Lest we forget

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

June 6th, 1944 D Day. I will lift a dram of single malt scotch, to salute and honor all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice on that day and all the days that followed God bless them all.

[JHCC]

My first cousin (twice removed) Eugene Mead Caffey was one of the first soldiers to come ashore at Utah Beach. For his extraordinary heroism as acting deputy commander of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade on that day, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

After the war, he returned to his earlier work in the JAG Corps, eventually rising to the rank of major general and the position of Judge Advocate General of the US Army. He took early retirement after civil rights organizations protested his remarks to the Georgia General Assembly in support of racial segregation.

After leaving the Army, he moved to New Mexico and practiced law, including substantial pro bono work for the Public Defender's office. My dad met him there on a trip out west with a friend from college. He died in 1961.

[Scott NC]

  I'll put my flag out, thanks for posting.

[JHCC]

2 hours ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

a dram of single malt scotch

Wouldn't a glass of Calvados be more appropriate for Normandy?

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Not according to my ex-father-in law, who was French and fought with the Free French Army after Dunkirk. He always praised the units of the British Army, made up of mostly Scotsmen, who never backed up from a fight, unlike the French. He immigrated to the U.S. after the war with his family. Also I have no brandy but a couple bottles of single malt scotch which is reserved for special occasions.

[Frosty]

I'll toast the men of D-Day living and gone with a dram of scotch myself. Never forget is too simple a statement but it's the best I can do. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

I’ll toast a cold brew after work today, there’s fewer an fewer ww2 vets left in my area every year,

[George N. M.]

There are not many old men left who, as young men, watched the coast of Normandy loom up out of the smoke and dust in the dawn of 78 years ago.  If you find one, thank him.

There aren't any militaries today, including the US, who could pull this off today, without a couple years preparation.  There just aren't enough landing craft and other amphibious ships like LSTs around.  And the logistic support for Overlord was huge.

I knew a guy in Ft. Morgan who had jumped into Normandy with the 101st Airborne on D -1 and jumped in again for the 50th anniversary in 1994.  He's gone now, unfortunately.

Respectfully and thoughtfully,

George

[ThomasPowers]

My father once had an Engineer working for him who had been part of the logistical support for D Day; in particular getting all the soldiers shipped by train from where they were to the ports they would leave from.  Decades later he still had a encyclopedic grasp of the British train system(s); stations, how long it was from one to another. etc.

 

[George N. M.]

There is an old saw about military operations:  "Amateurs think about tactics, professionals think about logistics."

GNM

[anvil]

Ever been curious as to what the "D" in D-Day stands for? I was curious last night. It stands for "day". 

One uncle lost his leg on D+2, another survived the Batan Death March and internment in Japan. My Dad was an air force pilot and did the "Big Three", WW2, Korea, and three tours in Viet Nam flying C-130's. He sent a tape of him on the flight line at Khe San recording incoming and describing the C130 hulk's littering the edges of the airfield. I always hoped that during my two times in Nam that he and I would meet and share a moment in time. 

God Bless them one and all, may they rest in peace. 

[ThomasPowers]

I just received word than my Grandfather, a Marine who survived the Battle on Iwo Jima, is going into hospice.  I'll be taking off to drive my Mother and I see him probably next week.  It's unlikely he will get to commemorate another VJ day.