I know it's kind of late in the evening to start this thread but I felt compelled after driving to Bakersfield from Fresno and back today without hearing anything about the fact today was the 61st aniv. of D-Day. I got to thinking about my Grandfather. He was a refrigeration mechanic and was ***igned to drive a support vehicle in on D-Day. Unfortunatly ( in a way ), his partner was backing their truck onto an LST and the rear tires ran off the side of the ramp and he blew the trans. trying to get back up. They were towed back to the motor pool where the truck was repaired and loaded up. They went in D-Day + 1. He said the site was overwhelming. Immediatly after the liberation of Paris, he and two other mechanics were formed into their own company to ***emble prefabbed cold storage units about the size of small shipping containers. Somewhere are his orders signed by Eisenhower himself. They were given German POW's to perform the manual labor. They could not get the Germans to dig the ground to set the units. Through an interpreter they found out that the Germans thought the cold storage was a gas chamber and that they were digging their own graves. Later he was part of the Red Ball Express running fuel to Patton's advancing tanks. We lost my Grandfather last July. He was a hell of a guy. I got my sense of humor and my gut from him ( they both run in the family! ). He spent many a night tearing around Central Cal. in his 37 Chevy coupe with his buddies raising hell. I'm gonna get around to hotrodding that coupe eventually. We're losing these guys ( and gals ) every day and it saddens me that Micheal Jackson seems more important today. If your father or Grandfather is still around, give 'em a pat on the back and a thank you from me would ya. And don't let anyone forget their memory. Thans for letting me reminisce, Charlie
Thanks for sharing that, Charlie. By the way, in my opinion, this thread is NOT O/T. I feel that WWII in many ways gave birth to this message board (of course not directly). It is important to remember your grandparents. My grandfather didn't fight in the war. I believe he was just a tad too young at the time. I called him Sunday on his B-day....he just turned 77. I had a long talk with my grandmother about how they used to take the backroads from Cleveland to thier hometown in WV. She said it took them 9 hours. Today the trip can be made in 4.5 hrs. She can remember them putting in the interstate system. My wife's grandfather fought in WWII. He was a demolition spe******t. I could listen to him forever tell stories about what he did. I wish I knew him better, I would make him tell me everything. He can talk about dismantling a model T like he just did one yesterday.....stuff I've only seen in pictures, he has cataloged in his head from when he worked on his first car. We are losing so much with the p***ing of that generation. I hope I can in some way carry the torch a little.
One of my Grandfathers worked in a factory that made the Norden bombsight and the other was on a carrier in the Pacific, they are both gone now. I'm very proud of what my family members did to serve their country.
I drink a toast to all of them, the young German conscripts as well as our boys. It had to be a scary sight to be on either side of the Atlantic wall that day.
You know it's strange but I saw no mention of it either on the local news(which is two hours long)or Nightline. Didn't catch Peter Jennings tonight but he probably mentioned it. I was about 6 months old when it took place so I don't have any recollection of the day itself,but my grandfather surely remembered it as he did May 30th,August 6th,and November 11th.He ALWAYS remembered the 4th of July because that was his birthday.He was born exactly 100 years after the American Revolution. He always flew the flag on these days and to him it was a ceremony just to raise the flag.I later found out he flew the flag every day after the Gulf of Tonkin incident(I was in boot camp at the time)in support of the troops. Sad to say but most people today have almost no concept of US history which saddens me terribly.I really don't want to get into this as it is a sore subject with me. As was said before:Let's raise a gl*** to those who served(and died)to provide use with the ability to do just that. THANK YOU! Ray Smith
Somehow, it completely slipped my mind yesterday that it was the D-Day anniversary. I knew about it Sunday, but on Monday I just never thought about it. Still, somewhere down in my subconscious I must have known, because I rented a WW2 movie. I only realized that coincidence after reading this post. I have a great uncle who landed on Omaha beach on D-Day. Apparently he made it off the landing craft, ran just onto the beach, and got shot in the ***. He crawled/was dragged back onto the craft and that was pretty much the end of the war for him.
my dad served in the pacific late in the war .he drove an lst.i get my love of history esp. ww2 from him.matt
As it is with me. I see that kids today are taught that there is no evil in this world, that we should just let terrible things continue to happen. If you stand in the way of someone getting to carry out their misddeds, YOU are vilified as the person in the wrong. It's crazy, really. Thank GOD we had the generation of young men (and women) that we had in the '40s. The world would be a very different -and terrible- place today. Thank you to all the American and other Allied troops who died while liberating France, and even the brave French Resistance. I can't believe I actually typed that.
On XM yesterday on the 40s channel they played radio broadcasts and renacted it all day. Never Forget.
The loss of life that gives us FREEDOM ,,,show NEVER be overlooked or forgotten,,,not just WW11 but all that have made that sacrafice,,,including our men and women in action at this very moment,,, I lost my last living uncle in january that landed on the shores 61 years ago. He was afraid,,,,he would tell me,,,,but everybody was,,,even the enemy! He was lucky to make it home with only three bullet holes,,,,, He was a farmer,a husband and a father,,,and when he died he had no enemys,,,,HRP
I met a guy at the swap sunday that was wearing a hat with a carrier ship on it. He was obviously WWII vintage. He asked me first thing - what color was I going to paint my car!! I told him I didn't know yet, then I asked him if that was his ship on his hat. He proceeded to tell me the story of the day on Feb 11 - 1947 (I think that is what year he said) he had been sunk by two Japanese torpedos. The ship was cut in two and the back half sank in less than 20 seconds. He said the bad part was they were transporting 450 army personel and they had no idea exactly how many navy or army people had been lost. He was still researching it. HOLY **** I asked him what he did - He said he treaded water! He said that since they were in a convey they were rescued fairly quickly. What a sacrifice all those people made. Jow cool was it that guy was there telling me about what happened to him 55 years ago in the south pacific. It is hard to realize what all has happened in the past because we didin't live it. I couldn't tell you what Jimmy Carter really did, little lone anything about WWII or Vietnam. This past memorial day, the little town I live in put up crosses avery 5 feet for all the fallen veterans from that town. After p***ing about 3 miles of crosses lined up on either side of the road - it really made me think how much people have lost and how many people have suffered. That is the real point of memorial day. I bet only about 15 % of the country acutally thought about the real meaning of this past holiday. I wouldn't have really thought about it had it not been for whoever put all those crosses up. That being said, it is sad the national news did not mention D-day. I always take time to watch the do***entories I can catch on D-Day, Normandy, Hilter, all that stuff. The stories and hard ships endured are tremendous. Anyone every seen the story about the barrel bomb the made to take out some dam in Germany WWII? Awesome real story. They hot rodded a bomb and got the job done.
My dad was a glider pilot, he was part of the Normandy invasion. Funny thing is, he almost never talked about it to us kids. After he died, I kinda found out what he and every American that fought in the war did. They were ALL heros. Thanks and that goes to everyone who has been in the military before and since D-Day. Larry T
My grandmother's cousin made it through Dday all the way through until Sept when a sniper got him. It was an odd aniversary... 61 years, so that is probably why it didn't make the news. Here's an interesting time reference to ponder... For us, 60 years ago WWII ended. At the time our grandparents were fighting WWII, it was the 60th anniversary (give or take) of the end of the Civil War.
My grandfather fought alongside Patton in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. My Mom was only 2 and my grandmother pregnant with my aunt when he signed up in early '42. He was almost 25 and had a job he probably could have gotten a deferrment for but he went anyway. It's just something you did back then. My aunt was 2 before he ever saw her. He's never talked about the war, I guess the memories are too much. The only thing I've ever heard him say was the smell of death in the bombed out towns was just overwhelming. I''l never forget what he did and I try to tell my kids the sacrifices he and thousands of others gave and still give.
"Those galant men will remain often in my thoughts, and in my prayers, always." -General Douglas MacArthur.
I got a radio call on Saturday for a vehicle illegally parked in the handicapped spot right next to the vfw in the Roxborough section of Philly. The car had ww2 vet tags on it, but no handicapped tags or placard. I wasn't going to ticket the guy, but I thought I'd see if I could get it moved just so who ever called in the first place wouldn't complain that the police got there and did nothing. I went into the vfw and inquired and an old guy said that it was his car. I asked him in what theatre he served and he told me he served in the pacific for three years. I asked him if he saw any action, and he told me was involved in the invasion of Iwo Jima and a few other battles. I told him "you own this street as far as I'm concerned", and told him to park wherever he wants. I'd love to just talk to the guy for a few hours and plan to as soon as possible.
. I believe we should remember.......... My late father served........ He got engaged to my mother on a Saturday night. Saturday ......December the 6th, 1941 The next day was Pearl Harbor day. They were going to be married in 1943 or so BUT moved the date up to January 8 of 1942. Dad went into the service in Feburary. He became a MP He was in the Air Corp and there was a fight a**** some fellows. He whipped 3 or 4 fellows and then the 2 MP's who tried to arrest him. After they subdued him........they took him to the Head MP guy .......and he told my Dad, you can spent the rest of the war in jail or become a MP. Dad said it took about 2 seconds.........and he wanted to be a MP. .
My dad served in the navy, from 1942-1945, in the Pacific. He was on a sub temder, the USS Howard W. Gilmore. The ship was stationed at different times, in the Phillipines, Majuro (a small atoll in the central Pacific) and in Austrailia (for one day). In 1945 he was trying to be re***igned to the USS Bullhead, a submarine. Fortunately, he wasn't. The Bullhead was the last US sub lost in WW II....no survivors....Rest In Peace.
My grandfather WHO STILL WORKS cause he hated being retired landed on Normandy the first day. He was a combat engineer and served during the front the whole time. He recieved 4 battle stars, he relieved the famous 82nd that held the lines at the Ardennes in the Bulge Battle. He slept in the snow, but being a poor farm boy from rural Kentucy was probably suited better than some of the city kids. he is my hero, he is part of entire generation that is our hero, and few people especially the kids younger than me realize how brave they had to be. they fought an enemy greater than any enemy we'll ever have again. My grandfather escaped death when it was all around it, building bridges under enemy fire, and yet his favorite stories to tell me are the funny little things like stealling a jeep from an army intelligence command post that they thought the germans had stole from them!!! i'm a history student at FSU and teach history in high school as a guest and focus soley on teaching young people to appreciate people from that generation.
My grandpa is one of the ones that came back and helped make hotrodding what it is today (locally). He was known as Hotrod Holmes. He doesn't talk much about the war, except about how bitter he is. His family almost starved to death during the depression. They were just getting back on their feet and the war hit. He had to leave his dad, his mom and 5 sisters to tend to the new farm. He had to sell all of his live stock because his dad couldn't tend to all of them alone. The one thing that kept his hopes up was the thoughts of coming home and buying a 36 Ford. He says he can't recall how many times he and his buddies sat in fox holes and talked about owning their own cars. I need to get this software up and running. It records telephone conversations. I'd love to record his hotrod antics and place them on here.... Absolutely, "The Greatest Generation."
When I grew up one of our neighbours across the street was an old quit man who mostly minded his garden. I was too young to be interested in who was who, but this guy was a (civil) captain on the small cargosteamer MAMMY which were like most norwegian ships in international trade, was thrown into the war on allied side via Nortraship. The brits used MAMMY in both Operation Torch (invasion of North Africa), Normandie and several other hot places during ww2. A pretty damn fearless man who recieved an MBE for his efforts. My deepest respect to everyone who took part fighting for freedom.
The Jalopy Journal
