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D-Day - 75th Anniversary

tx 3 putt

By tx 3 putt
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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 76870

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My grandmother’s brother stormed the beaches as a 17 yo, 75 years ago. Enlisted as a 16 yo. He was injured on D Day + 6 and his war was over. He went on to live a wonderful life in San Antonio. 

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tx 3 putt
tx 3 putt

I’ll repeat my family’s d day story ….. My grandmother’s brother stormed the Normandy beaches as a 17 yo. Enlisted as a 16 yo in San Antonio, July 4th, 1943. He lied and said he was 18. Marines t

tx 3 putt
tx 3 putt
ocugolf
ocugolf

Grandfather was on Omaha beach.  Enlisted at 17.  He was one of 5 from his boat to the shore.  Never talked about it until the last 5 years of his life and then it was all he would talk about.  I'd gi

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Trey3216

Trey3216 15344

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2 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

What's the definitive book on D-Day?  I'm pretty sure I've seen every film, but it would be nice to get a little more detail on the buildup and aftermath.

That's a rabbit hole that could take years to power through  

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17659

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Also, there are a group of C-47s, including the one that lead the U.S. flights on the Normandy invasion, doing a fly over tomorrow complete with paratroopers.  Should be interesting.  I've been following about 15 of them as they flew from the U.S. over to the UK.  You can follow here:

https://www.facebook.com/daksovernormandy2019/.

https://www.facebook.com/thatsallbrother/

61888494_10156994490936368_1914475938410

62088851_1620477541418198_77124113553948

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Trey3216

Trey3216 15344

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16 minutes ago, Grippe said:

My Grandfather, Alvis Hadley Jinks (born 1910 in Haskell, TX) landed with the 4th ID as a SSG.  He received his battlefield commission two days later (which he resigned after VE day).

Awesome! Thank you for that story.  

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Nueces River Rat

Nueces River Rat 5537

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50 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Also, there are a group of C-47s, including the one that lead the U.S. flights on the Normandy invasion, doing a fly over tomorrow complete with paratroopers.  Should be interesting.  I've been following about 15 of them as they flew from the U.S. over to the UK.  You can follow here:

https://www.facebook.com/daksovernormandy2019/.

https://www.facebook.com/thatsallbrother/

61888494_10156994490936368_1914475938410

62088851_1620477541418198_77124113553948

There used to be a group of vintage aircraft flyers who used to fly some of their collection from the county airport which is not too far from my home.  The sounds of the engines on these WW II planes used to give me goose bumps when they would be flying around on a nice summer Saturday afternoon.   

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17659

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31 minutes ago, Grippe said:

My Grandfather, Alvis Hadley Jinks (born 1910 in Haskell, TX) landed with the 4th ID as a SSG.  He received his battlefield commission two days later (which he resigned after VE day).

Haskell, eh?  I'll be some of my people know your people.  There's all sorts of Fucks running around out there.

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JimmyHoffa

JimmyHoffa 1188

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The shit that I can never wrap my head around is thinking back to when I was 18-20 and how I would have handled the literal hell they were heading into. Watching their friends get killed right next to them and continue to just advance into almost certain death. 

Just unreal. 

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Grippe

Grippe 310

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20 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Haskell, eh?  I'll be some of my people know your people.  There's all sorts of Fucks running around out there.

Most of the Jinks clan is SE of Dallas, around Ennis.  We completely disown and disavow any of those fuckwad bastards who live north of the Red River and changed the i to an e. Damn Sooners.

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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 76870

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43 minutes ago, JimmyHoffa said:

The shit that I can never wrap my head around is thinking back to when I was 18-20 and how I would have handled the literal hell they were heading into. 

So much this. My relative was tall for his age (16yo) so the army never questioned his age. Storming the beaches as a 17yo with men dropping left and right of you. The same guys you’ve been training with for the past year is just unreal. The day before he was shot, star and stripes took a picture of him and some other guys. 

after he was almost cut in half by a german machine gun (d day + 6), he was sent to fort Sam for his stateside rehab. All the hospital staffed liked him, so they found him a job on base and he worked there for 50 years. 

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hayden_horn

hayden_horn 11362

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3 minutes ago, Uncle Nate said:

Ok, so for 10 years (1993 - 2003) I did anywhere from 15-30 ish per day.  Quit cold turkey in July 2003.  That was the hardest thing I've ever done, but so glad I did.

Sorry to derail the D-day thread.  

i guess, i'm just saying, it wasn't just hard drinking. it was hard drinking, hard smoking, and hard eating. it just was a bit of a harder life. 

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Eastwood

Eastwood 4394

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My grandfather was part of 1st Infantry and had participated in Operation Husky and, supposedly, participated in D-Day. At least, that is what the family says. My grandfather wouldn't talk about it and directed that he be buried with his Purple Heart and other medals he had. He showed me them when I was around 5 and the Purple Heart was the only one that was distinct enough for me to remember. Every year around Memorial Day and D Day, all the research websites run specials on free searches. The only thing I can ever bring up is his draft card. Been trying to convince my dad to request his father's records from the National Archives, but haven't been able to get him to budge on it.

I hope we never see all-out war on this planet again. Especially since I am almost beyond the age to be able to fight it and it would be my son that would have to do it, instead.

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Uncle Nate

Uncle Nate 2097

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8 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

i guess, i'm just saying, it wasn't just hard drinking. it was hard drinking, hard smoking, and hard eating. it just was a bit of a harder life. 

No, I'm just kidding around.  Those guys were raised on farms doing some seriously hard manual labor sun-up to sun-down, and probably started smoking much earlier than any of us did as well.  

And hell, as a war correspondent, he probably had a lot of stress long before D-day.  The Great Depression may also have had an effect.

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BillyGoatHill

BillyGoatHill 4312

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2 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

Also, there are a group of C-47s, including the one that lead the U.S. flights on the Normandy invasion, doing a fly over tomorrow complete with paratroopers.  Should be interesting.  I've been following about 15 of them as they flew from the U.S. over to the UK.  You can follow here:

https://www.facebook.com/daksovernormandy2019/.

https://www.facebook.com/thatsallbrother/

61888494_10156994490936368_1914475938410

62088851_1620477541418198_77124113553948

They will be dropping the WWII Airborne Demonstration Team during the remembrance...https://wwiiadt.org/

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31438

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I was at a CAF airshow back a few months.  They had some guys assemble in full jump gear and then get on a C47 with their Dale Dye-looking CO.  I thought, that's kind of cute, they're playing paratrooper.

An hour or so later, the C47s fly by and drop a bunch of dudes in circular canoply chutes.  I was a bit stunned that they actually jump.

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Captainant

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http://www.fox4news.com/news/trumpet-used-on-d-day-returns-to-normandy-beach-for-75th-anniversary?fbclid=IwAR28dTVo8C0T_qG0-YCV2XXCfIefKPazlETnRGcGYrVDytt-Iypn5mBhcd4

Pretty incredible story of a trumpet used on Normany beach on the day of days finding its way back in the hands of UT's alumni band during their Normandy D-Day trip. Article in quote below.

Quote

The story starts with David Anderson, who has breathed life into lots of old, tattered and beaten instruments over the years. One trumpet he was given was a bit different.

“There’s cracks in some of the pipes. And there’s things missing. And, of course, it was not straight,” Anderson said. “There’s a lot of dents. A lot of work had to be done. It had to be just completely torn down, straightened and re-plated.”

The trumpet belonged to a young U.S. Army Sgt. Richard Wank, who lept off a Higgins boat yards from Normandy Beach on D-Day while never letting the instrument leave his grip.

“He was standing at the front of the boat and when the ramp dropped he jumped off and heard an explosion, turned around and everybody was dead,” said Jeff Wank, his grandson. “He makes it to the beach, gets shot along the way and laid on the beach for a while with that trumpet underneath him.”

Two days later still alive and clutching the trumpet, Sgt. Wank was found by medics.

“What they experienced was on a whole other level. It really was,” his grandson said.

Sgt. Wank’s family never really knew about that day in 1944 until right before his death in 2007.

“He would never say anything about it. He would never talk about it. The only thing he would ever say is, ‘It should have been me,’” his grandson said.

But Jeff Wank felt there was a legacy to share – both the story and the trumpet.

“What I was saying was, ‘You have to tell someone. You can't just keep this to yourself. This isn't just your history anymore,’” he said.

It wasn’t easy. Just handing the trumpet over to Anderson to be restored was difficult.

“He really didn't want to let it go. He told me as soon as he left... he sent a text that said, ‘I cannot believe I just let you leave with that instrument,’” Anderson said.

It took seven weeks to restore, an experience Anderson will never forget.

"Even though it's been restored, you can still see where he held his hands, just like on a firearm or something that's used a lot and held by someone a lot,” he said. "I was blown away. Just working on it was a real honor and mind-blowing experience.”

One day while working on the horn, Anderson had an idea. He knew the University of Texas Alumni Band would be performing in Normandy for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

The connection was made and the newly restored trumpet went to one of the best of the brass, Kenny Bierschenk. He chose to perform Taps.

“As a musician, we often think of music as spanning the centuries. Taps being sounded at all these military events, it's the same now as it was back in World War II. It’s the same as it was in the Civil War,” said Bierschenk, a member of the UT Alumni Band. “To be able to play Taps on a bugle or on a trumpet that was actually used to do that very same thing 75 years ago when it was still a battle zone, that's really meaningful to me.”

In fact, Jeff Wank believes that solemn song was the reason his grandfather brought the trumpet with him that fateful day. It’s likely the only song he played after being rescued from that beach.

“And I think he played Taps for his friends,” he said. "That's why he brought it over there. I'm convinced of that. He knew there were a lot of people that would not return.”

An estimated 10,000 Allied troops were killed or wounded on the beaches of Normandy.

Sgt. Wank was awarded the Silver Star.

His trumpet will be played at several events this week.

 

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MNLonghornFUKM

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The shit that I can never wrap my head around is thinking back to when I was 18-20 and how I would have handled the literal hell they were heading into. Watching their friends get killed right next to them and continue to just advance into almost certain death. 
Just unreal. 
Same. Unreal.

Also keep thinking how in hell a ww2 United states military would stack up against a modern day United states military. Ww2 wasnt that long ago but when thinking about comparing the 2 militaries now... they would seem to be hundreds of years apart.
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Nice Guy Eddie

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1 minute ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Same. Unreal.

Also keep thinking how in hell a ww2 United states military would stack up against a modern day United states military. Ww2 wasnt that long ago but when thinking about comparing the 2 militaries now... they would seem to be hundreds of years apart.

As much anyone would give the modern US military a ridiculously strong technical advantage, the WW2 military wasn't afraid of firebombing entire cities including using atomic weapons.

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Cheeseweasel

Cheeseweasel 26438

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2 hours ago, JimmyHoffa said:

The shit that I can never wrap my head around is thinking back to when I was 18-20 and how I would have handled the literal hell they were heading into. Watching their friends get killed right next to them and continue to just advance into almost certain death. 

Just unreal. 

It will happen again. Remember--WWI was the "War to end all wars". It will happen again. And young men will summon courage that they didn't know they had.

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BillyGoatHill

BillyGoatHill 4312

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4 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

What's the definitive book on D-Day?  I'm pretty sure I've seen every film, but it would be nice to get a little more detail on the buildup and aftermath.

There are others, but Stephen Ambrose's D-Day (https://stephenambrosetours.com/d-day-june-6-1944-climactic-battle-wwii/) is a damn good start......his "Citizen Soldiers" starts off with the first chapter covering D-Day also.

His book "Pegasus Bridge" covers the British 6th Airborne Division gliderborne infantry taking the small bridge in Ranville that spanned the Caen Canal. Ambrose had met (by chance) the officer ( Major John Howard) that lead the assault while on a D-Day tour in 1981. 


Major Howard led less than 100 troops to the objective and took the bridge with the loss of one man. The gliders were cut loose from their tow lines at just past midnight on June 5/6th and the three of them landed in the darkness less than 100 meters from the bridge at approximately 0016. The bridge was vital in keeping German reinforcements and especially Panzers from moving in and stopping the invasion before it ever got started. Lt. Danny Brotheridge was fatally shot in the throat as he was leading the lead elements across the bridge and he is arguably the first Allied casualty of D-Day.

If my memory serves me right, "Pegasus Bridge" was Ambrose's first book about the invasion and led to the others above along with of course, Band Of Brothers. ALL are great reads if you know anything about Ambrose's works.

 

On a side note, Major Howard (in 1962) was a consultant for Darryl Zanuck's movie "The Longest Day. Richard Todd (who actually participated in the assault on D-Day under Major Howard at Pegasus Bridge) portrays Major Howard in the film. As depicted in the film, they were relieved by Lord Lovat and his 1st Special Service Brigade the following morning after coming ashore from Sword Beach.

True to his Scottish background, Lord Lovat defied overall British orders and had his piper play his bagpipes and announce their arrival as they were coming up upon the bridge. Cocky SOB....

 

Edited by BillyGoatHill
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Dennis Taylor

Dennis Taylor 18809

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1 hour ago, Uncle Nate said:

No, I'm just kidding around.  Those guys were raised on farms doing some seriously hard manual labor sun-up to sun-down, and probably started smoking much earlier than any of us did as well.  

And hell, as a war correspondent, he probably had a lot of stress long before D-day.  The Great Depression may also have had an effect.

yeah those guys had seen some shit. and were about to see a lot more. 

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18003

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My grandfather stormed the beach on D-Day.  Would've never known about it except that it was listed on his discharge form as one of the campaigns he participated in.  He also spent time in North Africa and in Poland, IIRC, where they liberated a concentration camp. He had written a letter to my hometown newspaper about what the concentration camp was like and my grandma had the newspaper clipping.  

He only mentioned WWII once.  We were watching some war movie and he mentioned that they were coming out of a pub in England while the Germans were bombing and the dropping bombs sounded like lawnmower engines.  Movies never got the sound right.

 

Edited by CooterBrown
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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21829

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3 hours ago, JimmyHoffa said:

 

Imagine what that boat ride was like on those landing craft (aside from the rough weather and seasickness).  Knowing there was a decent chance you were about to meet your end.  Makes me shudder.

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