6-6-1944

Even though it happened over 70yrs ago…..I still think it’s important to remember what this date means….

I was thinking about it days ago. I remember.

A lot of Boys became Men that day.

A lot of boys became dead that day.

I met a British army D-Day Veteran, the grandfather of a friend of mine. He was in his 90s and, as with many vets, he rarely spoke of his experiences during the war.

Well, John and I took the old gent to the pub one day, and I said to him, “John mentioned that you were in D-Day.”

The old gent proceeded to tell the most extraordinary story. He was a paratrooper and on D-Day, he and his unit were to jump in the pre-dawn darkness about 10 miles behind the German lines and then they were to combine with the British army beach landing troops to sandwich a certain German fortification and prevent the Germans from retreating inland and regrouping to counter-attack.

The meeting point was to be a church in a French village, so chosen because the steeple would be visible to the paratroopers as they landed.

Things did not go as planned. He jumped into the pitch black night and his chute deployed and all seemed to be fine as he floated down. The only problem was he could see nothing below him, he said it was like jumping into an inkwell at night. He leaned forward to try to see the ground an just as he did, he hit something hard.

He was stunned by the impact and probably knocked out and he briefly thought he’d hit a tree. But he couldn’t move.

As he recovered his senses, he realized he had landed on an iron fence that surrounded a cemetery. The iron corner post had a decorative cross on it and that cross was impaled through his left shoulder. He was literally dangling on a spear, his feet still 3 feet off the ground. Then he heard footsteps…

Well, he thought that was basically it and then a whisper came, “Seymour, is that you? Good God, man, don’t land there. You’ll hurt yourself.”

It was 2 members of his unit. Through unbelievable effort and extreme pain, they managed to get him off the fence, but of course, now he was seriously wounded and losing blood. They patched him up the best they could and found a spot in a hedgerow by a road and said we’ll come back for you when we can, try not to die.

Well, that whole thing would be harrowing enough, but as it happened, the hedgerow they hid him in was within about 6 feet of what turned out to be the German’s designated escape route in case of invasion. About an two hours after the most horrific shelling and bombing commenced and an hour after dawn, suddenly the road was alive with German tanks, trucks, and even men running on foot, all retreating down the road and passing within inches of this poor man, hidden in a hedge. He thought surely the tanks would run over the hedge in thier haste and he’d be crushed.

And then it was quiet and again, after surviving all that, he’d figured he’d had it. He was getting weak from blood loss and had no idea what was going on and even worse, he didn’t know if his squad mates had lived to tell anyone where he was.

Just before dusk, a vehicle approached and he thought, again, that was it for him. Two men got out and approached and started calling his name. His buddies had survived, borrowed a Jeep and came back for him, fully expecting him to be dead.

I’m sure there are thousands of stories like this, but it was my great privilidge to hear it from the source. They were extrodinary people, every one of them. God bless all those vets for what they did for us, that day and every other day.

Grouse

WOW. That’s an amazing story.. And like you said Grouse,,can you imagine the thousands of stories that follow similar lines. Unreal.

Thank You for sharing that Grouse! What an incredible story!

Both of my grandfathers brothers fought in the war – one stationed in Africa and the other would storm the beaches at Normandy. Amazingly both survived the war but they never talked about it. My cousin Ralph Krafnick of St Cloud was one of the last surviving enlisted men of Pearl Harbor. He told me a story once of being on a ship and watching another ship that was critically wounded succumb to the sea. As the ship slowly sank he caught the eye of another soldier, the soldier knowing he was about to die, looked at him and saluted. Ralphie soluted back as he watched the man and his ship go down. Brings tears to my eyes just thinking of that.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

A lot of Boys became Men that day.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

A lot of boys became dead that day.

Quite the different opinions.

FOX news vs CNN?

Thanks Grouse. Can you imagine how long that day/night seemed to him. He probably didn’t know if he should pray to stay alive or pray to die before the Germans found him.

Glad to see that quite a few people remembered yesterday. Words can’t describe what those men went through, and we owe them everything for it. They did it so we can live free and enjoy our lives, so to not keep our country great and appreciate each day is to waste their sacrifice.

From an Iraq War vet who did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING compared to the older generations (Vietnam, Korea, WWII, etc) THANK YOU FOR GRANTING ME THE LIFE AND FREEDOMS I ENJOY TODAY IN 2017!

From an Iraq War vet who did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING compared to the older generations (Vietnam, Korea, WWII, etc) THANK YOU FOR GRANTING ME THE LIFE AND FREEDOMS I ENJOY TODAY IN 2017!
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Maybe it was not as grand or glorious. But you SERVED!!!! Thank you and all service men and women!!!

Hats off to those men and women of that era. I’m ever amazed in the books and videos of WW2. I’ll never actually grasp how trying of times those were for many. No way for me to comprehend those situations and related emotions, just respect for those who endured, survived and died.

It is sad so many stories have not been shared and never will but I’m never be one to judge those who have kept theirs silence for I have not experienced anything of the sort.

At one point I gave my dad a personal recorder. The micro cassette type. I told him that when he thinks of something and feels like it, record it. A year or so later he gave me the recorder back. I must not of realized that the cassette was missing.

Years after he passed away I was going through a cigar box of his and there was this cassette. I was going to toss it but I couldn’t without listening to it…just in case.

Sure nuff, without him telling anyone he told stories from the day he enlisted to the day he came home from the hospital including talking about the hill he was on when he took shell fragments in his back.

I recorded it into my computer and sent it off to family members including my mother, who sent a very emotional message back to me about hearing his voice again.

Whether your folks were in the service or not, I strongly suggest setting them up with something that will record (including video) their lifetime of experiences for you and your descendants to enjoy.

Mom went to fast to get her to chat and I regret not giving her the same recorder to use in her own time.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

At one point I gave my dad a personal recorder. The micro cassette type. I told him that when he thinks of something and feels like it, record it. A year or so later he gave me the recorder back. I must not of realized that the cassette was missing.

Years after he passed away I was going through a cigar box of his and there was this cassette. I was going to toss it but I couldn’t without listening to it…just in case.

Sure nuff, without him telling anyone he told stories from the day he enlisted to the day he came home from the hospital including talking about the hill he was on when he took shell fragments in his back.

I recorded it into my computer and sent it off to family members including my mother, who sent a very emotional message back to me about hearing his voice again.

Whether your folks were in the service or not, I strongly suggest setting them up with something that will record (including video) their lifetime of experiences for you and your descendants to enjoy.

Mom went to fast to get her to chat and I regret not giving her the same recorder to use in her own time.

Pure brilliance!

Thanks to all who’ve served.