D-Day 80th Anniversary 2024 - June 6th, 1944

[HogHammer]

This Thursday marks 80 years since the D-Day invasion on the shores of France. To mark this occasion, I have put together several links to videos you may find interesting.  

The first, "The Light of Dawn," tells the story of Operation Overlord in great detail and the build-up to D-day by allies and German forces. It traces one of the largest military operations man has ever conceived since the summer of 1941 - when Churchill and Roosevelt first broached the issue - to June 6, 1944. The film recounts this crucial turning point in World War II, where questions of geopolitics (the difficult alliance between London, Moscow, and Washington), the various military strategies, and technological prowess, as well as the fate of the young soldiers who attacked the wall of the Atlantic, will pay a heavy price.

"The Light of Dawn" uses archival footage remastered and colorized and is directed by Jean-Christophe Rosé and was produced for France Télévisions as part of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in June 2014. This film was produced by Kuiv Productions.

The second link is to "Omaha Beach: The D-Day Cameraman Who Filmed Assault Waves on June 6, 1944."  

In order to control the photo coverage as best as possible, the US Armed Forces had specific teams of military personnel within their branches trained to take film and photographs in various situations. They would go into combat operations and cover the events where civilian journalists either wouldn’t go or couldn’t go. For the Army, these were the so-called Signal Photographic Companies within the US Signal Corps. The unit that was responsible for the coverage of D-Day on the American side was the 165th Signal Photographic Company. They were the Signal Photo Company attached to the US First Army. This link gives a little background on the important preservation of history on this important day.

The final link is to "Veterans Describe What It Was Really Like To Be A Soldier On D-Day."

The few WW2 veterans I have known never really talked about their experiences of the war until very late in their life.  It was only several months before their passing did they really tell their story.  Emotionally, it was hard to listen to, and I could see why they avoided discussing it for so long.  These veterans were known as the "Rock of Gibraltar" in the families they represented, and telling these stories and events showed a side of them you did not know existed.  This video tells the personal and emotional side of the effects of war on young men at the time of D-Day and how they reflect on these events in their senior years.

 

[Asym]

Well done.  Having grown up around WW2 combat veterans, they really never, ever said a word.....  And, if you have watched Masters of the Sky, or Saving Private Ryan or any of the other Movies, it makes a lot of sense....

Thanks for the links....  Maybe, a younger generation might just see what our Parents did (Baby Boomers) to make the world a little safer...  To them, either in the steel mills; aircraft factories; ship yards; farms and factories- well done.  To those, whom were on some part of the sharp stick it takes to make a world safer.......we salute you.

Edited June 2 by Asym

[HogHammer]

25 minutes ago, Asym said:

Maybe, a younger generation might just see what our Parents did (Baby Boomers) to make the world a little safer.

There is a VERY GOOD reason why they are called the "Greatest Generation."

They were shaped by the Great Depression and played a significant role in World War II.

[UnderTheRadarAgain]

50 minutes ago, Asym said:

Well done.  Having grown up around WW2 combat veterans, they really never, ever said a word.....  And, if you have watched Masters of the Sky, or Saving Private Ryan or any of the other Movies, it makes a lot of sense....

Thanks for the links....  Maybe, a younger generation might just see what our Parents did (Baby Boomers) to make the world a little safer...  To them, either in the steel mills; aircraft factories; ship yards; farms and factories- well done.  To those, whom were on some part of the sharp stick it takes to make a world safer.......we salute you.

Boomers are their kids. 

 

As Hoghammer said, the "greatest generation" fought in ww2, worked in the factories etc.

Their kids are the Boomers (1946 to 1964), the generation that went to Vietnam.

My mother is a boomer - born in 1947. My dad is from the "silent generation" - born in 1944.

[HamptonRoads]

58 minutes ago, Asym said:

Well done.  Having grown up around WW2 combat veterans, they really never, ever said a word.....  And, if you have watched Masters of the Sky, or Saving Private Ryan or any of the other Movies, it makes a lot of sense....

You can also add Band of Brothers, and The Big Red One to the list.  Also, Ike: Countdown to D-Day (with Tom Selleck) shows Eisenhower's planning and developing the Normandy operation.

I've been spamming this to all my email contacts:

Theirs was the greatest generation.

[HogHammer]

All of these veterans are now in their nineties and early 100s. With each passing year, the number of veterans of the most stupendous undertaking of arms against evil in world history is declining.

This 80th-anniversary commemoration may be the last major remembrance featuring living veterans. The major commemorations are held every five years, and with all the veterans in their mid-to-late 90s or early 100s, the chance of seeing anyone in five years is slim. That's why the nations that sent young men to brave the murderous gunfire to land on Normandy's beaches are going all out to celebrate the surviving veterans with special events and presentations this year.  I watched a France24 news piece on the arrival of the few veteran survivors as they entered the airport in France, and nearly all were in wheelchairs, with only a couple able to walk through the airport terminal.  

(Above - Wheelchair-bound veterans)

President Ronald Reagan gave probably the best speech I've heard on this occasion of the 40th anniversary of D-Day. Whatever you may think of him then, or today, the man could deliver a speech.  Reagan, in this speech, left no country out.  Referencing numerous countries' contributions of young brave men on that day truly represented that this was a world effort against evil. 

This link starts at the point of the speech --