75 Years Ago Today

[AgSurfer]

As we honor the men who really put everything on the line to give our generations a free world to live in, let's not forget that our own Bill Koll was one of them.

 

[matter7172]

When I was a kid, "The Longest Day" played every year on the anniversary of D-Day at one of our three local movie theaters. We would walk downtown each year to see it. Don't know why the practice stopped, but it was a loss to the community, imo.

Here's to those who fought and lived and to those who fought and died.

 

[RoarLions1]

Thanks AgSurfer. Worth breaking protocol a bit to remember the sacrifices of so many. Never forget.

 

[lockhavenlion3]

When I was a kid, "The Longest Day" played every year on the anniversary of D-Day at one of our three local movie theaters. We would walk downtown each year to see it. Don't know why the practice stopped, but it was a loss to the community, imo.

Here's to those who fought and lived and to those who fought and died.

i've got a band of brothers marathon queued up on hbo2. never gets old. they had a two hour show on before that followed the path easy company took during the war with interviews from many of the living members(2001). it showed a clip where babe hefferan & bill guarnere were standing in a forrest overlooking the town of foy outside of bastogne. my brother, nephew and i did our own bob tour two years ago. we stood in almost the exact spot they were at. the foxholes are still there to this day. pretty sobering at the time.

 

[matter7172]

i've got a band of brothers marathon queued up on hbo2. never gets old. they had a two hour show on before that followed the path easy company took during the war with interviews from many of the living members(2001). it showed a clip where babe hefferan & bill guarnere were standing in a forrest overlooking the town of foy outside of bastogne. my brother, nephew and i did our own bob tour two years ago. we stood in almost the exact spot they were at. the foxholes are still there to this day. pretty sobering at the time.

My brother cared for Dick Winters when Dick was hospitalized late in his life. He has some great stories from the things Dick told him.

 

[dbldoofus]

When I was a kid, "The Longest Day" played every year on the anniversary of D-Day at one of our three local movie theaters. We would walk downtown each year to see it. Don't know why the practice stopped, but it was a loss to the community, imo.

Here's to those who fought and lived and to those who fought and died.

I know why it stopped, or I think I can guess....
"...walk downtown.. three local movie theaters..."
There are few local theaters and no one walks to them.

 

[El-Jefe]

This is one of the best books on any topic I've ever read.

Greatest Generation indeed -- not just for what they accomplished, but also for what they had to overcome.

 

[Dungeon Yankee]

Mattter7172 said
"Here's to those who fought and lived and to those who fought and died".[/QUOTE]
My uncle Chester was a bomber pilot during WW2. On one of his last missions over Germany, his plane was shot down. He was the last person to parachute out of the bomber. There are conflicting stories about what happened next: one story is that his parachute didn't open and he fell to the ground; the other story is that he made it to the ground safely, but that he was killed by the people on the ground. Either way, he was hero who fought and died for our country, and in fact, he was a highly decorated individual. The VFW in his home town was named after him.
Thanks for your service, uncle Chester. I will never forget you.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

I posted a bunch of pics from D-Day in THIS THREAD (on another board on BWI).

 

[86PSUPaul]

I had a great uncle that fought in Patton's Army and at the end of the war, when getting ready to come home, he was killed in a truck accident in Germany. Can you imagine surviving the war and then being killed that way.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

I had a great uncle that fought in Patton's Army and at the end of the war, when getting ready to come home, he was killed in a truck accident in Germany. Can you imagine surviving the war and then being killed that way.

Kind of like Patton, in terms of a crazy car/truck accident at the end of the war, though unlike your uncle (I presume) generals at Patton's level rarely were exposed to live fire.

I should add that Patton didn't die during the traffic accident. However, his neck was broken and he was paralyzed from the neck down. That took place on Dec. 9., 1945. He passed away in the hospital on Dec. 21, 1945. The official cause of death was pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure.

 

[matter7172]

I know why it stopped, or I think I can guess....
"...walk downtown.. three local movie theaters..."
There are few local theaters and no one walks to them.

Man, a lot of truth in that. I appreciate how lucky I was to grow up when and where I did. Small town (city of 30,000) with lots of employment in industry of all kinds. We had a television station (CBS affiliate), a daily (except Sunday) newspaper and three beautiful theaters downtown. Downtown also had large underground public bathrooms. We walked everywhere as kids - downtown was only a mile away, after all. Lots of things found under "things you'll never see today".

 

[86PSUPaul]

Kind of like Patton, in terms of a crazy car/truck accident at the end of the war, though unlike your uncle (I presume) generals at Patton's level rarely were exposed to live fire.

I should add that Patton didn't die during the traffic accident. However, his neck was broken and he was paralyzed from the neck down. That took place on Dec. 9., 1945. He passed away in the hospital on Dec. 21, 1945. The official cause of death was pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure.

I am reading “Killing Patton” right now. Very interesting book.

 

[AgSurfer]

This is one of the best books on any topic I've ever read.

Greatest Generation indeed -- not just for what they accomplished, but also for what they had to overcome.

I read it. Great book. I think there are two other volumes to go with it.

If you are really interested in WWII history, here are some other gems.

1. Read "Shattered Sword" by Parshall and Tully. It's about the Battle of Midway and has to be the best book on the subject ever written. Probably also one of the best military history books ever written, period.

2. Word on the street is that Peter Jackson is going to produce a 10 part mini-series for HBO called "The Dambusters". It's one of the most incredible WWII stories ever. (And there are a LOT of them). I'm really hoping to see him do it.

3. Dick Winters (Band of Brothers) actually had some wrestling in his history. I don't think he competed in college, (he went to F&M) but I know he wrestled in HS.

Never forget!

 

[Dogwelder]

I am reading “Killing Patton” right now. Very interesting book.

Conspiracy Theory!

Whether ancient astronauts or the Illuminati ordered the hit, Patton was a great American.

I find comfort in the silver lining that some people said, that the post-war world did not and would not suit Patton, so on the plus side he avoided the coming unpleasantness and controversies, while MacArthur did not.

 

[AgSurfer]

Patton the wrestling coach:

I don’t want to get any messages saying, "I am holding my position." We are not holding a Goddamned thing. Let the other side do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the opponent's balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the opponent.

 

[a_mshaffer]

I am reading “Killing Patton” right now. Very interesting book.

read it. Yes interesting.

 

[86PSUPaul]

Conspiracy Theory!

Whether ancient astronauts or the Illuminati ordered the hit, Patton was a great American.

I find comfort in the silver lining that some people said, that the post-war world did not and would not suit Patton, so on the plus side he avoided the coming unpleasantness and controversies, while MacArthur did not.

The vast majority of what I have read so far is about his achievements in WW2, not about his death.

I do agree he would have had issues outside of war, and if somehow he time travelled to today’s world, wow!

 

[Dogwelder]

Patton the wrestling coach:

I don’t want to get any messages saying, "I am holding my position." We are not holding a Goddamned thing. Let the other side do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the opponent's balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the opponent.

This above quote shows exactly why Patton (and MacArthur) would not and did not fit the nuclear age.

Because: Soviets, you can’t live with them and you can’t shoot them.

Only some younger American minds were nimble enough to try restraint and MAD, which somehow have worked so far.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

I read it. Great book. I think there are two other volumes to go with it.

Yes, Atkinson's book is part of his trilogy of books on the European theatre of WWII.

He just came out (I think it was May 14th) with his latest book, which is the first of a trilogy he's writing about the Revolutionary War. It got excellent reviews, and I recently went to hear Atkinson speak about his new book. It's certainly something I'll be reading in the coming months.

 

[1AA]

Love hearing about the history of our country. My wife's grandfather fought for Patton in Africa and came up through Italy with him. He was wounded and heavily decorated and loved Patton until he passed. My Uncle got two and a half fingers shot off fighting the Japanese and loved to tell how they gave him the perfectly shaped right handed ring finger to fit his shooting hand. My father fought in Korea and had many funny stories but would never tell about the bad things he saw. Grew up hoping to be half the man that they were. Trying to raise my kids to remember and keep there work going.