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[appalachiablue]

This message was self-deleted by its author (appalachiablue) on Mon Jun 3, 2019, 07:09 AM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[cilla4progress]

1. Got to go last year

on a trip with 3 other couples. Sobering. War is so dumb.

[appalachiablue]

2. For thousands of people anxiously awaiting liberation

and rescue from all over Europe, listening to news of Allied advances on the radio or from the resistance, like Anne Frank and so many others, the war was deadly serious. A matter of life and death.



Anne Frank and Bergen Belsen concentration camp where she was imprisoned and died in 1945.

[Staph]

3. I visited the same places in 2001

with my then 78 year old mother. Dad passed away in 2000; he had been in the Army Air Corps and was training as an engineer. Then in 1943, he caught scarlet fever, that turned into rheumatic fever and damaged his heart valves, and got him a medical discharge. (Tough guy, to survive for 57 years with a damaged heart - that ended up as the cause of his death. But I digress!)

What really got to me was listening to my Mom talk about the war, for the first time that I really remember. About the young men who trained near her home, on Seneca Rocks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_Rocks), to prepare for the assault on Italy. About some of Dad's friends who were in the assault on Normandy, and about the one friend who didn't come back.

It was sobering, and emotional, and a wonderful way for me to get to know Mom as a person and not just my mother.

[appalachiablue]

4. That's great you learned so much first hand from your mom,

the way to do it. We travelled through Paris with mom who was a trooper and a culture lover but we didn't have time for Normandy unfortunately. She and my sister had travelled to England and one site they really enjoyed seeing, especially mom, was Churchill's home, Chartwell. It was mom who told us the most about their war experiences, she was great that way. My older brother also was interested in history and relayed a good deal of Dad's experiences.

Looking back I suppose we thought there would always be more time. And besides thoughtless and young, we were (too) busy. Your dad sounds like a very hardy person, that's terrific. Our dad lived to senior years but died fast from advanced disease much too young. The war had something to do with that although he never regretted serving of course. He never even got to see the WWII Memorial in DC, only finished about 10 years ago. No time like the present!

I think we went to well known Seneca Rocks once and young ones in the family like to hike there. I've read how US army special mountain troops used the area to prep for the Alps in Europe. I've been through there some in college- Bavaria, Switzerland, No. Italy in summertime, a very beautiful and scenic mountain area which reminded me somewhat of W.Va.

[appalachiablue]

5. Vets into their 90s, events held every 5 yrs., this may be the last time,

>"Ceremonies are held every five years, and this will likely be the last time D-Day veterans will attend. It’s hard not to see this year’s ceremony as the end of a cycle of history—one that began with the Allies, led by the United States, turning the course of war here in Normandy and ended with the president of “America First,” who has made questioning the transatlantic alliance a pillar of his presidency...https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/06/visiting-omaha-beach-d-day-75-anniversary/590788/

[BigmanPigman]

6. Went there in 1997 and no one could explain what

those giant caissons were and how come they didn't sink if they could make a false harbor and load troops and transportation on them. I had to figure it out when I got home.

[appalachiablue]

7. You mean the temporary Mulberries, harbors, and Phoenix

piers I think. Staff should have been able to help with that question- military engineers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulberry_harbour

[BigmanPigman]

8. Yes, those.

I was on a tour with a group. There were a lot of teachers and men but none could answer that question. It was very frustrating for me.

[appalachiablue]

9. Many people likely wanted to know the same as well. Strange that

nobody could answer that one...