D-Day, 65 Years Later

[Richard in Smithville]

I hope everyone has a chance to remember all the hero's from this day, from both sides of the line. My uncle flew in Lancs and was involved in inland raids during and shortly after D-Day although he never spoke of any sorties.

I tried to find a worthy link to put here, but as none would stand out more than any other, I simply picked one.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/0...vy-war436.html

Lest We Forget

[BrazosJake]

Hard to believe it's been 65 years. That generation is disappearing. When I was growing up (I'm almost 50), it seemed like every adult male had served in WWII, including my dad, who was a Navy Corpsman in the Pacific.

For some reason, all the vets I grew up around served in the Pacific theater, there's some connection between Texans and the Marine Corps. My uncle went ashore at Saipan as a replacement ammo loader on an amphibious tank, became a tank commander within 2 weeks (such were casualties), then went on to Iwo Jima. He was training for the invasion of Japan when the bomb was dropped (he's sure he would not have survived the war were it not for the bomb).

My best friends dad, a mild-mannered artist, also went ashore in the first wave on Iwo Jima. He recounted once how he spent the first night on the island looking for a spot to bed down. He passed up invitations to foxholes, tanks with men sleeping under them, and finally settled I can't remember where. Next morning, the tanks, foxholes, and Marines in them were gone, obliterated by artillery.

[cwithboat]

The longest day