Boy! D-Day Anniversary And......

[BigFish]

barely a footnote! Nothing on the news, nothing on the radio.....newspaper had mentioned it on page 10! How quickly we forget....what a shame!

[Skip N]

Most people have no clue what today is

[BigFish]

I don't know why, but a couple dates stick in my head.....June 6th 1944 and December 7th 1941! Days that should not be forgotten!

[Raven]

it would appear that with the current losses of soldiers in Iraq and afghanistan being the highest ever...14 guys last weekend alone, focus has shifted off of the past to the present with tensions rising over Iran, Russia, North korea....Nigeria and on and on it goes ...that combined
with the political debates.... the D- Day rememberance wasn't top billing.

we just have deployed lazer capable drones over all major airports to shoot down shoulder fired missles and thwart other terrorist attempts of sabotage. It's a sign of the times we live in I guess.

[animal]

I think I'll pop in Saving Private Ryan,have a few frosties,and be thankful for the bravery of our dads and granddads.

[Squid kids Dad]

Thanks for the reminder...

[likwid]

Was on NPR this morning.
Was on msnbc.com this morning
Was on cnn.com this morning

[Squid kids Dad]

I guess we arent home watching tv all the time...

[Striperknight]

My brother in laws father was on the American flagship during the D-Day
landing. He has told me several times what that day was like. That was some crazy insane stuff. Shame that this country has a 15min memory.

[Mike P]

IMO it's mainly because we only tend to make a big deal when certain anniversaries arise--like the 50th, 60th and so on. 63 isn't that type of number, unfortunately. In 12 years, I guarantee you that the 75th anniversary of it will get huge attention.

June 4th is a much more significant date in WW 2 history anyway. How many people can tell me what the significance of that date is without Googling it? Here's a hint--it's the day that the tide of the war in the Pacific turned due to the bravery of a handful of outnumbered and undergunned aviators, flying obsolete aircraft against the cream of the Japanese military, against overwhelming odds. It's right up there with Trafalgar in the annals of Naval history. No one ever marks that date, or remembers the brave men who died on that date. I'll bet you right now that June 4, 2017 passes with hardly a mention

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by BigFish

barely a footnote! Nothing on the news, nothing on the radio.....newspaper had mentioned it on page 10! How quickly we forget....what a shame!

I was think that myself. And it was very underreported today...

I had the honor of visiting Normandy twice while in High School (AJTROTC) and it will always remain in my mind the sacrifices these guys made

Originally Posted by Mike P

June 4th is a much more significant date in WW 2 history anyway. How many people can tell me what the significance of that date is without Googling it? Here's a hint--it's the day that the tide of the war in the Pacific turned due to the bravery of a handful of outnumbered and undergunned aviators, flying obsolete aircraft against the cream of the Japanese military, against overwhelming odds. It's right up there with Trafalgar in the annals of Naval history. No one ever marks that date, or remembers the brave men who died on that date. I'll bet you right now that June 4, 2017 passes with hardly a mention

The Battle of Midway

[BigFish]

Clue us in Mike....I love history!

[Skip N]

Originally Posted by Mike P

IMO it's mainly because we only tend to make a big deal when certain anniversaries arise--like the 50th, 60th and so on. 63 isn't that type of number, unfortunately. In 12 years, I guarantee you that the 75th anniversary of it will get huge attention.

June 4th is a much more significant date in WW 2 history anyway. How many people can tell me what the significance of that date is without Googling it? Here's a hint--it's the day that the tide of the war in the Pacific turned due to the bravery of a handful of outnumbered and undergunned aviators, flying obsolete aircraft against the cream of the Japanese military, against overwhelming odds. It's right up there with Trafalgar in the annals of Naval history. No one ever marks that date, or remembers the brave men who died on that date. I'll bet you right now that June 4, 2017 passes with hardly a mention

Interesting, but i was thinking of another important event that happened on June 4th of 1944, Allied troops entered, and thus liberated Rome from German occupation. After a long and bloody struggle trying to break out of Anzio and Cassino. The Italian Campaign was one of the bloodiest of the war, yet most people know nothing about. But i wont forget, my grandfather was there.

[BigFish]

John......that must have been a stirring and memorable visit!

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by BigFish

Clue us in Mike....I love history!

John (as I knew he would) mentioned it already.

On June 4th, 1942, virtually the entire Imperial Japanese Navy was closing in on Midway atoll, with the dual purpose of capturing the atoll and luring what was left of the US Pacific Fleet out to be annihilated. By virute of ingenious code breaking, the US was aware of the plan, and sent out a shoestring force to try to hit the Japanese from their flank. The task force of 3 carriers and a handful of cruisers and destroyers was under the command of a lowly rear admiral, Raymond Spruance, who turned out to be one of the most outstanding naval commanders in history, for any navy. The Japanese force was under the overall command of their top dog, Admiral Yamomoto.

The fist of the Japanese navy was the carrier striking force under Admiral Nagumo, who commanded the carriers during the Pearl Harbor raid, and who subsequently wreaked havoc with US and British naval forces in the Indian Ocean. It cosisted of 4 of the 6 carriers that struck Pearl and was supported by many battleships and fast, heavy cruisers. The Japaese possessed the best fighter plane of the early war, the Zeke or "Zero", and their pilots were well trained and had ample combat experience. Against these aces, the US had obsolete TBD Devastator torpedo bombers, obsolescent F4F Wildcat fighters, and a decent dive bomber, the SBD Dauntless. Nagumo launced his planes on a strike against Midway, where they were met by land based Marine fighter planes that were slaughtered. Spruance tried to time his attack for the time that the Midway strike force was being re-armed and re-fueled on the decks of the carriers. Half of the planes he lauched got lost and never reached the Japanese carriers. The other half pressed an attack against overwhelming odds. The obsolete torpedo planes came in low and slow, and were dead meat. Their losses were appalling. In one squadron, Torpedo 8 from the carrier Hornet, every torpedo plane was shot down, and only one pilot from the entire squadron survived, being picked up a day after the battle on his life raft. Yet, every plane in those 3 torp squadrons pressed the attack against murderous oppositon. But, while they were being cut to ribbons, they succeeded in luring the Zeros down to their level, and kept the attention of the Japanese gunners on the ships on them. As a result, 3 squadrons of dive bombers were able to get in their licks and sank 3 of the 4 Japanese carriers. The 4th carrier was sunk a few hours later by a hodgepodge collection of dive bombers from the US carriers. The Battle of Midway was won by fewer than 200 aviators who suffered horrendous casualties, but never wavered in pressing the attack. It stopped the Japanese advance, put them on the defensive, and virtually every historian believes that it was the turning point in the Pacific, much as Stalingrad was the turning point in Europe.

D-Day came when the outcome was really no longer in doubt. The German war machine had been ground to dust on the Eastern front by the Soviets. The Red Army was virtually in Poland when the Allies landed in Normndy. In fact, they launched a major offensive in the east simultaneously with the D-Day landings and were in Warsaw by late summer.

[afterhours]

my wife's grandpa was on omaha...and came home. that WAS the greatest generation imho. my dad and uncles were in the pacific theater..

[HighTide]

Yamamoto predicted that the tide would turn against the Japanese in six months. He was right, almost to the day.

[pmueller]

My wifes father was a Dday survivor. I'm not exactly sure which beach he landed .
He joined the army, with forged documents underage the day after Pearl Harbor.

[Joe]

Scratch one flat-top.

[sok]

Originally Posted by afterhours

my wife's grandpa was on omaha...and came home. that WAS the greatest generation imho. my dad and uncles were in the pacific theater..

My grandfather was on Guadalcanal as a Seabee.

Makes me feel guilty that I blew off SSgt. Jerry Jones USMC for two years. Never joined. (How can you forget that name?)

The Greatest Generation. Ever.
Period.

When my grandfather went overseas he was 170 pounds. Came back less than 100.
(This is one of the great stories my grandmother has. She's still around; 94; die-hard Sox fan)
They had two choices before he went.
Football game;Holy Cross V. BC or a club.
They went to the game. The club was the Coconut Grove.
?
1942-1943?

[sok]

Long story short......
Beginning of the end for Germany.

It was a better time.
How many 16yo kids would lie about their age NOW Just to join?