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By Nerdy Wonka of the Obama Diary
Pete Souza: A WW2 veteran greets President Obama with a kiss at Normandy
President Obama hugs and walks with WWII Veteran Kenneth Rock Merritt during the 70th commemoration of DDay
Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)But hate, lies and derision, the press is good with that.....
Tsiyu
(18,186 posts)for caring about our veterans.....even the ones who aren't perfect ...it shows
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Last edited Sat Jun 7, 2014, 06:30 PM - Edit history (1)
American assault troops injured while storming Omaha
On D-Day, US casualties totaled 1465 dead, 3184 wounded, 1928 missing & 26 captured and 2499 were from the US airborne troops.
http://www.chacha.com/question/how-many-american-soldiers-were-killed-on-the-d%26%2345%3Bday-invasion-of-normandy
More numbers here:
The cost of the Normandy campaign was high for both sides. From D-Day to 21 August, the Allies landed 2,052,299 men in northern France.[13] The Allies suffered 209,672 casualties from 6 June to the end of August, including 36,976 killed, 153,475 wounded, and 19,221 missing. The British, Canadians, and Poles suffered 16,138 killed, 58,594 wounded, and 9,093 missing, for a total of 83,825 casualties.
The Americans suffered 20,838 killed, 94,881 wounded, and 10,128 missing, for a total of 125,847 casualties.[13]
The Allies lost 4,101 aircraft and 16,714 airmen killed or missing.[13] Allied tank losses have been estimated at around 4,000, of which approximately half were fighting in American units.[14]
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Overlord&printable=yes#Allies
TRIGGER WARNING: Numbers and terms don't tell the full story.
A friend whose husband was a paratrooper who was part of D-Day, told me the horrific details of what that day was like. Some stuck with me.
He told her how some of the soldiers, seeing their comrades jump out of the planes being shredded by German gunfire or blown to pieces, dead before they hit the ground, didn't want to jump into that meat grinder.
That gives a meaning to the euphemistic acronym, MIA or missing in action. They were not missing in terms of having left or being lost from their crew mates. Their bodies were missing just like a tiny bird blown to bits by a gunshot blast. They were so vulnerable, and they were some mother's child.
Those who were not there or not in warfare, nor have family to would tell them the facts, as they seldom talk about it, have a hard time grasping just how hideous this all was.
This man was assigned the task of pushing those who resisted jumping out of the plane before jumping himself. He felt guilty, as some of them were blown apart soon afterwards.
He also said how he shot a man in a German uniform who approached his guard post at night and didn't respond to his calls for him to identify himself or say what he wanted.
I'm guessing the man did not speak English or was somehow too upset or afraid to speak. He turned out to be an unarmed, but tall young boy and he cried when he saw what he'd done, but had no time to grieve anything.
The guilt, the horror and the fear from war stole his sleep and turned him into an angry alcoholic who spent many months over the years in VA hospitals before he died. There is a lot of unknown suffering behind all of these wars.
One report I read last night was of a veteran at yesterday's ceremony who wouldn't be dissuaded from 'giving Obama a piece of his mind.' Later he was caught by the same reporter who titled his entry that way and he asked him what did he say to the President. He said he 'thanked Obama for keeping us out of war.'
IMO, he fully knew why.
Thanks, Obama.
SunSeeker
(51,369 posts)bearssoapbox
(1,408 posts)"One report I read last night was of a veteran at yesterday's ceremony who wouldn't be dissuaded from 'giving Obama a piece of his mind.' Later he was caught by the same reporter who titled his entry that way and he asked him what did he say to the President. He said he thanked Obama for keeping us out of wars.
And he fully knew why."
That's when I broke down.
You're never the same after you kill someone. No matter what the reason. But you do what you have to do to survive.
When you're that young, you haven't really had that much experience with someone close to you dying. The first for many was having a friend die next to you and in your arms.
There's a lot of guilt.
My wife's Dad was at Omaha and his brother was at Normandy.
My Dad was in Korea.
Vietnam and SE Asia was a clusterfucked mutherfucker.
I share the same thoughts of that WWII vet.
Thanks President Obama.
So much I want to say but I can't because of crying.
You never know what's going to start that memory shit.
To fallen comrades.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)My dad was a bit old for WW2, but left his job to come home after Pearl Harbor. He signed up to save his two older brothers from having to go. All of them were married, but my dad hadn't had children yet and they did.
He told me things years later, but only on occasion. He'd worked on jobs through the New Deal and didn't want to go to war, but became a Seabee. He sent back many letters and photographs, and some of them were of him saluting in his uniform, very happy in those pictures, I was struck by what looks like innocence.
First he and his crew through the Philippines Islands. Then through what was variously named as Indonesia, Indochina and Pupua New Guinea, getting closer to their goal of the Japanese mainland.
Finally through China itself to clean up the carnage left by the retreating Japanese. They were fierce fighters to the death, from what he described happened in the islands. While he was in China, the war ended and he came home. He had no hatred for them, but then he was never a POW.
He was very grateful for those who helped him and saved his life from attacks as they slept on the beaches between days of building airstrips and outposts and the fighting with those who were determined to hold on island by island. The world was changed by what they did, just as the veterans on D-Day did.
BTW, the part where my post reads 'And he fully knew why' is my opinion. Sorry again.
bearssoapbox
(1,408 posts)Thanks for your response. Deeply appreciated. No need to be sorry.
Sometimes you never know what kicks memories. Most of the time I've observed D-Day and other patriotic holidays, without a problem.
It's just that this year I've been in communication with a couple of friends that I haven't heard from in over 35 yrs. Through other friends they heard about my health problems and wrote and called to wish me well and give support.
We've had some heavy phone calls over the past few weeks, including yesterday, and I guess this weekend has hit me a bit hard.
It's been a wicked year and a half and it was good to hear from them. We plan on getting together once I get out and about.
Great story about your Dad. Seabees were/are brave, often times worked in hellish conditions, and THEY WERE FAST at building what was needed, when needed.
'And he fully knew why'...Good comment.
Firebrand Gary
(5,044 posts)Especially after witnessing the service of Dr Maya Angelou and then reading this post. Yes, yes indeed my heart is full.
dhill926
(16,234 posts)thanks for these.
No Vested Interest
(5,156 posts)of his own grandfather, who also fought in WWII.
onethatcares
(16,133 posts)is that so many of those troops were but 17, 18, 19 years old.
Think about that for a minute and picture your own life at that age.
Those MEN had heart and courage to even begin to enter that war machine let alone keep moving forward as the
person next to them were cut in two or blown up.
Now count how many of our so called representatives have enlisted and faced enemy fire and you'll
understand why they can cut veterans benefits.