June 6, 1944 Operation Overlord

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Pacfanweb
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2:27a, 6/6/20
"Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them."

I remember my Grandfather, Guy M. Watson, who went in 30 minutes after the first wave at Omaha Beach...men like him, who would never think of themselves are heroes or heroic, fought and lived and died that day.

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Wolfer79
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6:39a, 6/6/20
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FlossyDFlynt
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10:12a, 6/6/20
Ive gone into a bit of a WWII rabbit hole the last few months. Two great things Ive watched/read:

The Greatest Events of WWII in Color on Netflix - fantastic watch on the entire war
The Death of Democracy by Benjamin Carter Hett - might be the most chilling book Ive ever read. There were a few quotes from Hitler that made me contemplate the true evil that possessed him

As far as D-Day is concerned, all I can say is that those men are braver and better than I could ever be
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82TxPackFan
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10:19a, 6/6/20
RIP members of the greatest generation!!
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packgrad
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10:26a, 6/6/20
When men were men. On my best day I'm not sure I could ever be as brave as they were.
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Glasswolf
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In reply to packgrad • 10:52a, 6/6/20
packgrad said:
When men were men. On my best day I'm not sure I could ever be as brave as they were.
Same here. I cannot imagine what was going thru the minds of those "kids", and yes some were just kids that we first off those boats
Payton Wilson on what he thought of Carter Finley: Drunk Crazy Crowded

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Pacfanweb
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11:15a, 6/7/20
I did notice yesterday that not much was said/written about D-Day.
Yeah, we have a lot going on right now, but still...

They didn't even show all the classic movies like The Longest Day like usually happens, and you can't blame that on the rioting since those channels aren't covering news anyway. It's like people have forgotten
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RunsWithWolves26
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12:47p, 6/7/20
I was fortunate in a previous line of work to be able to meet and talk with several WW2 vets. Some openly spoke and some didn't. The stories that they told me, the way they described things, will stick with me until my last day on earth. Two were in the first wave on the beach. One told me simply "I jumped out, I ran, I stumbled, I cried, I survived." The look in his eyes when he said it almost broke me right there. After I left, it did break me. Those men were MEN. Not wannabe men but real damn men.
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Civilized
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In reply to FlossyDFlynt • 1:54p, 6/7/20
FlossyDFlynt said:
Ive gone into a bit of a WWII rabbit hole the last few months. Two great things Ive watched/read:

The Greatest Events of WWII in Color on Netflix - fantastic watch on the entire war
The Death of Democracy by Benjamin Carter Hett - might be the most chilling book Ive ever read. There were a few quotes from Hitler that made me contemplate the true evil that possessed him

As far as D-Day is concerned, all I can say is that those men are braver and better than I could ever be

Just finished Greatest Events of WWII in Color on Netflix too. Very well done.

My grandpa was in the Navy in the Pacific but hearing his stories and seeing old black and white photos and movies made it seem so long ago and far away.

Seeing those events play out in color, and also having British and German war science professors prominently featured really brought the various strategy arcs to life.

An incredible and incredibly challenging time in our country's history.
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Wlfpackamk
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1:58p, 6/7/20
The press would tell you Millenials have the hardest life in history. I give you 18 year olds that got into a steel box and rolled up on a beach with a machine gun aimed at them. I'm 37. I couldn't imagine. Amazing people. Thank you for our freedom.
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Civilized
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In reply to Wlfpackamk • 2:47p, 6/7/20
Wlfpackamk said:
The press would tell you Millenials have the hardest life in history. I give you 18 year olds that got into a steel box and rolled up on a beach with a machine gun aimed at them. I'm 37. I couldn't imagine. Amazing people. Thank you for our freedom.

That's one thing that strikes you when you watch WWII documentaries.

So many of those kids and young men had lived through a lifetime's worth of stresses, failures, heartaches, and successes by the time they were in their mid-late 20's. So much for anyone to go through, much less young people.

One of my former attorney clients who was a Vietnam-era fighter pilot used to talk all the time about how soldiers had to be young because once you get past your mid-20's you stop thinking you're invincible and wouldn't take the necessary risks in the field in the theater of war. There's something to that.
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PackMom
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5:43p, 6/7/20
My grandfathers were in WWI. My father was in WWII and Korea. My career Army father-in-law, whom I never met, was also in WWII and Vietnam. I'm not sure about Korea. My husband was in the Army, though not in combat.

My father and grandfathers never once talked about it in my presence, although Daddy would occasionally say something in a different language to tease us. He'd learned a number of different languages while in service.

After my grandmother died, we found a letter from Daddy in which he assured them first that he was okay, and went on to tell how he had been on a training flight and something went wrong with the plane. The pilot told him to jump, which he did, and then the plane crashed and the pilot didn't make it. Daddy was 17 at the time. Even my mother had never heard that story.
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Civilized
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In reply to PackMom • 5:49p, 6/7/20
PackMom said:
My grandfathers were in WWI. My father was in WWII and Korea. My career Army father-in-law, whom I never met, was also in WWII and Vietnam. I'm not sure about Korea. My husband was in the Army, though not in combat.

My father and grandfathers never once talked about it in my presence, although Daddy would occasionally say something in a different language to tease us. He'd learned a number of different languages while in service.

After my grandmother died, we found a letter from Daddy in which he assured them first that he was okay, and went on to tell how he had been on a training flight and something went wrong with the plane. The pilot told him to jump, which he did, and then the plane crashed and the pilot didn't make it. Daddy was 17 at the time. Even my mother had never heard that story.

Incredible. Would love to have known how your Dad used the languages he learned while in the service. Do you know which languages?

Thanks for your family's service and thank you so much for sharing.
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Mormad
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7:12p, 6/7/20
PackMom is pretty amazing. Thanks for the story
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PackMom
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In reply to Civilized • 8:24p, 6/7/20
Don't really know how he used them. He was in MI. I know there were Japanese, Korean, French, Russian - including writing the Cyrillic characters. I can't remember what else but at one point we had counted seven. Some he was more fluent than others. When I broke my wrist, he wrote on my cast in Russian but never told me what it said. When he got older - and this feels so weird because I'm older now than he was when he died - he decided to learn Greek and Hebrew for Bible study.

He was an amazing man and taken from us far too young.
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Civilized
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In reply to Mormad • 11:57p, 6/7/20
Mormad said:
PackMom is pretty amazing. Thanks for the story

Truth.

Whenever I see her posts pop up I think to myself we need more PackMoms and fewer of us knuckleheads.
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Civilized
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In reply to PackMom • 12:01a, 6/8/20
PackMom said:
Don't really know how he used them. He was in MI. I know there were Japanese, Korean, French, Russian - including writing the Cyrillic characters. I can't remember what else but at one point we had counted seven. Some he was more fluent than others. When I broke my wrist, he wrote on my cast in Russian but never told me what it said. When he got older - and this feels so weird because I'm older now than he was when he died - he decided to learn Greek and Hebrew for Bible study.

He was an amazing man and taken from us far too young.

I haven't been able to become fluent in a single other language, much less six or seven. Incredible.

Thanks again for sharing such a great story about a wonderful Dad.
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Pacfanweb
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12:16a, 6/8/20
Didn't put it in my first post, but my Grandfather didn't talk much about the war, but occasionally when he did, we listened.
His description of Omaha Beach was "like a cockroach crawling through a popcorn popper"

Somehow he managed to go all the way to Germany, then Korea as well.
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NatePait94
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8:23a, 6/8/20
My great grandfather that I'm named after was a paratrooper for the 82nd in WW2. Fought in north Africa, invasion of Sicily, and dday. He passed from pneumonia in the 80s before I could ever ask any questions. Bummer! Would have loved to pick his brain.
We're all Red on the inside. Some of us are just Blue in the face, and they're sick.
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Civilized
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In reply to NatePait94 • 9:24a, 6/8/20
NatePait94 said:
My great grandfather that I'm named after was a paratrooper for the 82nd in WW2. Fought in north Africa, invasion of Sicily, and dday. He passed from pneumonia in the 80s before I could ever ask any questions. Bummer! Would have loved to pick his brain.

My wife's grandfather that I fortunately got to know before he passed around 15 years ago was a bomber pilot in Europe during the war.

He flew or crewed 72 missions but one of his favorite stories to tell was when his crew was operating around Sardinia (don't know if it was before or after Sardinia's liberation). Somehow they found a cask of beer and liberated the cask from its rightful owner.

Their problem was that it was summer and the cask was warm so they loaded it into the unheated belly of their plane, took off without permission, flew the plane on a quick but unauthorized "humanitarian" mission circling over Tunisia and Algeria to give the beer time to cool down, and came back and landed. Their malfeasance did not go undiscovered, however, and he said they were in boiling hot water with their CO when they landed.

After the war he got his PhD in Econ from Chicago and actually taught some at State briefly (and UNC, and a couple of other smaller private colleges) during his career as a professor of Econ.

So sad to lose these loved ones in our lives, and also all the stories that die with them.

What a generation.
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statefan91
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9:36a, 6/8/20
My grandfather was a navigator in WWII, mostly out of England. He went on to use the GI Bill and graduate from NC State. My son is named after him and we're all Wolfpackers because of him.
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Wolfer79
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7:01a, 6/6/21
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Wolfer79
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7:01a, 6/6/21
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Wolfer79
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7:02a, 6/6/21
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Wolfer79
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7:02a, 6/6/21
6 June 1944: At 7:35 am, #Canadian forces were scheduled to land at #Juno Beach in Normandy, #France during the Allied D-Day invasion of Western Europe. #WWII #WW2 #history #HistoryMatters #DDay #ad https://t.co/Im5ftkwwjA https://t.co/uImX1AE5h1
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ciscopack
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11:42a, 6/6/21
My uncle used to talk about the smell and some about George Patton.
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ciscopack
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11:48a, 6/6/21
A local friend and co-worker went through pure hell in WWII only to come home and work a long while in construction and past normal retirement time; he got run over by a pan on a job-site.
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Oldsouljer
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In reply to ciscopack • 9:16p, 6/6/21
ciscopack said:


A local friend and co-worker went through pure hell in WWII on to come home and work a long while in construction and past normal retirement time, he got run over by a pan on a job-site.
Sounds like a version of that story told by the actor playing Bruno Gaido in "Midway".

Always interesting and often tragic to see how the ones who came home alive but not necessarily whole, managed to resume their lives.
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octdregs
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5:33a, 6/7/21
God Bless these brave souls. Truly, God Bless them all for their service and sacrifice.
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Packchem91
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In reply to packgrad • 9:01a, 6/7/21
packgrad said:
When men were men. On my best day I'm not sure I could ever be as brave as they were.
100%. But then, that generation did not have the "life of luxury" we have today, and were/are shaped completely differently.
Two, and I know you know this, they grew up with a much bigger love for what the country stood for than the average American does today -- and that is inclusive of all of us, not just those we disagree with. And it sure helps to have that to volunteer to go jump out of a plane behind enemy lines or get into one of those boarding ships to crash the beaches of Normandy or the ones in the far Pacific.
I've seen the documentaries, and I still can't put myself in that place.
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TheStorm
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In reply to Packchem91 • 2:18p, 6/7/21
Packchem91 said:
packgrad said:
When men were men. On my best day I'm not sure I could ever be as brave as they were.
100%. But then, that generation did not have the "life of luxury" we have today, and were/are shaped completely differently.
Two, and I know you know this, they grew up with a much bigger love for what the country stood for than the average American does today -- and that is inclusive of all of us, not just those we disagree with. And it sure helps to have that to volunteer to go jump out of a plane behind enemy lines or get into one of those boarding ships to crash the beaches of Normandy or the ones in the far Pacific.
I've seen the documentaries, and I still can't put myself in that place.
Great post.
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griff17matt
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In reply to Packchem91 • 3:03p, 6/7/21
Packchem91 said:
packgrad said:
When men were men. On my best day I'm not sure I could ever be as brave as they were.
100%. But then, that generation did not have the "life of luxury" we have today, and were/are shaped completely differently.
Two, and I know you know this, they grew up with a much bigger love for what the country stood for than the average American does today -- and that is inclusive of all of us, not just those we disagree with. And it sure helps to have that to volunteer to go jump out of a plane behind enemy lines or get into one of those boarding ships to crash the beaches of Normandy or the ones in the far Pacific.
I've seen the documentaries, and I still can't put myself in that place.
Not to diminish anything you said here, but I think they were also privy to a bit of ignorance or naivete about what war ACTUALLY is. How unglamorous it actually is. How horrific it actually is. And we've all grown up seeing what they and those that came after them went through and the effect it had on them and their lives post-war. I think that has also shaped what we think we would actually do as well. I'd love to think I'd answer the call to serve, if necessary, but that doesn't mean I'd want my son or stepsons to have to face that.

I'm not sure we *can* have another greatest generation simply because they opened our eyes to the horrors they endured. And the greatest travesty that could befall them is for us to become apathetic to the sacrifices they made once the reality they had to face was realized. They ****ing did it anyway. Badasses, every single one of them.
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Civilized
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In reply to griff17matt • 3:35p, 6/7/21
griff17matt said:
Packchem91 said:
packgrad said:
When men were men. On my best day I'm not sure I could ever be as brave as they were.
100%. But then, that generation did not have the "life of luxury" we have today, and were/are shaped completely differently.
Two, and I know you know this, they grew up with a much bigger love for what the country stood for than the average American does today -- and that is inclusive of all of us, not just those we disagree with. And it sure helps to have that to volunteer to go jump out of a plane behind enemy lines or get into one of those boarding ships to crash the beaches of Normandy or the ones in the far Pacific.
I've seen the documentaries, and I still can't put myself in that place.
Not to diminish anything you said here, but I think they were also privy to a bit of ignorance or naivete about what war ACTUALLY is. How unglamorous it actually is. How horrific it actually is. And we've all grown up seeing what they and those that came after them went through and the effect it had on them and their lives post-war. I think that has also shaped what we think we would actually do as well. I'd love to think I'd answer the call to serve, if necessary, but that doesn't mean I'd want my son or stepsons to have to face that.

I'm not sure we *can* have another greatest generation simply because they opened our eyes to the horrors they endured. And the greatest travesty that could befall them is for us to become apathetic to the sacrifices they made once the reality they had to face was realized. They ****ing did it anyway. Badasses, every single one of them.

Great post griff, and from an under-analyzed angle.

Making vets' struggles before, during, and after war less reductive should make us all appreciate them that much more, not less.
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ciscopack
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3:44p, 6/7/21
Fight or eat lead.
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Wolfer79
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9:27a, 6/8/21
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