Sunday, May 27, 2018

Memorial Day

Photo shows the position of the 9000 fallen troops ,killed as they came ashore. Normandy, France, 1944


...Remember those
 who gave
their all...
Don't forget why we remember the fallen on Memorial day.
WWI and WWII were horrific in regard to the numbers of dead. Russia alone lost 56,000,000 (56 million) people in WWII, more than any other nation and that is an estimate that is considered light by some people.
WWI left areas of France and Belgium uninhabitable because of the levels of lead in the soil. Whole towns were decimated and will never be rebuilt.
Many places have such high concentrations of lead that the ground is completely poisoned to this day.
War is hell, my friends, and anything that can be done to avoid it is preferable to it.

coming ashore at Anzio

My neighbor, years ago, Charlie Hunter, was one of the first men ashore at Anzio in WW2. It was another hell hole of the war.












My  mother's older brother, John served in the army in fighting in France and Germany.
I must also tell you he spoke fluent German and was helped by German farmers to stay alive when cut off from his unit.
Not all Germans were fascists. Never forget that.
Many of them lived in fear for their lives as well.
Many good German people died in the wars as well.



5 comments:

  1. Thank you Annie for your tribute to our fallen heroes. I had 2 uncles serving in Anzio. One came home with shrapnel pieces in his face and arm where he was shot. The other was left for dead but another soldier saw he was still alive and carried him a mile to medics. Both thank The Lord both came home. Neither one ever talked about it until many years later. Another uncle was MIA in Japan during WWII where he was captured and let go after the war. So many in my family fought in the middle of all that horror and one in the Korean war. My daughter served also during the Grenada war/cold war in the 80's. Sorry for going on and on my friend. Have a blessed day ahead.

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  2. Thank you Annie for a lovely post. smiles

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  3. Toni , it is never wrong to remember those who have served !
    We tend to forget that those who went into the service - drafted or enlisted - were BOYS...some underage who lied to get in !!!
    Recent studies have proved the human brain doesn't mature until age 25...yet these saw and experienced horrors that scarred them for life...no wonder they didn't talk about it . And yet , most of those veterans I've thanked for their service - WW II up through present - have quietly stated that they would do it again...for love of country .May God bless them !
    Happy Memorial Day !

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  4. Wonderful post Annie! I saw someone on facebook this morning said.." remember what Memorial Day really is.. and its not a day to BBQ!" so true. We have forgotten so many things in our country! I saw that picture of Normandy Beach too! Happy Memorial Day!

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