A friend of mines dad just p***ed away and he was a WWII vet. I realy liked hearing his stories about his time in France. I dont think he was involved in D-Day but he was over there none the less. I have nothing but respect for those guys.
The joys of being 19, you think you will get away with it where as by the time you hit your 30's you know your chances ain't so great...... These guys did some amazing stuff for which we pretty much all owe our freedom too..... I caught the tail end of something on the news last night about an airforce vet down here, they had a little about the logistics of the landings and how much trouble we would have been in if they had failed with all the men and equipment involved, it was a pretty gutsy move.
I'm glad to see people on the HAMB remembering D-Day. Everyone else is just jabbering about this 6-6-6 nonsense. I'd like to thank my Old Man, who flew P-47 Thunderbolts for the USAAF from 1942-1945. He was laid up in the hospital for D-Day, but I know he'd have gone if they'd let him. It was him who first tought me to love old metal. Thanks dad.
my grandfather is one to be honored, he was a combat engineer who landed on normandy and later fought in the Ardennes during the Bulge. he is a tough man, still works full time at age 89......... was a poor kentucky mountain boy when he joined the war..... served him well during the minus 30 degree temperatures during the winter of 44... i circled his 4 bronze star theaters of war.....
I thought I would share a moment from today. My Father, who has p***ed, served during peace time in Korea. He had to leave the Armed Services early but never lost his love for it. It is through him that I learned about military history and how to research it. I picked up a book recently about the 761st Tank Battalion that was in action during the ETO from 1942 to 1945. They were the "Black Panthers" and their motto was "Come Out Fighting". They were an all African American Tank Battalion save for the commanding officer, Col. Paul L. Bates. While doing research I happened to contact the gentleman that wrote the book and was inquiring if he had any information about the names that the men of the 761st gave their Sherman tanks. The book only showed two. The "Cool Stud" and "Crecy". "Crecy" was the tank of Warren G.H. Crecy of Charlie Company who was known as the "Baddest man of the 761st". ( I was making the request because in my limited spare time, I try to build plastic models. We all built a tank at one point in our lives...) The man who wrote the book, Joe W. Wilson JR., gave me the name of one of the members of the 761st who is in the Northeast. His name is E.G. McConnell. I wrote to Mr. McConnell close to four weeks ago and hadn't heard back. Today, I got a phone call. Mr. McConnell and I shared about a half an hour on the phone. He shared a few stories with me and was willing to help my search for how his fellow soldiers named their armor. The one thing he said that left such an impression on me was this; Mr. McConnell told me that during his time in the service he refused promotion in rank. He did this as a way of making a personal statement on how the African American soldiers were treated during WWII. Mr. McConnell said that he never had to deal with racism until he arrived at Camp Hood. E.G. grew up in New York. I thanked him for his time and willingness to talk to a stranger. After I hung up with him, I wept... I think that there will be no generation that will be more revered, served with such honor, and did more to shape the world than the "Greatest Generation". I'm glad I got to say "Thank You" today.
I have a neighbor, nice old guy, he was a sailor on a destroyer at Midway. His ship took wounded off the Yorktown after she was hit. My uncle landed in Normandy after D-Day. He was a mortarman in Patton's 3rd Army and fought all accross France and into Germany. My Dad graduated college in 1940 and had been in the ROTC. He was called up in early 1942. He volunteered for the Air Corps but they said he was too big for aircrew. He was ***igned to armor, first in training and then in R&D at Ft. Knox. He did a lot of work testing and developing what became the M26 Pershing, the first American tank that could go toe to toe with the Tiger. In early 1945 Dad was told he was getting command of a tank company in a new division being formed for the invasion of Japan. That didn't happen thanks to Col. Tibbets and the 509th. One of Dad's best friends and business partner was at the Chosen Resevoir. I think about all those old guys, all those kids who never got to grow old, all the time.
I salute the service of the men of D-day and all who's sacrifice allowed democracy and freedom to prevail.
Thank your Dad for me too. IMHO the P-47 was the best all around fighter in the war. Mustangs grabbed a lot of glory, and they deserve it but for my dollar you can't beat the brute force that was a P-47. My ex's grandpa was an naval aviation mechanic in Trinidad-Tobago during the war. He trained on Lake Michigan on a steamship inverted into an aircraft carrier. He'd tell us stories about the guys in his unit, the palces he was stationed and other "colorful" tales. I miss that old guy all the time. I was fortunate enough to meet him and thank him. He always said, "It was nothing. We just did what we had to do." His humility is an inspiration to me, in many ways. All the vets out there, wartime or not, Thank you for the wonderful freedoms I and my sons have. I can never repay you for your service.
well, my meeting tonight was very powerful... i belong to a fraternal organization that alot of people spout ******** about regarding conspiracies, and give an educational program every meeting. in attendance tonight was the D-Day vet, who went in with the 29th division at omaha, but serving with the first army, as well as a pacific theater vet from the 32nd division. i spoke about what today was and brought a couple of original uniforms of the type worn in normandy and a helmet that i added the 29th division's insignia to. it was a pretty remarkable thing. the D-Day vet told us of watching the bungled m***ive bombing campaign intended to get an advance going out of the hedgerows, i think as part of gen. bradley's operation cobra. spoke of waves of bombers, and his group moved out of their trenches and went elsewhere as a group came in to relive them as they guarded a depot. the bombers obliterated the whole outfit that relieved them. alot of guys lost their lives to friendly fire in that screw up. i think a combination of smoke, weather and primitive communications and organization of different fighting groups were to blame. the pacific vet told me that they were equipped with the warmer european clothing when they shipped out, field jackets and coats, probably wool pants. when they got to brisbane australia, all of this was burnt and they were issued the cooler (but still heavy cloth, as thick as blue jeans) cotton HBT fatigues. said that he was working up a hill or mountain with his group, and he was 19 and carrying a BAR (20 lbs, full automatic 30-06, 20 rd magazine. big big big gun). told me he "thought he was john wayne, jumping from shell hole to shell hole" and reloading each time he lit in one. well, he stood up and saw something in the corner of his eye and turned just in time foir a japanese soldier to put a bullet through his ear. now, as he told me this, he had that WWII helmet of mine on. it was chilling. that bullet had to have exited his helmet... he took care of the enemy soldier, and told me that he has often thought about where that bullet would have gone had he not turned to look at the japanese fella comin up out of his "spider hole." June 6th has been a very big deal to me since i was in the 7th or 8th grade.
Thanx to all the Vets, regardless of where theyre from. Yanks, Canadians, Limeys,Aussies, Kiwis, South African whetever.... Ive been to Normandy and the Somme and believe me when I tell you that if you can't get emotional there, man, you gotta be brick, not human !! I tips me heat to ya'all !!! Rat
I used to work on a P-51D, P-47N, and F4U-4. I loved all the folks that would comment on the Mustang being the best fighter. You should have seen their face when I told them about the Soccer War which both this Mustang and Corsair flew. This F4U-4 shot down 2 P-51's and the P-51 got none. Keep 'em Flying!
The Jalopy Journal
