June 6th, 1944 - 70 years ago today

[Winged_Wheel88]

I know it's a day early, but -

I just wanted to say Thank You.

 

[raptorlife4]

tomorrow will be an emotional day for me. My Grandfather stormed Juno beach that day and fought hard to give us the freedom we take for granted everyday.


Much respect to the Soldiers from Canada,the US and the UK that day

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/...oit-d-day-wwii-veterans-surprised-anthem.html

 

[beantownmaniac]

tomorrow will be an emotional day for me. My Grandfather stormed Juno beach that day and fought hard to give us the freedom we take for granted everyday.


Much respect to the Soldiers from Canada,the US and the UK that day

1st, my thanks to your grandfather for his service. My dad fought on the other side of the world, island hopping at places like Bougainville and Guadalcanal. My friends grandfather was in a unit in Europe and went farther east than any other American unit While liberating multiple concentration camps. When I went grocery shopping on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend I had the pleasure of shaking the hand of a WWII vet and thanking him for his service to our country. I thank all veterans and those currently serving every time I meet one/some. Sadly, my dad is probably rolling in his grave the way our country is today. This isn't the America he fought for.

 

[raptorlife4]

1st, my thanks to your grandfather for his service. My dad fought on the other side of the world, island hopping at places like Bougainville and Guadalcanal. My friends grandfather was in a unit in Europe and went farther east than any other American unit While liberating multiple concentration camps. When I went grocery shopping on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend I had the pleasure of shaking the hand of a WWII vet and thanking him for his service to our country. I thank all veterans and those currently serving every time I meet one/some. Sadly, my dad is probably rolling in his grave the way our country is today. This isn't the America he fought for.

I agree they all are spinning.

I always thak every vet I see. They are usually proud to be recognized.

 

[IPostedWhat]

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

 

[dash]

Edit: This was a speech that TSN play-by-play guy Chris Cuthbert co-authored with former Prime Minister Paul Martin which Martin delivered in 2004.

Keep pressing ahead, they were told. Against the snipers, against the mortars, against the mighty guns encased in the German pillboxes on that morning, it was a soldier's only chance at accomplishing his mission. It was his best chance at surviving. Keep pressing ahead.

In choppy seas, the doors of the landing crafts opened, as they opened all along the northern shore of France, as they had opened two years earlier at Dieppe. So many Canadians died there for the cause of liberty. Out on the channel on D-Day, some spoke of revenge for that grim day. Others remained silent as the coast grew larger, the battle grew nearer. Sixty years ago today, the doors opened, and they pressed ahead.

They had been training for this. They had been waiting. Thousands of Canadian soldiers pressed ahead here against an entrenched enemy.

Men fell around them. A friend, a brother, someone with whom they had just shared a joke, or a mug of rum, or a tin of soup. Men fell, and still they took the beach. Men fell, and still they took the fortifications. They moved inland. They fought in the streets. They liberated towns.

As darkness came, they were still pressing ahead.

The waters of the English Channel and the winds of the Normandy coast have erased the footprints these men left in Juno Beach. But not even the great tides of time can wash away the deep impressions they have made in our national memory, and in the chronicle of the free world.

When these soldiers, these men of nerve, are gone, their children will still come here, and their grandchildren. Prime ministers will come. Artists and historians will come. Those whose grandfathers, great-grandfathers and great-great-grandfathers landed on June 6th, 1944. Those who know the terrible cost of war only from books. They will come. Canadians will come.

We will come to this lonely patch of beauty to look upon the beaches, to reflect, to marvel, to feel the tears rise and the heart pound, to say a silent thank you. Forever more we will come to this place of sad and triumphant history to see where tyranny was repelled and where freedom was reborn.

Like the men who stormed this beach, we keep pressing ahead. As men and women. As a nation. As a global community.

Because of your valour, because of the sacrifice of those who died here, we have that opportunity, and we will seize it. We will always seek to press ahead.

But we will pause, too. We will pause and think of you. We will think of those whose last breath was of this air. We will think of you, and we will be grateful.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Google has a pretty cool setup for today. And no, it's not a doodle. Which is a good thing.

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/entity//m/01lhv6?hl=en

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

The History Channel stopped their obsession with aliens briefly to present a decent show called "D-Day in HD". Lots of never-before-seen footage.

 

[mattola]

An elderly veteran went missing from his nursing home yesterday. He turned up in France at the 70th anniversary of D-Day celebration. | D-Day | Happy Place

 

[mrwallace2ku]

Here's to the "GREATEST GENERATION" that ever lived...L'chaim...Salude and Cheers! I miss all those who fought and died on those shores and inlands on our way to victory.

I never fought in my life, but I would enlisted in this one for sure.

 

[mattola]

70 years later, D-Day vet Jim 'Pee Wee' Martin jumps again - CNN.com

 

[puckhead]

I was at a fancy party last night, and the host in his speech gave some respect out to the soldiers on the anniversary.
Solemn moment for sure, and I realised that I had just been chatting with and was still standing next to the Consul-General from Germany.

It took all the willpower I had not to start the Fawlty Towers "Don't mention the war" bit.