The Longest Day

[birddogdoc]

Amen 

[greencop01]

My dad landed Omaha Beach June 7th 1944, ended up in Belgium. Never talked about it. Came home got married and raised a family, six boys and two girls, I miss him, passed away on his birthday 1994.

[WiLL B]

My Grandpa went up that beach. I could't imagine the horror. I watched Saving Private Ryan, gave me chills.

[tha bugman]

The D- Day veteran I knew landed at Utah beach.  He said that when they dropped the door on the landing craft it sounded like a hornets nest.  His brother was over there as well.  He went to visit him before D-Day only to find out that he had been killed in a training exercise the day before.  Amazing stories he told and I soaked them all in.  Some of his quotes were:  "If anyone tells you they weren't scared then they weren't there."  When asked about women over there "I was just a typical American soldier son, typical American soldier."  "You didn't make close friends there, your talking to some guy one day, the next day your eating c-rats next to his body."  "You get so scared that you forget being afraid and hope the next bullet is yours so you can have relief."  "We lived as much as we could for the day, because we didn't know what tomorrow would bring."  "You didn't think about the other fella (enemy) if you did you were dead, he was just doing what he was told just like we were, it was kill or be killed and that was it."

This was a WWII vet that I saw not too long ago.  His hat stuck out in the crowd as they get fewer and fewer each day.  It is a photo I cherish because it links my son to living history and The Greatest Generation!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/149814645@N03/35027252571/in/dateposted-public/

[wisconsinteacher]

My 92 year old grandpa landed on Utah Beach June 8th.  He walked across France, Belgium and then crossed the Rhine River in Germany.  He was in 4 or 5 of the major battles listed at the WWII monument in Washington D.C.  In the end, he was there 9 months and earned a Purple Heart and two Oak Leaf Clusters.  He is my hero and a great man.  He had a tough childhood but made the best of life after meeting my grandmother.  Even today, he doesn't talk about the war other than, you never made friends because it meant one of you were going to die.  He still mows his own lawn and cleans his house.  The GREATEST GENERATION makes my generation and future generations look like fools. 

Make sure you thank these men and women every chance you get!!!