The Longest Day...
 

my first shop was all the old timers, shop foreman was a paratrooper, I loved hearing his story’s of WW2 , He was dropped in that invasion with a folding bike. Can’t imagine.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, five naval assault divisions stormed the beaches of Normandy. Seven thousand ships and landing craft operated by more than 195,000 naval personnel from eight countries brought almost 133,000 troops to beaches given the code names UTAH, OMAHA, GOLD, JUNO, and SWORD. By the end of the day, more than 10,000 Allied troops were wounded or killed, but the Allies had established a foothold in France that would permit them to flood troops, vehicles, and supplies into Europe. When FDR held a press conference later that day, officials and press alike were jubilant.

My father in law was there. RIP!

My Father was one of the first ones on Omaha Beach. He was part out of the famous 299th Army Battalion. The actually mention the 299th in the movie. Miss you Dad ❤️

The Longest Day...
 

I have posted this before, but it is worth repeating. Photo is a local Normandy veteran from my area and his bride of of over 70 years! He was a navy gunner on a landing craft...he was wounded by German machine gun fire when they approached the beach. He showed me the scars:worship:

A family friend and a bunch of her entire family are over in Italy right now for the 80th anniversary of the Po Valley Campaign at the end of the war. Her grandfather was a Japanese American. As a teenager, he and his entire family were interned in a concentration camp in Washington State after Pearl Harbor. While there he volunteered to fight for his country.

He was placed in the 422nd Regimental Combat Team. This was the unit made up entirely of Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans). If that unit rings a bell for you historians, yes, he was one of the soldiers who rescued the Lost Battalion of 200+ Texas National Guardsmen that were surrounded by 6,000 Germans in the mountains of France in October, 1944. They got through and wiped out the Germans when no one else could. Their motto was "Go For Broke". Five Medals of Honor were awarded to their men for that battle as well as hundreds of other medals. They suffered massive casualties. Two weeks later, the General (Dahlquist) who ordered them into battle, initially thinking they would just be cannon fodder and he'd be rid of them, ordered a dress review of the unit. When he showed up he got angry because there were only 26 soldiers standing in front of him and said: "I want all your men to stand for this formation." The commanding officer of the unit responded: "That's all of K company left, sir."

Her late grandfather didn't talk about the war. When pressed, he would just say, he was a cook in the army.

In case anyone is interested here's a History.com story on the battle: https://www.history.com/articles/jap...lost-battalion

The unit itself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_...(United_States)

Thank you, I will read that.