D-Day remembered

George_10

While driving to work this morning I was listening to a program about a celebration that is being set up in ST. Lowe(sp) for the 60th aniversary of D-Day. They are interviewing those folks that were living at that time and taping their stories. It was a fascinating program with many little vignettes that people remembered. I was seven at the time and I remember the radio commentary, but was not truely aware of the significance of what was taking place. This amazing time in human history is fast losing those folks that were there and the idea of these tapes is an outstanding idea. One of the comments was that the people relating their stories, talked about it like it was just yesterday. It is not hard to imagine why they talked about it like that. That day was the beginning of the end of one of the most vile governments that has ever existed.
I am with those people who advocate that all American highschool students should be required to watch Schindler's List and The Saving of Private Ryan. You can not prevent history from repeating if you do not study it and know the consequences. Lack of historical knowledge allows for stupid mistakes to be relived. Anyway, I hope others here on the Wall may have heard this program. It was well worth listening to.

Jimmy Gillies

D-Day

George.
I can only agree with all you say, people here in the UK would not be free today if it was not for these brave people.
My own father was in the Merchant Navy and did not fight directly in WW2. However he was hit by a 'U' boat and lived - many did not. We will always remember them.

We must all live to keep our World free and safe, standing in the path of anyone who does not respect that.
Kind regards.
Jimmy Gillies Scotland.

George_10

Jimmy

I have an unrelated question for you. Is my last name, Hunt, common in Scotland or Ireland. I have never been to Europe, only seven miles above it in a B-52, so I do not know the answer to my question. I really would like to visit while I can still hoist a few and enjoy the history and the beauty of your isle.

BillW@honeywell

The History Channel...

runs a program, usually on Saturday or Sunday AM, that features WW2 GI's reading their letters home from all the theatres of the war. Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Corps and Marines plus merchant sailors have all been featured, and their stories cover the spectrum from crushing boredom to abject terror, all in their own words, devoid of wartime censorship.

The Smithsonian sponsored a program that collected stories via video/audio tape from railroaders from the days of steam power and human muscle power for the trackwork, and I think it was National Geographic that collected tales from the last survivors of the merchant sailing fleet.

You're right, those that remember and participated in that great era are leaving us at an ever increasing rate, and we simply must get their stories preserved as an antidote for the "politically correct" drivel that our kids are taught in school these days.

Jimmy Gillies

Names.

George.
I had a quick look in a couple of phone books and there are a few listed under the name Hunt, but many more listed under Hunter. Your name may come from Hunter ?

My name 'Gillies' was the first name of a son of the a Cheif of the Clan 'McPherson' and some guys have 'Gillies' as their christain name - so who knows?
I will check and let you know. Please email me and I will give you a few tips about visiting the UK, you would love it.

jimmy@jmgillies.co.uk

Kind regards.
Jimmy Gillies.

Constantin

We are so lucky

The non-military folks in my generation in the US have not seen action in any large-scale or world-wide conflicts in their lifetime. I always count my lucky stars for the fact that I didn't have to be called to duty, get shot at, etc. Peace is a precious thing indeed.

Besides, the previous large conflicts were extremely efficient at decimating the family. Only 5 of our namesake remain... time to rebuild the genetic pool!

Greg Swob

Not D-Day, but

I did some work at a home today with a sign in front of the garage. "Parking reserved for B-17 pilots only - others will be bombed". I'd never met him before, shook his hand and told him my father was a machinist in Germany working on B-17's in '45-47, just at the end of WWII and for the next two years peacekeeping. He said 'those guys gave us flak over all the damage that happened on our missions, making tons of of extra work for them. If it wasn't for our mechanics we'd have been in a world of hurt'. A wind vane by their patio was a B-17 replica on a post about 4' wingspan. The props turned in the wind and it's nose pointed into the wind. We had a nice conversation about those days. One customer I didn't mind being over my shoulders all the time I was there. He wasn't watching my work so much as he was asking about my Dad's stories and telling some of his own. Dad's gone and just heard of a B-24 pilot from my hometown passing on recently. Those old heroes are disappearing fast. Greg

Ed_13

D Day

Hi,
I am staying anonymous with this post. Please, out of respect for a friend who posts here, leave it that way.

As a kid I grew up in a home with a dad who beat the crap out of my mom, and he was a dreadful drunk. He has since passed away. He left us when I was about 9, so I don’t remember him well. But I do remember when he drank; all he used to talk about was the war (WWII).

When I was a kid all of the older relatives used to say what a great guy he was “before the war”. He was kind and generous to a fault. Not a mean bone in his body.
But “after the war” ,,,, oh well, that is what made him the way he is now.

They somehow understood, but I didn’t . To me he was just the dad who was never there, that left us hungry, and beat my mom. A that time I hated him more that you can ever know.

When I was getting married, I was going through my stuff and moving out of home
(Was living with my mom). I found a foot locker in the attic. I had many letters in it, from my dad to my mom. He sent them from overseas during the war. I read them.
Through those letters I got to know him.

He hated doing what he was doing in the war. But it was his duty to his country. He was there for all of us, not to be a John Wayne type. Just because he loved his country. All he wanted to do is get his job done and come home to his family. That is all he talked about.

He did come home. I was born a few years after he came home. But a different man came home. That kind loving person that wrote all of those letters stayed in Europe. The man who came home was mean, scared and paranoid.

When I was looking through that foot locker I found something else. Along with a number of other medals, I found a Bronze Star that he was awarded. He was a platoon Sergeant. (as a very young man). He was in the first division. He landed on Omaha Beach, on June 6. And I can now only imagine the hell he lived through in that war.

I think that some of the people that died in that war, did not fall on the battle field. Their souls died there, but their bodies came home to us. As a child I could not understand that, but now I do.

Now I do not hate him at all. I understand him, & I love him & I miss Him. I think that if I was a grown man and could have somehow met him “before he died in the war” he could have been my very best friend.

Sorry for just going on, but D-Day hits a special note with me. Thanks to all

Ed_13

D Day

I am staying anonymous with this post. Out of respect for a friend who posts here, PLEASE leave it that way.

As a kid I grew up in a home with a dad who beat the crap out of my mom, and he was a dreadful drunk. He has since passed away. He left us when I was about 9, so I don’t remember him well. But I do remember when he drank; all he used to talk about was the war (WWII).

When I was a kid all of the older relatives used to say what a great guy he was “before the war”. He was kind and generous to a fault. Not a mean bone in his body.
But “after the war” ,,,, oh well, that is what made him the way he is now.

They somehow understood, but I didn’t . To me he was just the dad who was never there, that left us hungry, and beat my mom. A that time I hated him more that you can ever know.

When I was getting married, I was going through my stuff and moving out of home (Was living with my mom). I found a foot locker in the attic. I had many letters in it, from my dad to my mom. He sent them from overseas during the war. I read them.
Through those letters I got to know my dad.

He hated doing what he was doing in the war. But it was his duty to his country. He was not there to be a John Wayne type. He was there just because he loved his country. All he wanted to do is get his job done and come home to his family. That is all he talked about in those letters.

He did come home. I was born a few years after he came home. But a different young man returned from that war. That kind loving person that wrote all of those letters stayed in Europe. The man who came home was mean, scared and paranoid.

When I was looking through that foot locker I found something else. Along with a number of other medals, I found a Bronze Star that he was awarded. He was a platoon Sergeant. (as a very young man). He landed on Omaha Beach, on June 6. And I can now only imagine the hell he lived through in that war.

I think that some of the people that died in that war, did not fall on the battle field. Their souls died there, but their bodies came home to us. As a child I could not understand that, but now I do.

Now I do not hate him at all. I understand him, & I love him & I miss Him. I think that if through some miricle I was a grown man and could have somehow met him “before he died in the war", that young man who wrote those letters
could have been my very best friend.

Sorry for just going on, but D-Day hits a special note with me. GOD BLESS AMERICA. It is the way it is for us, because of those young men like my dad.
Thanks

Mad Dog

I think of D-Day all the time

A day that chngedthe course of history. Mad Dog

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Mad Dog

As the bumper sticker says.........................

"FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!" Maddog

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