D-Day +28 124

Meltdown99

D-Day at 75: Veterans share stories of fighting Nazis as they sail to Normandy
https://beta.ctvnews.ca/national/features/d-day-veterans-sail-to-normandy--here-are-their-stories.html?fbclid=IwAR2dFG9_D2cz-e3Dt5MhPoUOtRE1Y8cDJnNRH_fp26rMAjZLGQtGR7qUEnU

brianlux

It's so weird for me to think about how fast the WWII vets are disappearing.  My father was one- lived to be 96 and passed away a few years ago.  That's a good indicator of why there are not many left.  Time flies so damned fast. 

mcgruff10

75 years ago my grandfather landed at Utah, it's crazy that this portion of history is closing.  

ponytd

brianlux said:

It's so weird for me to think about how fast the WWII vets are disappearing.  My father was one- lived to be 96 and passed away a few years ago.  That's a good indicator of why there are not many left.  Time flies so damned fast. 

It really does. Sounds like you got to enjoy your dad for a long time too. I hope he wasn't too scarred from the war, but glad for his service. I remember in high school talking about the 50th anniversary in our history class, and interviewing my grandfather(he wasn't a part of D Day, but was in the bombing of London) for a paper I had to write on the war. Our teacher told us he'd like it to be on WWII and there were plenty of vets out there to find and talk to about it. That doesn't seem so long ago, and now here it is 25 years later and the greatest generation is almost gone. I know every 5 years, they have a big event in Normandy for the anniversary and it's sad to think that this might be the last one with survivors of D Day.

I got back from Normandy 2 weeks ago today. It was my first trip there and was incredible. I did a tour of the American beaches/sectors and the American Cemetary. I've seen pictures of the invasion, watched History channel documentaries, ready books, watched Band of Brothers, the Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan and whatnot, but to stand there and see the beaches and the towns made it very real.  And try to picture in my head what it must have looked like and what they went through was almost overwhelming.

One of the biggest shocks was finding out Omaha beach was a huge tourist destination for beach-goers. It was popular before the war, and popular after. Our tour guide told a story of a gentlemen who was a D Day survivor and came back for a tour one summer several years ago. When they got to Omaha, it was packed with sunbathers, swimmers and people having a good time. He said the veteran began to cry and the tour guide apologized for all the people there, but it was a very popular beach in France for people to go to and he understood if he felt like it was disrespectful. The veteran stopped him and said " No, I'm not mad at all. I'm happy. This is why we came here that day. So they could come here. So they could have a choice. So they could be free and not have some f'in facist tell them they couldn't"

Thank you to all veterans everywhere, no matter the war, but to those of D Day and WWII in general, thank you and your sacrifices will never be forgotten.

mrussel1

These boys saved humanity. 

Brian, can you share your father's history in the war?

Bentleyspop

Was having dinner the other night with a friend who works at the local V.A. hospital and has a large number of WW2 vets for clients. Some of whom were at D-Day and they still remember it. 

She also mentioned that most of them can't  stand the currently elected president because of one thing... hate. All the hate swirling around America and Americans because of him and his policies and rhetoric.  They fought against the worst hate imaginable and can't  stand to see people being supportive of so much hate.

Spiritual_Chaos

Swedens national day on the 6th. Day off. Will drink a beer for the brave people dying on that beach.

Are there any good films about it, other than Saving Private Ryan?

Meltdown99

The Longest Day is a good movie.

There have been a few done throughout the years.  No way Hollywood was not going to capitalize on the largest sea invasion that knocked down the Hitlers impenetrable "Atlantic Wall".

I think it was Tom Brokaw referred to them as the "greatest generation", no doubt in my mind.  In Canada, a country of around 13 million or so, we assembled a volunteer army that saw over a million men and woman join the war effort...

JPPJ84

Band of brothers covers more than the landings but for me, it’s the best depiction there is about that topic 

mrussel1

JPPJ84 said:

Band of brothers covers more than the landings but for me, it’s the best depiction there is about that topic 

I like that it was the airborne side and Ryan was the landing.  Cool to see both sides. 

JPPJ84

mrussel1 said:

JPPJ84 said:

Band of brothers covers more than the landings but for me, it’s the best depiction there is about that topic 

I like that it was the airborne side and Ryan was the landing.  Cool to see both sides. 

True

brianlux

ponytd said:

brianlux said:

It's so weird for me to think about how fast the WWII vets are disappearing.  My father was one- lived to be 96 and passed away a few years ago.  That's a good indicator of why there are not many left.  Time flies so damned fast. 

It really does. Sounds like you got to enjoy your dad for a long time too. I hope he wasn't too scarred from the war, but glad for his service. I remember in high school talking about the 50th anniversary in our history class, and interviewing my grandfather(he wasn't a part of D Day, but was in the bombing of London) for a paper I had to write on the war. Our teacher told us he'd like it to be on WWII and there were plenty of vets out there to find and talk to about it. That doesn't seem so long ago, and now here it is 25 years later and the greatest generation is almost gone. I know every 5 years, they have a big event in Normandy for the anniversary and it's sad to think that this might be the last one with survivors of D Day.

I got back from Normandy 2 weeks ago today. It was my first trip there and was incredible. I did a tour of the American beaches/sectors and the American Cemetary. I've seen pictures of the invasion, watched History channel documentaries, ready books, watched Band of Brothers, the Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan and whatnot, but to stand there and see the beaches and the towns made it very real.  And try to picture in my head what it must have looked like and what they went through was almost overwhelming.

One of the biggest shocks was finding out Omaha beach was a huge tourist destination for beach-goers. It was popular before the war, and popular after. Our tour guide told a story of a gentlemen who was a D Day survivor and came back for a tour one summer several years ago. When they got to Omaha, it was packed with sunbathers, swimmers and people having a good time. He said the veteran began to cry and the tour guide apologized for all the people there, but it was a very popular beach in France for people to go to and he understood if he felt like it was disrespectful. The veteran stopped him and said " No, I'm not mad at all. I'm happy. This is why we came here that day. So they could come here. So they could have a choice. So they could be free and not have some f'in facist tell them they couldn't"

Thank you to all veterans everywhere, no matter the war, but to those of D Day and WWII in general, thank you and your sacrifices will never be forgotten.

Great story, ponytd!

mrussel1 said:

These boys saved humanity. 

Brian, can you share your father's history in the war?

Sure thing, M.  Gotta run off  to work but will share some interesting stories but will share some of my Pop's WWII USN memories from the Solomon Islands later today.

mcgruff10

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Swedens national day on the 6th. Day off. Will drink a beer for the brave people dying on that beach.

Are there any good films about it, other than Saving Private Ryan?

Band of brothers episodes 2/3

mrussel1

mcgruff10 said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Swedens national day on the 6th. Day off. Will drink a beer for the brave people dying on that beach.

Are there any good films about it, other than Saving Private Ryan?

Band of brothers episodes 2/3

Any episode without Schwimmer.  Or skip his parts.

JPPJ84

mrussel1 said:

mcgruff10 said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Swedens national day on the 6th. Day off. Will drink a beer for the brave people dying on that beach.

Are there any good films about it, other than Saving Private Ryan?

Band of brothers episodes 2/3

Any episode without Schwimmer.  Or skip his parts.

I don’t mind him but I like the episodes with him because they show the togetherness of the group and how they deal with his incompetence 

Spiritual_Chaos

mcgruff10 said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Swedens national day on the 6th. Day off. Will drink a beer for the brave people dying on that beach.

Are there any good films about it, other than Saving Private Ryan?

Band of brothers episodes 2/3

Yeah, seen it. 

Seen the Sean Connery movie also.

Would be interesting to find a french or german movie on the subject, if anyone know of any.

Meltdown99

There are lots of YouTube videos that discuss D-Day from the Germans point of view.  I'm sure most Germans would just like to forget WW2 happened, I suppose.

ponytd

There's a movie called Overlord that follows the story of one British soldier up to the D Day landing. There's also a movie from the late 70's/early 80's called The Big Red One about D Day that stars Mark Hamill .

I know the History Channel here in the US is having a lot of D Day stuff this week. Watched one special last night that was reenactments, but told lesser known true stories that involved American and British soldiers. Pretty fascinating. Especially the British mini sub that was to go and mark the landing spot for Sword beach to keep the amphibious tanks from running into the mud flats near it. They had to just sit on the bottom of the sea floor for an extra day when the mission was postponed on the 5th without being detected by the Germans. Can't imagine how nerve wracking that would've been too

Meltdown99

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's D-Day Message

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ7IKM-jiJI

Spiritual_Chaos

ponytd said:

There's a movie called Overlord that follows the story of one British soldier up to the D Day landing. There's also a movie from the late 70's/early 80's called The Big Red One about D Day that stars Mark Hamill .

I know the History Channel here in the US is having a lot of D Day stuff this week. Watched one special last night that was reenactments, but told lesser known true stories that involved American and British soldiers. Pretty fascinating. Especially the British mini sub that was to go and mark the landing spot for Sword beach to keep the amphibious tanks from running into the mud flats near it. They had to just sit on the bottom of the sea floor for an extra day when the mission was postponed on the 5th without being detected by the Germans. Can't imagine how nerve wracking that would've been too

Thank you!

Spiritual_Chaos

Meltdown99 said:

There are lots of YouTube videos that discuss D-Day from the Germans point of view.  I'm sure most Germans would just like to forget WW2 happened, I suppose.

Yet, they did one of the best WW2 movies ever with "Der Untergang". 

So maybe there is a depiction of D-Day out there.

If anyone know of any, I'm not that knowledgeable in German and French film, please hook me up.

Meltdown99

There are also some good YouTube videos on what life was like in Germany after the war.  

Meltdown99

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Meltdown99 said:

There are lots of YouTube videos that discuss D-Day from the Germans point of view.  I'm sure most Germans would just like to forget WW2 happened, I suppose.

Yet, they did one of the best WW2 movies ever with "Der Untergang". 

So maybe there is a depiction of D-Day out there.

If anyone know of any, I'm not that knowledgeable in German and French film, please hook me up.

Somewhere in my comment, I missed where I said there were no good German WW2 films.

JPPJ84

There’s a few really good German movies about the war but not about d-day in particular I think. Das Boot, Der Untergang, Operation Walküre, Stalingrad to name a few. There’s also one from the Russian point of view, I‘ll find out the name. 
Personally I’m not sure if we (Germans) want to forget. Sure, we wish it had never happened but now that it has we mustn’t ever forget! Hope you get what I’m trying to say 

JPPJ84

Meltdown99 said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Meltdown99 said:

There are lots of YouTube videos that discuss D-Day from the Germans point of view.  I'm sure most Germans would just like to forget WW2 happened, I suppose.

Yet, they did one of the best WW2 movies ever with "Der Untergang". 

So maybe there is a depiction of D-Day out there.

If anyone know of any, I'm not that knowledgeable in German and French film, please hook me up.

Somewhere in my comment, I missed where I said there were no good German WW2 films.

Don’t be too hard on us non native speakers I think he was agreeing and merely trying to emphasize your point 

Spiritual_Chaos

Meltdown99 said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Meltdown99 said:

There are lots of YouTube videos that discuss D-Day from the Germans point of view.  I'm sure most Germans would just like to forget WW2 happened, I suppose.

Yet, they did one of the best WW2 movies ever with "Der Untergang". 

So maybe there is a depiction of D-Day out there.

If anyone know of any, I'm not that knowledgeable in German and French film, please hook me up.

Somewhere in my comment, I missed where I said there were no good German WW2 films.

Coming directly after my post -- this "I'm sure most Germans would just like to forget WW2 happened, I suppose." reads to me as "Germans didn't care about making any films about it because of their role in the war, I suppose". 

If it was just some random thought on Germans feeling towards the war. Then I misread it as having context to what I had just written.

mrussel1

JPPJ84 said:

There’s a few really good German movies about the war but not about d-day in particular I think. Das Boot, Der Untergang, Operation Walküre, Stalingrad to name a few. There’s also one from the Russian point of view, I‘ll find out the name. 
Personally I’m not sure if we (Germans) want to forget. Sure, we wish it had never happened but now that it has we mustn’t ever forget! Hope you get what I’m trying to say 

My understanding is that Germany has made a concerted effort over the years to remember the war, lest it be repeated. 

Spiritual_Chaos

Germanys censorship is, maybe understandable, but a bit weird at the same time:

Meltdown99

For one I do not believe for a minute that just because you remember, does not mean history will not be repeated.  I have only ever watched youtube videos on the German perspective...I have never had an interest in watching WW2 movies from their perspective.  

Spiritual_Chaos

Meltdown99 said:

For one I do not believe for a minute that just because you remember, does not mean history will not be repeated.  I have only ever watched youtube videos on the German perspective...I have never had an interest in watching WW2 movies from their perspective.  

Then you missed DAS BOOT and DER UNTERGANG. Which... I guess... is your choice, but also loss.

JPPJ84

Meltdown99 said:

For one I do not believe for a minute that just because you remember, does not mean history will not be repeated.  I have only ever watched youtube videos on the German perspective...I have never had an interest in watching WW2 movies from their perspective.  

Of course not! But it starts with not forgetting/ignoring what‘s been done