Let us not forget the Greatest Generation
 

I hope all of you so inclined, will stop a few moments and remember our WWII Veterans, being honored today at 2:00pm. I will have my tissues ready....I am so very proud they have their momument finally. Judy

Amen, Judyrem.. My brother served in the South Pacific and I am a charter member of WWII Memorial..Thanks for the message!!....Helen

I share in your salute of all the sodleirs who helped to liberate Europe at the end of the war;

without meaning to be flippant, the title to the post reminded of the story about Cunard, intending to call their new liner after Queen Victoria approaching King George V and asking if they might call their ship after the "greatest Queen"; and being told "you'd better ask her"- which is how she came to be called the Queen Mary

Thye were all great generations and they all had great heroes.

Amen:My father was a prisoner of war for 2 years Stalag 17b.He was 8th air force top turret gunner b-17 shot down on 21st mission.He flew out of Horham England.He is now resting in Arlington national cemetery.My stepfather landed in Normandy.

Sheila: just using the phrase made famous by news anchor Tom Brokaw, who wrote a book called "The Greatest Generation". My dad had 3 purple hearts and three Bronzed Stars and was on Omaha Beach. I think he was one the best men of the greatest generation IMHO. Judy

ttt

Its about time. **==

As a side note, My Dad who is a WWII vet thought that the televised ceremony would be on at 2:00. CNN and CSPAN said 2:00 and Dad missed the first hour when he started watching at 2:00. When will these networks learn that there are at least three other time zones in the US? How difficult would it be to announce the time as "2:00 only in eastern standard time"? Or "2:00 eastern, 1:00 central,......"

Oh how I wish the news media would get their minds and bodies out of the east coast.

One of the regulars on the bonjourparis.com site, BPAl, was in the Normandy landing.

On this Memorial Day weekend, I would like to pass on my heart-felt gratitude and thanks to ALL veterans who have served in foreign wars, particularly the WWII vets...yes, the Greatest Generation.

My father served his time in Burma, and my father-in-law spent 6 months in a POW camp, Stalag Luft 1 in Barth-Vogelsang, after being shot down over the Czech/Austrian border (ironically, he was on his way to bomb Regensburg).

I'm only sorry that neither father lived to see the WWII monument in D.C. Peace.

Robyn

I too remember. My uncle, 8th U.S. Army Airforce, 785th Bomber, Mission #90 - Amiens France, July 28, 1944...his last day. He is buried in Cambridge England. An American hero.

Like others (but without some details) father-in-law in the Pacific front, uncle-in-law at the Battle of the Bulge. Both came home but have since passed on. Dear friend also on the Pacific Front and still with us. We fly our flag proudly today for them and the the thousands of others.

I had two uncles who were in the Normandy landing. Go to France and visit the cemetary at Omaha, and the village of Ordour-sur-glane that is left in its tragically bombed state'as a reminder of how hell war is-
Heart-breaking!

My father was a fighter pilot in WWII. I wish he had lived to see this day.

I never met my husband's late father, who flew a Flying Fortress (is that an F-17?) during the war. He was of German descent--his father had just come to the U.S. in the 1920s--and had to give serious thought to the fact that he might be bombing his own relatives.

From his experiences there he taught his children that there's no such thing as a good war. I suspect he's very proud of his pacifist son. I know I am.

I would be too, elle.

Excuse the typo above...obviously should read "remembering."

I dare say that many a soldier who "stormed the beaches" felt more like cowards than heroes at that very moment.
Pacifists become heroes and heroes become pacifists at moments such as those being related in this thread. I would not be so quick to exclude the one when we remember those who were called on to fight.
Might I suggest a useful definition of a coward as being one who desires to avoid real service..such as service with bullets whizzing by, in favor of serivce as a "fighter pilot" over the troubled skies of Alabama in the late'60s....

Judyrem, my apologies for not knowing the reference.

I hadn't realised it was your Memorial Day.

Everything here is geared to the 6th June and the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

The BBC is doing stuff every day on all channels and on radio as well as TV. there are huge services and remebrances planned for next weekend, with a great theme of reconciliation.

To address the sour note:- pacifists may or may not be right, but they're rarely cowards.

Could we stop this please. The people who died for their country and beliefs, don't need this sort of horrible point scoring being brought into it

The "PEOPLE" you refer to who are buried above OMAHA BEACH would be disgusted by the betrayal of the French govt.,the real reason they betrayed us is to conceal their crimes ie: they were in Saddams pocket.The reason For the UN betrayal is the same,Kofi Annan & friends should be in jail.