June 06, 2010
— Russ from Winterset Every once and awhile, I write something good. In the spirit of "don't reinvent the wheel", I'm linking to last year's D-Day commemoration post. Hopefully, Dave will come along later & put up a companion post to this one. That goober always finds the best pictures to use, and I don't even want to try to compete.
(What am I going to do today? I don't know, Moses and I are probably going to put on our bicycle helmets and run into the wall over & over again and giggle like morons. It's funny how just having a kid along with you can turn "dumbass drinking games" into "spending quality time with your son".)
Posted by: Russ from Winterset at
04:58 AM
| Comments (67)
Post contains 124 words, total size 1 kb.
The only part he would talk about was the the sailor who was piloting the Higgins Boat.
The man had a harelip and lisped terribly. Mortar shells were landing very close by and when water and shrapnel would land against and in the boat the sailor would yell " Thhhey're tharting to pith me hoff!" "They better not pith me hoff!"
Some of the soldiers started laughing and my dad looked back and the sailor had tears streaming down his face.
When the machine gun fire started coming in, nobody was laughing anymore. .
Posted by: Beto at June 06, 2010 05:21 AM (H+LJc)
Russ,
Last year's post was awesome. I saved it..and I forwarded it on to a whole bunch of people who responded enthusiastically.
Seriously...great stuff
Posted by: beedubya at June 06, 2010 05:22 AM (AnTyA)
The round table on This Week is coming up..
..Liz Cheney and George Will vs. Zsa Zsa and Kos
Talk about an unfair fight
Posted by: beedubya at June 06, 2010 05:24 AM (AnTyA)
Posted by: eman at June 06, 2010 05:26 AM (QVpWo)
While I think Churchill was right and the proper path of invasion was through the "soft underbelly" of Europe, no criticism of the overall strategy can do anything to diminish the greatness of what was accomplished that day. A more epic battle is difficult to imagine. It took huge steel stones to hit that beach, fight your way up it, and hammer on through the defensive line. It was a glorious struggle that deserves to be remembered for at least the next 1000 years.
Posted by: Reactionary at June 06, 2010 05:29 AM (4nbyM)
Posted by: Lincolntf at June 06, 2010 05:35 AM (7EDH5)
I think that your father's lack of chatter about that day is the norm. I can only imagine what that experience must have been like. It seems to be a dignified way of dealing with it.
And that's what makes me deeply suspicious of politicians who can't wait to blather on about their experience in combat or the military.
If you dad is still around, please thank him.
Posted by: NJConservative at June 06, 2010 05:36 AM (LH6ir)
Posted by: Grognerd at June 06, 2010 05:50 AM (tJxhQ)
Posted by: lions at June 06, 2010 06:05 AM (7n5jP)
Posted by: Grognerd at June 06, 2010 09:50 AM (tJxhQ)
They are putting in a statue of Joseph Stalin at that Bedford, VA memorial. (no I am not kidding)
These people have lost their minds!
Posted by: johnc_recent_EX-democrat at June 06, 2010 06:08 AM (ACkhT)
Posted by: Andy at June 06, 2010 06:13 AM (NjN7i)
Posted by: UGAdawg at June 06, 2010 06:20 AM (/VjHB)
Posted by: torabora at June 06, 2010 06:34 AM (UKIQq)
Posted by: torabora at June 06, 2010 06:37 AM (UKIQq)
Posted by: johnc_recent_EX-democrat at June 06, 2010 06:37 AM (ACkhT)
Posted by: torabora at June 06, 2010 06:38 AM (UKIQq)
Does anyone have the number for that memorial? I am calling them this week and asking why they did this and why they aren't embarassed.
Posted by: johnc_recent_EX-democrat at June 06, 2010 06:41 AM (ACkhT)
The men who hit those beaches that day are brave beyond anything most of us can imagine. Europe owes a debt ogf gratitude to those men, and to this country for providing them, that it can never repay.
We're losing those surviving brave men every year; soon, first-person accounts will no longer be available.
God bless all those remaining.
Posted by: blindside at June 06, 2010 06:47 AM (vT9Nl)
Someone needs to tell Ace that Kaus is using Ace's trademarked "Morons" tag. From the NY Times this morning:
Mr. Kaus at a party, or at the monthly mixers he hosts at Yamashiro restaurant and a supper club jokingly called Morons
Lawyer up Ace!
Posted by: Kemp at June 06, 2010 06:50 AM (2+9Yx)
Posted by: torabora at June 06, 2010 06:51 AM (UKIQq)
So is Tom Hanks OK with D-Day since we were only fighting white people?
Posted by: Crusty at June 06, 2010 07:01 AM (qzgbP)
Posted by: Pelayo at June 06, 2010 07:07 AM (QLmzi)
Absolutely. It is an amazing place. Every American should try to visit the cemetery and beaches.
Posted by: NJConservative at June 06, 2010 07:13 AM (LH6ir)
At that time, the radio networks had a policy against recorded sound bites. You either heard it live or you didn't hear it. Well, a reporter dragged a 75 pound portable sound recorder onto a ship of the invasion fleet, and recorded a German fighter being shot down. The network couldn't resist running it. That was the grandfather of all the sound bites since.
Also, the networks had a policy against star anchormen, and made sure none got big enough to demand big money. But the guy who anchored the NBC coverage of D-Day became a star, and like the sound bite, once there was one, there was a flood. Katie Couric is his direct descendant.
Posted by: Bob Hawkins at June 06, 2010 07:27 AM (CdyZ5)
Posted by: Walsingham at June 06, 2010 07:27 AM (gFYz6)
Great minds - I was just going to comment about that.
Posted by: alexthechick at June 06, 2010 07:33 AM (r07cb)
Posted by: Barack, Professor of History at June 06, 2010 07:40 AM (FcR7P)
I normally don't use Google anyway, but I made sure to thank Bing for having that tribute in the background, they did the same for veterans and memorial day last year.
If you feel inclined, drop Bing a line at the link above.
Posted by: johnc_recent_EX-democrat at June 06, 2010 07:41 AM (ACkhT)
Posted by: andycanuck at June 06, 2010 11:11 AM (7b1Uc)
Dirty rotten spammers! Vichy whores!
Posted by: torabora at June 06, 2010 07:41 AM (UKIQq)
That's already been duly noted over at the H2 as well, ATC. It's almost like commenting on the sun coming up in the east at this point.
I distinctly remember June 6, 2009 being the day I switched to Bing from Google. Last year's Bing image was of the current Normandy coastline with all the little interactive doohickeys. Last year's Google image was ... well ... the same as this year's.
Posted by: Andy at June 06, 2010 07:45 AM (NjN7i)
God bless them, and God bless everyone who's serving today.
D-Day Pointe du Hoc site gets facelift to save it
Posted by: Kratos (missing from the side of Mt Olympus) at June 06, 2010 07:50 AM (9hSKh)
Posted by: Andy at June 06, 2010 11:45 AM (NjN7i)
I loved Bing's tribute last year as well, it was eerie looking down at that coastline from above and imagining the horrors that took place there so many years ago. Another commenter here pointed it out and I have used Bing from then on. As far as Google is concerned, any criticism at this point is pretty redundant, they hate America and have for years.
Posted by: Blazer at June 06, 2010 07:52 AM (t72+4)
Posted by: curious at June 06, 2010 07:57 AM (p302b)
It is quite moving, especially the bells, they play each services song over and over.
The only downside? The 20 something Frog driver couldn't have been less respectful. I told the boys, but for those men laying out there, the bastard would be speaking German.
No tip for him.
Posted by: Kemp at June 06, 2010 08:02 AM (2+9Yx)
curious -- have 2 collegues who interviewed with google a few years back, and then both of them interviewed with MS as well.
They said google in the HQ had all sorts of flags displayed prominently, the US flag might have been one of them, but it gave the apperance of the UN type feel.
At MS, the US flag was not everywhere, but it was the only flag being displayed around the building.
Posted by: johnc_recent_EX-democrat at June 06, 2010 08:04 AM (ACkhT)
Posted by: curious at June 06, 2010 08:10 AM (p302b)
Posted by: t-bird at June 06, 2010 08:15 AM (FcR7P)
"Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: ``I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.''
Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their value [valor], and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.
Thank you very much, and God bless you all.
Ronald Reagan - June 6, 1984"
Posted by: curious at June 06, 2010 08:16 AM (p302b)
Posted by: Just a thought, or two at June 06, 2010 08:21 AM (sYrWB)
On this day I would like to commemorate the men that built this wonderful golf course I am standing on.
Now watch this putt.
Posted by: Barack Obama at June 06, 2010 08:25 AM (t72+4)
Posted by: Just a thought, or two at June 06, 2010 08:25 AM (sYrWB)
Posted by: curious at June 06, 2010 08:31 AM (p302b)
Posted by: NJConservative at June 06, 2010 09:09 AM (LH6ir)
Posted by: NJConservative at June 06, 2010 09:11 AM (LH6ir)
Bust of Stalin, sums up that whole thugocracy - a bust. I have no problems with the Stalin bust as long as this quote of Sir Winston Churchill's is included:
“If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.”Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2010 09:44 AM (rNa4g)
Posted by: Pat Buchanan at June 06, 2010 10:28 AM (PKSHu)
Posted by: Zimriel at June 06, 2010 10:48 AM (v7xM8)
Posted by: andycanuck at June 06, 2010 10:49 AM (7b1Uc)
Maybe the Higgins boat drifted off course? Maybe the pilot saw what had happened to the earlier waves and just ran the boat down-shore?
Gerald was wounded during the early stages of the Bulge - his knee shredded by German artillery fire - he was shipped home to recover but the knee was too torn up and he was discharged.
That was all he ever told us - I asked my dad why he never spoke to Gerald about the war - and my dad felt that it just wasn't his place to be nosing around.
My uncle died four years ago - when my cousins were packing up his personal effects they found 2 bronze stars and a purple heart in one of his dresser drawers - none of us know what he did to be awarded the stars.
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