indoctrinated—about the great deeds of their own past if they were to have any notion of their own present privilege or the obligations that accompanied their citizenship and maintained it. The second-century A.D. biographer Plutarch—late in the classical tradition—simply reflected a long-standing ancient interest in offering moral exemplars from the past. Contemporary Roman generations could measure their own worth by studying the biography of a Demosthenes or the Gracchi, and thereby learn to be better citizens by both emulation and critique of the mistakes of "illustratious Greeks and Romans."

The Funeral Oration of Pericles, as recorded in the second book of Thucydides' history, is the locus classicus of civic memory with the statesman's famous pronouncement, "I shall begin with our ancestors." Pericles then goes on to make several points. The first is to remind the Athenians that they were simply born lucky: the imperial grandeur that they enjoyed was due to their fathers and grandfathers, who "handed it down free to the present time by their valor."

Such gratitude and humility in the moral sense are, of course, important for a free people, likely to think their present success is all their own, and therefore, in their self-congratulation, prone to hubris and a lack of reflection. Recitation of the accomplishments of earlier others also reminds Athenians that they are a mere link in a larger chain. And therefore they carry obligations to their children not to squander what the sacrifices of their parents achieved. The desired aim is to accept delayed gratification; that is, to warn the present generation not to expend capital bequeathed from others, and thereby rob their own children of a collective and rightful inheritance—and therein forfeit the continuance of democratic society.

...

[glockmail]

It's beyond 'doomed to repeat':

http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=5568 I have to confess that I didn't think about D Day until I reminded by a talk show host on the radio. But, when I was having lunch with my son I asked him what was the significance of today, and he replied "D Day", and told me that thought of it when he wrote the date down on a school exam this morning. So although I may be a slacker I've trained him to be more appreciative. :salute:

[Kathianne]

I have to confess that I didn't think about D Day until I reminded by a talk show host on the radio. But, when I was having lunch with my son I asked him what was the significance of today, and he replied "D Day", and told me that thought of it when he wrote the date down on a school exam this morning. So although I may be a slacker I've trained him to be more appreciative. :salute:

I'm sure if I was in school I'd have remembered it; alas I didn't either. Totally remiss, but I'm very concerned about our failure, not inability, failure, to teach the young. Good for your son!

[glockmail]

I'm sure if I was in school I'd have remembered it; alas I didn't either. Totally remiss, but I'm very concerned about our failure, not inability, failure, to teach the young. Good for your son! He's surpassed me in every way. I can still out-ski him though! (But not for long)

[Kathianne]

How the invasion would have been reported in 2000's:

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[namvet]

D-Day Deception:
While planning for the invasion the allies also undertook a program of deception to confuse and deceive the Nazis. The most obvious area for the D-Day invasion was clearly Calais and the allies did everything they could to convince the Nazis that it was in Calais that the real invasion would strike.
The allies developed a series of deception operations aimed at obscuring the true place and time of D-Day. It involved the creation of fake armies, the sending of fictional radio traffic, the delivery of false spy reports and the mounting of elaborate but fabricated security plans.
To divert Hitler's attention from the real troops in training, a fake million man army named the First United States Army Group was created. It functioned as a real unit except for one fact – there were no actual troops. Tanks, trucks and armour were constructed of inflatable rubber and plywood supplied by a movie studio in order to deceive German reconnaissance planes. George Patton was put in charge of this fictional Army and he didn't like it all. but the Nazi's considered him the most competent office the allies had. they went for this fake like a load of carp. many panzer divisions were pinned down at Calais

BTY today also marks the turning point in the pacific war. the battle of Midway. another deception worked to perfection

[Kathianne]

D-Day Deception:
While planning for the invasion the allies also undertook a program of deception to confuse and deceive the Nazis. The most obvious area for the D-Day invasion was clearly Calais and the allies did everything they could to convince the Nazis that it was in Calais that the real invasion would strike.
The allies developed a series of deception operations aimed at obscuring the true place and time of D-Day. It involved the creation of fake armies, the sending of fictional radio traffic, the delivery of false spy reports and the mounting of elaborate but fabricated security plans.
To divert Hitler's attention from the real troops in training, a fake million man army named the First United States Army Group was created. It functioned as a real unit except for one fact – there were no actual troops. Tanks, trucks and armour were constructed of inflatable rubber and plywood supplied by a movie studio in order to deceive German reconnaissance planes. George Patton was put in charge of this fictional Army and he didn't like it all. but the Nazi's considered him the most competent office the allies had. they went for this fake like a load of carp. many panzer divisions were pinned down at Calais

BTY today also marks the turning point in the pacific war. the battle of Midway. another deception worked to perfection

Yep, they learned a lot from Tarawa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tarawa

[namvet]

Yep, they learned a lot from Tarawa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tarawa

Tarawa was a slaughter house. one of my cousins dad was there. he came back with a severe case of 'shell shock'. the entire Japanese garrison was underground.

[Mr. P]

http://www.witness-to-war.org/content/view.php?g=e&c=DD

:salute:

[Kathianne]

http://www.witness-to-war.org/content/view.php?g=e&c=DD

:salute:

Thanks for those, my dad was at Omaha. He was the only final survivor of his battalion? Troop?

[Kathianne]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_re_us/d_day_anniversary


Vets gather at WWII museum to remember D-Day

By ALAN SAYRE, Associated Press WriterFri Jun 6, 5:59 PM ET

Guy Gunter couldn't forget June 6, 1944 if he had to. At 1 a.m. that day, Gunter was piloting a glider carrying 15 soldiers in the Normandy invasion, which turned the tide of World War II in Europe and eventually forced the surrender of Germany less than a year later.

Now 90 and the owner of an appliance company in Atlanta, Gunter's glider was towed in by airplane and released over the German lines where it came to earth inside France.

"It was the most important day for everybody who was alive that day," Gunter said during an observance of the 64th anniversary of D-Day Friday at the National World War II Museum. "They knew we were coming, but they didn't know when and where."...My dad is gone, the vets of this war are dying over 1k per day. Hear them!

[Gaffer]

My Dad was at Normandy as well. His was an armored unit so they didn't get ashore till the second day. But he could watch the bombardment on the beach from the deck of his ship.

I always remember June 6.

[glockmail]

I bet you two have heard some incredible stories. I hop that you pass them on faithfully to the next generation.

[Kathianne]

I bet you two have heard some incredible stories. I hop that you pass them on faithfully to the next generation.

Funny thing, my dad told no stories, until I returned to college in '92 for my history degree. I asked him, "Can you tell me more about WWII than you got blown up and the drunken stories?" He did. For 8 years he came to my classes and told them what he saw and experienced. What did they relate to? Well that he had impacted wisdom teeth, that became apparent 6/4/44. Too late for dentist or deferment from duty. He went, in pain. 3 teeth. LOL! It kept him alert, yet removed.

[glockmail]

Funny thing, my dad told no stories, until I returned to college in '92 for my history degree. I asked him, "Can you tell me more about WWII than you got blown up and the drunken stories?" He did. For 8 years he came to my classes and told them what he saw and experienced. What did they relate to? Well that he had impacted wisdom teeth, that became apparent 6/4/44. Too late for dentist or deferment from duty. He went, in pain. 3 teeth. LOL! It kept him alert, yet removed. I just found out last year my Dad winessed a nuclear explosion test during his Army days.

[Kathianne]

I just found out last year my Dad winessed a nuclear explosion test during his Army days.

Yep, for how many years, all my dad recalled was being out with his friends, prior to invasion. Losing his site in TX dessert. After 6/6/44 losing the stitches in his behind, back, and leg while riding a tandem bike with an flyer, to town, to drink.

Oh the stories of his not being able to send gifts, because he 'couldn't get to town.' ;)