June 6, 1944 Lest we forget

[KeeperoftheBar]

Please take a moment to remember those brave souls that landed on the beaches of Normandy.

[Capt. Bacardi]

I thought I was the only one that remembered that date. Time to breakout the Longest Day.

[Merlin the Elder]

My great-aunt, according to some sources, was with a medical unit that landed, and supposedly, was one of only a handful of women to participate in the landing.  I would love to be able to confirm this somehow, or determine it to be false, so that I can scrub this from my memory banks.... anyone suggest a source of good info?

When this landing occurred, my dad was busy near Fukuoka, Japan, mining coal as forced labour (POW).

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

Working at Ft Benning I'm constantly reminded of the sacrifices American Patriots make for our country.

The Longest Day, that and Saving Private Ryan or the Big Red One sound like a plan for this evening!

Merlin- a small stat for you:

The American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach holds the remains of 9,383 servicemen and four women, their white gravestones a permanent reminder of war's terrible costs.

[Merlin the Elder]

Only 4 women...supports the information regarding few women participating in any form.

Some information I just found. It seems what I had heard was only partially correct (Thanks, Warrior Monk...you piqued my curiosity!):

"The FIRST General Hospital to reach Normandy was the 5th which stood down from operations in Britain on 7 May 1944. Lt. Colonel Maxwell G. Keeler's organization, the initial unit of its type to enter the European Theater in 1942, staged at Tidworth on 3 July 1944, waiting for its embarkation to the continent. After embarking at Southampton, England, the unit's 58 Officers, 102 Nurses, and 500 Enlisted Men, with their vehicles, came ashore at Omaha Beach on 6 July 1944 (one month after the Invasion –ed). Unfortunately, it landed without its hospital assembly, sent from England on a different vessel. Beachhead dumps were searched to no avail, until it was discovered that the equipment scheduled to be landed at Cherbourg had been held on shipboard awaiting discharge at one of the landing beaches. On the other hand, the Hospital's assigned location at St-Lô was still in German hands. On 10 July it was decided to look for another site and a low-lying field was selected near Carentan. The 5th Gen Hosp spent the next twenty-one days bivouacked with the 7th Field Hospital at Osmanville, waiting for Engineers to complete construction of its facility. In the meantime the unit detached surgical teams to First United States Army Evacuation Hospitals and sent most of its remaining Medical Officers, all its Nurses, and approximately 100 Enlisted Men to help the 12th Field Hospital with cleaning and repairs at Cherbourg. "

While she wasn't part of the initial invasion force itself, her unit (5th General Hospital) arrived a month later. Their unit did earn campaign ribbon for Normandy, among others.

[Rowan MacD]

  Amen.   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Omaha_Beach_Nowadays.jpg

At the top of the bluff overlooking Omaha near Colleville is the American cemetery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Colleville_Cemetery.jpg

[Anna Iram]

I was visiting a few sites today in remembrance. Yes, incredibly brave men and women came ashore that day. Viewing pictures from the vantagepoint of the carriers...what a horror. Don't know if I'd have had the guts to enter that battle.

[Sir Ironhead]

[brier patch charlie]

And we should not forget the actions of the Brave Men who on this same day in 1942 who fought and died at the Battle of Midway, the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

[Hoowil]

My grandfather landed in France 6 months later with the 89th, which was the first American unit to liberate a concentration camp four months after that.

[irish]

My Father was in the Third Army 457, under General George Patton, when they landed on the beaches of Normandy. He also fought in the Battle of Bastogne and Battle of the Bulge.
He was very proud of his service and died with honor, 4 years ago....

[JimsDana]

Jim's father landed! Sorry, but I do not know the details. I do know he came home.
Thank you Daddy.

[mpullen]

When this landing occurred, my dad was busy near Fukuoka, Japan, mining coal as forced labour (POW).

Very odd. On one of my submarine veterans boards discussing D-Day and Lady Astor's comments, one member mentioned his Father wasn't at the invasion, because he was mining coal in Japan on forced labor.

[Merlin the Elder]

When this landing occurred, my dad was busy near Fukuoka, Japan, mining coal as forced labour (POW).

Very odd. On one of my submarine veterans boards discussing D-Day and Lady Astor's comments, one member mentioned his Father wasn't at the invasion, because he was mining coal in Japan on forced labor.

Was he Navy as well? My dad was USAAC. I forget the camp number...I think it was #4, but I'd have to look it back up. This was about the time they were shipped over from the Philippines, so I could be off a few days as to his exact location.

[VIII]

Yep, the 'Greatest Generation' are less and less each year. I thank God every time I remember that we now have many, many of their stories, told first-person, on record for the following generations to hear.