D-Day

[MadPlumbarian]

I made a little collage last night but idk what the rules are for on here
JR

[Top-Gear-24]

I found the badge on a fleamarket a few weeks later... I couldn't pass it up.


I also remember an old man, obviously well aged but still in relatively good shape...
Standing at the side of the Promenade in Aromanches dressed in a WW2 uniform and some medals ...
Smiling from ear to ear while watching families walk on by...
I still regret not shaking his hand and thanking him for his service. But the image is burned in my mind...

The US graveyard is... Undescribable.
But let's not forget the German one either. It's massive too, and most of them were husbands, sons, fathers and brothers too, made to choose between fighting a war that wasn't theirs, or to die in a work camp.
I can not respect their side of the battle, but their deaths touch me none the less.

Back in '94, me and my friends were visiting the American Cemetery near Ohama Beach when a man (guess he was about 70 years old) came up to us and started talking to us, he said he was in a plane and was shot down a mile from the coast or so ... He kept talking for about 10 minutes and I remember how my friends and I were in tears from hearing what this man went through just so we could be free ...

And you're right about the German side of the story, a lot of them were also just victims of the crazy ideology of a few ... 

[MadPlumbarian]

I’d sooo like to just sit down with our neighbor and talk with him, he’s pushing 89 I think, and I think he’d want to talk because every time we’ve gone over and sat with him he’s got military books in his living room, heck he’s even got a pair of these huge old school navel binoculars sitting in his living room window, but I don’t want to push the subject,
JR

[Top-Gear-24]

I’d sooo like to just sit down with our neighbor and talk with him, he’s pushing 89 I think, and I think he’d want to talk because every time we’ve gone over and sat with him he’s got military books in his living room, heck he’s even got a pair of these huge old school navel binoculars sitting in his living room window, but I don’t want to push the subject,
JR

That's not an easy decision, you want to hear his stories and maybe he is waiting for someone to tell them to, but on the other hand, who knows which "old wounds" get opened up again ... 

Edit: The fact that he has a lot of military books in his living room makes me think that he might just want to tell his story to somebody.

[MadPlumbarian]

That's not an easy decision, you want to hear his stories and maybe he is waiting for someone to tell them to, but on the other hand, who knows which "old wounds" get opened up again ... 

It’s just a total idk, but I also want to make him a hanky out of respect, and since he goes to breakfast once a month with a few of his vet buddies, I’d like to make a few so he could hand them out, this is the design I was thinking of,
JR

[Top-Gear-24]

It’s just a total idk, but I also want to make him a hanky out of respect, and since he goes to breakfast once a month with a few of his vet buddies, I’d like to make a few so he could hand them out, this is the design I was thinking of,
JR

I think that looks great  .

Here's a pic from my Free P4 with a commemorative keychain I bought in Normandy back in '94, I bought one of them for myself and the other one (the one in the pic) was a gift to my grandmother, I got it back a couple of years ago after she passed away.  My mother and her brothers were clearing out my grandmother's possesions and she still had that keychain on her frontdoor keys, my mother thought it was best if it came back to me ...

[Mechanickal]

Awesome badge!

[MadPlumbarian]

Awesome badge!

+1!
JR

[Top-Gear-24]

+1!
JR

Thanks guys  .

[ToolJoe]

Is this it  ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utlg3Zjyyuc

Thanks for posting that. I watched it earlier tonight and great documentary.. 

[pomsbz]

My grandfather was there. In an interesting twist my business partner's grandfather was also there, fighting for the other side.