Just watched Saving Private Ryan..Remembering grandpa and all

[91Champ201]

[jcdogfish]

My dad was in the first wave at Omaha Beach. He fought in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, through France to Berlin. They were truly the greatest generation.

[jigman51]

I have walked those beaches as well as the cemetery at the top of the beach. A little over 9000 Americans are interned there. There were several 17 yearold boys buried there.

[zelmo]

I am watching a show titled Surviving D-Day. While not as graphic or big budget as Saving Private Ryan it’s very detailed. What those soldiers did on Omaha Beach is truly amazing.

[Jaredn]

I have walked those beaches as well as the cemetery at the top of the beach. A little over 9000 Americans are interned there. There were several 17 yearold boys buried there.

MEN

[DaveP]

I had one uncle who went ashore and got a chunk of shrapnel in the rear end. Coincidentally, my other uncle was in the pacific getting a hunk in his butt at about the same time.

[bzbrent]

My paternal grandfather was in the 326th Engineer Division of the 101st. He had the (mis) fortune of arriving early to the Big Dance. He was part of a 5-man glider crew that were to be dropped behind enemy lines. He and his crew were "dropped" WAY off course, and they spent several days hold up in a French farmer's barn waiting for the line to move forward. In all likelihood, I wouldn't be typing this now if he would've stuck his head out and tried to link up with others. They fought all the way into Holland before being redeployed to Bastone after the Bulge.

My maternal grandfather was a Marine and fought at Guadalcanal - but would NEVER talk about it. He left a farm in Laurel, MS to board a troop train bound for San Diego - having spent every single day of his 17 years in Jones County, MS. 7 weeks later he was fighting for his life in the Solomon Islands. He had a tattoo on his arm from the war. We'd ask him about it from time to time, and he would instinctively rub it with his right hand and just sort've stare off into the distance, and just tell us we didn't want to know anything about that. He would never say a word about what it meant, and to this day no one in the family has a clue.

Both of them came back to Arkansas after the war and lived good lives. I miss them both terribly!

-b-

[Doorman1]

I have a great uncle entombed on the USS Arizona. My dad inherited his Winchester model 1892 rifle he used on the farm for hunting. I own the rifle now. I had my shadow box retirement flag flown over the memorial to honor him.