70th Anniversary of V-E Day

[+ FreshFluff]

Let's remember all who died to defeat the Nazis, including fallen Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen, Soviet soldiers who perished in the POW and concentration camps, Jews killed in the Warsaw ghetto and other uprisings, and executed resistance members from countries all over Europe.

 

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Churchill_waves_to_crowds.jpg

[bigvalboy]

Let's remember all who died to defeat the Nazis, including fallen Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen, Soviet soldiers who perished in the POW and concentration camps, Jews killed in the Warsaw ghetto and other uprisings, and executed resistance members from countries all over Europe.

 

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Churchill_waves_to_crowds.jpg

 

.....and the Jews murdered in the gas chambers at the hands of the Nazi's.

[+ WilliamM]

My dad was in the Signal Corps in Army in Europe until 1945, and then transferred to the Philippines until the end of the Pacific battles. I was three year old when he return home in 1946; its is one of my first deep memories. He did not live long enough to hear the term Greatest Generation. But, I believe he would want every generation that faught in wars involving the U.S. to share the name Greatest Generation.

 

Thank you, FreshFluff and bigvalboy for posting and bringing back some memories.

[foxy]

If anyone has ever visited a military cemetary in the U.S. or overseas the majority of those who gave their life were often only teenagers or barely into their 20's. How tragic to lose your life before its begun. The debt we owe these men and women is beyond calculation. We need to think about them and honor their sacrifice.

[marylander1940]

[Rudynate]

If anyone has ever visited a military cemetary in the U.S. or overseas the majority of those who gave their life were often only teenagers or barely into their 20's. How tragic to lose your life before its begun. The debt we owe these men and women is beyond calculation. We need to think about them and honor their sacrifice.

 

I visited the cemetery at Verdun. It was humbling. Just by reflex, I was overcome with this intense wave of reverence.

[bigvalboy]

If anyone has ever visited a military cemetary in the U.S. or overseas the majority of those who gave their life were often only teenagers or barely into their 20's. How tragic to lose your life before its begun. The debt we owe these men and women is beyond calculation. We need to think about them and honor their sacrifice.

 

I passed the one in Westwood a dozen times a week. It never failed to give me pause, and for a brief moment in my week I was always grateful.

 

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/veterans-cemetery-los-angeles-8547858.jpg

[marylander1940]

I visited the cemetery at Verdun. It was humbling. Just by reflex, I was overcome with this intense wave of reverence.

 

WW1

 

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/places/somme-cemeteries.htm

 

http://www.ww1cemeteries.com/

 

Verdun

 

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lqc2rY9Rpas/maxresdefault.jpg

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Douaumont_Ossuary_cemetery.JPG

 

WW2

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_cemeteries

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_cemeteries_in_France

[marylander1940]

I can't help talking about WW2 without mentioning Chaplin.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4UhJpviVYg

[bigvalboy]

It's the endless rows that is sometimes still difficult to comprehend....So many young lives gone.

[+ WilliamM]

It's the endless rows that is sometimes still difficult to comprehend....So many young lives gone.

 

I was in Paris on 9/11/2001 at the beginning of a two-week vacation in the city. I decided to book a one-day tour of the D-Day sites and the near-by cemeteries. It was both amazing and sad to be there so close to 9/11 with just the tour guide and two other people. We spend most the time at Omaha and Utah beaches reliving the landing. So many of Allied soldiers were killed during the landing -- heartbreaking on so many levels. We spent so much time and emotion at the beaches that the cemeteries were beyond overwhelming.

[bigvalboy]

I was in Paris on 9/11/2001 at the beginning of a two-week vacation in the city. I decided to book a one-day tour of the D-Day sites and the near-by cemeteries. It was both amazing and sad to be there so close to 9/11 with just the tour guide and two other people. We spend most the time at Omaha and Utah beaches reliving the landing. So many of Allied soldiers were killed during the landing -- heartbreaking on so many levels. We spent so much time and emotion at the beaches that the cemeteries were beyond overwhelming.

 

I can't even imagine what that experience would have been like...one of those once in a life time opportunities to just take yourself back to that point in time.

[+ WilliamM]

I can't even imagine what that experience would have been like...one of those once in a life time opportunities to just take yourself back to that point in time.

 

It made me appreciate what the families back home must have gone through during D-Day and right after. I spent a year in the military in Vietnam in 1968-69. The thing is you know what's happening in the moment, but people at home have to relie on mail and the postman. I'll stop before I say anything political.

[Irtwo]

Nice post, FreshFluff.

[+ FreshFluff]

.....and the Jews murdered in the gas chambers at the hands of the Nazi's.

 

Thanks for the post, BVB.

 

I limited the groups to those who participated in combat or espionage against the Nazis. The Jews murdered in gas chambers and by shooting (mostly in Russia) did not have the chance. Neither did the Roma (Gypsies).

 

But they did not die in vain. Of all the crimes committed by the Nazis and the German army, it was the Final Solution that blackened the image of National Socialism forever and made this brand of fascism impossible to resurrect.

[marylander1940]

[marylander1940]

[+ WilliamM]

 

A friend has been a freelance correspondent in Eastern Ukraine for almost a year. So it is difficult for me to be objective about the V-E celebration in Moscow. He did a YouTube video at the site of the Malaysian plane crash 24 hours after the disaster last summer, when Russia was denying all responsibilty.

 

I do recognize the huge sacrifice of the Russians during World War II. I am glad Chancellor Angela Merkel will be in Moscow tomorrow to honor Russians killed in the Second World War.