Posted on 06/06/2014 6:49:32 PM PDT by LibertyGirl14
A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece about the fading sentimental connection of today’s generations with World War II, the defining event of the 20th century. There is some oddity in living through the transition: in seeing the soldiers whom FDR called “our sons” become our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and then the ghosts of history commemorated on tombstones.
One of the most important transitions is the fading of the grand narrative by which we defined and guided our nation for so many decades. The hindsight of history has its rewards. But it has its drawbacks as well, as immediacy and personal connection disappear behind us...
Amen.
85% losses in the first wave. Thanks is hardly enough, alright. But, like you said....so thankful, for where would we be today if not for those brave souls.
One soldier said he should NOT have eaten his breakfast of beanie weenies, that morning. He tossed them before they reached the shore, due to the tremendous waves...huge waves.
In 1930, there must have been a lot of people saying that the Great War (WWI) was the defining event of the 20th Century.
Nonetheless, after two world wars, how did the 20th Century end up with such a large bunch of idiot and clueless pacifists like the Messiah. Just think about the banner “War is not the answer” - how does that play in the Middle East? All those people should move there to change the mindset of those dipsticks!
The 2 guys on the left in the background have the exact same look of pain as the man in the foreground.
You’re right..and hard to imagine what they endured...
how many people did those landing ships carry?
I was just reading the Wiki about the LST, 38 of them were used as hospital ships at D-Day, there were hundreds of those things being used.
View looking east along 'Nan White' Beach, showing personnel of the 9th 'Canadian Infantry' Brigade landing from LCI(L) 299 of the 2nd Canadian (262nd RN) Flotilla on D-Day.
note:... The beach is getting more congested as the offloading of the LCI flotillas continues. Notice the smoke in the village of Bernières itself near the train station (the two-level building with two chimneys). In landing, LCI(L) 299 hit a mine on its port side, putting holes in both the engine room and mess deck. It was badly damaged and de-commissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy in September 1944, then returned to the US Navy in March 1946
Infantrymen of The Highland Light Infantry of Canada cooking a meal aboard LCI(L) 306 of the 2nd Canadian (262nd RN) Flotilla en route to France on D-Day, 6 June 1944.
I don’t know how many ships...but one fellow stated they were everywhere he looked....just from photos there were hundreds of ships there....
I am amazed every year I revisit D-Day....the story’s the photos...the men who fought cease to amaze me.
Then the landing under a barrage of fire
Lea later wrote:.... "Lying in terror looking longingly up the slope to better cover, I saw a wounded man near me, staggering in the direction of the LVTs. His face was half bloody pulp and the mangled shreds of what was left of an arm hung down like a stick, as he bent over in the stumbling, shock-crazy walk. The half of his face that was still human had the most terrifying look of abject patience I have ever seen. He fell behind me, in a red puddle on the white sand."
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