This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.
Loved him in "Tootsie" - he is a great character actorCharles Durning, who starred in Desperation (the 2006 TV movie -- Stephen King wrote the novel and teleplay) landed at Omaha Beach in the D-Day invasion. Later he was wounded in an ambush during the Battle of the Bulge. He was captured, escaped, and narrowly missed assassination at the Malmedy Massacre. He won three Purple Hearts and the Silver Star in WWII.
I wish I could have been there to counter that sniper fire. Your father is part of the bravest generation of soldiers and sailors there ever was, are, or ever will be.
When I see pictures of his friends in their little goofy uniforms ( and yes, sorry, but those old navy uniforms were goofy!), I just see such young guys. Such young faces. Everything they went through -- I can't even begin to imagine. My dad didn't talk much about the war. He would tell the funny stories, but pretty well avoided the darker aspects.
Yeah, those old uniforms were a bit strange and quirky looking. My grandfather was a .50 cal gunner on a destroyer in the Pacific campaign. His ship was blown in half by a kamikaze pilot whose plane hit the destroyer amidships right below the water line during the Battle of Okinawa. My grandfather had several pieces of shrapnel lodged in his back for the rest of his life. His way of self medicating was to down a six pack before lunch time but his stories were amazing. I was the only grandkid who was interested in history so he'd drink, and talk, and drink, and talk as long as I would sit there and listen to him. He enlisted in the navy about a year before Pearl Harbor so he saw a lot of action.
I think I had an uncle on the ground in Okinawa, in the pacific somewhere anyway. He was in a foxhole or behind a hill of sand or something with 2 of his buddies and both of them got blown up in front of him and sprayed him with their body parts. He needed intense psychiatric help after that. He was a normal guy, but you didn't talk about the war with him.
Gives you a whole different perspective, doesn't it?
Man. I know It is 70 years ago today re: d-day but please spare a thought for all those brave men and women who died for our freedom for freedom from tyranny the french resistance and The members of the SOE(special Operations executive which was set up by Churchill and i quote "to set Europe ablaze") The codebreakers at blethchely park. The soe was the forerunner to mi5 or Mi6 will someone tell me in baby english which is whcih. The Lrdg -(long range Desert Group - not quite the SAS(set up early in the war) who went behind enemy lines to disrupt the Germans. The commandos who if caught by the Wehermacht were shot. In the Geneva conventation, when there is a war no warring country should don the other country uniform. The americans had the OSS set up by 'Wild Bill Donovan' and is now known today as the CIA. To all these and anybody i omitted, Thank you.Charles Durning, who starred in Desperation (the 2006 TV movie -- Stephen King wrote the novel and teleplay) landed at Omaha Beach in the D-Day invasion. Later he was wounded in an ambush during the Battle of the Bulge. He was captured, escaped, and narrowly missed assassination at the Malmedy Massacre. He won three Purple Hearts and the Silver Star in WWII.
yes, it does. this chap was probably Wehermach. An ordinary german who was consciprted. There is a difference between the Wehermach(sorry spelling ) and The Gestapo and The SS. The Subliminal Creatures were sadistic and mudering B******. Rommer - brillant Strateigst had a little war with montogomery very interesting. Rommel was prussian - i.e loved his country and did the honourable thing. in 44/45 he was give a choice to take poison and have a warrior's funeral or be shot as a traitor. he chose the honourable way out for his family. His Crime: Being part of a conspiracy to kill The deranged, mass murderer Hitler.
