Just back from Normandy, so thought I'd post a few pics. This is the American cemetary that overlooks Omaha beech, where 9600+ Americans that gave their lives to protect freedom are buried.
So sad when you realize how many of our boys lost their lives there and all over Europe and in the Pacific. Then when you realize that with the exception of Japan, we were fighting for other countries. Then today many of those countries have turned their backs on us. Really sad.
If we hadn't intervened, i personally believe we would have eventually been speaking German in this country. Couple interesting facts. We declared war on Japan, not Germany. Germany declared war on us three days later. And during our own revolution, we likely could not have prevailed without France's help. Granted that they helped because they hated England mainly. My main concern now is that having built the largest military, and most effective on the planet, our economy is partially driven by its continued growth, and when you have the power, somehow we seem to get involved regularly to use it. Future generations are going to have to be wiser than prior ones in using this power. One other observation was that I spoke to many French and English people while in their countries, and Gov't propaganda aside, there weren't any that didn't correctly understand that without our help in WWII they would not exist. And full circle, unless we are American Indian, we have European blood in our family at some point. The boys on D-day I think fought for two main things, the belief that the evil that was Nazi Germany would have to be stopped in Europe or at our own shores some day, and they fought for the guy beside them. Will not soon forget my trip there.
I'm sure that's about like a trip to Pearl Harbor. Two places I'd like to visit one day. Thank you for the pictures.
We went to the American cemetery the first time I was in France. It is beautifully kept. Nearby, along the coast, some of the German built defenses are kept as museum pieces and even a few of the "temporary" piers that supported the forces with supplies still remain.
I hope you get a chance to go mdavlee ... my wife and I finally had a "honeymoon" after 30 years together, and went to Hawaii in 2006. The absolute highlight of the trip, for me, was Pearl Harbor. We met a few guys who volunteer'd there, who were on ships on that terrible day. Standing above the Arizona was very moving. Every American should get the chance to experience Pearl.
I just ran across this Pearl related story today... 2 of Oldest Known Pearl Harbor Survivors Reunite 74 Years Later NBC San Diego ^ | 7/3 | Matt Rascon Ray Chavez, 103, and Jim Downing, 102, both served 74 years ago in Pearl Harbor and shared memories for the first time at a reunion in San Diego on July 3, 2015 Two of Pearl Harbor's oldest known survivors, veterans Ray Chavez, 103, and Jim Downing, 102, share an unbreakable bond. The two met for the first time Friday, sharing the same eyewitness moments and deep memories of the horrific, surprise attack on Pearl Harbor 74 years ago. Still, for Downing, “most of what happened is just as clear as if it were last week.” Downing, who lives in Colorado Springs, believed he was the oldest survivor of the attack until he read a news article about Chavez, who lives in Poway and is 103 years old. “Well, I’m not going to check your birth certificate, so I’ll take your word for it”, Downing joked after meeting with Chavez. Downing was asked to speak during a Fourth of July celebration in San Diego and decided to take the opportunity to meet with Chavez. Each of the men have an incredible story of service and bravery. In the early morning hours of Dec. 7, 1941, when the waters and skies surrounding Pearl Harbor were still quiet, Quartermaster First Class Chavez and his crew were out on the water. “We were sweeping restricted water. Nobody was supposed to be there except us” Chavez remembers. Somewhere near the harbor they spotted a Japanese submarine and immediately notified others. A short time later, another ship bombed and sank the sub and Chavez went back to his Navy housing nearby to sleep. But it was just a couple of hours later that Chavez’s wife shook him out of a deep sleep. She told him the Japanese were invading and that the “whole harbor was on fire." “The first thing was surprise. Then I was scared. I thought the next plane would get the right angle, then I was angry,” Downing says of the experience. Downing was 28 years old at the time and served on the USS West Virginia, though the morning of the attack he wasn’t on board the ship. If he had been he says he wouldn’t be here today. “The saddest thing I saw that morning was sailors being blown off the ship, come up out of the water, feel the oil on their bodies...and they just became human torches.” He and the other survivors did their best to defend the harbor but he says the power quickly went out and “they couldn’t even get off one shot.” “Once the Japanese had sunk our ship they didn't care so all we had to do was fight the fires and take care of the wounded,” Downing says. But it's what Downing did after the initial attack that’s had more of a lasting impact. He began memorizing the name tags of the dead and wrote letters to as many of their families as he could to let them know what had happened to their son. He says it was so “gratifying” that he decided to go to where many of the wounded were being treated and offered to write their families letters also. Downing and Chavez shared many memories from decades ago. But all of the stories make celebrating the birth of their country so much more meaningful. The lesson Downing learned from Pearl Harbor is: “Weakness invites aggression...keep America strong.”
Some more pics that you guys may be interested in. Not sure how much everyone knows about D-day, so I'll share a few that might interest you, and a few notes with each. To the left here is Sword Beach (Sword, Juno - handled by UK and Canadians and some others, at low tide, 12 foot tidal change here. Plan was to come at low tide after full moon, which is why they went in questionable weather on June 6th after scrapping June 5. Low tide exposed all obstacles, gave widest width to land gear, though gave further distance to run under heavy fire This is guy who made it ashore and gets his first look at a German. To the right are "mulberrys" Giant man made concrete things they floated across the channel then sunk. American version of this wiped out by a storm, two weeks later (on the next possible full moon, low tide backup date they had by the way). Remains here are of British section between Juno and Gold beach. These guys made a deep water harbor that then took in millions of supplies to back the mission! By hand, with concrete boxes. Above are the bridges that then floated from the mulberry breakers, and tanks and trucks etc. drove across them to the beaches. Allies dropped more 150% of the Hiroshima kilotonage on the German fortifications, much fell long as it was heavy cloud cover and we didn't want to hit our guys, and much of what hit did little damage to bunkers like these, as they were cone shaped to deflect the blows. This gun, and many like it, had a 12-14 mile range, which is why paratroopers were sent in early to disable as many as possible. Note this picture of Gold beach, now at high tide. Imagine if they couldn't have advanced, the tide would have wiped out all their gear and some of their men. The cliffs you see are more toward the American end now, which was Omaha and Utah beech. Rangers scaled those cliffs to get at gun emplacements, and upon arriving found the Germans had moved the guns back, and left only decoys in there place. But Rangers went up that cliff with knives digging handing holds. First ranger bottom to top in 20 minutes. This is Pegasus Bridge. Germans had flooded canal system, locks, rivers etc, so that paratroopers/gliders had to capture key bridges in order to prevent reenforcement from Germans, and allow allied advance so things would not stack up on beaches. Brits captured this one. Landed three gliders at night, in heavy clouds, within 150 yards of this bridge. They took the first casualty of D-day at this bridge, but captured it quickly and held it. Many paratroopers drowned in flooded fields when they couldn't get out of the 120-150 pounds of gear they had dropped with. I brought a little handful of sand back and one stone from each of the five landing beaches which I am going to put on my desk at work in a glass display. The next generation needs to hear of the sacrifices of those that have gone before them, to preserve a free country they now enjoy.
Thank you so much for all of your comments and photos Greg!!! Good history lesson. My father landed with a tank crew on one of those beaches, on a second wave of men/gear, 2 weeks after D-Day. x2 on the generations ahead knowing of the sacrifices made by others in the past...
Just finished reading a book about Patton. Really brings the war to mind and is just as sad today as it was then. I had many relatives fight during that war.
