USCHO Fan Forum
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
-
The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.
D-Day
- Thread starter jericho
- Start date
Spartanforlife4
Generic Catchy Message
Re: D-Day
One of my grandpas went to the Pacific. He and his friends skipped his high school graduation so they could go to boot camp. Didn't see much action because it was near the tail end of the war, but man did he have a library full of stories to tell.
The other was in the second wave in Normandy. He died when I was two so I didn't hear many stories, but while visiting my aunt a few years back we found a box of his things in a storage room and found a letter detailing his relationship with a French girl. It was the first time anyone in the family had heard of it.
One of my grandpas went to the Pacific. He and his friends skipped his high school graduation so they could go to boot camp. Didn't see much action because it was near the tail end of the war, but man did he have a library full of stories to tell.
The other was in the second wave in Normandy. He died when I was two so I didn't hear many stories, but while visiting my aunt a few years back we found a box of his things in a storage room and found a letter detailing his relationship with a French girl. It was the first time anyone in the family had heard of it.
state of hockey
He fixes the cable?
Re: D-Day
Neither one of my grandfathers saw front-line action. My mother's father was in the Philippines as a POW camp guard. He didn't tell any stories, but did mention that they didn't know English unless they were hungry or had to pee. My grandmother did say that he once told her that the butt of an M1 was an amazing for teaching English as well.
My father's father was in the merchant marine and had close calls in both the Pacific and Atlantic. Met my grandmother at a USO show in New Zealand. (She was from Brisbane) He found a few years later and brought her back. In the '90's the navy honored those that did what he did and sort of retroactively said that they were part of navy operations, and basically in the navy for WWII. Meant a great deal to him because he could then have a military funeral, which he did.
Neither one of my grandfathers saw front-line action. My mother's father was in the Philippines as a POW camp guard. He didn't tell any stories, but did mention that they didn't know English unless they were hungry or had to pee. My grandmother did say that he once told her that the butt of an M1 was an amazing for teaching English as well.
My father's father was in the merchant marine and had close calls in both the Pacific and Atlantic. Met my grandmother at a USO show in New Zealand. (She was from Brisbane) He found a few years later and brought her back. In the '90's the navy honored those that did what he did and sort of retroactively said that they were part of navy operations, and basically in the navy for WWII. Meant a great deal to him because he could then have a military funeral, which he did.
huskyfan
New member
Re: D-Day
endlessly amazed by the courage and sense of duty that came from this generation. may they forever be remembered.
endlessly amazed by the courage and sense of duty that came from this generation. may they forever be remembered.
MountieBoyOz
Eater of Worlds
Re: D-Day
If you've got a couple of hours, I recommend this on D-Day. Breaks down the battle and preparation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_B-0iNnWWA
If you've got a couple of hours, I recommend this on D-Day. Breaks down the battle and preparation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_B-0iNnWWA
Re: D-Day
Could go in the Genuinely Nice Planet thread, but deserves to be here today.
Thank you for your service, sir.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/06/friends-and-strangers-help-d-day-vet-return-to-scene-heroism/
Could go in the Genuinely Nice Planet thread, but deserves to be here today.
Thank you for your service, sir.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/06/friends-and-strangers-help-d-day-vet-return-to-scene-heroism/
jmh
win or lose, we booze
Re: D-Day
My grandfather was wounded serving in the Pacific with the Army Corps of Engineers. He met my grandmother while he was back in the US recovering from his injury and my dad was born in 1946. Sadly I never got to know him because he passed away when I was only 2 or 3 years old, but this seems like as good a reminder as any that I've been meaning to ask my dad to tell me more stories about him.
My grandfather was wounded serving in the Pacific with the Army Corps of Engineers. He met my grandmother while he was back in the US recovering from his injury and my dad was born in 1946. Sadly I never got to know him because he passed away when I was only 2 or 3 years old, but this seems like as good a reminder as any that I've been meaning to ask my dad to tell me more stories about him.
Re: D-Day
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/05/world/europe/d-day-paratrooper-jumps-again/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Meet "Pee Wee" Martin who, at the age of 93, recreated his parachute jump with the 101st. from 70 years ago.
Dr. Pio was an Army chest cutter in the Pacific (think Hawkeye Pierce) who served on Guadalcanal among other places. My favorite among his war stories came after the war was over, and he was accompanying wounded GIs being returned to their homes in railroad cars. Strict orders: no civilians in those cars. Period. He awoke to discover that during the night the cars with the GIs had been switched between the Pullman cars and the diner. People were walking through the hospital cars on their way to breakfast! He woke his MPs and told 'em not to let anyone pass, figuring that would get someone's attention. Sure enough, a conductor showed up and said: "Colonel, you can't do that." Dr. Pio asked how many guys with guns the conductor had. And observed that up until a few weeks prior, those guys had been killing Japs. And if he told them to "shoot you in the a*s" that's exactly what they'd do. And recommended he fix this situation right #$%^& now. They did.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/05/world/europe/d-day-paratrooper-jumps-again/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Meet "Pee Wee" Martin who, at the age of 93, recreated his parachute jump with the 101st. from 70 years ago.
Dr. Pio was an Army chest cutter in the Pacific (think Hawkeye Pierce) who served on Guadalcanal among other places. My favorite among his war stories came after the war was over, and he was accompanying wounded GIs being returned to their homes in railroad cars. Strict orders: no civilians in those cars. Period. He awoke to discover that during the night the cars with the GIs had been switched between the Pullman cars and the diner. People were walking through the hospital cars on their way to breakfast! He woke his MPs and told 'em not to let anyone pass, figuring that would get someone's attention. Sure enough, a conductor showed up and said: "Colonel, you can't do that." Dr. Pio asked how many guys with guns the conductor had. And observed that up until a few weeks prior, those guys had been killing Japs. And if he told them to "shoot you in the a*s" that's exactly what they'd do. And recommended he fix this situation right #$%^& now. They did.
Last edited:
G
Gurtholfin
Guest
Re: D-Day
This is worth a look...
http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-dday-then-and-now-20140605/
This is worth a look...
http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-dday-then-and-now-20140605/
solovsfett
Registered User
Re: D-Day
I've always been a WWII buff since the time I first met a vet at the age of 5 or 6 in Suburban Illinois. A group of guys in a shopping mall were selling pictures of planes. I dragged my mom over "mom, mom look!" it was the picture of the Corsair that really grabbed me. Those guys told me they flew the planes in the war and seemed genuinely excited to tell me all about the planes, I think all 3 of them told me their stories of what they flew and where...that started it for me. Next thing I knew about 2 years later at a book fair I bought 30 Seconds Over Tokyo and I haven't stopped reading about it since
anyway...My Great Uncle fought in the European Theater in WWII. We didn't see him much over the years unfortunately but he accompanied my Dad and I to the Rose Bowl in in 93-94 and I recall him putting on head phones and listening to the I think the pilots(??) on the way out...sometime on this trip my Dad told me he served in WWII. I didn't ask him about it until 1998, the Badger Hockey Showdown in Milwaukee...I asked him if he'd seen Saving Private Ryan. He did and he enjoyed the movie immensely. Then the flood gates opened and my Dad was just gawking at us as my Great Uncle detailed fighting in Patton's 3rd Army. Every thing he told me had never been mentioned to anyone in the family before that night.
On a patrol (I think it was in Belgium) a Messerschmidt passed over my Great Uncle's group and decided to circle back and strafe. Took one of his platoon-mates arms off at the elbow. He told me about a guy in his group who would cut off the ring fingers of dead germans and had them tied around his neck in a sort of necklace. There were a few more stories but he sort of tailed it off because I think he found himself going back to a place he didn't want to be in while talking about it.
Salut to all the men of D-Day, Iwo Jima, really all of it. Everyone who served in WWII is a hero to me.
I've always been a WWII buff since the time I first met a vet at the age of 5 or 6 in Suburban Illinois. A group of guys in a shopping mall were selling pictures of planes. I dragged my mom over "mom, mom look!" it was the picture of the Corsair that really grabbed me. Those guys told me they flew the planes in the war and seemed genuinely excited to tell me all about the planes, I think all 3 of them told me their stories of what they flew and where...that started it for me. Next thing I knew about 2 years later at a book fair I bought 30 Seconds Over Tokyo and I haven't stopped reading about it since
anyway...My Great Uncle fought in the European Theater in WWII. We didn't see him much over the years unfortunately but he accompanied my Dad and I to the Rose Bowl in in 93-94 and I recall him putting on head phones and listening to the I think the pilots(??) on the way out...sometime on this trip my Dad told me he served in WWII. I didn't ask him about it until 1998, the Badger Hockey Showdown in Milwaukee...I asked him if he'd seen Saving Private Ryan. He did and he enjoyed the movie immensely. Then the flood gates opened and my Dad was just gawking at us as my Great Uncle detailed fighting in Patton's 3rd Army. Every thing he told me had never been mentioned to anyone in the family before that night.
On a patrol (I think it was in Belgium) a Messerschmidt passed over my Great Uncle's group and decided to circle back and strafe. Took one of his platoon-mates arms off at the elbow. He told me about a guy in his group who would cut off the ring fingers of dead germans and had them tied around his neck in a sort of necklace. There were a few more stories but he sort of tailed it off because I think he found himself going back to a place he didn't want to be in while talking about it.
Salut to all the men of D-Day, Iwo Jima, really all of it. Everyone who served in WWII is a hero to me.
Re: D-Day
Great story about 89-year old Royal Navy vet Bernard Jordan. Based on the photos in the article, he is still quite the ladies' man!
Great story about 89-year old Royal Navy vet Bernard Jordan. Based on the photos in the article, he is still quite the ladies' man!
Slap Shot
I got nothing
Re: D-Day
Watching part 2 of D-Day in HD and like the American Revolution, the c result was nearly a miracle. From the paratroopers being dropped way off target while barely armed, to the shelling and rocket fire of Omaha that nearly all missed their targets, sinking tanks and other amphibious vehicles in the high seas, battle plans found by the Germans, etc., etc. Those that went through that had balls of steel and I think it's impossible to fully recognize and appreciate their sacrifice.
Watching part 2 of D-Day in HD and like the American Revolution, the c result was nearly a miracle. From the paratroopers being dropped way off target while barely armed, to the shelling and rocket fire of Omaha that nearly all missed their targets, sinking tanks and other amphibious vehicles in the high seas, battle plans found by the Germans, etc., etc. Those that went through that had balls of steel and I think it's impossible to fully recognize and appreciate their sacrifice.
Re: D-Day
No kidding. You know, we look back on D-Day thinking an allied victory was in the bag. It wasn't. A lot of things went right for us and wrong for the Nazis and the landings were, thank God, a success. I recall reading about D-Day vets watching Saving Private Ryan and how some of them had to leave the auditorium, they couldn't deal with the memories the landing sequences stirred up. God bless 'em all.
When the Reagan administration announced plans to renovate and return to service the 4 Iowa class battleships, there was a bit of a debate. On ABC, the late Hughes Rudd did a report explaining his only experience with battleships came on D-Day, when one of them vaporized an advancing column of German tanks "which cheers me up to this very day."
No kidding. You know, we look back on D-Day thinking an allied victory was in the bag. It wasn't. A lot of things went right for us and wrong for the Nazis and the landings were, thank God, a success. I recall reading about D-Day vets watching Saving Private Ryan and how some of them had to leave the auditorium, they couldn't deal with the memories the landing sequences stirred up. God bless 'em all.
When the Reagan administration announced plans to renovate and return to service the 4 Iowa class battleships, there was a bit of a debate. On ABC, the late Hughes Rudd did a report explaining his only experience with battleships came on D-Day, when one of them vaporized an advancing column of German tanks "which cheers me up to this very day."
Last edited:
Re: D-Day
Then and now photos.. scary how little things have changed.
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/06/145415-now-d-day-landing-scenes-amazing/
Then and now photos.. scary how little things have changed.
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/06/145415-now-d-day-landing-scenes-amazing/
state of hockey
He fixes the cable?
The rest of the world doesn't tear things down and build again nearly as often as America.
Last edited:
Re: D-Day
Or, they have historical societies like we do..
Unless your locale got pummeled by artillery or aerial bombardment. Then renewal is sort of forced on you.
Or, they have historical societies like we do..
solovsfett
Registered User
Re: D-Day
I didn't know/remember that re: Iowa Class battleships. And yes, many things went right for the allies (including the germans having opened that eastern front which weakened their military significantly in the end)
Speaking of Saving Private Ryan...I saw that w/my Dad in Michigan (night before the Michigan Indycar race). I remember we arrived at the theater 20-30mins prior to the start so we were there when the audience came out from the prior viewing...I had read previews and I remember thinking "look for vets, try and ascertain their reactions" so I searched the crowd coming out for people that were of WWII vets age and I'll be ****ed I saw about 3-4, maybe 5 guys come out who looked the right age, some of them had pins on their vests which I assumed were from their units or?...anyway, I recall vividly one guy walking out had his head down eyes on the ground and was clearly and visibly moved by what he'd just watched and I had two thoughts right then: A. I wanted to reach out to him and say "thank you for your service" but I wussed out. B. Holy **** this movie is going to be amazing if it can touch a WWII vet that way. I won't forget the look on his face ever
I didn't know/remember that re: Iowa Class battleships. And yes, many things went right for the allies (including the germans having opened that eastern front which weakened their military significantly in the end)
Speaking of Saving Private Ryan...I saw that w/my Dad in Michigan (night before the Michigan Indycar race). I remember we arrived at the theater 20-30mins prior to the start so we were there when the audience came out from the prior viewing...I had read previews and I remember thinking "look for vets, try and ascertain their reactions" so I searched the crowd coming out for people that were of WWII vets age and I'll be ****ed I saw about 3-4, maybe 5 guys come out who looked the right age, some of them had pins on their vests which I assumed were from their units or?...anyway, I recall vividly one guy walking out had his head down eyes on the ground and was clearly and visibly moved by what he'd just watched and I had two thoughts right then: A. I wanted to reach out to him and say "thank you for your service" but I wussed out. B. Holy **** this movie is going to be amazing if it can touch a WWII vet that way. I won't forget the look on his face ever
P
Priceless
Guest
Re: D-Day
I am amazed the landings worked. Had Hitler released the Panzers he had in Calais waiting for Patton, it very well might not have worked. With the landings beaten back, it would have been at least another two years before the Allies could attack again. The Germans would have been able to transfer the bulk of Atlantic defenses to Italy and the Eastern Front. The Allies might have had to sue for peace.
My grandfather was in both World Wars and was in the Pacific on D-Day. My grandmother's brothers both fought in WWII - one was a messenger under Patton in Africa and Sicily, the other a pilot in the Pacific. They didn't talk much about their experiences, to the point that my mother didn't even know Uncle Robert ever saw action until I told her. My Uncle Roy is still alive, cuts his own lawn, chops his firewood and goes fishing at the age of 97. I asked him if he shouldn't take it a little easy but he'd have none of it. "I'm not going to die anytime soon...I have too much more fishing to do." There was something special about that generation. They faced tremendous challenges and they overcame them. Would that still happen today? I have my doubts.
I am amazed the landings worked. Had Hitler released the Panzers he had in Calais waiting for Patton, it very well might not have worked. With the landings beaten back, it would have been at least another two years before the Allies could attack again. The Germans would have been able to transfer the bulk of Atlantic defenses to Italy and the Eastern Front. The Allies might have had to sue for peace.
My grandfather was in both World Wars and was in the Pacific on D-Day. My grandmother's brothers both fought in WWII - one was a messenger under Patton in Africa and Sicily, the other a pilot in the Pacific. They didn't talk much about their experiences, to the point that my mother didn't even know Uncle Robert ever saw action until I told her. My Uncle Roy is still alive, cuts his own lawn, chops his firewood and goes fishing at the age of 97. I asked him if he shouldn't take it a little easy but he'd have none of it. "I'm not going to die anytime soon...I have too much more fishing to do." There was something special about that generation. They faced tremendous challenges and they overcame them. Would that still happen today? I have my doubts.
Re: D-Day
Yah, there were a lot of things that fell into place for the landings to go as well as they did. It sure would have gotten messy if the Germans had thrown their reserves in quickly, especially the Panzers.
I don't think that if the landings had failed it would have altered the end result of the war though, it might must have taken longer and Russia might have had greater sway over more of central Europe post-war. This was almost a year after the Battle of Kursk, where Russia destroyed a large chunk of German armor on the eastern front. By June 1944, the Germans were in full retreat on the eastern front. Russian armies were in eastern Poland and on the frontier of Rumania. Even a shift of some forces from the west to the east I don't believe would have come close to turning the tide in the east.
Yah, there were a lot of things that fell into place for the landings to go as well as they did. It sure would have gotten messy if the Germans had thrown their reserves in quickly, especially the Panzers.
I don't think that if the landings had failed it would have altered the end result of the war though, it might must have taken longer and Russia might have had greater sway over more of central Europe post-war. This was almost a year after the Battle of Kursk, where Russia destroyed a large chunk of German armor on the eastern front. By June 1944, the Germans were in full retreat on the eastern front. Russian armies were in eastern Poland and on the frontier of Rumania. Even a shift of some forces from the west to the east I don't believe would have come close to turning the tide in the east.