D-day June 6 1944 never forget

[SmokinEdge]

We all know what happened June the 6th 1944 at Normandy but here is a good read of a good soldier on that very day. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. He was a brigadier general who landed on the beach with the first wave of troops. He was only one of two generals who landed. His story is inspiring. God Bless USA.


https://www.cmohs.org/news-events/medal-of-honor-recipient-profile/theodore-roosevelt-jr/

 

[yankee2bbq]

Thanks for sharing! My Grandfather served as a medic in the Pacific with the 11th Airborne Division. Never talked about the war until he was on hospice. THE GREATEST GENERATION! We shall never forget!

 

[smokerjim]

Good stuff, my father was a wounded ww2 vet, he also never really talked about until his later years. He was in the 23rd infantry in Europe.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thank you guys for responding. Both of my grandfathers were in WWII. both were mechanics. One actually invented the break apart clip system for machine gun ammo. Improving on the belt system. Such fantastic human beings. So much respect.

 

[ifitsdeadsmokeit]

Amazing generation. Both my grandparents fought in ww2 in infantry. Amazing both lived. My mom has a frame with memorabilia and his purple heart hanging on the wall.

 

[DougE]

My dad and his brothers ended up coming of age between WWII and Korea. I believe his oldest brother enlisted right at the end of the war and never saw any action before it ended.

My dad's father was in WWI, though. He was a bombardier, which at the time, involved riding in an open cockpit airplane and trying to hit targets by dropping bombs over the side.

 

[ajbert]

I spent 15 years on five different ships on an almost 26 year career in the US Navy. Every cruise I went on, 10 total, I always found myself wonder what kind of hell those sailors went through when their ship was sunk. I worked in the main engineering spaces on those five ships. As soon as general quarters was sounded everyone one runs to their station. Mine was always in the pit. Every hatch and door was dogged down. For hatches, that means the it was bolted down with a single man-hole sized hatch.

Down in the pit our only directive was to keep the screws turning and the lights on. My #1 fear, if we ever saw combat at sea, was getting hit by a torpedo. The main spaces had fuel tanks on the sides and not a very thick hull. There were only two ways in and out of the spaces and 10-12 people on watch. Trying to get out, providing you survived the torped, would not be the easiest thing to do.

#2 fear was the boat capsizing. The main spaces are the lowest part of the ship. Pretty hard to get out of there and to the surface when your only way out is 6 decks down filling up with water, and then is you survive that, getting up to the surface of the ocean.

I just can't imagine in my mind of anyone every surviving down in the pit when hit from or torpedo, naval gunfire, or air. My heart goes out to all who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Even worse, the notification to the family. The military member signed on the dotted line, but the family never did.

 

[mneeley490]

My paternal grandfather served in the US Army in France for the latter part of WWI. Not sure if he saw any real action. He passed when I was 6.
My maternal grandfather was a marine, and served in the American Expeditionary Forces in China in the 1920's. He did see action from warlords trying to take Shanghai. He passed when I was 12. He never talked to me about his time in the service, but I recently inherited a cache of pictures he took over there, and it looked pretty brutal. Enemy forces shelled an American-owned oil refinery, and there are pics of all the marines hauling out as many 5-gal cans of gas that they could before the whole place went up.
My great uncle was a sailor on one of the river gunboats in China around that same time, that served as the inspiration for The Sand Pebbles.
My father's older brother was US Army in France in WWII. I have a few pics of him over there, and I heard he saw heavy action, but I never had the opportunity to ask him about his service. He passed in the mid 80's.

Any way you slice it, we owe a debt we can never repay to those that came before us.

 

[OldSmoke]

My dad was in the Battle of the Bulge, grandpa lost a leg in WWI. Brother was in Vietnam Nam.

We were in Washington DC and visited the memorials on this last Memorial Day and heard the speeches. It was very moving.

All of the guys I worked with on helicopters were Viet Nam vets. I wish we had known what PTSD was in the 70’s. They sure the hell did.

 

[JLinza]

My Great grandfather watched them put the flag up at Iwo Jima. I was a very young man when I knew him, he was a hard a$$ with everyone, but not with me lol. Always knew we had something special before he passed. I don't think a tougher group of men will ever be found.

 

[indaswamp]

One Grandfather was on a navy ship at Normandy. Spent a lot of time with him over the summers fishing when I was in High School. Only thing he ever mentioned about it were the many friends he lost, and the sight and sound of all those bombs exploding on the beach head.

My other grandfather worked as a chemical engineer. He helped develop some of the lubricants for the Military. One was top secret....it was for the subs to keep them quiet.....

 

[Smokin Okie]

On June 6th, 1944 ... my Dad, a ball turret gunner on a B-17, was a POW in Stalag 17. The war was still in doubt and they had no idea what would become of them. But their country came and got them in due time, and he was forever grateful. He had a true love of his country.

Ya did not have to thank him for his service, in fact, he got weary of politicians wanting to give him benefits, he was just grateful to be born an American.

 

[yankee2bbq]

Ya did not have to thank him for his service, in fact, he got weary of politicians wanting to give him benefits, he was just grateful to be born an American.

I believe my grandfather felt the same way. I remember my grandmother telling me years after grandpa passed away that he gave away all his war metals to the kids in the neighborhood.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I believe my grandfather felt the same way. I remember my grandmother telling me years after grandpa passed away that he gave away all his war metals to the kids in the neighborhood.

In the late 70's, when the country was honoring Vietnam POW's, our Oklahoma state legislature decided to give them free special POW license plates. And they included WW II POW's.

Dad said he'd had enough, too much had already been done for him. Did not need a free tag.

But that free tag led to an honor that he thoroughly appreciated. A couple of years before he died, he was driving on I-40, near Tinker AFB in OKC. He was in the right lane, and a govt car pulled up next to him in the left lane. There were four Air Force officers in the car, and they all saluted him. Dad thought the world of that. That may've been the best honor he got.

 

[912smoker]

My dad got home one afternoon , peeked in the mailbox and spotted a letter from the US Army. Said he closed the box and went straight to the Navy recruitment center and joined. He also had 2 brothers in the Navy and 1 in Army.
He was aboard an LST and at the beach.
Didn't speak much of it other than he was blessed to be in that position.

Keith

 

[Smokin Okie]

My dad got home one afternoon , peeked in the mailbox and spotted a letter from the US Army. Said he closed the box and went straight to the Navy recruitment center and joined. He also had 2 brothers in the Navy and 1 in Army.
He was aboard an LST and at the beach.
Didn't speak much of it other than he was blessed to be in that position.

Keith

That's another reason the WW II vets had an easier time when they got home, compared to Vietnam vets.

In WW II, almost everyone served. For young men, it was the exception to not be in the service. And when they got back home, there were a lot of others who had similar experiences. They could talk and share.

But in the general population, the Vietnam vets were sort've rare. Most in my generation found some way to avoid serving, like a college deferment. Or if they did enlist or were drafted, they could've served in some place other than Vietnam.

And even among Vietnam vets, most did not see combat. They served in some logistical role, etc.

So for the Vietnam vet who was in combat, linking with others was difficult. They were pretty much alone when they got home.

 

[chef k-dude]

Great reading all of your family stories. Always wondered why most soldiers dont talk of their wars much, then it occurred to me that combat is usually pure hell. You have to be in a "special" mental space to actually enjoy it. WW2 was a little bit refined from WW1, but both were human meat grinders for any combat soldiers. Men HAD to block their visions from their minds or lose their minds and they needed to hold their shiznit together for their families.

I always wonder how that changed in modern combat and why PTSD became so prevalent; where WW2 soldiers simply went silent, kept their heads up for the most part and pressed on until they died (or die, 66K WW2 vets are still alive). It obviously always existed, but why was the greatest generation able to hold it together? The gore never leaves your mind. What happened to us as people that we can no longer cope like that?

I worked in a job that people cant imagine. Dealt with travel and bieng away from home, some human remains (not combat), etc., and I can attest that it's weird when you come home and the world was still turning while you were gone. Your own family can barely fathom what you might try to describe, and in reality, they are just living their day to day life, whether you're there or not. It's almost like what you did doesn't matter...at least to anyone who wasn't there with you. It must be the weirdest thing for combat veterans.

 

[Smokin Okie]

The absolute best personal account of combat, from the view of a Marine infantryman in WW II , is a book called " With The Old Breed " .

https://www.amazon.com/Old-Breed-At-Peleliu-Okinawa/dp/0891419195



It was written by Eugene Sledge. And the HBO Series, The Pacific , was partly based on this book.

Sledge was unique for a Marine foot soldier, in that he had some college education ( not common in those days ), and his Dad was a medical doctor. He was a thinking man, not to demean Marine infantry but Sledge was just different.

After the war, Sledge got a PHD in microbiology and taught at a small college in Alabama.

His book is excellent. His description of combat is detailed in the sights, sounds, and even the smell. He really does portray life in the fox holes. If ya have questions about men in combat, this is a great book. The best I've read.

 

[yankee2bbq]

The absolute best personal account of combat, from the view of a Marine infantryman in WW II , is a book called " With The Old Breed " .

https://www.amazon.com/Old-Breed-At-Peleliu-Okinawa/dp/0891419195



It was written by Eugene Sledge. And the HBO Series, The Pacific , was partly based on this book.

Sledge was unique for a Marine foot soldier, in that he was college educated, his Dad was a medical doctor. He was a thinking man, not to demean Marine infantry but Sledge was just different.

After the war, Sledge got a PHD in microbiology and taught at a small college in Alabama.

His book is excellent. His description of combat is detailed. He really does portray life in the fox holes. If ya have questions about men in combat, this is a great book. The best I've read.

I have that book. Excellent read. Also, if you haven’t, read “Helmet for my Pillow” same outfit as Sledge.

Both my grandparents experienced The Great Depression and WWII. I would think that would make a person stronger mentally. Or at least learn how to survive on very little.