My dad was a Merchant Marine. He landed at Normandy the next day to clean up the beach. He could never speak about it other than to say he was there. Deepest gratitude to all who served.
He knew enough most of the time, not to "TALK" about it. Knowing it would only open that darn box of unresolved conflicts that were in a vault locked away. My step father spent 25 yrs in the Marine corps mostly in the Pacific theater (the military calls these actions theater)
And rightly named as such. Sigh....
Ed never liked talking about it at home. But he attended all those Veterans reunions with a lot of pride. It was a way for them to renew that hero Americans, first and forever mindset.
They take that with them to their graves as " I gave my life for this" ! What did you do?
I always thought my dad had missed the action in Korea. He was a Navy pilot. Just recently, my brother told me that our dad was actually one of the pilots who bombed Korea. The pilots flew so low that the blowback from the bombs would strike their planes. Many pilots didn’t make it home.
He never told me this, only my brother
My dad was also one of the pilots who, had the president ordered it, would’ve dropped the bomb on Russia.
None of us would be here if he hadn’t made it home. It’s been 20 years. I still miss him.
That's pretty amazing. He would have signed a DOD wavier as he was sworn to secrecy at a very high level. He was ordered to responsibly perform his duty unconditionally.
Then by his own accord he would have been responsible to live with it unconditionally.
For the great many this was often way too much to ask. How long must I keep this secret?
They flew so low for target precision. A wasted bomb on a target miss was revalued later
from recon aircraft flights on camera high over head. Targets well hidden on ground.
The plane often flew low as it was overloaded and possibly underpowered from minor maintenance issues. The pilot had little recourse to return to hangar field once airborn.
Think of all the risks taken, and all the near miss tragic accounts told off the cuff.
Hero's come in all sizes and paygrades. Not playing by civilian rules when in "Theater".
My dad used to tell me some stories of his time as a Navy pilot. One of them was of a night the admiral ordered them to practice take offs and landing. He told the admiral that it was too dangerous, and he refused to do it. The admiral called off the training drill. Dad was a really good pilot to the point that after his required time in the military, they wanted him to stay on as an instructor. We’d always laugh about that. He’d say, “Can you imagine me staying in to take more orders?” 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
So many more stories. He wasn’t always an easy man, but he loved his family and would do anything for us.
My mother's cousin (USN) was anchored at sea that day, frying doughnuts all day long for the boys going ashore. Husband's father, a battalion surgeon, landed at Normandy in late July, assigned to Patton's 3rd army. Mine had been training new recruits in Louisiana and Mississippi, then was deployed to Philippines. No Normandy for him. And no deaths for either of these 3. Until a long life had been lived.
I remember when I was growing up, my mother showed me a letter that her friend, J.H. Joyner, had written to her. I can't remember whether it was before he left to fight in WW2, or after he was deployed. What I do remember is that he seemed to have a premonition that he was going to die in battle, and indeed he did. After my mother's death I really wanted to find that letter, but never did. Why do we always wait until it's too late before we ask to hear the stories and to record them?
It won't be found. My estranged brother cast me out of my mother's house when I was trying to help clean and pick out items I wanted to keep, and I don't expect to ever enter it again. It's his house now.
It's not that sad to me, Kathleen. It's a relief that 20+ years of his harassment have ended. Still, I stand ready and willing to have a relationship with him, IF there is real change.
I just read your different war article and it made me reflect on what I know and believe. What I realize is we can only make a difference where we are at the moment. If we all decided to do good, then it would spread, but evil is spreading faster now and has taken that innocence of the time when good morals were admired.
We don't know the truth about wars but they all were manipulated by evil and still are. I can only think that God has to fix this world.
I thought this documentary hit a lot of truth behind the scenes of war but likely just a fragment of the horrors.
Beyond Treason - military and civilian experimentation, dating back over 60 years
Keep me updated on that veteran who was exposed to toxic substances while in the military. It was sad to read that he is in a non-VA nursing home. So young...
I know someone who told me some months ago, “it’s only things!” I am trying to sort and purge…LOL. Well, Hmmm, at the time, she had a property at a lake, a condo and a summer property not in winter state……I only have one. But … having three properties, doesn’t that mean Things!??
There’s an amazing service called Live On that my dad recently recorded (over zoom) his childhood history to today, and all the stories he wants to pass on to us and his grandchildren. Stories he knows about his grandparents and the line of ancestry too. A lady named Ruth guides the session, asks great questions and a man named David does all the technical work. They are excellent at making it a wonderful professional quality keepsake. I was so impressed with my dads video that even though I’m young, I purchased a session for myself, and have already recorded my interview of my first 42 years. I figure my children will love to see me as younger than if I waited another 20 years plus I have a lot of stories about my children growing up fresh in my mind that I want to preserve. The website is live on services, I will try to post a link. Highly recommend.
Sharing that was enough even when the letter was lost. Some things are meant to just be remembered and appreciated and you did. Cherish it and live in the day as it will be history too. I believe God sees and remembers and that is what matters most.
When you determine the source of that train of thought, please broadcast it across the fruited plain. Sooo very many Americans today need to get on board.
My thought exactly. I have such admiration for this young man.
Then in my mind I picture him juxtaposed to our current crop of whining, Marxist, gender confused, flag burning, cry bullies, and I am disgusted.
Thank God we still have many fine, patriotic young people. They don’t make the news (unless they are being criticized as haters and bigots and MAGA deplorables) but they are out there and we need them more than ever.
This one brought tears to my eyes. My father, decorated career military, served in
WW II and came home in 1954 with a bride in tow — my mother (from Austria). That’s how I got here. It was a happy ending for our family, but videos like this remind me of all the families that were crushed with grief at the loss of their loved ones — not just in WW II, but throughout our history as a nation. We are all forever in their debt.
Thank you for the reminder that freedom comes at a high price. God bless. ✝️
Thank you, TriTorch. What a fitting tribute. My dad was sent to North Africa and slogged his way up the Italian peninsula to Germany. He was one of the fortunate ones who returned home safely. They truly were the Greatest Generation.
@Tritorch thank you. I should’ve believed you 😭 I wonder how that exceptional 11 year old fared in the last tumultuous 10 years? And how did he have that extraordinary knowledge at such a tender age? I’m going to check out Project Vigil to see if it says anything about him. (The video is 7:29 minutes, not 729 😉, and you won’t regret those 7 minutes; trust me.) 🇺🇸
TU for posting that video. Made me cry. My dad was an aid to general Bradley Big Red One & fought in the Korean War. He was awarded Bronze star & Purple Heart. He never recover from his wounds. Most of which were mental. We owe so much to our Military people. It is unforgivable what has been done to our country 🙏❤️
Wow. Tears are flowing. I have the original letter announcing my Uncle Frank’s death to my grandmother. I also have his Purple Heart. His death pretty much destroyed his family. Even until my mother’s dying day, she pined for her big brother.
I am so sorry to hear that NinaG. He paid the ultimate price for a higher purpose - defending freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - but he is never gone. He hails you and your family from unseen distant shores and radiates love and guidance as he waves. A friend sent me this:
Gone From My Sight
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!" —Henry Van Dyke
Agree BB.
Project Vigil: D-Day 2014, The saluting boy on Omaha Beach: https://bitchute.com/video/ABFrE9DxZYZ3 [729mins]
For those that have not seen it (and even those that have), that's ^ the most moving video you'll see today.
My dad landed at Normandy.
Thanks for the link.
My dad was a Merchant Marine. He landed at Normandy the next day to clean up the beach. He could never speak about it other than to say he was there. Deepest gratitude to all who served.
Merchant Marine had huge loss of life in the Atlantic.
Mine, too.
Two of my great Uncles landed at Normandy, as well
Lot of those guys were essentially kids...very young.
Yes, my Dad shipped out to the Pacific at 17.
The Pacific battles were especially tough.
And made it back home in bravery,
to tell the tale of the horrors of the task at hand.
Sends Shivers in me.
I suspect what was even worse for him was when he participated in the liberation of the forced labor camp in Nordhausen, Germany.
Only time I heard him get angry at what he saw...the death...and the living who looked like walking corpses.
He knew enough most of the time, not to "TALK" about it. Knowing it would only open that darn box of unresolved conflicts that were in a vault locked away. My step father spent 25 yrs in the Marine corps mostly in the Pacific theater (the military calls these actions theater)
And rightly named as such. Sigh....
Ed never liked talking about it at home. But he attended all those Veterans reunions with a lot of pride. It was a way for them to renew that hero Americans, first and forever mindset.
They take that with them to their graves as " I gave my life for this" ! What did you do?
My dad rarely, if ever, talked about it.
And he also did go to those Army reunions.
Civilians will never understand what those guys went through.
Faithfully, my Dad went to all the Ticonderoga navy reunions till the day he died. RIP
👍🏻💕
I always thought my dad had missed the action in Korea. He was a Navy pilot. Just recently, my brother told me that our dad was actually one of the pilots who bombed Korea. The pilots flew so low that the blowback from the bombs would strike their planes. Many pilots didn’t make it home.
He never told me this, only my brother
My dad was also one of the pilots who, had the president ordered it, would’ve dropped the bomb on Russia.
None of us would be here if he hadn’t made it home. It’s been 20 years. I still miss him.
That's pretty amazing. He would have signed a DOD wavier as he was sworn to secrecy at a very high level. He was ordered to responsibly perform his duty unconditionally.
Then by his own accord he would have been responsible to live with it unconditionally.
For the great many this was often way too much to ask. How long must I keep this secret?
They flew so low for target precision. A wasted bomb on a target miss was revalued later
from recon aircraft flights on camera high over head. Targets well hidden on ground.
The plane often flew low as it was overloaded and possibly underpowered from minor maintenance issues. The pilot had little recourse to return to hangar field once airborn.
Think of all the risks taken, and all the near miss tragic accounts told off the cuff.
Hero's come in all sizes and paygrades. Not playing by civilian rules when in "Theater".
My dad used to tell me some stories of his time as a Navy pilot. One of them was of a night the admiral ordered them to practice take offs and landing. He told the admiral that it was too dangerous, and he refused to do it. The admiral called off the training drill. Dad was a really good pilot to the point that after his required time in the military, they wanted him to stay on as an instructor. We’d always laugh about that. He’d say, “Can you imagine me staying in to take more orders?” 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
So many more stories. He wasn’t always an easy man, but he loved his family and would do anything for us.
Yeah...he took a lot of risk as a pilot in a hostile war theater. Tell him I said shiny side up and thanks for his service overhead 👍🎯🎥
I would if I could. Dad passed some 20 years ago. I miss him. 💗
10-4
Copy that 👍🎯
So sad KJ
Those combat veterans carried a huge burden.
Often in silence.
Yes , my Dad never said a word only 2 weeks before he passed and cried terribly.
He carried a huge burden for years.
😢
It's a heavy burden to carry. 😞💕🙏
My mother's cousin (USN) was anchored at sea that day, frying doughnuts all day long for the boys going ashore. Husband's father, a battalion surgeon, landed at Normandy in late July, assigned to Patton's 3rd army. Mine had been training new recruits in Louisiana and Mississippi, then was deployed to Philippines. No Normandy for him. And no deaths for either of these 3. Until a long life had been lived.
Just about every family were involved in some way.
I remember when I was growing up, my mother showed me a letter that her friend, J.H. Joyner, had written to her. I can't remember whether it was before he left to fight in WW2, or after he was deployed. What I do remember is that he seemed to have a premonition that he was going to die in battle, and indeed he did. After my mother's death I really wanted to find that letter, but never did. Why do we always wait until it's too late before we ask to hear the stories and to record them?
Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, “It might have been. —Kurt Vonnegut
Discipline weighs ounces and regret weighs tons. —Jim Rohn
If you do find it eventually, please write about it on your Substack Anne.
It won't be found. My estranged brother cast me out of my mother's house when I was trying to help clean and pick out items I wanted to keep, and I don't expect to ever enter it again. It's his house now.
Anne, that is so sad.
Thanks once again for your Substack and your care for veterans.
It's not that sad to me, Kathleen. It's a relief that 20+ years of his harassment have ended. Still, I stand ready and willing to have a relationship with him, IF there is real change.
I just read your different war article and it made me reflect on what I know and believe. What I realize is we can only make a difference where we are at the moment. If we all decided to do good, then it would spread, but evil is spreading faster now and has taken that innocence of the time when good morals were admired.
We don't know the truth about wars but they all were manipulated by evil and still are. I can only think that God has to fix this world.
I thought this documentary hit a lot of truth behind the scenes of war but likely just a fragment of the horrors.
Beyond Treason - military and civilian experimentation, dating back over 60 years
https://www.bitchute.com/video/fO0gHigoRFGf/
Good attitude.
Keep me updated on that veteran who was exposed to toxic substances while in the military. It was sad to read that he is in a non-VA nursing home. So young...
You never know how your family will react until you go through a funeral.
Anne, I'm sorry to hear this, the reality of some family situations. May you find peace.
Thank you, ILoveherbs. I do have peace because of Jesus. I guess I'm just at the age where I'm becoming nostalgic. ✝️
I know someone who told me some months ago, “it’s only things!” I am trying to sort and purge…LOL. Well, Hmmm, at the time, she had a property at a lake, a condo and a summer property not in winter state……I only have one. But … having three properties, doesn’t that mean Things!??
There’s an amazing service called Live On that my dad recently recorded (over zoom) his childhood history to today, and all the stories he wants to pass on to us and his grandchildren. Stories he knows about his grandparents and the line of ancestry too. A lady named Ruth guides the session, asks great questions and a man named David does all the technical work. They are excellent at making it a wonderful professional quality keepsake. I was so impressed with my dads video that even though I’m young, I purchased a session for myself, and have already recorded my interview of my first 42 years. I figure my children will love to see me as younger than if I waited another 20 years plus I have a lot of stories about my children growing up fresh in my mind that I want to preserve. The website is live on services, I will try to post a link. Highly recommend.
Sounds interesting and I think I found the website. https://liveon.services/
👍🏻
Wow this is amazing. I would love my dad and mom to do this. !!! thanks for sharing. About how much does it cost?
Wow! That is wonderful !
Sharing that was enough even when the letter was lost. Some things are meant to just be remembered and appreciated and you did. Cherish it and live in the day as it will be history too. I believe God sees and remembers and that is what matters most.
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
What an amazing vigilant lone dedication for someone so young to stand up for,
for an event that altered many a mind around the globe. I wonder what, where, why,
does such a train of thought, inspired such a task of strength and patriotism? Family?
When you determine the source of that train of thought, please broadcast it across the fruited plain. Sooo very many Americans today need to get on board.
Yeah....Amen Rog!
We have lost the seeds that were left to plant.
Then the weeds took their place.
My thought exactly. I have such admiration for this young man.
Then in my mind I picture him juxtaposed to our current crop of whining, Marxist, gender confused, flag burning, cry bullies, and I am disgusted.
Thank God we still have many fine, patriotic young people. They don’t make the news (unless they are being criticized as haters and bigots and MAGA deplorables) but they are out there and we need them more than ever.
Yes in the palm of comforts and a bit of laziness we failed to plant all the good seeds they coveted and left for us to replant.⏳
The weeds grew instead. 😳
It was most certainly family! But also, a thoughtful and inspiring young boy!
I'd like to think so too.
Someone made a very big impression on his mind.
The steadfast effort not to quit is admirable for his age.
That made my eyes water… 🇺🇸🙏
Bawling here! 😢
Yes 🙌🏼 thank u
Thank you for posting. Simply beautiful. ❤️
Wonderful film. God bless them ❤️🩹🙏❤️🩹
This one brought tears to my eyes. My father, decorated career military, served in
WW II and came home in 1954 with a bride in tow — my mother (from Austria). That’s how I got here. It was a happy ending for our family, but videos like this remind me of all the families that were crushed with grief at the loss of their loved ones — not just in WW II, but throughout our history as a nation. We are all forever in their debt.
Thank you for the reminder that freedom comes at a high price. God bless. ✝️
💕
🇺🇸😭❤️
I wonder where that boy, now a 21yr-old young man, is today?
Thank you, Tritorch.
Wondered the same thing. Today would be the 20th anniversary of that flag raising day?
Thank you, TriTorch. What a fitting tribute. My dad was sent to North Africa and slogged his way up the Italian peninsula to Germany. He was one of the fortunate ones who returned home safely. They truly were the Greatest Generation.
@Tritorch thank you. I should’ve believed you 😭 I wonder how that exceptional 11 year old fared in the last tumultuous 10 years? And how did he have that extraordinary knowledge at such a tender age? I’m going to check out Project Vigil to see if it says anything about him. (The video is 7:29 minutes, not 729 😉, and you won’t regret those 7 minutes; trust me.) 🇺🇸
TU for posting that video. Made me cry. My dad was an aid to general Bradley Big Red One & fought in the Korean War. He was awarded Bronze star & Purple Heart. He never recover from his wounds. Most of which were mental. We owe so much to our Military people. It is unforgivable what has been done to our country 🙏❤️
Wow. Tears are flowing. I have the original letter announcing my Uncle Frank’s death to my grandmother. I also have his Purple Heart. His death pretty much destroyed his family. Even until my mother’s dying day, she pined for her big brother.
I am so sorry to hear that NinaG. He paid the ultimate price for a higher purpose - defending freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - but he is never gone. He hails you and your family from unseen distant shores and radiates love and guidance as he waves. A friend sent me this:
Gone From My Sight
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!" —Henry Van Dyke
Thank you for sharing. A beautiful remembrance
Beautiful! Thanks for posting!
God Bless