God Bless them all - “The Greatest Generation,” indeed.

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I have a few friends taking part in the celebrations in Normandy today. My Step-Grandfather went across Utah on something like D +15 or D +20. I don’t know much about his service, but I believe his Engineer Company was attached to units involved in the Battle of the Bulge. He cried when he told stories  of walking through France and into Germany. One story went that a French family gave him a piece of bread in appreciation for what they were doing. The bread was so hard and stale, he couldn’t cut it with his combat knife.

One of many who personally inspired me to serve - Zeb Odell Dorsett.

I have been lucky to have been there twice, once in 85 and again in 94, just after the "celebration" but there was still a lot of commemorative things going on.  Must see if any of you get there.  The cemetery will leave you speechless and Point du Hoc (sp) as well.

Well, I know where my dad was that day..
Kicking back on the beach with a bunch of his buddies
Maybe not exactly "kicking back"
He was a combat medic with the 90th, was called forward because of expected casualties to the 4th.
We owe those brave souls everything most take for granted.
I couldn't do the Army thing tho
Went Navy like my uncles

I guess this is retro.  Today marks the beginning of the last time these two rifles and the men that carried them would square off.  Both firearms represent the best of the era.  Real wood, milled steel and hand fitting.  I hate to use the pun, but they don't make them like they used to.  Pictured here is the US Rifle, Cal .30 M1 Garand made by Winchester in 1944.  This M1 is still in the original WWII configuration minus the sling.  Pictured below it is a Mauser-Oberndorf K98k, 8mm Mauser produced in 1944 as well.  The Mauser is 100% original and all matching. Attached File

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This was a good and different take on D-Day, looking at the importance of the seaborne component or "Armada" of 7,000 ships carefully orchestrated by Bertram Ramsay - logistics winning wars.

Its important to note that D - Day and Operation Bagration (the largest land offensive ever under taken) were designed to put the German forces in an unbreakable vice.  

These two pivotal, strategically linked operations were planning and logistics masterclasses and led to the demise of Germany within 11 months.

“John has a long mustache”


RCA

@Tazaroo

I have a 6 digit Springfield pre-war receiver with 1943 barrel. Also have a really nice Winchester M1, and a couple of Carbines (Inland and Underwood I think)

I also have a 1937 Bubba’d Mauser Borgiswalde S/243 marked rifle. It has both Weimar markings and Waffenamts. It is Bubba’d beyond return to original configuration though. I will do a nice custom hunting rifle off of it one day in something classic, perhaps 6.5x55.



Speaking to the logistical comments made - I am an Armor Officer by trade. In the Armor Basic Officer’s Course (2019-2020), we were basically taught to fear all Russian Armor. The first few days of the 2022 invasion proved the importance of Logistics. I have been my Squadron’s Logistics Officer for the last year, and I have learned what a beast Logistics can be. One tiny wrench - ie transportation doesn’t show, a number/location is fudged in a request - and an entire operation can be blown. I’m proud to say that I never let that happen to me/my unit but I’ve seen others go through it. While I will never enjoy Logistics, I have grown to respect it.

My dad was a guest in luxury accommodations at Stalag Luft III. B-17 copilot with more takeoffs on combat missions than landings. 97th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force.

I went to the Dover Air Force Base Museum a few years back. Inside of one of the hangers is a C-47. Chalk 17 is written on its side. Each D-day a man will come and enter the A/C. If someone is sitting in the second to the last seat on the right side he would say, "your in my seat".