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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
extraordinaire
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May 26, 2014 - 02:46am PT
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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May 26, 2014 - 09:30am PT
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Stewart
Trad climber
Courtenay, B.C.
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May 26, 2014 - 07:27pm PT
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My Father was originally in the second wave scheduled to land at Dieppe. Fortunately for him, it was never launched, since the death of over 900 Canadians in less than half a day seemed to be sufficient slaughter for the planners of this raid. Three U.S. Rangers also died during the landings.
My Dad next saw action in Sicily, the Italian mainland, France, Belgium, Holland, and then Germany. He also volunteered for the invasion of Japan which, fortunately for all concerned, did not occur.
I have tremendous respect for all veterans, and what follows is emphatically not intended to lessen the respect that we owe all those souls who served on our side during this and other conflicts; however...
This year will witness the 70th anniversary of the D-day landings, and our politicians will no doubt assemble to weep crocodile tears for the sacrifice of our soldiers during the D-day landings. All very fair for all of us to remember these brave men (and even some women), but one wonders why not a single politician got off their asses to honour the first soldiers to successfully set foot on European soil and begin the process of freeing the European continent from the evil of Fascism. This is referred to as "The Italian Campaign", and not even a single coin or stamp has ever been issued by Canada to commemorate this event.
The invasion of Sicily occurred on July 10, 1943 (almost a full year before the D-day landings), where we proceeded to the Italian mainland along with the Brits, Yanks, and lesser numbers of troops of other nations. The Nazis ferociously defended Italy, composed of some of the most rugged terrain in Western Europe and ideal territory for a defender. Thousands of Canadians died, not to mention other Allied troops who were also killed during this campaign, much of it fought during unspeakably poor weather.
Their reward was provided on D-day by an aristocratic English twit named Lady Astor: (I don't have the exact words at hand, but this is close enough) "Why are all of these soldiers lounging around in sunny Italy when we need them in Normandy?" As well as being a disgrace to the war effort, this life form was too intellectually constipated to even consider the fact that thousands more Nazi troops would have been waiting on the Normandy beaches, but were diverted to defend Italy instead.
From this unforgivable insult came the reference to these brave men as the "D-day Dodgers", which led, among other things to a song of this title set to the tune of Lili Marlene. Various versions of this tune were composed by each Allied nation, and Canada's deeply moving contribution to this archive can be found on the War Amps video titled "A War of Their Own: The Canadians in Italy."
My Father died recently and he, along with the other veterans of this brutal campaign, could never understand why they have been completely ignored by Stevie Harper (our sociopathic male impersonator of a Prime Minister). I guess it doesn't much matter any more, since most of these veterans are now dead and died knowing that their contribution didn't mean a damn thing to their countrymen.
There is a message here: it is an honourable thing to put one's life on the line to defend the cause of freedom at any time but, if you wish for your country to actually care about your sacrifice, keep your fingers crossed and hope that you are involved in a campaign that catches the public imagination.
Plus ca change, plus la meme chose - as I compose this rant, there are uncounted Canadian veterans of the Afghan conflict who are now homeless.
Oh well. We've still got computer gizmos to occupy all of our spare energy, so none of this stuff matters. It's only history, and history is boring.
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John Duffield
Mountain climber
New York
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May 26, 2014 - 07:38pm PT
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Last month, I lensed this Canadian tank at Juno beach. Pulled out of the water in 1972.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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May 26, 2014 - 10:14pm PT
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This tells some of the story of Canadians in Italy in a moving fashion.
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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May 26, 2014 - 10:23pm PT
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My dad in the first photo, he served in the Korean War. My dad and his 4 brothers in the second photo. They all served. Thank you sir!
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, CA
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May 26, 2014 - 11:18pm PT
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On this Memorial Day,
I'm remembering the sacrifice of our great uncle, Victor Labinski, whom we boys never knew. He was in the US Army infantry and was killed in action in the hedgerows of Normandy, three weeks after the D-day invasion. My dad was a paperboy during WWII while growing up and remembers selling newspapers on V-E day (Victory in Europe) to the returning wounded at a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas.
It was May 8, 1945, and when we were growing up, he told us boys about how every wounded soldier that was able to, bought a copy of the paper that day. His father (my biological grandfather) was killed in an industrial accident when he was just a baby, so he was raised by his single mom, a civilian RN. He told us the stories about the rationing for the war effort, and the big band jazz music, and about how everyone prayed and worried for those in uniform and if they would come home alive or whole. He relayed to us fear they all had during the war, and of the threat they felt from Hitler and tyranny.
Even though he never served, I know he tried to instill in us boys a sense of gratitude to all those who have served. We who live in democratic societies throughout the world must never forget the sacrifices made by those who have served or who are now serving to protect our freedom. We must never forget our history, and we must always remember that the horrors of war have been born by real people, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. War should always be the alternative of last resort, when all negotiations have failed, when our backs are to the wall, with the full realization that many innocents are likely to die, and that in the end nothing is likely to be permanently resolved in the best interest of all those who have survived.
Thank you again to all who have served.
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MH2
climber
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May 26, 2014 - 11:36pm PT
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These are different times, Woz and Tami. My own memorable Dad landed at Anzio. When he came home he got a Ph.D. on the G.I. Bill (American thing).
Another good look at things happening in Italy during WWII:
When the Snow Comes They Will Take You Away
or
Love and War in the Appenines
Eric Newby
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Stewart
Trad climber
Courtenay, B.C.
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May 27, 2014 - 12:01am PT
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Thanks, Tami - our parent's generation were deservedly labelled "The Greatest Generation".
Farley Mowatt (the late, great author of "And No Birds Sang") was probably the best-known Canadian "D-Day Dodger".
MH2 - what are you trying to say? Your post was somewhat on the terse side.
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
From Panorama City, CA
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May 27, 2014 - 02:58am PT
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Caught this flying over Seattle last week.
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, CA
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May 27, 2014 - 10:40am PT
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The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, the Boeing entry outperformed both competitors and more than met the Air Corps' expectations. Although Boeing lost the contract because the prototype crashed, the Air Corps was so impressed with Boeing's design that they ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation. From its introduction in 1938, the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved through numerous design advances.
The B-17 was primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and military targets. The United States Eighth Air Force, based at many airfields in southern England, and the Fifteenth Air Force, based in Italy, complemented the RAF Bomber Command's nighttime area bombing in the Combined Bomber Offensive to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for the invasion of France in 1944. The B-17 also participated to a lesser extent in the War in the Pacific, early in World War II, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields.
From its pre-war inception, the USAAC (later USAAF) touted the aircraft as a strategic weapon; it was a potent, high-flying, long-range bomber that was able to defend itself, and to return home despite extensive battle damage. It quickly took on mythic proportions, and widely circulated stories and photos of notable numbers and examples of B-17s surviving battle damage increased its iconic status. With a service ceiling greater than any of its Allied contemporaries, the B-17 established itself as an effective weapons system, dropping more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II. Of the 1.5 million metric tons of bombs dropped on Germany and its occupied territories by U.S. aircraft, 640,000 tons were dropped from B-17s.
As of September 2011, 13 aircraft remain airworthy, with dozens more in storage or on static display.
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nita
Social climber
chica de chico, I don't claim to be a daisy.
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May 27, 2014 - 02:04pm PT
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National Geographic... Honors the unsung vets.
At the height of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. military had a force of roughly 2,500 military working dogs. Some have entered the American lexicon as as heroes in their own right: Cairo, a Belgian Malinois hailed for his work with the Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden. And Rex, a shepherd; his handler, Mike Dowling, wrote a book about their harrowing exploits in Iraq, saying, “It was Rex who gave me the strength to get up and to carry on.”
On Memorial Day, the United States will honor all those who died while serving in the country's armed forces. Take a look at the dogs and their handlers who lead the way onto the most dangerous battlefields on Earth.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/06/war-dogs/paterniti-text?utm_source=NatGeocom&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=pom_20140525&utm_campaign=Content
sad........)-; heartbreaking .
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/06/war-dogs/memorial-video
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