D-Day June 6th. 1944

ChargerMike · Post by **ChargerMike** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:26 pm

Let us not forget that our nation and it's allies set forth to rid the world of evil. Many men died that day on the beaches of France....

"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

-- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

mvscal · Post by **mvscal** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 6:33 pm

I guess I can do a D-Day PET.

This is Pegasus Bridge spanning the Caen Canal from the clearing where British gliders of the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry from the 6th Airborne Division landed.

The house with the sign across the canal is (now) the Pegasus Bridge Cafe and was the first building liberated during the invasion.

Here are some remnants of Mulberry 'B' on Gold Beach at Arromanches

Jay in Phoenix · Post by **Jay in Phoenix** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 6:38 pm

It's big. The biggest one here. You know what else? It's got a lot of range. You know what I mean by range, don't you? I mean it can stay up for a long time. A very long time. And it's built firm and solid. Because it has to be. Because of its tremendous forward thrust. And when this baby delivers its payload... devastating.

mvscal · Post by **mvscal** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:05 pm

German gun emplacement at Omaha Beach. Note the shell impact divots on the top. They barely scratched it.

Me outside an observation bunker

The view of Bloody Omaha from a German machine gun position

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:18 pm

mvscal wrote: Me outside an observation bunker.

ChargerMike · Post by **ChargerMike** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:29 pm

War Wagon wrote:
mvscal wrote: Me outside an observation bunker.

exactly... up until now all we knew about mv was Mission Viejo, now we have a pic?? great pictures however.

Shlomart Ben Yisrael · Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:38 pm

ChargerMike wrote:
exactly... up until now all we knew about mv was Mission Viejo, now we have a pic?? great pictures however.

I'm sure Felchco is ripping his crank out of it's socket this very instant.

bradhusker · Post by **bradhusker** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:48 pm

ChargerMike wrote:
War Wagon wrote:
mvscal wrote: Me outside an observation bunker.

exactly... up until now all we knew about mv was Mission Viejo, now we have a pic?? great pictures however.

Dont be so sure that is mv, Im willing to bet ten grand its tennis legend Jimmy Connors.

bradhusker · Post by **bradhusker** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:58 pm

KC Scott wrote:
Martyred wrote:
ChargerMike wrote:
exactly... up until now all we knew about mv was Mission Viejo, now we have a pic?? great pictures however.

I'm sure Felchco is ripping his crank out of it's socket this very instant.

I think you mean Brad

Felcho is beating his monitor with his purse

Why would anyone "jack off" to a pic of tennis legend Jimmy Connors?

Truman · Post by **Truman** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:15 pm

Great pics, mv. Post more if you've got 'em.

mvscal · Post by **mvscal** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:41 pm

Yeah, I've got plenty more. I've got some of the Normandy American Military Cemetary, Utah Beach and Ste Mere Eglise. Utah Beach isn't much to look at, though. I'll post them later.

ChargerMike · Post by **ChargerMike** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:08 pm

What up JiP good to see you pop up...

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:09 pm

ChargerMike wrote: exactly... up until now all we knew about mv was Mission Viejo, now we have a pic??

there was speculation that mv was Hispanic, at least in part. If that pic is him for realz, it shoots that notion all to hell. Dude is as white bread as I am, most likely Irish or I miss my guess.

It took some guts to post that pic, not near the guts it took to storm those beaches, but still... Rack it.

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:14 pm

War Wagon wrote:there was speculation that mv was Hispanic, at least in part.

He looks like Perk/Otis.

Derron · Post by **Derron** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:25 pm

Rack those soldiers for what they did, and rack my old man:

Corporal Donald Gerald W----, US Army. D Day + 1. RIP. 1910 - 1993.

Shlomart Ben Yisrael · Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:54 pm

Derron wrote:Rack those soldiers for what they did, and rack my old man:

Corporal Donald Gerald W----, US Army. D Day + 1. RIP. 1910 - 1993.

Was your dad a high school drop-out like his son and grandkids too?

Shlomart Ben Yisrael · Thu Jun 07, 2012 1:53 am

RACK [zy]my boys[/zy].

Hands up, Jerry...the Canadians are here!

The Canucks always bring along their own jerk material...

Cuda · Post by **Cuda** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:00 am

ChargerMike wrote: great pictures however.

taken with a nikon, why wouldn't they be great?

Truman · Post by **Truman** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:43 am

War Wagon wrote:
ChargerMike wrote: exactly... up until now all we knew about mv was Mission Viejo, now we have a pic??
there was speculation that mv was Hispanic, at least in part. If that pic is him for realz, it shoots that notion all to hell. Dude is as white bread as I am, most likely Irish or I miss my guess.

It took some guts to post that pic, not near the guts it took to storm those beaches, but still... Rack it.

I believe mvscal described himself as being part "Spanish" (as in originating from Spain), and "Spanish" people would describe themselves as being white. There is no such race as Hispanic - it's a made up word. BTW, rack Jay's "1941" reset.

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:50 am

Truman wrote:There is no such race as Hispanic

hmm, if you say so, I guess the census bureau needs new terminology.

But I see no Spaniard there, not the least bit.

Full blood Irish, maybe some Germanic.

Shlomart Ben Yisrael · Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:53 am

I think he's a Honduran Jew. On his mother's side.

Truman · Post by **Truman** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:58 am

The 2010 US Census included changes designed to more clearly distinguish Hispanic ethnicity as not being a race.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_e ... tes_Census

Always happy to oblige, Wags.

Diego in Seattle · Post by **Diego in Seattle** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:59 am

Martyred wrote:I think he's a Honduran Jew. On his mother's side.

mvscal is Bill Handel?

mvscal · Post by **mvscal** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 3:35 am

War Wagon wrote:
Truman wrote:There is no such race as Hispanic
hmm, if you say so, I guess the census bureau needs new terminology.

But I see no Spaniard there, not the least bit.

Full blood Irish, maybe some Germanic.

Truman is correct. My father's side of the family is from central Spain. They moved to Mexico and were there for about 50 years and then moved to California about 100 years ago. On my mother's side I'm Irish, Swedish and Lithuanian.

Not all Spaniards are dark complected. Spain is a salad bowl of different ethnicities. It was settled by Celts, Carthagenians, Greeks, Romans, Germans and Moors. The Basques fit in there somehow, too.

To be an ethnic Mexican, you have to have some Indian blood which I do not.

poptart · Post by **poptart** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 3:46 am

Wagon wrote:But I see no Spaniard there, not the least bit.

I've never seen any Spaniard in mvscal, either.

I mean, look at some of the character traits of that people.

negative
bossy
conceited
straightforward
miserable
etc.

I don't see it.

Atomic Punk · Post by **Atomic Punk** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:00 am

Ooooh, big deal a pic of mvscal has been posted.

The only ones that seem to care about what people look like are the cowards that have never posted theirs or the shit trolls owned by shit posters.

Anyway, he looks a bit like Bace.

mvscal · Post by **mvscal** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:36 am

Here are a couple pics of Pointe du Hoc where the Rangers scaled the cliffs. Today it's a well manicured moonscape. The full effect is best appreciated in person or from an aerial photo. We did take some pics of the cliffs but they sucked.

A couple sections of NAMC.

The crosses (and occasional Star of David) are pure white marble with the name and unit of the deceased engraved. Medal of Honor winners have their names engraved in gold.

For everyone else they have pans of damp sand from Omaha Beach that you can rub into the engraving on the cross.

mvscal · Post by **mvscal** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 5:01 am

Here is the famous church in the town center of Ste Mere Eglise

You will remember it if you have seen or read The Longest Day. This is the church where the paratrooper got hung up on the church and watched the battle take place beneath him. He is commemorated by a paratrooper mannequin on the side. Not a very good pic, though.

Here's a couple misc pics that don't have anything to do with D Day.

Napoleon's Tomb in Paris

A cafe in Bastogne, Beligium. Obviously refering to Gen. McAuliffe's response to the German demand to surrender. Had a couple or five beers there.

ChargerMike · Post by **ChargerMike** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 5:58 am

dam'd if I don't see Mikey in this pic, good work mv

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 6:36 am

ChargerMike wrote: dam'd if I don't see Mikey in this pic, good work mv

That was when I was playing in British Open.

I almost got lost in one of those bunkers.

DC Smackmaster · Post by **DC Smackmaster** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:45 am

This is a great PET! Awesome pics mvs. was this some sort of arranged tour that you can reserve or had you mapped out where you wanted to visit and just went? You are an interesting fellow.

Wolfman · Post by **Wolfman** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:13 pm

Some impressive photos of the D-Day site. Thanks for posting them. A camera of course cannot perceive the true scope of any place as well as the human eye/brain. Almost makes me want to travel over there and see it all for myself. Almost.

Cuda · Post by **Cuda** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 5:39 pm

Atomic Punk wrote:Ooooh, big deal a pic of mvscal has been posted. The only ones that seem to care about what people look like are the cowards that have never posted theirs or the shit trolls owned by shit posters.

Anyway, he looks a bit like Bace.

I doubt he'll be posting any pics of himself wearing womens panties, no matter how much you beg

mvscal · Post by **mvscal** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:23 pm

DC Smackmaster wrote:This is a great PET! Awesome pics mvs. was this some sort of arranged tour that you can reserve or had you mapped out where you wanted to visit and just went?

It was a tour from Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours. This one was called D-Day to the Rhine. It's two weeks. It starts in London and you hit some sites and museums around there such as Churchill's wartime communications bunker then you go down to Portsmouth where many of the D Day participants embarked for France. The HMS Victory is there (Nelson's ship at Trafalgar) and you get a tour through that (very interesting).

From Portsmouth you board a ferry across the channel and land at Ouistreham which was on the easternmost portion of Sword Beach and the invasion. You base out of Caen and for the next few days you work your way west through all the Normandy sites. The you drive to Paris and have some free time there take in the sights. From Paris, you take a train to Arnhem and check out the Market Garden (Bridge Too Far) battlefields then it's off to Luxemburg to hang out for a bit (cool place) and Belgium to visit parts of the Bulge such as Bastogne and the Luxemburg American Cemetary where Patton is buried. After that there is a boat ride up the Rhine river through some very scenic countryside to Frankfort where the tour ends and you return to the States.

Our tour guide was a guy named Ron Drez who is a pretty interesting dude in his own right. He was a Marine company commander in Vietnam with a couple Bronze Stars and was the assistant director of the Eisenhower Center at the U of New Orleans and one of Stephen Ambrose's research assistants. Ron did a lot of the grunt work behind Band of Brothers. Ambrose used him to conduct many of the veteran interviews because he felt they might relate more openly to a fellow combat veteran.

http://www.jesuitnola.org/alumni/ron_dr ... 8-7-14.htm

mvscal · Post by **mvscal** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:25 pm

Wolfman wrote:Almost makes me want to travel over there and see it all for myself. Almost.

I would highly recommend the trip to anyone. Normandy is absolutely beautiful country. It was more like a pilgrimage than a tour.

mvscal · Post by **mvscal** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:35 pm

ChargerMike wrote:

dam'd if I don't see Mikey in this pic, good work mv

He is probably at the base of one of the craters incinerating a fresh frozen salmon filet with a road flare.

Shlomart Ben Yisrael · Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:49 pm

Martyred wrote: The Canucks always bring along their own jerk material...

Holy fucking shit...where's my head at?

Anyways...

2,3,1

Goober McTuber · Post by **Goober McTuber** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:50 pm

mvscal wrote:Belgium

Hopefully you had an opportunity to sample some of their Belgian IPAs.

Goober McTuber · Post by **Goober McTuber** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:52 pm

Martyred wrote:Holy fucking shit...where's my head at?

Grab a mirror and check your rectal cavity.

Diego in Seattle · Post by **Diego in Seattle** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:33 pm

mvscal wrote:
DC Smackmaster wrote:This is a great PET! Awesome pics mvs. was this some sort of arranged tour that you can reserve or had you mapped out where you wanted to visit and just went?
It was a tour from Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours. This one was called D-Day to the Rhine. It's two weeks. It starts in London and you hit some sites and museums around there such as Churchill's wartime communications bunker then you go down to Portsmouth where many of the D Day participants embarked for France. The HMS Victory is there (Nelson's ship at Trafalgar) and you get a tour through that (very interesting).

From Portsmouth you board a ferry across the channel and land at Ouistreham which was on the easternmost portion of Sword Beach and the invasion. You base out of Caen and for the next few days you work your way west through all the Normandy sites. The you drive to Paris and have some free time there take in the sights. From Paris, you take a train to Arnhem and check out the Market Garden (Bridge Too Far) battlefields then it's off to Luxemburg to hang out for a bit (cool place) and Belgium to visit parts of the Bulge such as Bastogne and the Luxemburg American Cemetary where Patton is buried. After that there is a boat ride up the Rhine river through some very scenic countryside to Frankfort where the tour ends and you return to the States.

Our tour guide was a guy named Ron Drez who is a pretty interesting dude in his own right. He was a Marine company commander in Vietnam with a couple Bronze Stars and was the assistant director of the Eisenhower Center at the U of New Orleans and one of Stephen Ambrose's research assistants. Ron did a lot of the grunt work behind Band of Brothers. Ambrose used him to conduct many of the veteran interviews because he felt they might relate more openly to a fellow combat veteran.

http://www.jesuitnola.org/alumni/ron_dr ... 8-7-14.htm

Were any members of Easy part of the tour?