D Day.

How about a battleship with 16” guns?

Could not tell you other than to say, I would most like to carry the Bravery (Steel nads) they all seemed to be equipped so well with. Any time I even hear the words D-Day makes me want to stand and Salute.

I'd be more than happy to carry an M1 like my Dad did, though he did have a penchant for toting an M1 Carbine when they took those little 10 mile "hikes" in basic training.

I took my Garand out to the range yesterday.

I was there last year for the 75th Anniversary. The ceremony at the cemetery was very moving and emotional, but not like actually standing on the beaches.

There remains a profound sense of debt of what is owed amongst the French people today. They understand exactly what the Allies did for France in 1944-45. It was quite common to see American flags on homes and businesses. (And not just "touristy" businesses; I saw a huge US Flag on a large metal building that housed a construction company.) While visiting Point du Hoc, I saw French school children (8-10 yrs old) walk up to an American veteran in a wheel chair and say "Thank you for saving us." And the vet said "You're welcome, just you take care of us after we're gone."

I took this photo at the American Military cemetery at Collville sur Mer. 6JUN2019 while we were waiting for Presidents Trump and Macron to arrive. It is a stark reminder of the human cost of war.

My dad was in the Army, but working as a medic at a training base in Louisiana on this day in 1944. By November he was participating in infantry training in Paris TX. My guess is that at the time his unit was training for the expected invasion of Japan. But dad finished his training just about the same time as the Germans counter attack at the Battle of the Bulge. He was put on a train for NY, a ride across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary and was in Belgium by early January.

He was initially given a Garand for a day, but was sent to a field hospital similar to a MASH unit for the rest of the war. But unlike the TV show MASH, they were constantly on the move staying just behind the front lines. Dad spent most of the rest of the war driving an ambulance to the front lines and transporting wounded back to the hospital. I'll post a photo later.

Dad was in a B-24 group that flew night missions dropping supplies to resistance groups, along with an occasional spy or saboteur. He said that the morning of the invasion he was part of a skeleton crew flying down to Liverpool to pick up a load of sleeping bags. They noticed that all the airfields they flew over were empty and wondered what was going on.
He always talked about flying to England in a brand new B-24 (H model) and having it taken away when his squadron was detached from the original group and sent to Harrington for Carpetbagger missions where they started out in well worn D models. Through the wonders of the internet, I found out a few years after he’d passed away that his original plane was one of the very few lost on D-Day.

The M1 Garand without a doubt. I was issued M1, M14, and M16 during your years in the Corps. I think to M- was the best. It simply worked no matter what it was exposed to. It had the range and accuracy not ever achieved by its successors. Eve. At 500 yards it was lethal. So if I had to be in WWII I would want a M1. If I had to fight today I would want a M27.

P47 with 8 .50s and some bombs underwing. Achtung Jabos!

My wife's Uncle John, (by marriage), was in the 101st Airborne. He made all the way through from D Day until they were sent home. He didn't talk about it much though...

Similar to your account Shanghai.
My father enlisted in 1939 and by 1944 he was 101 and ended up jumping out of a plane into France 76 years ago last night.
He was a Sergeant and carried a Thompson.
I tried to give my first Thompson (and Garand) to him but no interest
and never any meaningful conversation about his overseas service.

JT

My great uncle served in the North Africa, Italy, and European campaigns to include D Day. He never talked about any of it. He did say that he carried the M1 Carbine. I got to participate in the 50th Anniversary of D Day in 1994 while I was stationed in Germany. It was an honor to be there especially getting to jump with some of the WWII vets. I also took part in the 50th Anniversary of Operation Dragoon (the invasion of Southern France)

I'll never forget a conversation in the plane before we jumped. A SSG was bragging about how many jumps he had made and then turned around to ask a WWII vet how many jumps he had. The WWII vet said only 5 which every jump was in combat during the war. Needless to say the blowhard SSG shut up real quick.

Garand. At the time he said it Patton was right. And it's still a very good one today.

My dad's cousin and my namesake went into Normandy on dday+6. He was an infantry sergeant carrying a Thompson when he was wounded by artillery on the Siegfried line.
When the orders came for canyone who could walk and carry a rifle" he was given a M1 and hauled to the battle of the bulge.
He never talked much about his experiences except for so e funny things that happened.
One chilling story was when the Germans were retreating so fast that they had left a rack wagon loaded with mauser rifles and ammo.
Another was when they were in a German town and the Americans were shelling from one side, and the Germans from the other. He was caught using a concrete fountain in the center of town as cover. He said he would lay on the American side for a while until it would get too 'hot', then he would circle around and lay on the German side.
One day, after the end of the war, my 9yo mom was playing in the yard when a soldier came walking up the road, and paused in the driveway. When he said "dont you know me sissy?" She recognized him and leapt into his arms. My mom always cries when she tells that story.
He suffered from PTSD and shot alot of dynamite in the evenings. All the neighbors tolerated it. He also slept in the barn for months, and often would ask his dad to shoot the '94 winchester over his back while he laid in the road ditch.

swagbrdr said:

How about a battleship with 16” guns?

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Only the British battleship Rodney had 16 inch guns, the others were lesser calibers. Nothing to sneeze at though.

THANK YOU ALL,for posting your 'dad' storys.
My dad was a 'cook' in the fields of Germany,carried an M1Carbine and a bayonet.
When we sat down after I turned 21 ,over a bottle of bourbon.
He finally told me THE storys that I had asked about when I was a child [ "dad,did you kill any Germans" ] .
He was in a transport when a taller fellow soldier was standing next to him,he was beheaded by wire strung across the road = they found the teens that did it --- teens did not see the end of the war.
He was in a jeep [ the driver ] with another soldier when the escaped German POW's shot the man next to him,that man fell across my dads Carbine.
So he used what he has,his jeep to ram & run the POW's down,then finished the job with his bayonet.
NOW = I understood why he would not drive ,or carry a blade [ tried to give him a few,no go ].
It was a VERY sobering conversation,and I went to bed sober !.
My choice would be the Garand [ yes,of course I own both the Garand & Carbine ].

Thanks for remembering D- Day. My dad was there aboard a light cruiser. His ship was using the 6 inch guns they had to shell German gun emplacements located inland just far enough that they couldn't be spotted from out on the sea. They had intelligence information as to how far inland from the shoreline their target was and their radar told them how far they were from the shore. Add those two numbers together and they had their range from the ship to the target. They were successful in putting those artillery emplacements out of commission. From their location they could see the invasion force stretching across the horizon as far as they could see.

Both my grandfather's fought in Korea. Neither were old enough to fight in WWII but both were deeply affected by their experiences. My dad's dad was a very religious man and would talk about things that happened. My mom's dad wouldn't utter a word about his war and was an alcoholic from my mom's earliest memories.
I did have great uncles on both sides who fought in WWII, but I only ever knew one. 5 great uncles, and all made it through the war physically intact. None lived past age 55.
I don't remember all the stories I heard as a kid, and nobody's left to ask but none were involved in the Normandy landings. Uncle Dwight, the only one I remember from childhood, got a Purple Heart and a lot of shrapnel in late Dec. 1944.
I think I'd have wanted a BAR or a Sherman. But not the ones they tried to float in to the beaches.

Mk-211 said:

My grandfather was on the Yorktown in WWII, when the movie Midway came out, he went to see it. One of my uncles that went with him said that he got up and walked out. Said that all he kept saying was that they got it

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The movies still can't get it right, even when they have all the information in the world at their fingertips. Your grandfather would probably be less impressed with the new Midway movie.

Had a friend that drove a landing craft. Made five trips from the troop carriers to shore. He said the machine gun bullets would rattle off the front door. German 88’s were raining all around. You just prayed one wouldn’t find you.

He would drop the gate and scream at the soldiers to get off. When you were on shore with the gate down, you were more exposed. He said the worst part was that half the guys that he delivered never saw the sunset.

My dad was a co-pilot on a B-24 in the Aleutians and later piloted a B-29 out of Guam, and a member of the "I Bombed Japan Club" as a news article put it. He told of one day when he opened his window and shot his .45 at a Zero because he had to do something in the right seat.
My mom's brother died in St. Lo and was buried in Normandy. He was an infantry officer who hit the beaches of N Africa prior to the invasion.

My father was in the Normandy landings. Talked very little about the war. Joined the army in 39 and ended up in Palestine in late 45 Got back to the UK and demobbed in 46. I've still got his Medals, pay book and demob papers in my gun cabinet.

1942bull said:

The M1 Garand without a doubt. I was issued M1, M14, and M16 during your years in the Corps. I think to M- was the best. It simply worked no matter what it was exposed to. It had the range and accuracy not ever achieved by its successors. Eve. At 500 yards it was lethal. So if I had to be in WWII I would want a M1. If I had to fight today I would want a M27.

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Concur, I would absolutely want a Garand.

I doubt we'll ever achieve an age, where what the men who stormed these beaches did is considered anything less than Valorous, Honorable, Courageous, ans self- sacrificing. Their selfless contribution to mankind can never be exaggerated. Let us remember them well, for we may never again see their equal...