photo pages:  <<  <  23  24  25  26  27  28  >  >>
< 231 of 1000 >
Military > popular all-time > Over the next few days, I visited the other invasion beaches. At Arromanches the skeletal remains of the "Mulberry Harbour" (artificial harbour made by sinking giant hollow concrete "caissons" and surplus ships) that was used to make up for the lack of natural ones, still surrounds the bay.
Military > popular all-time > Normandy Remembrance by David Cale ® A cold wind, blew in from the sea. The day was grey and blustery. Typical June weather for Normandy. It was high tide. I walked out from the beach until I was standing, gazing out to sea, knee deep in the cold English Channel waters. I had travelled for five days North from Paris to Dunkerque and then exploring on my way down along the coast of France to Caen, and to the D-Day invasion beaches of Normandy. Driving north I crossed the river Orne at Pegasus bridge, which marks the Eastern edge of the D Day invasion. From there it was a short drive to the beaches. First Gold and Sword Beach, where British troops landed and then my objective Juno Beach where my countrymen, Canadians, came ashore. On a day similar to this, June 6, 1944, D-day, this six kilometre stretch of beach from Courseulles to St-Aubin sur Mer was newly christened -in blood- Juno Beach. It was here that Canadians of Toronto's Queen's Own Rifles, Regina Rifles, and Royal Winnipeg Rifles and others jumped into heavy surf and struggled ashore into the teeth of strong German resistance. Many of the German bunkers had not been destroyed by the preliminary bombardment, and until they were "silenced", these inflicted heavy losses. Many of the Canadian Amphibious Tanks went straight to the bottom in the heavy seas. Those that made it to shore aided enormously in making the landings a success. At the end of the day "The German dead were littered over the dunes, by the gun positions", a Canadian journalist reported. "By them, lay Canadians in bloodstained battledress, in the sand and in the grass, on the wire and by the concrete forts. ..They had lived a few minutes of the victory they had made. That was all." Three hundred and forty Canadians had given their lives. Another five hundred and seventy four had been wounded. This was just the beginning. In the days to come Canadians would see some of the bloodiest fighting of the invasion.
Military > popular all-time > Left to right Robert Pelkey, Danny Wiliford, Timmy McNiel and me. McNiel was killed in 1969. Here is a brief description. He was on board PR-21. EC-121M, BuNo 135749, PR-21, shot down by two North Korean MIG-21 fighters over the Sea of Japan; all 31 crewmembers aboard are killed; only two bodies recovered,
Military > popular all-time > Ben Kuroki gives his remarks after the premiere of the documentary about his life in the Army Air Corps during WWII - "Most Honorable Son" - was shown for over 600 invited guests in the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska on Aug 1st, 2007. A painting of Ben during his WWII days is displayed behind him. Check out the film on the night of its national premiere on PBS, Mon, Sep 17th, at 8:00p CDT.
Military > popular all-time > Former B-24 Liberator bomber navigator George Temple, 44th Bombardment Group, Ploesti bombing raid vet, Aug 1st, 1943. Due to battle damage to his plane, he had to bail out over enemy territory and was taken prisoner. When the hospital in which he was being treated for a broken ankle (from the parachute landing) was accidentally bombed by Americans, he escaped through the rubble, and in a few days, with two other wounded American PW's, he made it back to Allied lines in Italy. He later attended British escape and evasion training, after which he returned Stateside and taught E & E to American flyers. Taken Aug 1st, 2007, Lincoln, Nebraska.
Military > popular all-time > Robert Sparks, former B-24 Liberator bomber tail gunner, 93rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. Veteran of the famous Ploesti raid, Aug 1st, 1943. Sometime after Ploesti, Sparky took a 20mm flak round hit in his tail turret over Germany. After he bailed out, he was taken prisoner when he landed. He said that the German doctor, who removed the chunk of flak from his backside (which he said he still has), was drunk when he operated on him. He spent the rest of the war as a PW in camp Luft IV. Taken on the 64th anniversary of the Ploesti raid, Aug 1st, 2007, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Military > popular all-time > Lew Brown, former B-24 Liberator bomber command pilot, and Ed Weir, former B-24 navigator, both veterans of the 93rd Bombardment Group, talk over old times in the dining room of the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska, Aug 1st, 2007. A copy of the book, "Those Brave Crews," by Ray Ward, the story of the Aug 1st, 1943 bombing raid on the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, as told in poetry, is on the table between them. Both men are vets of that famous raid, which is to this day the most highly decorated combat action, per capita, of any American military branch of service during any conflict in the nation's history.
Military > popular all-time > Fernley Smith, former B-24 bomber command pilot and the second youngest heavy bomber pilot in WWII, explains to 1400 KLIN radio host Jack Mitchell in Lincoln, Nebraska, what it was like to fly and be in command of a 9-man bomber crew at the age of 17. Fernley was enlisted into the Army Air Corps at age 16 after truthfully telling the recruiter (who had not pressed Fernley for additional proof of his age) that he held a high school diploma. By the time the war ended about two weeks before Fernley's 18th birthday, he had flown 18 combat missions with the 93rd Bombardment Group. Former B-24 navigator Edward "Red" Weir, also a 93rd Group vet, listens to Fernley's story.
Military > popular all-time > After 60 years, two old friends get reacquainted. Lt Col Edward "Red" Weir and former Sergeant First Class Ben Kuroki, the last two living crewmembers of the B-24 Liberator bomber "Tupelo Lass," meet again for the first time since the mid-40's. Ed was the bomber's navigator, and Ben was the top turret gunner.
Robert Sparks, former B-24 Liberator bomber tail gunner, 93rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. Veteran of the famous Ploesti raid, Aug 1st, 1943. Sometime after Ploesti, Sparky took a 20mm flak round hit in his tail turret over Germany. After he bailed out, he was taken prisoner when he landed. He said that the German doctor, who removed the chunk of flak from his backside (which he said he still has), was drunk when he operated on him. He spent the rest of the war as a PW in camp Luft IV. Taken on the 64th anniversary of the Ploesti raid, Aug 1st, 2007, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
> Robert Sparks, former B-24 Liberator bomber tail gunner, 93rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. Veteran of the famous Ploesti raid, Aug 1st, 1943. Sometime after Ploesti, Sparky took a 20mm flak round hit in his tail turret over Germany. After he bailed out, he was taken prisoner when he landed. He said that the German doctor, who removed the chunk of flak from his backside (which he said he still has), was drunk when he operated on him. He spent the rest of the war as a PW in camp Luft IV. Taken on the 64th anniversary of the Ploesti raid, Aug 1st, 2007, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Robert Sparks, former B-24 Liberator bomber tail gunner, 93rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. Veteran of the famous Ploesti raid, Aug 1st, 1943. Sometime after Ploesti, Sparky took a 20mm flak round hit in his tail turret over Germany. After he bailed out, he was taken prisoner when he landed. He said that the German doctor, who removed the chunk of flak from his backside (which he said he still has), was drunk when he operated on him. He spent the rest of the war as a PW in camp Luft IV. Taken on the 64th anniversary of the Ploesti raid, Aug 1st, 2007, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Photo by: jawtex • see photo in gallery
photo pages:  <<  <  23  24  25  26  27  28  >  >>
< 231 of 1000 >

Comments

|

New comment:

Name:
To foil spammers, enter this code: copy this text in this box: Code unreadable?