D-Day: 75th Anniversary

10 thoughts on “D-Day: 75th Anniversary”

  1. Dad was there. Along with kids who lied to enlist and were only 16-17 yrs old. I was so humbled when I went with dad to one of his last reunions. The stories they told.
    One of my nephews married a girl from France. Her parents were underground in the resistance. She was well grounded in real history from home, school, and parents. Pretty much worshipped dad. So few are left. It’s important to hear their stories, to remember so they can be told.
    Thanks for the post.

    1. My dad was a doctor — ob/gyn. Not much call for that on the front so he was assigned to set up and run an army hospital in Carlisle Barracks, PA.

      I’ve been marveling all week that I was born a year before D-Day. I don’t remember it, of course, but the fact that it happened in my lifetime keeps it from being relegated to the “ancient history” bin. All the tv shows about it this week have been fascinating. And very sobering.

      I lift my glass to those young men and women, truly the Greatest Generation. We owe them everything.

      1. I’ve learned a lot from all the tv coverage, especially the National Geographic channel. All my history classes either ended before the two world wars or started up after them.

  2. My first encounter with Americans, never to be fore gotten, was on a train rushing through the night for London. Where they boarded we’ll never know but there were several hundreds all bound for the south of England and embarkation for the European front, it was around October 1944. They were all such young soldier, much older than my brother 11 and me 9 ,of course but they were young compared to my dad, and they were friendly and shared their chewing gum with us, Chewing gum was strictly rationed 2 oz per month per person.
    I’ve often wondered if they ever survived what they were going into I never can know, but it is a happy memory of sorts, they were good young men, and probably very nervous but they treated my brother and me as pals.

    1. I’d like to think most Americans abroad were and are like those young men, but I have my doubts. Likely none of them could begin to imagine what they were about to get into, but bless ’em all. We owe them so much.

... and that's my two cents