glockgod
Member
Lets all pause for a moment today to remember the brave soldiers of D-Day. Headed to a rifle match with the Garand today. I'll most likely be the first one there. I'll make sure the flag is displayed
D -Day
- Thread starter glockgod
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JCooperfan1911
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May those who fought be remembered for their sacrifice. Here is my M1 carbine that I know many men carried on that day 77 years ago:
D Day saved our asses from speaking German. My Dad landed on Utah beach that Day and fought through out including the Bulge. Got sent home in March of 45 after being wounded twice. My Dad is on the right. When I first saw this pic I was like where is his rifle and then I see it resting at his side for the pic.
1942bull
Member
Personally, I think it is time to lay D Day to rest. I certainly recognize the the greatness of the event and the outstanding bravery of the warriors who fought to secure the beachhead and then accomplish all the objective of the initial attack plan. There were many D Days during WWII. North Africa, Italy, Sicily, The Philippines wake, Guam, Guadalcanal, Makin Island, Saipan, Okinawa are just some of them. The bravery of those who made landings on all D Days is unquestionable, but it is, in my opinion, time to let the matter rest after 75 years of remembrance. We should focus on Memorial Day and Veterans Day to honor all who served in all the wars. Just my 2 cents.
Sovblocgunfan
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You do you.
375supermag
Member
I am going to disagree.
I believe there is room and time to honor the military as a whole and their sacrifices on Memorial Day, Veteran's Day and Armed Forces Day.
There is no reason not to honor the armed forces that took part in the Normandy landings on D Day June 6, 1944 on the anniversary of that momentous day every year as long as The Republic exists.
Do as you like.
That's your opinion. All events in any war the US has been involved in is important. This event turned the tide in a war that was not going well for the Allies in the EAME campaign. Cancelling it out is removing an important part of history...Carry on
remember that 10,000 men died in one day on Omaha Beach to stop the German war machine.
It would be simplistic to say they fought to stop the Nazis to stop the spread of the Nazi SOCIALIST party, but here we are again, 70 plus years later, with Socialism on the rise again.
Those who forget history are bound to repeat it.
It would be simplistic to say they fought to stop the Nazis to stop the spread of the Nazi SOCIALIST party, but here we are again, 70 plus years later, with Socialism on the rise again.
Those who forget history are bound to repeat it.
rbernie
Contributing Member
Absolutely true. We owe the veterans of all of those landings a huge debt that cannot be fully repaid.
But there was some thing audacious about the scale and scope of D-Day, and the consequences of failure so much higher. In all of my readings, I don't recall any other beach landing, save Saipan, meeting the scale of resistance (and therefore demanded as much sacrifice) as was seen on Utah and Omaha. D-Day ultimately served as the gateway for the liberation of Europe, something that no other operation can claim.
Yeah, it's special.
At the time, the invasion of France, hence Europe, was a big thing. I know Italian theater Soldiers resented their combat area being considered "a sideshow", and the poor guys in the C/B/I theater were pretty much ignored till the big island invasions of 1945.
D Day was hugely significant, it was immensely risky, and everyone knew it. We had to land in Europe, and a landing in France clearly set the count down clock for the Nazi's. Success was not guaranteed. Establishing decent logistics took more time than the first week, so the success of the entire landing was very tenuous. Logistics is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of war, but if you can't get troops, food, ammunition, tanks, trucks, supplies, up to the front, your invasion will fizzle away. There were hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel and hundreds of thousands of troops that made it off the beach, and that may have been in the first week.
I had one Boss who was there, first day, not on the worst beaches. He said he had allergies all his life, but that day, not a sniffle! Everyone who landed understood, they were not getting back on a ship to England unless they were medical cases, and were lucky enough to make it back to the ships before the Nazi's drove the invasion back into the ocean. That was the bad case scenario, a blood bath. And it had happened before at Dieppe. Dieppe is considered today as a "probing mission", a "lesson learned", or a "training invasion" but at the time to the men of that invasion, it was not a game. It was a wipe out, and the memory of that would have been around.
My Uncle, 101 Airbourne, dropped in Normandy. He made it all the way to Bastone, when his unit was surrounded and captured.
D Day was a huge milestone in retrospect. However, understand, the biggest blood baths were to come.
this is another Uncle, from the same side of the family. He died during the Battle of the Bulge, he was a replacement and was in theater less than 20 days before he was killed in action.
His mom brought him back and had him buried in the graveyard at the family Church.
More than 50 years after his death, his sister, my Mom, cried when she recounted the last time she saw him at the train station.
D Day was hugely significant, it was immensely risky, and everyone knew it. We had to land in Europe, and a landing in France clearly set the count down clock for the Nazi's. Success was not guaranteed. Establishing decent logistics took more time than the first week, so the success of the entire landing was very tenuous. Logistics is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of war, but if you can't get troops, food, ammunition, tanks, trucks, supplies, up to the front, your invasion will fizzle away. There were hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel and hundreds of thousands of troops that made it off the beach, and that may have been in the first week.
I had one Boss who was there, first day, not on the worst beaches. He said he had allergies all his life, but that day, not a sniffle! Everyone who landed understood, they were not getting back on a ship to England unless they were medical cases, and were lucky enough to make it back to the ships before the Nazi's drove the invasion back into the ocean. That was the bad case scenario, a blood bath. And it had happened before at Dieppe. Dieppe is considered today as a "probing mission", a "lesson learned", or a "training invasion" but at the time to the men of that invasion, it was not a game. It was a wipe out, and the memory of that would have been around.
My Uncle, 101 Airbourne, dropped in Normandy. He made it all the way to Bastone, when his unit was surrounded and captured.
D Day was a huge milestone in retrospect. However, understand, the biggest blood baths were to come.
this is another Uncle, from the same side of the family. He died during the Battle of the Bulge, he was a replacement and was in theater less than 20 days before he was killed in action.
His mom brought him back and had him buried in the graveyard at the family Church.
More than 50 years after his death, his sister, my Mom, cried when she recounted the last time she saw him at the train station.
lightman
Member
I'll not forget!
WheelGunMan
Member
We should honor ANY soldier in ANY conflict who gave their ALL so that we may enjoy our freedom.
1942bull
Member
Noticing the disagreement with my previous post, I need to explain it better than I did. The OP wrote:
My not so well made point went to that statement. I was not minimizing the scale of the June 6 D Day or the bravery of the warriors. I made that clear. My point was that unless we are going to specifically honor the warriors of all D Days we ought not do it for a select group because of the scale of the campaign.
The Normandy DDay landing involved the following troop strength:
The British and Canadians put 75,215 British and Canadian troops ashore. Americans: 57,500. Total:132,715
The four beachheads extended over 50 miles.
The battle area of Normandy was about 500 square miles. The battle area of IwoJima was 8 square miles. The casualty rates of both those D Days were very similar. Size of the battle area does not define the importance of battle
The Iwo Jima D Day landing involved the following troop strength:
The US put 50,000 Marines ashore. The two beachheads extended over 2 miles.
You can see that the scales of the battles is not so remarkably different. That I why I prefer to remember all our warriors past and present. Rather than the warriors of any particular D Day invasion. Oh yes, that to everyone for being civil in your reactions to my initial post.
My not so well made point went to that statement. I was not minimizing the scale of the June 6 D Day or the bravery of the warriors. I made that clear. My point was that unless we are going to specifically honor the warriors of all D Days we ought not do it for a select group because of the scale of the campaign.
The Normandy DDay landing involved the following troop strength:
The British and Canadians put 75,215 British and Canadian troops ashore. Americans: 57,500. Total:132,715
The four beachheads extended over 50 miles.
The battle area of Normandy was about 500 square miles. The battle area of IwoJima was 8 square miles. The casualty rates of both those D Days were very similar. Size of the battle area does not define the importance of battle
The Iwo Jima D Day landing involved the following troop strength:
The US put 50,000 Marines ashore. The two beachheads extended over 2 miles.
You can see that the scales of the battles is not so remarkably different. That I why I prefer to remember all our warriors past and present. Rather than the warriors of any particular D Day invasion. Oh yes, that to everyone for being civil in your reactions to my initial post.
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Sometimes I still ask myself why did I go. Sometimes I ask myself why did they go. I enjoyed my military service but I sometimes think that the principles sucked - sometimes it seems like a very stupid venture to me. I look at the commercials of all of our dismembered vets on television and the cause they went for - the only principle that I can tolerate is that they did it for each other. Having served, that is the only principle that I understand.
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