just got back from 4 days in normandy…
went to bayeaux and omaha cemetaries, saw a march past of all the vets at bayeaux…
stood on omaha beach, went to st mere eglise…
had an LCI driver give me first hand account of his landings…
and walked with a 6th airborne vet as he revisited pegasus bidge for the first time in 60 years…
my respect and admiration for these guys was, i thought, always of the highest: after the most moving 4 days of my life i’m completely lost for words, except perhaps, THANK YOU.
regards,
nick
ps i haven’t had a chance to look yet, so if there’s a thread with everyone’s thoughts already, then i apologise; i just had to get this down as soon as i got back.
i’d be interested to hear of other people’s experiences…
I hear you Nick. We (in Europe) have these guys to thank for our freedom. This year I watched the whole thing on TV, but I was there 20 years ago when they had the 40th anniversary. I was only 14 at the time and it was the first time I had ever been to a WW-2 battleground. I went there for the history part mostly, but also to see the tanks and the guns etc. Actually standing in the bunkers and on the beaches and still seeing the scarred landscape, I began to get an idea of what it must have been like. I went really quiet real quick. The experience has fundamentally changed (de-romanticised I’d say) my view of war. I would have very much liked to be able to thank one of those vets myself. I’m glad you did. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
It’s 25 years ago now when i visited normandy with my parent , and that was the first time i realized that those men fought and died for my freedom too…
If it never happened we all spoke german by now…
i posted in the armor forum where i initially saw this but you are a very lucky person to be able to walk those hallowed grounds. i have no words to express the emotions that would run through me on a trip to pearl harbor (which is my ultimate trip). my friend you are very lucky. i wish …
I have been to Pearl Harbor and to the Alamo. I know and understand the feelings and the overwhelming emotions that can and do run through a person. In both places I had ancestors that fought and died there. I profess myself to be big, brave and macho, but you know what? I broke down and cried at both places thinking about the acts of heroism (a lot of them undocumented and forever lost) and sacrifice. I am getting misty eyed typing this right now and its been 28 years since I’ve been to Pearl Harbor.
I’ve been to Pearl Harbor to and I was overcome with mixed emotions; anger for the reasons it happened and sadness for what it represented. To stand on that memorial and see the ship beneath the water is a unique experience.
That’s true, Mike.
Hell, I had a hard time watching the first two minutes of Saving Private Ryan, when James Ryan, as an old man, was walking through the French cemetary to visit Capt. John Miller’s grave.
To imagine that sort of pilgrimage is beyond my comprehension. Geater love hath no man…
WOW!! i would love to do that my friend!!! i was just telling my wife the other day that if the Lord tarry, i’ll stand on those sands one day during low tide. it never ceases to amaze me of the shear bravery that many of these men had. and, there had to be a “first” soldier to hit the beach. i wonder who it was and if he survived to tell it. later.
I’m choked up by just reading your post Nick. I would love to go and stand on the beach some day… sadly those vets you got to see and talk to may not be around for too many more years.
I wish I could have gone to normandy… Yes, THANK YOU veterans! My grandpa was in the quartermaster corps in World War II. He was at the Battle of the Bulge. He was also at Aachen too. He’s getting old now and a little ill, and I’ve tryed to get his story out so it isn’t lost forever, but he never wants to talk about it. I don’t pick on the subject at all anymore, it only took one time for me to ask and then I realized he just got sadened and depressed, so I let it be… It all started when I showed him my first tiger 1 tank model. He said they were a pain to knock out. I said “grandpa, this was a WW2 tank, how do you know this?” My dad was sitting with us while this was going on. My dad knew he was in WW2, but this was the farthest my grandpa ever talked about WW2, so my dad and I were hearing new things as he spoke. He said “Ryan, have you ever heard of some battle that took place in europe a long time ago called the Battle of the Bulge?” I knew it on a dime, of course being a WW2 buff. “I was at Aachen (I was shocked!) and I was in the Quartermaster corps at the battle of the buldge.” Wow, thats all I could say. My dad and I were hearing this for the first time, and it seamed I was the only one shocked and amazed by this. I asked him “did you see any action?” He just said “nice model” (I knew he heard me, he just blocked it out) and put down the tank and changed the subject. I don’t want to get it out of him, but it important…
But anyway THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE VETERANS!
HI all A few years ago my unit was in germany and a few of us went to Luxenboug and visited the american cemetary and I got to see General Patton’s grave it was a sight I will never forget. Looking at the rows of graves of troops men that gave it all so that we could have the freedom we have today. We also went to the German cemetary this to was a sight that will never be forgotten. The other day I met a older vet in his 80’s and thanked him for what he and is buddies done. It ment a lot to him for some one from my time to thank him. This is some thing we all need to do before it is to late.
I also would love to be able to stand on those beaches…to in some way just by being there, be in contact with those thousands of brave young soldiers. I lived for a couple of years next door to a vet who drove landing craft at Omaha. We were talking one day and I asked him if he had seen Saving Private Ryan. He said no, he was there.