June 6, 20179 yr Imagine what those troops felt like as they were approaching the beach. Deep appreciation to all our servicemen and servicewomen. War is indeed hell.
June 6, 20179 yr Author Imagine what those troops felt like as they were approaching the beach. Or a paratrooper floating down to land and not knowing what awaits, but wanting to get down as fast as you can. I have always tried to imagine it and I just can't.
June 6, 20179 yr I had the good fortune of talking to a gentleman a few years ago that was there. The two stories that he told that I'll never forget were these... One, he almost drown getting off the boat in a little over waist-deep water. He said he had a "life preserver" on (which was pretty much tied around his waist), and he had a pack on his back (he was a medic). He said when he jumped off into the water, the life preserver kept him from getting his feet to the ground, and the pack then made him top-heavy...so, he went bottom's up. Said he couldn't get the preserver off, so he had to paddle like crazy just to keep his head up, until he could make it to shallower water where he could finally get his footing. Second, when he finally gets out of the water and runs onto the beach, he dives between two other soldiers who were already there. He said he made a joke to the guy on the right about it being a heck of a day already. Turns out the guy was already dead. So, he goes to tell the guy on the right about his buddy...and he's dead too. I can't even imagine being in that situation.
June 6, 20179 yr My dad was in that invasion. He rarely talked about it. He said a lot of them got into water over their heads after they landed and some of the guys almost drown. I think his landing wasn't the first group to go in but he was not far behind them. He landed at Omaha Beach.
June 6, 20179 yr Went to a funeral just yesterday for a 95 year old Navy veteran of WWII. We are losing the greatest generation quickly. If you know someone from that generation, pick their brain before they are gone and take in the life lessons they can provide.
June 6, 20179 yr How a precise knowledge of physics (tides) helped on D-Day: http://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.1257
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