D-Day memories....

MaxPete

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The note below was posted over on the ST Owners forum by a member called Andrew Shadow and with so many veterans on XS650.com, I thought folks here might enjoy it too.

Thank you all for your service.
Lest we forget....

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I saw this story on the news about D-Day veteran Fred Barnard that is a little different. He is 98 years old. He is one of the few surviving Canadian D-Day veterans and the only one left in the small Ontario town of Uxbridge. Due to failing health he has not attended ceremonies honoring veterans the last couple of years. Recently, with the lead up to the week long D-Day ceremonies, he had expressed the concern that his service had been forgotten. In response to this fear the residents of Uxbridge took measures to make sure that he knew that his service had not been forgotten.

They also wanted to show him that his service is appreciated. To do this they held a D-Day parade specifically for him even though no D-Day parade had been planned in this town. Fred Barnard cannot easily leave his home to attend a parade but that did not phase or deter the town. Without him knowing anything about it, they put the whole thing together and took the surprise parade to Mr. Barnard.

The entire parade unfolded on the street in front of where Mr. Barnard lives so that he could appreciate and enjoy it. After the parade was over they all gathered in front of Mr. Barnard to give him a standing ovation.

I know that there are a lot of people on this forum who have served or who are serving. As celebrating veterans and commemorating the D-Day invasion are traditions held by many different nations I thought that some of you might appreciate the honour that this town showed to this veteran.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/surprise-d-day-parade-fred-barnard-1.5165923
 
One of my uncles was in a German prison camp for a couple of weeks at the end of the war. :) On the way there, they were lined up against a wall to be shot when a by that time unopposed U.S. plane was noticed circling overhead, and they matched on instead. There are many ways to look at what happened in those times. I like to think if not for Germany, all of Europe would have fallen to the Soviets in the 1940s without the rest of the world even caring.
 
Russia was a megalomaniacs folly...........The Russians were not equipped to conquer Europe..........if Hitler had waited till the summer they would have overrun Russia and been in Moscow in a matter of weeks........
 
There's some evidence that it was a preemptive strike.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_offensive_plans_controversy
There's a talk on youtube at the U.S. Army War College about how Barbarossa almost succeeded, and the many ways it could have. One was if they'd allied wtih Ukraine. I think the Soviets would have lost without U.S. financial backing too, If folly, at least not destined to be from the start.
 
The note below was posted over on the ST Owners forum by a member called Andrew Shadow and with so many veterans on XS650.com, I thought folks here might enjoy it too.

Thank you all for your service.
Lest we forget....

————————-

I saw this story on the news about D-Day veteran Fred Barnard that is a little different. He is 98 years old. He is one of the few surviving Canadian D-Day veterans and the only one left in the small Ontario town of Uxbridge. Due to failing health he has not attended ceremonies honoring veterans the last couple of years. Recently, with the lead up to the week long D-Day ceremonies, he had expressed the concern that his service had been forgotten. In response to this fear the residents of Uxbridge took measures to make sure that he knew that his service had not been forgotten.

They also wanted to show him that his service is appreciated. To do this they held a D-Day parade specifically for him even though no D-Day parade had been planned in this town. Fred Barnard cannot easily leave his home to attend a parade but that did not phase or deter the town. Without him knowing anything about it, they put the whole thing together and took the surprise parade to Mr. Barnard.

The entire parade unfolded on the street in front of where Mr. Barnard lives so that he could appreciate and enjoy it. After the parade was over they all gathered in front of Mr. Barnard to give him a standing ovation.

I know that there are a lot of people on this forum who have served or who are serving. As celebrating veterans and commemorating the D-Day invasion are traditions held by many different nations I thought that some of you might appreciate the honour that this town showed to this veteran.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/surprise-d-day-parade-fred-barnard-1.5165923

A very classy town!
 
Yes indeed. At this point, D-Day, and in fact any WW-II vets are at least 92-95 and they are becoming very scarce. Each one is precious.
Sad to think about, but this was likely the last D-day remembrance in Normandy where anyone involved in Overlord will be in attendance. God bless them all!
 
I wasn't going to post this but we are all friends...... people we share interests with and like the things I like.

My father just had his 95th birthday this past weekend. ( still has a sharp mind, body not so much) He was drafted into the army at 20 years old. He was in the 106th Cavalry Group which landed on Omaha beach a month after D-Day on his way to liberate Berlin. ( One of his favorite story's was racing a tank with his armored car on the Autobahn) I cannot imagine what it was like at 20 to be thrust into this. He became a successful physician thanks to the GI bill.
I owe him everything.
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top left corner 1945 , Germany
 
Wonderful - thanks for sharing!

...and what would I give to see a video of those young goofballs drag racing in heavy military vehicles....;)
 
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