80 years ago

[thekimmer]

To all those who took part in this Great Crusade in 1944, I humbly thank you and honor you for your sacrifice. Same to all of The Greatest Generation who gave so much to keep our nation free. I am intensely proud that I can name my own father in this number, who as a teenager having never been more than 200 miles away from the place where he was born, trekked to the other side of the globe to fight for his country in the PTO. It blows my mind to even think about it.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Lets not forget their entire army took meth before and during campaigns.

Coincidentally I just learned about this dude and his wild trip through the wilderness a few days ago. He took an entire unit's worth of meth and an adventure ensues.

 

[theoriginalSALTYdog]

We are about three hours away from the first invasion/landing of d-day, 80 years ago.
What would those young men think if they saw what’s become of our country.

American exceptionalism at its finest and truly the greatest generation. My Grandfather didn't fight at Normandy but he was at the Battle of the Bulge and was shot and wounded. Their values, hard work, and sacrifices turned the United States into the greatest country in the history of the world. Not sure how much longer we can sustain it. Watching the ceremony on TV this a.m. gave me chills. I told my wife that Normandy is on my bucket list.

BTW, for you historians out there, the largest munition plant in the world was located at Prairie, MS (just outside of Aberdeen). The "Gulf Ordnance Plant" sat on 6,700+ acres and employed over 10,000 people. My great aunt worked there during the war. If you're ever around that area, go check it out. Some of the barracks are still there.

 

[thatsbaseball]

My father crossed the channel a a week or so after D-day. He was the motor pool sergeant for a bomber squadron (B-25's and later B-26's) . They literally started establishing air bases in France on June 7 and continually built them as we advanced. He ended up in Belgium before it was over. 4 quick memories of his. 1) from the time he landed in France until he came home he slept with his 45 (and continued after he got home 2) getting bombed is scary - getting strafed is terrifying. 3) Part of the Third army used the road his base was on at the time headed to Bastogne....after they passed there was no road left 4) Bob Hope flew into one field he was stationed for a show for the troops. My father drove him in a jeep from the field to to the show....Hope cracked jokes the whole way. He was a Bob Hope fan the rest of his life.

 

[TaleofTwoDogs]

As bad as it may be in som many people's eyes... WW2 vets should be proud of the current military. Many of which are their direct descendants of which inherited a sense of duty.

We often have these images of a bunch of proud Americans volunteering to go stop the evil Nazis... Reality is nobody wanted to get involved and thought WW2 was a European problem.

WW2 veterans: 2/3rds were drafted.
Vietnam veterans 1/3 were drafted.
Desert Storm/Iraq/Afghanistan vets: 0 were drafted.

Not exactly apples to apples. US involvement in WW2 lasted nearly 4 years with hundreds of thousands of casualties. Vietnam lasted almost 10 years with thousands KIA. Operation Desert Storm lasted two months with less than 300 killed. Not much time or need to draft anybody for Desert Storm. Sound bites are great if they are actually relevant. Sure, the populace was neutral at the beginning of WW2, would you not be? Pearl Harbor changed that thinking pretty quick.

 

[HomeBoyDawg]

We are about three hours away from the first invasion/landing of d-day, 80 years ago.
What would those young men think if they saw what’s become of our country.

They'd probably wonder what in the he!! causes a bunch of grown men to argue and belittle each other over something as relatively insignificant as sports teams.

 

[POTUS]

I mean are we really allowed to celebrate these men? We need to know their opinions on all sorts of social issues before they can be celebrated. What if their takes haven’t “aged well” or they have problematic ideas. Their sacrifice must be filtered through our current morality in order to determine its worth.

 

[pseudonym]

Also, TIL Emmanuel Macron met his future wife when he was 15. She was 40 and married and a teacher at his high school.

 

[theoriginalSALTYdog]

Also, TIL Emmanuel Macron met his future wife when he was 15. She was 40 and married and a teacher at his high school.

And immediately afterwards Jill took him off the stage and left Macron to mingle and shake hands with the vets. . . . . .Looks like Diaper Daddy had shat himself again. . . . . . .

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

Not exactly apples to apples. US involvement in WW2 lasted nearly 4 years with hundreds of thousands of casualties. Vietnam lasted almost 10 years with thousands KIA. Operation Desert Storm lasted two months with less than 300 killed. Not much time or need to draft anybody for Desert Storm. Sound bites are great if they are actually relevant. Sure, the populace was neutral at the beginning of WW2, would you not be? Pearl Harbor changed that thinking pretty quick.

No, I would not be neutral. Germany and its allies had 20 years previously started and subsequently lost a world war that cost 100K plus American lives. By the mid 30's Hitler was building a gigantic war machine in complete violation of the Treaty of Versailles and promised vengeance against the Allies (including the US) that forced Germany to sign the treaty in defeat. I'm a firm believer in if you have a dog that bites somebody, you put him down. Don't wait for him to bite you too.


Now to the other thing... There are nearly 3 million veterans of Iraq/Afghanistan. It's by far the longest, most drawn out debacle in US military history. More than half of those veterans did multiple deployments into combat zones. We spent more than 15 years in those clusterfux. Granted it was not anywhere near as dangerous as Vietnam/WW2 due to superior weaponry/tactics/armor and less effective insurgent forces.

That said, every generation's war has it easier than the previous. Vietnam sucked compared to Iraq/Afghanistan. Korea was worse than Vietnam. WW2 worse than Korea. WW1 was an absolute horror show, even compared to WW2... The Civil War was unbelievable horrific compared to WW1... You can chase this all the way back to people beating each other to death with rocks and sticks.

The apples to apples is this... WW2 vets created multiple generations of military volunteers, even though most of those who served did no volunteer . The vast-vast majority of today's military serves because its a family legacy to do so... Not because they want to chop their wiener off and wear purple lipstick. They should be proud.

 

[CoastTrash]

A thread making the sacrifice of the greatest generation about our own victimhood. Sad!