Posted on 06/06/2013 3:21:00 PM PDT by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig
69 years ago today my father in law was landing in Normandy France in a glider....crawling through hedgerows....doing his duty.
Thank you Ralph "Bud" Thomas.
Ralph is in the middle of that picture.
They saved the world.
BTT. You had to be really brave and just a little nuts to ride a glider into that hell.
Thank you, Ralph. I’m sorry to see what this country has become in spite of your sacrifices.
Well done! The greatest generation for sure.
Drats...that pic..he is cut off...you can see the sliver of his ear in the right edge of the pic.
Thanks for trying.
BUMP
BUMP
D Day has new meaning to me. I have always been in awe of the audacity and courage to land in the mouth of Gerry.
On my daily walk, I often run into a neighbor, Dan the Man (we call him). He is 93 and from 10th Ave and 28th in Manhattan originally. Today when we chatted, he asked, “Do you know what I was doing 69 years ago today, kid?” (I am 62).
Dan landed on D+1
And I have been weepy all day thinking of what a great man he is and all those who went with him on that most audacious landing.
They gave so much and we’ve seen it pissed away especially these last few years.
I am embarrassed and have apologized to Dan for us doing so.
I take it back...pic loaded wrong the first time...he is the head immediately to the left of the guy in helmet wearing the number twenty three.
His Glider Infantry regiment ended up only semding two gliders full of men in on D-Day to support anti tank operations and the rest went in on landing craft the afternoon of day two. This was supposedly due to running out of planes to tow gliders.
He was injured by shrapnel in France (I think the evening of day 2 or the morning of day 3.
He also landed during Market Garden.
He suffered a lot from his war experiences and watching the Iraq War on the news every day really took a toll on him.
Bay...you mind pinging the WA list?
“69 years ago today my father in law was landing in Normandy France in a glider....”
69 years ago my uncle was slowly starving in a Japanese POW camp after enduring the death march. Doing his duty meant sharing his rice with his badly injured friend who ultimetly died.
Another uncle was in Italy doing his duty as a translator in his former homeland.
My grandfather’s duty was to build railroads in North Africa and Iran. He served in both WWI and WWII.
God bless all those who did their duty.
Tell em I said thanks...
Yes....nobody thinks of the Pacific. My grampa landed on Bougainvile and Tinian before (maybe not in that order) landing back state side with jungle rot and malaria...he was lucky.
We all remember as best we can. Just remember to teach your kids to honor all our veterans.
My thanks to Bud Thomas and all those of The Greatest Generation who sacrificed for all of us.
For some reason, the glider troops did not receive the same extra pay that paratroopers received.
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