Insane photo

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I'm willing to bet that 1000 words doesn't begin to tell the story behind this pic.


Awesome pic



==Tom

grb said:

Amazing photo. My father-in-law was a flyer in the Army Air Corp in WWII. He was a B-25 pilot and fought in North Africa and later in the Pacific. He and two of his best buddies volunteered together.

Although he rarely talked about the war, we had him out to dinner about a year before he passed away and after a couple of his favorite "highballs" of Canadian Club and soda, my brother-in-law got him started on the subject. He talked about the fact that it was a different time and that young men just saw it as their responsibility to join the armed forces. He spoke of honor and the fact that the price for living in the United States included the privilege of defending it from enemies. In his mind, he didn't feel that there was anything heroic about it, it was his duty. When he passed away last March, we were fortunate enough to have the documentation available that entitled him to an honor guard at his funeral. It was the most touching thing I have attended. Yes, it truly was an amazing generation. Not sure many get it today.

Click to expand...

+1

For some reason I haven't been able to get onto Wkipedia for a few days now, but I gather it's a photo of the D-Day Landing.

I just finished watching the World At War series of documentaries from the early 1970s, and unreservedly recommend it to you all. (btw, at one point they interview a Bevin Boy ... an upper-class gentleman who volunteered thinking no doubt he'd end up having bullets whizzing romantically past his head as he did his class-appropriate part ... only to be sent down the mines. I suspect he'd much rather have taken his chances on Gold or Sword.)

When I was a young boy, I went to see the movie Midway in the theatre. Whenever a Japanese carrier was hit/sunk, the entire crowd in the theatre would let out a cheer ... I don't think you'd get the same enthusiasm today.

We don't have to bear grudges (a la Basil Fawlty ... "don't mention the war") against our contemporaries in foreign lands, but I hope we never forget to honour our brave predecessors for the wars they fought to protect our freedom!

ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL! I have been in ground combat before and been in some very tight situations - but looking at that picture, that is just damn unnerving! Those men give Valor, Courage, & Duty a whole different meaning! Those men were WARRIORS!

I recommend watching the series Band of Brothers. Obviously it is film, but I think it is a great story based of the lives of some who served.

That is an amazing picture. Before my grandfathered died..he used to tell me about his experiences on LCM's, and Higgins Boats. I recommend visiting the D-Day Museum in New Orleans.

My father-in-law was a tech sgt. in the 29th Division, D Company. He landed on Dog Green, Omaha Beach at H + 40 minutes: the opening scene of Private Ryan was what he saw and lived through (only it was worse). He was wounded later in the day and won a Bronze Star for heroism (God, there must have been a lot of them that day).

He was a gentle, humble man who only spoke about the war much later in life.

Ken

I don't think anyone won an award during that war. All awards were EARNED. Your grandfather and all those who served with him were/are very brave men. I just wish awards still had the same prestige has they did then.

adam28270 said:

I don't think anyone won an award during that war. All awards were EARNED. Your grandfather and all those who served with him were/are very brave men. I just wish awards still had the same prestige has they did then.

Click to expand...

Why do you think awards don't have the same prestige today?

Very moving photo...

Even time I look at this photo I'm reminded of my Uncle Ben who died at the Battle of Okinawa.

I remember hearing of men who lied about their ages. Got into the war at 15 or 16 to fight for their country. I'm 35 and cannot even begin to imagine what it was like.

I'm pleased to report that this is perhaps the first thread of this nature that hasn't been visited by some numbnuts saying, "The allies had no business invading Europe", or somesuch nonsense.



Another classic series was Victory at Sea. If you ever get a chance to catch an episode, you'll not soon forget it.

riooso said:

Sobering isn't it! I hope this will not get into some political craziness. I don't think we should overlook the absolutely unbelievable bravery of some of the people in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know some young people that have done building breaching and urban battles in Iraq and they have accomplished no less than anybody we have ever had in uniform.


Later,
Richard

Click to expand...

110% correct

Madcap said:

Why do you think awards don't have the same prestige today?

Click to expand...

I have seen numerous instances where people receive awards for basically doing their job. I just think it's unfortunate that one person earned this award while risking their life, while another did his/her job as the PAO. There are a lot of people who believe that awards have been somewhat inflated over time. There is a lot more "flare" on uniforms these days, and unfortunately I think it downplays the prestige of the medals, pins, that really deserve recognition. Just look at the Army, the Rangers and Green Berets had their distinguishing uniform item, now everyone has berets.

"Captain _____, the 3rd Wing Public Affairs chief, deployed to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan from April-September 2007 and distributed vital and accurate information while serving in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Captain _____ was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service, the ninth-highest combat honor in the U.S. Armed Forces.

While deployed, Captain _____ provided important and timely information regarding operations which affected national security."