June 6, 1944

[. - .... .- -. ....]

D-DAY..the largest invasion in history. The turning point of WWII. Some of your grandfathers might have fought bravely on the beaches of Normandy on that rainy and cold day.

Anybody have any family members that fought in Normandy? Are they still alive? Do they ever talk about it?



"As our boat touched sand and ramp went down I became a vistor to hell."
Pvt. Charles Neighbor
29th Division
Omaha Beach

[dylman]

My grandfather passed away last year, he was a chief petty officer on HMS Repulse, one of the last British battlecruisers, sunk in the Pacific in 1941. He spent four years in a POW camp in Burma, so he was elsewhere on D-Day.

RIP

[excracked]

one Grandfather was a bomb expert and the other was in the Royal Navy I dont know anymore than that as they don't talk about it.
Respect to all our forefathers for Keeping us free and great.

[eleet-2k2]

Originally posted by ethan_h
D-DAY..the largest invasion in history. The turning point of WWII. Some of your grandfathers might have fought bravely on the beaches of Normandy on that rainy and cold day.

Anybody have any family members that fought in Normandy? Are they still alive? Do they ever talk about it?



"As our boat touched sand and ramp went down I became a vistor to hell."
Pvt. Charles Neighbor
29th Division
Omaha Beach

Both my grandfathers are dead and no they did not fight in any way (not to my knowledge anyway).

[Bilbo Baggins]

My family did not take part in the Normandy Landings, although they were involved in the war effort:

My moms dad, and her grandad (my grandad and great grandad) were both workers on the Railways, and so were essential to the home war effort. My grandad was a repairmen, and my great grandad was a train driver, who used to take cargo to London during the Blitz (he had to go at night).

My great uncle, also on my moms side was a Naval Officer in the Pacific for the British fleet, and was amongst the first Allied soldiers to enter Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the Americans had nuked them.

On my fathers side, all the men took part in the war, though they were present in the south of Europe i think. My dads dad was in one of the Parachute regiments.

[Sandman2012]

Both of my grandfathers have passed on, and I only know a little of their part in WWII. My paternal grandfather fought in the war, but I don't know if he was at Normandy. My maternal grandfather was an American from New York City who moved to England and joined the Royal Air Force before America got involved in the war. Some soldiers were being quartered in civilian houses at the time, and such was the case with my grandfather. A teenage girl named Peggy living in this house fell in love with the dashing young pilot and after the war they married. She moved to New York with him and they gave birth to my mom and her two sisters. They remained married until his death 15 years ago.

[Huehuetenango]

although both of my grandfather's faught in the war, neither was involved in d-day
my mom's dad wasn't b/c he was in a pow camp, and had been for a quite a while (he'd lied about his age, joined when he was 17, captured that year, turned 18 in a prison camp)
the other: he fell in the pit at a car servicing place, and broke his leg just before the landing, so he didn't take part

[BMWboy]

One of my grandfathers was a marine in the pacific campagin, which saw some of the fericest battles in the war(kinda tough fighting an enemy who isn't afraid to die) He was in the first wave of marines on the beach at Guadalcanal, where he fought until the enemy was subdued, and he was in the first wave in either Iwo Jima or Okinawa, not sure which. anyway, he was there (wherever "there" was) for about three weeks, when he went home and became a Marine Drill Seargent. I know so little about him because he died when my father was 18, and He didn't talk much about his experinces to his wife or sons. also, most of his records were destroyed in a large fire during the '60s at the storage building for the records. It took myself, my father, and his two brothers(mainly myself and my father) about 2 years to piece together this much(mainly form old letters my Grandmother had, and a few surviving records. It took us almost 3 months just to figure out what division he was in. My other Grandfather (who passed away last september) was an aircraft mechainic on at anArmy Air Corp base in England for most of the war, and later on was stationed at, of all places, Roswell New Mexico. He left the Army Air Corp(might have been Air Force by then) about two weeks after the "Flying Saucer" incident.

[Xerxes]

One set of my grandparents actually first met in the Pentagon. My grandmother was an army secretary, my grandfather was in the airforce administiring security. As both of these were desk jobs, niether were involved in D-Day.



It bears mentioning my great uncle, Major Thomas Ferebee, (standing row 3rd from the left), was the bombardier on the Enola Gay (Which carried the first atomic bomb to japan). His activation of a couple switches ended the lives of tens of thousands of japanese.

The second bomb ended WWII.

[rm']

Neither of my grandfathers fought in any war, although it is likely that my maternal grandfather did road construction work for the Allies in India, as he was a contractor. My father was a medical volunteer (he was in med school at the time) during Bangladesh's War of Independence.

[binary hero]

one grandfather (on my mum's side) was a royal marine sniper, who was not in the d-day landings, but was sent in later. the other was a private in the navy, and was near australia at the time of the landing (i don't know why)