Remember

I had forgot until I hit the blogroll this morning. Thanks ThunderPig.

Today is June 6, 2008, 64 years since the Allied Invasion at Normandy. D-Day, Operation Overlord.

Estimates are 2,500 to 3,000 Allied Soldiers lost their lives on those beaches, and another 7,000 to 7,500 were injured. It was the beginning of the end.

D-Day and WWII are important to me on many levels. But the real personal level is because of family ties. On my mother's side of the family, I have a Grandfather and Great Uncle who both served in Europe during WWII. My Grandfather was a 1st Sergeant and was supposed to lead a a motorcade off of the boats onto the beaches of D-Day. However, when they got across the Channel, somehow orders were confused and they were sent back to England. Two or three days later he crossed the Channel again and went into France. My Great Uncle served in the Army and, during the Battle of the Bulge, was captured by the Nazis. At 19, he would spend the next 5 months of his life in a German P.O.W. camp. Finally, after losing 100 pounds, taking 1 cold group shower only to return to the same clothes that were waiting out in the snow, drinking coffee made from blackened barley, and eating a constant diet of bread made of 20% sawdust, their camp was liberated by the English 5th Infantry.

We have parts of my Grandfather's uniform, we brought it from Iowa to Illinois when we moved Grandma here following his passing in October, 2004. The Great Uncle is still alive and living in Iowa. He still has the uniform that was given to him by the English upon their Liberation, including the boots. He also still has the pocket bible that he had when captured. It was the only bible in their prison camp area. For him, it took 40 years to even talk about what happened there, and since then, he has become a prominent veterans advocate in the Des Moines area, and served on the committee to establish the country's first WWII Veterans Memorial, and served as Master of Ceremonies at its dedication.

From a website about the Iowa Memorial, there is this description of my Uncle: "An infantryman who served in many skirmishes in the European Theater before being captured in the Battle of the Bulge, after which he was held captive in a German POW camp for nearly six months before being liberated at the end of hostilities. Bruce is well known for his keen sense of humor and his ability to see the lighter side of any situation. He has provided us with the authoratative recipe for "WW II Black Bread", a staple of the POW camp diet as well as his formula for the effective treatment of disentary. Click here for the details." There is also some pictures of some ceremonies held at the memorial. My uncle is the third from the right, in the trench coat without a belt. In the bottom picture, he is second from the right in the black leather coat.

The amazing thing about the Iowa Memorial is that it was the first State Memorial in the country, and was completed 7 years before the National WWII Memorial in Washington D.C.

My Uncle and 11 other Iowa WWII Veteran's stories were chronicled in a book and play completed by two Iowa State University Theatre Professors. The book "Heroes Among Us" is based on interviews conducted by the professors, who also wrote a script based on the interviews and made a stage show that premiered on the 60th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.


So, on this Anniversary of the beginning of the end, we all need to remember to say "Thank You" to the "greatest generation" for their sacrifices.

And while we are at it, make sure to say "Thank You" to every Veteran you meet.



From me to Grandpa, Uncle, and all of our Veterans. THANK YOU.