Posted on 06/06/2014 9:10:10 AM PDT by topher
Brix, France Some of the veterans attending the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings here in France have fascinating stories.
Take George Ciampa, the most vibrant and spry 89-year-old I have ever met. In 1944, he landed in Normandy as a soldier assigned to the 84th Graves Registration Unit. I spent the next few years going from France to Germany helping to bury people, he told me. He was involved in setting up the temporary military cemeteries in Normandy that have now become stirring memorials to our fallen dead.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
I am retired from the NJ National Guard, where career advancement and promotions were few and far between for the enlisted. My unit received a slot for Graves Registration which required six weeks of MOS school, which would not have been a problem. The slot was two grades above me, which would have been sweet but, I declined due to the nature of the position, even though this was after the first Gulf War and before Operation Enduring Freedom.
Amazing, if I didn’t know his age I would swear he was in his 60s.
Great pics, potlatch. Thank you!
General Patton is buried in Luxembourg. They moved his grave to a different location because of the heavy traffic. Mrs. Patton’s ashes were scattered over his grave by family members.
Now will Obama or his functionaries be so stupid and petty as to give these Veterans problems with the IRS,VA, TSA or whoever?
You’re very welcome Trisham, thank you for your reply.
Hi my ‘best friend’. This all has special meaning for you because of your Dad, I can understand the tears.
Went to my grandson’s graduation, got sick on Sunday and today’s the first ‘good’ day I’ve had. I owe you letters!!
My DIL continues to go to the ever smaller reunion of her grandfather’s outfit. It is an interesting connection to the memory of a young man who was KIA within days of joining the outfit as a replacement just after D-day. The anniversary of his death is just days away from now. He never knew his daughter or her daughter or any of the others who were born after his young life ended.
My old friends that helped raise me are almost all gone. The last two are 90 and 93. One was a seaman in the Pacific and became an outstanding engineer. The other was a Marine pilot at Pelileu and other terrible places of the time. He retired as chief pilot of a large corporation. Both of these men continued to work for some 30 years after they retired the first time. Their minds are still sharp but they get tired. They both remain gracious, kind and carry themselves with the honor, integrity and strength of real men.
I’m looking at the picture of my father when he was a teenager on the beach while in flight training at Pensacola. Full of energy and ready for adventure. That is the way he and so many of these men lived their entire life, looking from one adventure to another. Sometimes they were adventures of their own making and made only in their own minds. It was their way to stay motivated and to live as completely as they possibly could. Almost every day with Dad was an exciting adventure. He made life an event.
God Bless You and your Dad!!
America needs far more men like your Dad!
No, he is still buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial located in Hamm, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.
One of my fellow mechanics at the Ford garage in Lima told of working Graves Registration in Korea. He also mentioned they got a quart of booze a day. A grim tale.
89! I want his secret!
a sacrilege
I hope he continues to get the cold shoulder and I hope we see the videos of it - might have to go to foreign media
Another Freeper just mentioned that his own grandfather had worked for thirty years beyond his “first”...”retirement...
retirement seems strangely analogous to SLEEP...and then Death!!
I think theres a Lot to be said for continued activity well past the point of “retirement”
You are both correct. Apparently I was confused since his body was moved from its original resting place to another section of the cemetery.
As a side note, I find it touching that so many Luxembourgers still revere the men who lie under that sod, to the degree that they consider it their sacred honor to decorate the graves on memorable occasions. I only hope that we are as diligent in our reverence.
I think I may finally have them stymied - plus my 'hobbies'. Don't know how I ever found the time to 'work' -
Obama tried to F### with these old veterans by shutting down the WWII memorial when they came to visit. We can only hope that many of these brave men express their contempt for him today. And that, at the least, it makes the Daily Mail.
Obama = FUBAR.
His quote is certainly one to remember.
‘Its not that we dont want to respect the commander-in-chief, one told me sadly. Its just that he makes it so hard to do so. A very wise man.
Hopefully, this gets on Drudge and Fox.
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