In Remembrance: D-Day

[wyntrout]

Let us not forget the men and women who gave their all so that we wouldn't be speaking non-elective German today and wondering if our children would turn us in to the Geheime Staatspolizei for speaking ill of the government.
Wynn

[wyntrout]

After Wifey goes to work, I'm thinking of putting my Blu-Ray copy of The Longest Day on for the afternoon. A lot of those actors have passed on and maybe Saving Private Ryan is more "realistic," but some of those TLD actors were real heroes and giants in life as well as cinema, having fought in or contributed to that great effort to stop world tyranny.
Wynn

[jlottmc]

Good call Wynn. I sit here at work, so the flicks will have to wait. We need more remembrance for this day, IMO. WWII Vets, as well.

[wyntrout]

You need a good pole Wynn, and a proper install of such a device...:D

I moved this from Video Of Cops.... To here:

I used SS screws to mount the galvanized(?) steel canopy base... basically a four inch or so long, one-inch or better inner diameter cylinder welded to a four inch or so circular plate of steel with three holes for mounting and an eyelet screw in the side for securing the pipe and for attachments. I mounted this to the sawed off section where a large branch had been pruned from a giant oak tree out front with the proper orientation for good display of the flag toward the street.
In retrospect, I guess it WAS rather temporary, but it did serve its purpose for almost THIRTEEN YEARS! What was I thinking!?? I have more of those that aren't doing anything, so I could use another of those or maybe find something a little less "temporary". The piece of duct pipe looks good for another 20 years or so, but the flag won't last much longer. Most of the "flag kits" are crummy with thin cheap steel rods that won't last long... and especially the "mounts" from the same or lesser metal.. with maybe a thin zinc coating. Jeez... enough about this. I just can't stop!

I did watch The Longest Day... so many familiar faces and at the end familiar names. The Blu-Ray was kind of disappointing, but I guess they stuck to the theatrical screen aspect/ratio, rather than try to fill the 1080P screen, which would require dropping parts of the original screen. It was letter boxed, but probably higher resolution than I would have had with the regular DVD. The sound was upgraded.
Some of the super-impositions... green or blue-screen stuff today, looked too hokey, but it was probably what they had then... 1962!
It was still a decent flick and it was interesting, too, to see the contributing people listed at the end... most of the German Generals depicted in the movie and even Frau Rommel! It was nice to see that not all of them had perished in the war.
We could have easily lost that war, had some of those generals been able to get Hitler's handler to wake him up and get the support they desperately needed. Well, maybe not the WAR, but that battle could have gone the other way. We had our buddies the Rooskies and our Chinese friends, so we would have prevail before too much longer.
But... the right side triumphed.
Dang! I started the thread, but I thought that I was on the D-Day post! Talk about wandering... a bit long for scenting, but straying a bit. I forgot to go outside and look at the label on the door to see where I was. Mea culpa. Es tut mir Leid, aber nicht wirklich.
Wynn

L. My fault. Ger. I'm sorry, but not really. (I didn't want to break any rules about them furrin' languages and such)
__________________

[wyntrout]

Okay, don't ever say I let photo opportunities go by... chances for posting pictures, that is.
I took a picture of the canopy base I was talking about and then the flag's pole and the "stretcher' and anti-fouling gear that I cobbled together. I know it doesn't have a proper finial, but it WAS a "temporary" mount for the flag.
Oh, the flag was dry, so I put it away until Flag Day the 14th.
Wynn:D

[wyntrout]

Speaking of photos, here are some of the rusted and failed flag pole mount. When it gave way to the weight of the rain, it lowered the flag to a horizontal position instead of dumping it on the ground.
After the rain yesterday, I thought my camera would fog up immediately. That happens too ofter going from air conditioning to the high humidity outdoors.
That mount is going to be messy when I try to remove it. The tree has grown over one of the screws.
Wynn:D

[deadhead1971]

my grandfather served in WW2 in North Afrika and Italy. He died 21 years ago before I was old enough to get a lot of info out if him.

Is the National Archives the place to go to research soldier service records like you do for Civil War soldiers? I need to find out more of what he did over there.

[wyntrout]

All I can say is use Google and see what you can get. There will be a lot of fee-based sites, but you may be able to find out a lot using his service number, when and where he enlisted, and what units he served in. His discharge papers (DD Form 214?) should give some idea of what his job was.
My father worked on airplanes in the South Pacific...Guadalcanal, Papua, & New Guinea. I was born 9 months after the war ended for him... among the first of the "Baby Boomers".
Good luck.
Wynn:yo:

[jlottmc]

You're a stinker Wynn. That should be a good place to start there deadhead, the MOS designator will tel you much more and it should be on his discharge papers.

[wyntrout]

A stinker? <sniff> I'm SCENTSitive, you know.
Wynn:behindsofa::popcorn::D

[jlottmc]

Yeah I got that. I still say you're a stinker. I can smell you in TX.

[wyntrout]

Dang, do you say that because I said to Google "online military records"... that gets you a lot of options, of which is the one he asked about ~ #2. I think my answer was correct and fundamentally good for finding any information. I wasn't being rude, a lot of people don't understand that they have essentially the Library of Congress and any other information source at their fingertips. A computer and a good search engine can find you almost anything... and for enough green stuff, you CAN find anything.
I WAS trying to be helpful, and I'm a "stinker"?... is that a racist remark because I have black fur with a broad white stripe down my back??<sniff> Are you bigoted and do you make judgments based on a person's appearance?<sniff>
Wynn:blushing:

[Chief Joseph]

You have to wonder how long will it take until our "liberal" educators rewrites history again and the "revision" will start teaching our kids that WE were the invaders that day.

[jlottmc]

This is a good question. Wynn, I called you a stinker because it fits, all over this place you hijack threads. I'll hand you this you're consistent you hijacked your own thread. :p Now we should be having fun. As for the information, you get lucky now and again...:D

[deadhead1971]

I have done a lot of genealogy research but not any WW 2 research (mostly civil war & census records). Grandpa left us grandkids some German souvenirs--like an MP-40....:) just kiddin'. My cousins got the German uniform buttons, someone got the German field binoculars, and I got a German bayonet which fits on some type of bolt-action rifle (mauser?)

[jlottmc]

It would be nice to research that, if for no other reason than to pay homage to his service.