This is Omaha Beach, the day after D-Day, June, 1944
- Thread starter Ben
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trapper9260
Active Member
Sad times then ,also speechless
Rick H
Well-Known Member
A guy I worked with never got along with nor understood his father. His father drank way too much, was sullen and abusive when drinking. He had lost half a leg sometime during the war......and Dick was glad when he passed. The night he went to see Saving Private Ryan the light bulb went on......too late for his relationship with his father. His Dad was one of the "lucky" ones ashore in the first wave on Omaha Beach one of less than a dozen of his company to survive the landing.
My next door neighbor couldn't stand his father either......similar problems. He was a Marine in the South Pacific....once dead he was interred with his brothers on Guadalcanal. It seems that generation didn't talk about their experiences much....to their detriment and to that of their families.
May they find peace, and I pray God takes care of their tortured souls.
My next door neighbor couldn't stand his father either......similar problems. He was a Marine in the South Pacific....once dead he was interred with his brothers on Guadalcanal. It seems that generation didn't talk about their experiences much....to their detriment and to that of their families.
May they find peace, and I pray God takes care of their tortured souls.
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Brother_Love
Well-Known Member
The photo makes very sad and very proud at the same time. God bless our military!
Also a good reason to stand for Old Glory!
Also a good reason to stand for Old Glory!
Hawk
Well-Known Member
I have hunted for over 35 years with three guys that were in Vietnam in the late 60s.
We were friends for 30 years before they could talk to me about their tours and experiences.
They're great guys, but they carry a heavy burden and have seen a lot of horror that most of us can't imagine.
I'm proud to call them my friends.
I try to be worthy of them.
We were friends for 30 years before they could talk to me about their tours and experiences.
They're great guys, but they carry a heavy burden and have seen a lot of horror that most of us can't imagine.
I'm proud to call them my friends.
I try to be worthy of them.
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RBHarter
West Central AR
I had an adopted Uncle that landed first wave at Iwo Jima . I saw him many times shirtless and in the early 70s Corps tropical shorts , I don't recall a single scar . 6'2" 220# of Marine . He spoke occasionally of his times and deeds and what he did to "reconcile" that . He had a heart as big as .......... I don't think there was a thing he wouldn't have done for my Dad or us . As kind and gentle a man as I've known . Unfortunately like so many of the really great people I've known in my life he was taken too soon . Cancer reduced him to 97# and took him in about 6 months in 78' .
My Dad intended to stay with him at the end but Bing had a way about him . "Rich ain't it hunting season ?" , "Well yeah but I wanted to be here ." Bing didn't call my Dad Rich he used that other nickname "Rich there's nothing you can do here for me . Go on home and take that boy huntin' . "
That was that , Dad came home and we went hunting . The call came Sunday night . It took Dad several seasons to get over it but we hunted a bunch .
The VN vets I've spent time with come in 2 flavors . Open books and angry isolated men .
My youngest boy came back from Persia in 2010 one of those angry men , he come a long , long way toward the open book .
My Dad intended to stay with him at the end but Bing had a way about him . "Rich ain't it hunting season ?" , "Well yeah but I wanted to be here ." Bing didn't call my Dad Rich he used that other nickname "Rich there's nothing you can do here for me . Go on home and take that boy huntin' . "
That was that , Dad came home and we went hunting . The call came Sunday night . It took Dad several seasons to get over it but we hunted a bunch .
The VN vets I've spent time with come in 2 flavors . Open books and angry isolated men .
My youngest boy came back from Persia in 2010 one of those angry men , he come a long , long way toward the open book .
CWLONGSHOT
Well-Known Member
My father-in law was in the South Pacific. Then Korea. He was a Proud man. He created six fine women. Last three where Jayne, Joanne and Jill. Yes he was set on a John JR. A-typical, He talked Little about the goings on and what he saw. One time we talked for hours about a few things he wanted to share. He Proudly displayed his Ship hats and pictures of the boats he was on. I miss that man!
Another very good friend is a VN vet. He will talk about goings on at times. Usually not. When thru all the ups and downs and drugs and booze. Now just smokes too much but is a much happier person. I have called my friend for just over twenty years now. He lost a arm and good portion of his guts over there. Came home to a country that hated him.
A second very good friend was there two. Only about 8mo before sent home a broken person. He is great and has been for the nearly 35 years I have known him. He talks of his exploits when there. But he was also just a boy at the time.
Both these guys hit booby traps and lost body prts.
Much respect I shut up and listen when such folks choose to grace me with there experiences.
CW
Another very good friend is a VN vet. He will talk about goings on at times. Usually not. When thru all the ups and downs and drugs and booze. Now just smokes too much but is a much happier person. I have called my friend for just over twenty years now. He lost a arm and good portion of his guts over there. Came home to a country that hated him.
A second very good friend was there two. Only about 8mo before sent home a broken person. He is great and has been for the nearly 35 years I have known him. He talks of his exploits when there. But he was also just a boy at the time.
Both these guys hit booby traps and lost body prts.
Much respect I shut up and listen when such folks choose to grace me with there experiences.
CW
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In WW II, we had very few choices.
Thank God that there were young men and women willing to pay the price, for many the ultimate price.
If the prices had not of been paid, I'd have started Elementary School with a swastika arm band and been eating my lunch with chop sticks.
Ben
Thank God that there were young men and women willing to pay the price, for many the ultimate price.
If the prices had not of been paid, I'd have started Elementary School with a swastika arm band and been eating my lunch with chop sticks.
Ben
dannyd
Well-Known Member
A very small percentage saw combat. About 9,000,000 million in US Army WW2 only about 1.2 million saw combat. To make things even worse a lot of the guys in combat didn't like going to the VA because they didn't want to relive it, so many went without proper treatment. My mom's boyfriend before the war was with the 29th Division 116 RTC they were part of the Virginia National Guard. They landed on that beach along with the 1st Division 16 RTC.
trapper9260
Active Member
I had a Uncle that was KIA in WW2 in the South Pacific ,I still have the flag that drape his coffin, also I was train and taught by the ones that was in VN and they told me some things also . I do have a friend that was a medic in VN also. We been for some years now. The closest for me is on my first ship off the coast of Iran,