I will NEVER be able to express my thanks for what those boys did 76 years ago. God BLESS every one of them!

God Bless All

Yup. Makes battling traffic a walk in the park!

“I can't even begin to imagine what it was like”

Truer words were never uttered.

Growing up I knew that my father participated in two amphibious landings (a couple of the other “D-Days” during the war), but even after a lifetime of my own experiences in war and the countless books and descriptions I’ve read, it’s possible to only dimly comprehend what such operations were like for the participants.

The invasion of Normandy wasn’t the first or last major action of World War II, but it’s nevertheless good to be reminded of it.

I am with you. I can't imagine what they were going against and seeing your friends and others being torn apart. I am thankful they did what they did and the sacrifices they made for us today.

Every American that visits Europe should go to Normandy

It’s really the only way I can think that we can gain even a remote understanding

One of my groomsman’s grandfather was a tanker killed on D+17. He is buried at the cemetery there. I brought him home a rubbing of his grandfather’s headstone

My grandfather was a Marine in the Pacific, and made several amphibious landings. There is a picture of him dragging a gun ashore on Okinawa on Easter Sunday 1945 in the museum of the Marine Corps. He also made the Inchon landing in Korea. We were very close. The impact of those days on him even 50 years later brings me to tears even now, 18 years after his death.

The first few minutes of Saving Private Ryan really brought home to me the horror of that day, especially for the first waves at Omaha.

May God continue to bless the survivors, and ALL of the families of our great men who fought in this war.

Never made it to Normandy,however, I spent a few days in Saipan. 3000 Marines vs 30,000 Japanese. Lets just say the Navy/Marines
hadn't quite perfected the amphibious landing yet. Most landing craft couldn't get over the reef and Marines jumped out in waist
deep water 1/4 mile from the beech. Can't imagine the fear of being under machine gun fire in waist deep water with no place to go
but towards the enemy.
Like most battlefields,from Gettysburg to Normandy to Saipan, you have to go there to really appreciate what other young
Americans endured. If it were possible to resurrect one of these brave young Americans,I would be embarrassed at what has
happened to the country they died for. They are forever young.

This scene from Saving Private Ryan depicts what it must have been like. Turn up the sound and watch in full screen.



Jim

Truly the greatest generation. Watching WWII in HD on the History channel now. The opening from Saving Private Ryan is tough and I imagine it was even worse than that. Incredible bravery displayed.

Michael

From The Atlantic circa 1960, by historian S. L. A. Marshall:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ma...-omaha-beach/303365/

Absolutely horrible, just the very act of getting ashore was all but impossible, but those who did made the difference.

We must NEVER forget these brave souls, and what they did for their Country!!

^^^^^
I kinda like the way you phrased that GT-...for "THEIR" Country. Because I can't be the only one thinking that THIS Country today is ANYTHING compared to what "THEIR" Country was for those that were blessed and fortunate enough to come home afterward.

I was just reading through a history of 13 Canadian Field Regiment, RCA written just after the war ended. Some of you may notice a familiar name listed under 22 Canadian Field Battery, wounded: Lieut J.M. Doohan 6 Jun 1944

I visited Normandy in 2015. It was very interesting, but what is left today cannot begin to convey what it was like on D-Day. I'm glad I went there (on 5 June 2015, just one day before the anniversary). In Arromanches, this is possibly the most moving photo I took there:

DSC_0440-2.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr
An old soldier enjoying a nap in the son, wearing all his medals. I hope he was enjoying it, because I'm sure he deserved it.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by 104RFAST:
Never made it to Normandy,however, I spent a few days in Saipan. 3000 Marines vs 30,000 Japanese. Lets just say the Navy/Marines
hadn't quite perfected the amphibious landing yet. Most landing craft couldn't get over the reef and Marines jumped out in waist
deep water 1/4 mile from the beech.

I think you're jumbling your battles...

The landing vessels didn't get hung up on a reef at Saipan. Plus, Saipan was a relatively late amphibious landing.

You are likely thinking of Tarawa, which was an infamous earlier amphibious assault in which many of the USMC landing craft got hung up on a reef 500 yards from shore, due to an unexpectedly low tide, forcing some Marines to make their way hundreds of yards to shore through deep water and intense enemy fire. Tarawa was the first amphibious landing of the Pacific war in which the USMC encountered serious resistance during the landing, and it provided many important lessons that would allow subsequent amphibious assaults to be more successful.

In “The Lost Batallion” there’s a scene where they are leaving the trench and charging toward the Germans in WWI. Right before the charge the camera pans across the faces of a few men and there are a couple that capture what men who knew they were about to die look like. Sheer terror on their faces knowing every time someone comes out of the trench they get mowed down. I cannot imagine the fear when that door dropped down and the bullets started hitting. Even on the boat ride to the shore when bullets are flying it had to be terrifying. I’ll never forget the sacrifices made in order for me to have freedom.

My father fought in the “Battle of the Bulge”. He did not like to talk about it much at all.

I have read many, many books about WWII. Just a great generation of soldiers. I suppose that there are very few veterans of that war still alive.

Special thanks to all that have served.

My father-in-law was there and we watched Saving Private Ryan together. He was one of three from his landing craft that made it to the beach. He got really uncomfortable watching those scenes Jimbo54 is talking about. He said it was pretty accurate but MUCH worse than that. RIP John.