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Most of the men who who were there are gone, the few that are left are in their 90s.
Never forget.
Remember them.
Honor their memories.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
The musings & rants of 3 retired military (2 USAF, 1 USN), 1 former WSO, and 1 AF brat. Old AF Sarge, Juvat, Tuna, LUSH, and Beans.
One wonders how many of the folks in those pictures were alive on VE Day, less than a year later. There's only one I am sure of, Ike. Makes one think. Visiting Normandy was a highlight of our trip to Paris a few years ago. Standing atop Pont du Hoc was, shall we say, very Dusty.
ReplyDeleteThere's that too. How many made it to June 7th?
DeleteI saw this and thought I'd made Aviation History. Then not so fast.
ReplyDeleteHahaha!
DeleteHappy Birthday!
I can not even imagine what they went through!
ReplyDeleteTrue.
DeleteLately I have been reading a lot of books about WWII, currently one about B-24 crews in Italy. They have always been heroes to me.
ReplyDeletePaul L. Quandt
Indeed.
DeleteA former neighbor, Charlie G., survived D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and the capture of Berlin. He passed away about 10 years ago, living to a ripe old age. I was honored to know him, and listen to his stories.
ReplyDeleteSo he was there from beginning to end. Wow.
DeleteI highly recommend everyone go to the D-Day museum in New Orleans.
ReplyDeleteBesides Normandy, they also deal with all the other D-Days, like Tarawa, Bloody Tarawa.
We are fortunate that strong men and women gave their all for all of us.
I'll second that.
DeleteThe D-Day Museum was the brainchild of historian Stephen Ambrose who taught at the Univ. of New Orleans on the lakefront (Lake Pontchartrain) where the landing craft Higgins Boats used in the invasion were built and tested. (Higgins was an oil field explorer who had built shallow water boats for use in Louisiana swamp waters and upon which which the landing craft were based. The museum sits facing "Higgins drive") It has since been expanded as noted above an now is officially named the Nat. WW II Museum and is assoc w. the Smithsonian. Check out Wiki or a full description of its contents!
DeleteI was fortunate to take an American History class under Ambrose in 1965 when he taught at LSU before he moved to UNO (FWIW he was born and raised in Decatur, Ill, just fifty miles north of my own birthplace of Charleston.)
You had a history class from Stephen Ambrose?
DeleteThat's pretty awesome. I need to get back down there.
If you ever need a reason to keep putting one foot in front of the other, those images should point the way.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/pw6AX_cCe3U
Ah, Gus and Woodrow. Great mini-series.
DeleteI believe there is a phrase from an old Roman writer, " qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum", meaning that he who desires peace makes ready for war. The much-repeated "si vis pacem, para bellum" is what's called "dog Latin". No, it wasn't the inspiration for the naming of a 9mm pistol cartridge. I beg pardon for letting my inner nit-picking pedant off the leash, but I hope you, of all people, will forgive a "digression". More on topic, when I was reading about the Midway battle being seventy-five years ago, it hit me that when I was eleven and WW2 vets were the fathers of some of my friends and classmates, it was seventy-five years after Geronimo surrendered. To the US ___ing cavalry! Things are speeding up, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteVegetius said it originally. Si vis pacem, para bellum, is another form of what Vegetius said, it isn't "dog Latin". I use that form as it's the motto of the Royal Navy. It was also the motto of the Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken. Technically speaking the 9mm round is the 9×19mm Parabellum. If you have sources which show otherwise, well, I can learn.
DeleteI remember working with WWII vets back in the 70s, the stories they had!
I yield to Vegetius and the RN. As to the Luger cartridge, my understanding (from some time ago) was that when the German military wanted a bigger bullet than the original 7.65mm, the manufacturers simply calculated that they could straighten out the bottlenecked cartridge case and fit a 9mm bullet into it. Since it was for a military customer, they simply called it the 9mm "for war" and looked no further for inspiration. Thanks for the reply!
DeleteHhmm, I like that last bit. For war.
DeleteYou are always welcome to let your "inner nit-picking pedant off the leash" around here. I learn lots of new stuff from the readers. And yes, as you have gathered, I love a good digression!
Thanks for reading!