2009 Veterans Day: WWII Memorial

[Annie]

While all of our military veterans deserve our thanks and admiration, for many of the WWII vets, this will be their last Veterans Day. Some were at the Memorial in Washington, this video is very poignant, you might want a hankie.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7oBeQ4Y6xo&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - "Every day is a bonus": Veteran's Day November 2009 in DC.[/ame]

Back in 2004, my brother and I took our father to DC to see the opening. We had a wonderful time, but when we got to the Memorial, my dad broke down crying, 'for all those who didn't come home.' In this video you hear that time and again. My dad 'earned' a purple heart on Omaha Beach around 7 am on D-Day. He was in the Big Red One. He never said 'earned', rather 'forced' as a better term, if he'd had a choice, he would have opted out. But he didn't, so he didn't.

 

[Oddball]

Bless all those brave souls who hit Omaha (Gold, Sword, Juno and Utah for that matter) on 6 Jun.

 

[namvet]

I regret my late dad never got to see it. or my late uncle

 

[Annie]

I regret my late dad never got to see it. or my late uncle

It was special for my dad. He never expected it, as he thought those in Vietnam and Korea deserved a place, since they were treated so shabbily. He KNEW the WWII vets were honored, though he recognized the truth that if he'd been younger, those guys would have been him. They did the same things he did, suffered the same fates of he and his comrades.

As alluded to in the op, this will be the last Veterans Day for many a WWII vet. My dad died 2 years ago, I miss him dearly. He never wanted to go, he was drafted. He fought every attempt for promotion in the army, it would have been 'more dangerous' and put him in 'control' of others' lives. He wasn't the bravest by a long shot. He did what he 'had' to do. He did that well.

It carried over afterwards, he refused to lead, though very qualified. He didn't want others fates' in his hands. He made good money, never wanted 'great' money, though his family had some problems with this.

I think he was pretty typical for many of his generation.

 

[namvet]

I regret my late dad never got to see it. or my late uncle

It was special for my dad. He never expected it, as he thought those in Vietnam and Korea deserved a place, since they were treated so shabbily. He KNEW the WWII vets were honored, though he recognized the truth that if he'd been younger, those guys would have been him. They did the same things he did, suffered the same fates of he and his comrades.

As alluded to in the op, this will be the last Veterans Day for many a WWII vet. My dad died 2 years ago, I miss him dearly. He never wanted to go, he was drafted. He fought every attempt for promotion in the army, it would have been 'more dangerous' and put him in 'control' of others' lives. He wasn't the bravest by a long shot. He did what he 'had' to do. He did that well.

It carried over afterwards, he refused to lead, though very qualified. He didn't want others fates' in his hands. He made good money, never wanted 'great' money, though his family had some problems with this.

I think he was pretty typical for many of his generation.

a salute to him and you. they should have built that memorial many many years ago.

 

[Annie]

I regret my late dad never got to see it. or my late uncle

It was special for my dad. He never expected it, as he thought those in Vietnam and Korea deserved a place, since they were treated so shabbily. He KNEW the WWII vets were honored, though he recognized the truth that if he'd been younger, those guys would have been him. They did the same things he did, suffered the same fates of he and his comrades.

As alluded to in the op, this will be the last Veterans Day for many a WWII vet. My dad died 2 years ago, I miss him dearly. He never wanted to go, he was drafted. He fought every attempt for promotion in the army, it would have been 'more dangerous' and put him in 'control' of others' lives. He wasn't the bravest by a long shot. He did what he 'had' to do. He did that well.

It carried over afterwards, he refused to lead, though very qualified. He didn't want others fates' in his hands. He made good money, never wanted 'great' money, though his family had some problems with this.

I think he was pretty typical for many of his generation.

a salute to him and you. they should have built that memorial many many years ago.

Thanks, though he wouldn't have wanted a salute. He was proud of his service, but thought war wrong. He really hated guns of whatever size. I believe he was appalled when my brother became a cop. He had a real problem with guns.

Did I mention he was in armory? His whole squadron? Platoon? was wiped out when the 'big gun' he was pulling hit a mine. He was sole survivor. Talk about guilt. He never got over that.