D-day remembrance: June 6, 1944...

[Tidewater]

Re: D-day rememberance: June 6, 1944

Casualties (Killed, wounded, missing, captured) for the:
Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces in the combined bomber offensive: 73,000
First and Third US Armies Ardennes Campaign (16 Dec 44 - 31 Jan 45): 81,000

There is a large US military cemetery in southeast England for the veterans of the Eighth & Fifteenth Army Air Forces.
The largest US military cemetery overseas is in Luxemburg. Patton is buried there with his soldiers.

 

[Crimson1967]

Re: D-day rememberance: June 6, 1944

I've always theorized the more someone talked about being in the war, the less they actually did. Seeing all that killing is not something I'd want to remember or talk about.

 

[exiledNms]

Re: D-day rememberance: June 6, 1944

Not taking away anything from what happened on D-Day but the Marines hopping around the Pacific that did not get KIA or wounded had to do alot of burial and body removals/ID. Iwo I heard was the worst. Seeing some of that would challenge me to be a normal human again and be able to adjust back to society.

Agreed, TTF. I don't think this takes anything away from the DDay stuff at all! A friend here's uncle was on Iwo. His last radio transmission was something like "incoming!" There were no remains to speak of. The "Pacific" documentary brings that home, as does Sledge's book.

Semi-related note: While driving, I heard an interview w/ a survivor of the Indianapolis disaster. When I heard this 80-something year old, very successful guy w/ kids & grandkids & the works break down when speaking of the sharks coming in, my own windshield went all blurry.

When I was in my late teens & early 20s, I was worried about the next beach trip or concert + getting a date. I cannot even imagine what those guys in both theaters experienced.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Re: D-day rememberance: June 6, 1944

Casualties (Killed, wounded, missing, captured) for the:
Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces in the combined bomber offensive: 73,000
First and Third US Armies Ardennes Campaign (16 Dec 44 - 31 Jan 45): 81,000

There is a large US military cemetery in southeast England for the veterans of the Eighth & Fifteenth Army Air Forces.
The largest US military cemetery overseas is in Luxemburg. Patton is buried there with his soldiers.

My brother's squadron had 300% casualties. IOW, they turned over three times. The interior crew on his plane survived, but, if IIRC, they lost a couple of tail gunners, who were very exposed. Harvey made the full 35 missions. The average life expectancy of a B-17 crew was 12-14 missions...

 

[TexasBama]

Casualties (Killed, wounded, missing, captured) for the:
Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces in the combined bomber offensive: 73,000
First and Third US Armies Ardennes Campaign (16 Dec 44 - 31 Jan 45): 81,000

There is a large US military cemetery in southeast England for the veterans of the Eighth & Fifteenth Army Air Forces.
The largest US military cemetery overseas is in Luxemburg. Patton is buried there with his soldiers.

I recall reading that the Luxembourg royal family would have buried Patton at the National Cathedral, but Mrs Patton said no, he'd want to be with his troops.
My ex-father in-law was a glider pilot for the Airborne.
My dad only had one eye, so he spent most of WWII at Harligen doing gunnery training. He had worked for a lend-lease manufacturer prior to the war. He had gotten his law degree at Cumberland and was in the JAG for several years after the war. I met an old timer a few years ago at a conference that was retired **. He remembered my dad from back in the 50s when he was in Alaska and my dad was there for some court martials. Really small world.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I recall reading that the Luxembourg royal family would have buried Patton at the National Cathedral, but Mrs Patton said no, he'd want to be with his troops.
My ex-father in-law was a glider pilot for the Airborne.
My dad only had one eye, so he spent most of WWII at Harligen doing gunnery training. He had worked for a lend-lease manufacturer prior to the war. He had gotten his law degree at Cumberland and was in the JAG for several years after the war. I met an old timer a few years ago at a conference that was retired **. He remembered my dad from back in the 50s when he was in Alaska and my dad was there for some court martials. Really small world.

My brother went through OCS at Harligen. In fact, I was there on graduation day. They all got to take the white rims out of their garrison caps and throw them in the air. Quite a sight. The hat would then settle down into the "crushed look."

 

[TexasBama]

My brother went through OCS at Harligen. In fact, I was there on graduation day. They all got to take the white rims out of their garrison caps and throw them in the air. Quite a sight. The hat would then settle down into the "crushed look."

What years was your brother there? My dad was there 42-45. I been there on business a few times. The runways are now the airport, and the barracks are part of a military academy.
One of my uncles took his flight training during WWII at San Marcos. Made colonel and was in the Alabama Air Guard. Could have made Brig there; the condition was supporting Wallace, which he declined.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Re: D-day rememberance: June 6, 1944

my best friend's dad was a grunt in the pacific theater. he died a couple of years back. my friend (one of three boys) said he never talked a bit about it.

i saw a documentary that had a guy from alabama talking about fighting on the ground in the pacific theater. it was hard to watch/listen to. i can only imagine the horror.

my maternal grandfather was a medic in europe, but he died in the 50s when my mom was 11. My paternal grandfather was too old to fight in ww2 but had several (4 or 5) brothers that ended up fighting (i think they were all in europe). never heard much about it, but my dad told me at least two of them drank themselves to death after the war.

One of my older brother's BIL was captured at Corregidor and spent the war as a POW of the Japanese. I won't go into his experiences. I was young when he shared them and I didn't really understand until later, after I'd read other accounts and found out that Japan had rejected the Geneva POW conventions...

 

[Tidewater]

My brother went through OCS at Harligen. In fact, I was there on graduation day. They all got to take the white rims out of their garrison caps and throw them in the air. Quite a sight. The hat would then settle down into the "crushed look."

I did not know that. Interesting.
I had an uncle who had very bad eyesight so he memorized the eye chart so he could serve in the AAF. He flew in B-24s out of North Africa and Italy. He flew with George McGovern.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

What years was your brother there? My dad was there 42-45. I been there on business a few times. The runways are now the airport, and the barracks are part of a military academy.
One of my uncles took his flight training during WWII at San Marcos. Made colonel and was in the Alabama Air Guard. Could have made Brig there; the condition was supporting Wallace, which he declined.

I believe it was '43. He's deceased, as is my other older brother, so I can't ask him. It all has to come from memory. He washed out as a pilot because his depth perception wasn't good enough, which was the same reason I dropped out of advanced AFROTC. In fact, the PAS at UA at the time decided to courts martial me. I beat it, but I had to threaten to sue him to make him remove a derogatory remark on my UA record, which he did. I found out later that he had singled me out to be the next cadet wing commander. No anger like a lover scorned, etc. I knew they would discover the depth perception problem in summer camp, and then I'd be out of pilot training...

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I did not know that. Interesting.
I had an uncle who had very bad eyesight so he memorized the eye chart so he could serve in the AAF. He flew in B-24s out of North Africa and Italy. He flew with George McGovern.

That's interesting. I can see how that would work. As you can see from my other post, I lacked the requisite depth perception, and there's no way around that. I knew that the corpsman who'd examined me for admission into advanced AFROTC had cheated for me, and I knew that he wasn't going to be around when I needed him again. To explain the courts martial, my military advisor was like a duck out of water. He'd spent his whole career in MATS, flying transports. Then, they plucked him out of that and put him at UA, teaching. When I explained my problem to him and that I didn't want to spend three years as an administrative officer, he basically told me just to drop my military classes and turn in my uniform, which I did. The PAS didn't see it that way and pointed out that I had to be discharged, just as if I were on active duty or in the reserves. I was young and naive and should have known better than to take the advice of a career transport pilot. I could have avoided the whole problem by going straight to the PAS and taken it up with him. By way of explanation about not wanting to be an admin officer, in the Air Force at that time, if you hoped to advance your career, you had to punch the "flying" ticket, just as in the Army, you had to punch the Vietnam ticket, etc. Since I was thinking about an ** career, and I'd had two brothers who flew, the depth perception/admin officer problem looked like a complete dead end...

 

[WylieTexasTider]

Re: D-day rememberance: June 6, 1944

Got to go to France when I was in Highschool. Paris was pretty cool b/c you could 'legally' drink beer but, Normandy (Omaha Beach) and Mont Sainte Michel are the places I'd like to go back to again...

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Re: D-day rememberance: June 6, 1944

Got to go to France when I was in Highschool. Paris was pretty cool b/c you could 'legally' drink beer but, Normandy (Omaha Beach) and Mont Sainte Michel are the places I'd like to go back to again...

Like Dayhiker posted earlier, Crimsonaudio was there for the wreath-laying a few days ago...

 

[Tidewater]

Re: D-day rememberance: June 6, 1944

Got to go to France when I was in Highschool. Paris was pretty cool b/c you could 'legally' drink beer but, Normandy (Omaha Beach) and Mont Sainte Michel are the places I'd like to go back to again...

First time I went to Omaha Beach, it was dawn and low tide. Wide flat open beach those guys had to cross, probably 200 yards, and flat, wide open, no cover or concealment other than the anti-landing craft obstacles. The German positions on the bluff were well-positioned, with interlocking fields of fire and protected from view from ships directly off-shore. I admired D-Day vets a lot before I went there. After I saw the terrain, I admired them a lot more.
Virginia Tech alumnus Jimmy Monteith earned a Congressional Medal of Honor at the Colleville Draw on Omaha on D-Day.

 

[BamaPokerplayer]

Re: D-day rememberance: June 6, 1944

Can't imagine how terrifying it must have been to step on that beach.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Re: D-day rememberance: June 6, 1944

Can't imagine how terrifying it must have been to step on that beach.

What's sad is how many really never made the beach but were killed in the landing craft or in the water. A lot of the LCVP pilots lost their nerve and dropped the troops in water which was chest-deep or, in some cases, water over their heads. Of course, those guys were even more sitting ducks than the ones who actually made the beach. The invasion succeeded because we had learned by cracking the Enigma code that Hitler believed that the invasion would come through the Low Countries. We reinforced that belief with thousands of inflatable tanks, etc., and many hours of fake radio communications. The same guys who perpetrated this "false war" continued with the troops into Europe and were helpful at many junctions in misleading the Germans...

 

[formersoldier71]

Re: D-day rememberance: June 6, 1944

The invasion succeeded because we had learned by cracking the Enigma code that Hitler believed that the invasion would come through the Low Countries.

Pas-de-Calais, I believe.

 

[Crimson1967]

I recall reading that the Luxembourg royal family would have buried Patton at the National Cathedral, but Mrs Patton said no, he'd want to be with his troops.

A story I heard said that since he died overseas, he had to be buried overseas due to army regulations in WWII. They were going to make an exception for him, but his family (or perhaps him pre-mortem) refused. I think his tombstone itself is fairly simple and gives no indication as to him having held high rank.

 

[PattheCatinSaudi]

My Uncle, Glen Robert Johnson, jointed the Army in 1940 to escape the Oklahoma dustbowl. He was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii when the Japanese attacked. He applied to OCS, was commissioned in the Combat Engineers and was in the Normandy Invasion (2nd day I believe). He found across France, was in the Battle of the Bulge. He satyed in for 33 years, rising from buck private to full Colonel. He fought in Korea and Viet Nam. My 1st cousin once removed was with the Rangers and landed 1st day. He was killed sometime after that and buried in the cemetary at Normandy. His family had to petition the government to allow them to disintere him and bring his body back to Semmes, Al. Took several years to get that permission.

 

[Tidewater]

I think his tombstone itself is fairly simple and gives no indication as to him having held high rank.