OT:Pre-War and War
 

Below is a picture of my uncle (wife's uncle) who served in WWII - 99 years old. He is the white haired gentleman in the middle of the picture attending the 75th D-Day honors today at Normandy. A life long Philadelphia A's fan (Foxx, Grove, Simmons era) - Earnshaw was his favorite. He had many W517s. Thank you, Dr. Robert Bair.

John, not in any way meaning to sound like a wise guy, but they're all white haired gentlemen. Seriously though, thank him for his service.

Front row, hand over heart, no hat, hair blowing, next to the young lady. No offense taken. We are honored.

Great they are receiving honors they deserver for job well done and sacrifices they made.

Excellent.

My uncle had PTSD from WWII battle, and my great uncle died at Guadalcanal. Bothered my grandmother her whole life, as he was her favorite sibling.

John, thanks for posting, and thank him for his service.

One of my neighbors when I was growing up turns 100 in a couple weeks. He was out at sea in the vicinity of Iceland when Pearl Harbor was attacked; the way he found out is they were ordered to make flank speed from Iceland to the Pacific side of the Panama Canal in case the Japanese attacked there next.

I did a lot of work with the National D-Day Foundation when they were building the monument in Bedford Va. I got to meet a few of the surviving Bedford Boys, which was a humbling experience. One of my favorite experiences was when I was writing a newsletter and got to interview the woman who had typed the D-Day invasion plans for Ike. She was awesome. She was a small town girl from the midwest and got sick of being there because "there were no boys left at home." She was a good typist and eventually found her way to Eisenhower's office (she described him as extremely courteous and a perfect gentleman). She said that each day they would lock her and Ike in a windowless cinderblock office with guards stationed outside and she would type. At the end of the day, the guard would open the door and burn the carbons...she said she typed three copies and carbon paper was the way you did it back then, kids. I asked her if she understood the enormity of the work she was doing. She said, "Heavens no...I was just worried about making a typo."

That is a great story., Thanks for sharing.


And John, thanks for this thread. We all owe a debt of gratitude to your uncle, and others, who fought for our freedom. Please thank him for his service from me too. Thanks much.

God Bless! Important Day for all of us - Thank you for his service

Jimmy

Thank You John!,

i have lived through jus touch of what these Courageous Man have...
"THEY, Are Americans!"

i have Always considered those that fell... So missed that a good part of them were left behind for us to remember to say, "Never Again!"

my hair is only half white ... :)

Oh, The Secretary's story is Awesome!