Posted on 07/30/2014 4:14:12 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
"A few weeks after D-Day, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson proudly points to Allied progress into Nazi-held territory.
After visiting several war fronts, Stimson informed the American people in his radio address that victory was in sight, although the enemy was still fighting fiercely.
Just how fiercely even Stimson probably could not conceive: Although D-Day did indeed mark the beginning of the Allied march toward the Fatherland, German troops would resist for another 11 torturous months.
Egged on by Hitler, the retreating Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht often destroyed what they could not defend, depriving the Allies of housing and fuel and other materiel."
The USS Indianapolis sank on July 30, 1945
“Eleven hundred...... “
Gabreski was also credited with 6.5 kills in the Korean War. He was one of only 7 US pilots to be an ace in 2 wars. Gabreski served in the military for 26 years.
Gabby and Kay were married for 48 years and had 9 children. 2 of their sons graduated from the US Air Force academy and were pilots. Their daughter-in-law Terry L. Gabreski was promoted to lieutenant general in August 2005.
Read Martin Caidin’s book “Thunderbolt” for information about the 56th Fighter Group (Zemke’s Wolfpack) with aces Robert Johnson and Gabby Grabreski.
E.C. Daniels in his article on page 2 and 3 has his rivers mixed up (or the editir cahged it). The Seine goes from Parris to Le Harve.
As per Wiki: “The Sélune is a 91 km long river in the Manche department, Normandy, France, beginning near Saint-Cyr-du-Bailleul. It empties into the bay of Mont Saint-Michel (part of the English Channel) near [south of] Avranches, close to the mouth of the Sée river. Other towns along the Sélune are Barenton, Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët and Ducey.”
Thanks for the additional details on this wonderful American family!
But we all still want to know; did he and Kay get married?
:p
See 43 - they were way married.
So they were. It got posted before I refreshed the page. A nice happy ending.
Yes, Gabby and Kay married and had nine children. Gabby again became an ace in the Korean War, one of very few pilots to ace in both wars. He went on to a distinguished Air Force career.
Ike and the Brits are getting touchy about comparisons of the two fronts. A few days ago Churchill addressed the issue of disproportionate American casualties.
Cool. Sounds like a real American hero
“There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies and that is fighting without them.” - Winston Churchill
LOL!
His parents were Polish immigrants and he joined up right after the invasion of Poland.
Good eye!
Are you saying both captions are wrong and they are army rather than marines?
Good thread today Homer. Not that often you get to the second page of comments. I know a lot of people enjoy reading these threads more than posting, but it’s nice to see a lively discussion.
No, I wasn't an English major. Sorry about that. They are marines but I suspect that if the photo was taken on Guam, it wasn't during the initial assault wave.
Generally, when you see pictures of marines in combat conditions, you may see M1 carbines but there is usually an M1 Garand somewhere in the photo. In this photo, I see nothing but M1 carbines. Every man has a carbine. That is one thing that makes me suspect a support/artillery unit.
While many marines wore the P42 camo utilities, especially the camo helmet covers, my understanding is that many if not most still wore the 1941 pattern cotton herringbone utilities. I don't know who got what and when but in the photo, you can just make out that the bed rolls are camo. Perhaps they had camo helmet covers packed away. I wouldn't want to go into combat with one of those shiny helmets glistening in the sun... but many did.
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