Today in history

To all WW2 Veterans

did my bit for Remembrance.. Sat up all night watching the Longest Day and playing the Theme Song on the ol' 8-track til the wee hours.. Neighbour's cat seemed to be quite thrilled... sang along for quite a bit of the tune..

Funny, the guy next door was not his usual smiling self when I shouted " Good Morning ! " as he was heading off to work...

There's a parade set for today and I'm heading off, with the Good Padre, to watch the ' new crop ' salute the veterans at a special event in honour of the momentous occasion.. as it is only right..

Will shed a tear, hoist a beer and honour them as they deserve...

I hope you have a good Parade we will probley have a Code Pink demonstration down here or some Human Rights org.protesting looking for un-human treatment of WW2 POW's but they won't check the Nazi or Japanese.

Rocketeer

Please don't tell me you still have a JJ 8-track box. God bless those men.

Typhoon:

what I have is a collectors' item.. I scrounge garage sales for the..as the younguns call it these days - software for the unit..

It is a beaut.. Fine faux grain veneer over fibreboard..flip top hinged lid that conceals a radio [ AM and FM! ] and an 8-track all in black and chrome plastic.. with slots to sort the cartridges next to the player...I have Mantovani and Herb Alpert and the complete works of Glen Campbell all in the original sleeves!! I just know that Antiques Roadshow will assess it at a very high value...

but...I mustn't brag.. We're here to honour the Vets of WWII who on D-day set out to liberate Europe from the clutches of the Nazi regime.. a task this world cannot fathom in most cases and one which, I hope they never will have to repeat...

I was privileged to be at Juno Beach in 2000/01, when the Good Padre dedicated a new monument to the fallen in Normandy and I stood at low tide on the sand with one of the ' lads' who had landed that day... we were staring back at the shore and rows of houses, which hadn't changed much in all the intervening years..

He stood still and quiet for a few moments just looking up at the breakwall and the expanse of beach from the water's edge.. He turned to me and said: " The wall looked a hell of a lot farther away the last time I was here. "

Later that evening I sat with four of the boys who came ashore [ one of whom lost his brother on the assualt - they signed on and served together through to the landing ]as they talked for the first time in many a year about the landing and the day....civvie street will never understand what is forged from those experiences and the ones being made today in Afghanistan and Iraq...

got to go now... I'm tearing up.. oh, yeah... the parade was marvellous some of those old codgers can still step off lively even with their frames bent low by the chestsfull of medals and the advancing arthritis..

I'll see if I can post a few shots from the trip back then... I know there's a website still out there...

Found it!!...

just proves that nothing is ever lost on the internet..hate to think what's out there on me..afraid all sorts of red lights and sirens will go off, if I google myself...

anyway..here are some photos from the 2000 trip to dedicate graves and monuments in France back in Y2K..

go to:

www.stephen-roberts.com

then scroll down to the Toronto Scottish capbadge icon and click on it...


then scroll down to the tag [ left side ] marked OP TRIUMPH and click on it...

then scroll down and click on the French flag icon..

if you have the patience to do all that, you'lll get to the photties and stuff...

you'll eventually find the Good Padre doing her stuff and a whole bunch of guys in " skirts " marching and such...

but don't tell anyone...

Great men doing great things

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Coachman,

Rocketeer

It's a good thing I brought some candles and extra flashlights. That was quite a trip. God bless those men.

Someone sent me this link. Thought I'd share--

Photo Essay of D-Day

http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/normandy/pictures.html