June 6th remembrance

PappyJoe

Let's all take the time to smoke a pipe and lift a glass in remembrance of June 6, 1944, the beginning of the end of the European Theater of World War II. A lot of good men died storming the beaches of Normandy 78 years ago.

opipeman

@PappyJoe;
Bless their memory and their sacrifice. My Fire Chief was at Omaha Beach and was awarded the Silver Star. He never would talk about the war.

PappyJoe

@opipeman
Men have been in war have no need to talk about war. 

opipeman

@PappyJoe;
I have found that to be true. Out of respect, I have never pushed the issue.

thebadgerpiper

My grandfather didn't land in Normandy. He fought in the Philippines in the Pacific. He never talked about his experiences with me, and I don't believe he spoke about it much to my mother or her brothers. When he had a stroke in the 90's, when he came to, he could only talk in Pilipino. That was the extent of his experience that I saw for many years. It wasn't until a few years ago, over a decade after he passed, that I learned one of his acts was written in a book. During an engagement with enemy forces, the squad he was in were pinned down, and their mortar launcher or bazooka wasn't firing (I forget which one, it's been a bit since I read the section). My grandfather was always a tinkerer, and he managed to get the weapon working again using the batteries of a flashlight. He ended up getting a patent for it. Based on this information, I can only imagine the kind of things he had seen in combat. 

I miss that man every day.

opipeman

thebadgerpiper;
God bless his memory and I thank him for his service.