Sadly many of them are well into their 90's one who was interviewed, I believe was 104.
80th Anniversary of D-Day June 6th
- Thread starter VintageBetter
- Start date
hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
yes if you look at my pictures there's a woman age 105...she looks fantastic for her age.. but this is what I was saying.. My father would be 98 now and he was only 13 when the war started
We the children of those veterans are getting older too. When we are gone there will be no one who had direct contact with these amazing veterans. Downunder we observe ANZAC Day and have done so since 1915. I'm the custodian of my (step) grandfather's letter's and photos from WW1, as well as my step father's letters from WW2.
hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
exactly right.. and then we have a big problem, because even now people under 50 have barely a clue how people fought and died for them to be able to live in freedom.. once everyone is gone who does remember, .. it'll be very worrying..
I mean look at me.. almost 70.. and I had no parent in the war... so my children and childrens' children have no clue.. and don't want to hear about it either..
When I went to grade school and even high school , WW I was taught but almost as an after thought even though it was a devasting war and a prelude for things to come. I think one reason is because the number of vets were dwindling at that time.
Of course WW II was emphasized but mainly from an American point of view. I knew little about the contributions from other countries such as Australia, New Zeeland or even Canada until I went to college. And I knew nothing about the Eastern Front until then either.
VintageBetter
Senior Member
Watch "Saving Private Ryan", the first 25 minutes. I've heard a couple of WWII vets say that is what it was really like.
VintageBetter
Senior Member
I only walked a mile to school and a mile home. And yes, it really was good exercise for us. But, things were different then. So many people had children that we usually always had someone to walk with. Can't count on that in many neighborhoods now with so many
one-child-by-choice families.
I think the average number of kids per household in our neighborhood was 5. An average of 5 kids in each middle class home.
hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
still lots of kids around here these days.. 60 years on.. because people are paid to have kids here....
VintageBetter
Senior Member
I mostly learned about WWII from movies. I don't think it was ever taught in high school. Learned the most about it from "The World at War", documentary from the BBC that was aired on PBS. Learned a little bit about The Holocaust from the TV news and newspapers, maybe some "60 Minutes" interviews with survivors, and from a couple of TV mini-series. But, again, was never taught it in high school.
IKE
Well-known Member
- Location
- Oklahoma....U.S.A.
VintageBetter
Senior Member
Must have been quite a day for all. Wonderful pictures Holly.
King Charles, Bernard Morgan and John Dennett meet together at Buckingham Palace on May 22 - before they travelled to France
Among the world leaders present were (L-R) Poland's President Andrzej Duda, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US First Lady Jill Biden, US President Joe Biden, France's President Emmanuel Macron, French President's wife Brigitte Macron, Britain's Prince William, the Prince of Wales and Australia's Governor-General David Hurley and Australian Governor-General's wife Linda Hurley
The Prince of Wales (right) joined Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (centre) and French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (left) in paying their respects to the sacrifices made by Canadians in the fight
The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (RAFAT) the 'Red Arrows' accompanied by Typhoon Display Team 'Moggy' aircraft fly over the British Normandy Memorial, Ver-sur-Mer
His Dudeness
Member
- Location
- Missouri
I've seen many interviews with Vets who say the same thing. I plan on using that footage for my classrooms.
OneEyedDiva
SF VIP
- Location
- New Jersey
Good Morning America and World News Tonight with David Muir featured stories about the D Day heroes. GMA's Lara Spencer and David interviewed some of the vets. They are in their 90's and 100's. American airlines flew them to Paris for their big anniversary. I'm so glad they were celebrated and got to tell their stories. Sadly Robert "Al" Persichitti, one of the vets who was on his way to France to take part in the celebration died on Friday. He was 102 years old.
https://abcnews.go.com/WNN/video/80th-anniversary-day-110888083
https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/world-war-ii-veteran-dies-trip-attend-day-110906300
https://abcnews.go.com/WNN/video/80th-anniversary-day-110888083
https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/world-war-ii-veteran-dies-trip-attend-day-110906300
While Saving Private Ryan may have had a realistic portrayal of the landings it's pretty much through an American lens. People who watch SPR may not realise that 40% of the troops landing at Normandy were not American.
I believe that the 1960's film The Longest Day used actual footage of the landings.
I have also heard of veterans walking out of SPR re-traumatised.
Shortly after my grandfather died I took his brother to see the Australian film Gallipoli. He found it 'harrowing', possibly because he was wounded there and had a below the knee amputation.
I believe that the 1960's film The Longest Day used actual footage of the landings.
I have also heard of veterans walking out of SPR re-traumatised.
Shortly after my grandfather died I took his brother to see the Australian film Gallipoli. He found it 'harrowing', possibly because he was wounded there and had a below the knee amputation.
That's exactly what I had in my mind when I wrote that bit about being terrified! It must have been horrifying and for men so young too.
VintageBetter
Senior Member
Well, they did get training, but can any amount of training prepare you for that? Training is much better these days, or so I have heard.
VintageBetter
Senior Member
I have watched The Longest Day and while parts of it are excellent, it seems so many stars in Hollywood wanted to be in that movie that I started to get off-put, kind of pulled out of the story, by seeing a familiar face in even minor roles.
It's like you'e watching a black & white war movie and them you think, "Oh look, there's Sal Mineo."
Makes me understand why some directors prefer casting actors who are not well-known for smaller roles and let a couple of big stars carry the box office weight of a film.
SPR only did that to me when I saw Ted Danson show up. "Oh look, it's Ted Danson." But you know what? He was good. Serious, understated, and far away from his sit-com characters. But I also thought that was kind of a risky casting choice.
My dad used to watch war movies whenever they were on. In college I learned about catharsis, how the Greeks who, to the best of our knowledge, were among the first well-known creators and promoters of Theatre, felt that the catharsis , cathartic experiences possible by watching actors tell a story the audience can relate to is a form of cleansing the mind and soul.
So, I think my dad watched a lot of war movies to help him process emotions from those days.
ON THE OTHER HAND, I met a Vet once who said he had a buddy who served in Iraq and his buddy cannot even play combat video games anymore. They are too much for him.
I spoke to another WWII Vet once, just an email, he moderated a site related to the War in the Pacific and I had looked up what I thought was my dad's ship (one of them), emailed him with a question, and he just casually mentioned that he knew a navy Veteran whose mind was mush and madness after WWII. Never could function.
There's a famous film made by John Huston, Let There Be Light, and he tried to show real G.I.s recovering from Shell Shock (PTSD). The whole film is on YouTube. I started to watch it once but it was slow, kind of depressing because it was so ancient in its treatment methodologies, but at least the government acknowledged that not everyone came back WELL.
If you've never seen The Best Years of Our Lives, that's another must-see film. It's very romanticized, very happy endings for all, but they did take a stab at the hard topics of recovering after war.
When I first saw TBYOL I was amazed that
1. an old-time film actually cast a real handicapped person and
2. Wow, there really was a time before TV in every house. How wonderful that must have been!
VintageBetter
Senior Member
Just get parent permission!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think that is why the encounter last Thanksgiving was so meaningful to me, and I hope to those young people. To my knowledge I may be the only extended family member of theirs that has combat experience. I give their parents credit for encouraging this curiosity within their families. Some things must be passed down by word of mouth. Unfortunately less of this information is coming to our recent generation in the classroom. I feel this information supersedes pronoun revision, gender identification, and revisionist history.
Mobilman44
Member
My Dad saw combat in New Guinea and the Philippines. He was a tank commander (Sgt) and ended up occupying Japan for 6 months. According to my Mom and Aunt, he had nightmares almost every night for the first few years.
He (like a lot of Vets) joined the VFW and the AMVETS and spent a lot of time there. Those were the places he could share stories and unload to others with similar experiences.
I heard the "non-horror" stories a number of times when I was a kid, but never the serious ones. However, I witnessed a couple of episodes where Dad got drunk (NOT a regular think) with some friends and he fell apart telling of some pretty horrible stuff.
One of the ones I will share here is when he was in the Philippines, in his tank, and there was a rap on the side. It was a buddy of Dad's, and he asked for a carton of cigarettes (stored in the tanks). Dad passed him a carton and immediately closed the hatch.
Right after, there was an explosion that shook the tank. Dad opened the hatch and saw just bits and pieces of his friend, who apparently got a direct hit from a mortar shell.
How in the world does someone deal with that???
He (like a lot of Vets) joined the VFW and the AMVETS and spent a lot of time there. Those were the places he could share stories and unload to others with similar experiences.
I heard the "non-horror" stories a number of times when I was a kid, but never the serious ones. However, I witnessed a couple of episodes where Dad got drunk (NOT a regular think) with some friends and he fell apart telling of some pretty horrible stuff.
One of the ones I will share here is when he was in the Philippines, in his tank, and there was a rap on the side. It was a buddy of Dad's, and he asked for a carton of cigarettes (stored in the tanks). Dad passed him a carton and immediately closed the hatch.
Right after, there was an explosion that shook the tank. Dad opened the hatch and saw just bits and pieces of his friend, who apparently got a direct hit from a mortar shell.
How in the world does someone deal with that???
TheOtherRick
Member
- Location
- Savannah Missouri
I was a negative 13 on Dday, my grandmother's cousin was there he was killed in France two weeks later, and my father blind in one eye built airplanes. My Grandfather slogged through the Pacific with the Marines.
Teacher Terry
Well-known Member
My mom said it was a miracle that everyone on both sides of the family and all their friends returned home safely after serving in WW2. They all were in Europe and saw combat. If your family member died you hung a star on your door and despite not living in a big city new stars appeared daily.
I had a thread about Google celebrating Pride rather than honoring D-Day as their daily cartoon. If you are a curmudgeon, so am I.
Timewise 60+
Senior Member
Seems like you should be wondering why your media and leaders are not using the movies and TV to educate the population about the wars and all that goes with that history!