72 Years After the Largest Amphibious Invasion Ever

The invasion of Europe at Normandy.

So many things went wrong. So many of the wrong things went our way.

1.3 Million men thrown against 330 thousand defenders. A relentless barrage against Nazi Germany they could not hold back. It came at a terrible cost.

By 24 July the Allies had suffered 120,000 casualties. The Nazi forces, 113,000.

It would take almost a year after this to finish them.

8th Air Force Memorial, Royal Air Force Museum, London, England 3 (448x297) (2).jpg navy-memorial (448x336).jpg

Posted by: Dave In Texas at 12:31 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Uno

Posted by: CSMBigBird at June 06, 2016 12:29 PM (jsWA8)

2 Everything seems so middley

Posted by: CSMBigBird at June 06, 2016 12:29 PM (jsWA8)

3 Hello!!!

Posted by: CSMBigBird at June 06, 2016 12:29 PM (jsWA8)

4 I'll get the others

Posted by: CSMBigBird at June 06, 2016 12:30 PM (jsWA8)

5 Fifth!

Posted by: CSMBigBird at June 06, 2016 12:32 PM (jsWA8)

6 This is a centrist blog now?

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 12:33 PM (7HtZB)

7 No safe spaces back then. I wonder what the world would do now, should a world war break out.

Posted by: CSMBigBird at June 06, 2016 12:33 PM (jsWA8)

8 Comment (paraphrasing) from a D-Day vet interviewed for the "World at War":

"It's probably a good thing we were green. If we had any idea what that would be like, we probably would have just turned back to England."

Posted by: 98ZJUSMC Staring at the Lake in the rain at June 06, 2016 12:33 PM (RFbB0)

9 Never
Attack
Straight
Up
The
Middle

Posted by: George S Patton at June 06, 2016 12:34 PM (12kBq)

10 Very centered

Posted by: Weasel at June 06, 2016 12:34 PM (6xtq3)

11 This is what war is. We need to remember that because forgetting it leads to where we are now. Also, we need to remember that there are worse things than war, which has also led to where we are now.

Now to be snarky.

It took a year to plan. Now, it would take 3-5 years for the initial environmental impact assessments to move out of committee.

Posted by: alexthechick - All Your Parfait Is Belong To Me at June 06, 2016 12:34 PM (mf5HN)

12 One of the most exceptional achievements known to man. Truly amazing.

Posted by: SH at June 06, 2016 12:34 PM (gmeXX)

13 You know... that's a pretty good parity in body-count for a group attacking a fortified position.

Not saying it's not a staggering and horrific loss, because it absolutely is. But it really speaks to how badass the invaders were.

Posted by: Chupacabra at June 06, 2016 12:35 PM (CGjum)

14 'In the Middle of the Road...'

Posted by: Pretenders at June 06, 2016 12:35 PM (6kxiP)

15 Watched Band of Brothers (again) recently. Amazing what those guys -- and all who participated in D-Day -- did. Good thing for Germany today that we actually succeeded because had we not, we'd have hunkered down, poured more resources into Manhattan, and then nuked the crap out of Berlin before the Soviets got there.

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 12:35 PM (dZ756)

16 Was D-Day really the largest amphibious invasion ever? I thought that was Okinawa.

D-Day was certainly the largest amphibious invasion at that time and Operation Torch had been the largest amphibious invasion at the time it was conducted.

That means that on two occasions Dwight Eisenhower commanded the largest amphibious invasion ever conducted.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 12:36 PM (QHgTq)

17 Imagine the army of pajama boys that we could deploy against an enemy like that today. Although frankly, cannon fodder might be the highest and best use for the sniveling little snowflakes of the Left

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at June 06, 2016 12:36 PM (8ZskC)

18 It seems that what the Allies were facing at Normandy was much like what the Allies were facing against Germany in WWI - an entrenched enemy, armed with artillery & machine guns. And this time the Allies had their backs to the sea. So why did mass attacks against such defenses in WWI fail, yet succeed at D-Day? Was it armor? Did air power make that much of a difference?

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 12:36 PM (7HtZB)

19 Sword, Gold, Juno, Omaha, and... ???

Then came the boccages and Michael Whitman outside Caans. It was ugly and brutal. And would finally end when the Falaise Gap was closed forcing the remnants of a Germany army to surrender. But the Siegfried Line was still there barring their way to the Rhine and actual German soil. But in May '45 it was finally over.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 12:36 PM (jFXTk)

20 It took a year to plan. Now, it would take 3-5 years for the initial environmental impact assessments to move out of committee.
Posted by: alexthechick - All Your Parfait Is Belong To Me at June 06, 2016 12:34 PM (mf5HN)

-------

I want to laugh at your funny but it's true. Remember the Sec of the Navy puts climate change policy on top of his "to do" list.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 12:36 PM (U+nHb)

21 The body count would have been much higher, if not for the successful campaign waged to convince the Germans we weren't attacking Normandy.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at June 06, 2016 12:37 PM (i2t8l)

22 "We'll start the war from right here!"

Posted by: Gen Theodore Roosevelt Jr. at June 06, 2016 12:37 PM (12kBq)

23 >>It took a year to plan. Now, it would take 3-5 years for the initial environmental impact assessments to move out of committee.

Permission denied.

There are Manatee off the coast of France.

Posted by: Invasion Committee at June 06, 2016 12:37 PM (6kxiP)

24 A great Reagan speech. Its amazing how so many of his speeches are remembered. Hard to pick out a best, though I suspect we all have our favorites. I'm partial to the Tear down this wall speech and his challenger address. But this one is magnificent.

Posted by: SH at June 06, 2016 12:38 PM (gmeXX)

25
The first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan is the worthwhile part to watch.

Posted by: Misheard Lyrics Guy at June 06, 2016 12:38 PM (X+aMx)

26 "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."

-- George Patton

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at June 06, 2016 12:39 PM (8ZskC)

27 any guesses of if Obama will honor D-Day the way he did Muhammed Ali, with a tweet of a picture of himself?

Posted by: Rick in SK at June 06, 2016 12:40 PM (/CIN4)

28 The Siegfried line had pretty much fallen into disrepair by 1944/1945 and was never really all that much to begin with (it was designed to stop a *French* invasion, not a real one). Germany was destined to lose the war no later than when Hitler insisted on taking Stalingrad at all costs in August, 1942 -- he could have easily taken it in July, 1942 if he hadn't appointed Paulus as commander of 6th Army (Paulus was a great planner but a horrible field commander, way too cautious and slow to react). By June, 1944, it was simply a matter of how many lives, on both sides, would be squandered on the path to the outcome.

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 12:41 PM (dZ756)

29 25
The first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan is the worthwhile part to watch.
Posted by: Misheard Lyrics Guy at June 06, 2016 12:38 PM (X+aMx)

Thank you. I hate that movie, except for the D-Day scenes. Put the whole war effort on hold, just for one soldier's mommy. And that was the only good thing to come out of the war? Utter horseshit.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 12:41 PM (7HtZB)

30
The first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan is the worthwhile part to watch.
Posted by: Misheard Lyrics Guy at June 06, 2016 12:38 PM (X+aMx)
-------------------

There's one scene in the middle where they do a diversionary tactic, but otherwise that's it.

Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 12:41 PM (pC96u)

31 No safe spaces back then. I wonder what the world would do now, should a world war break out.

Posted by: CSMBigBird at June 06, 2016 12:33 PM (jsWA

Hate to say it, but we are in no position to fight a world war. That was the scum's intent all along.

Posted by: Blano at June 06, 2016 12:42 PM (lbcdD)

32 The Invasion of Normandy was "bigger" than the invasion of Okinawa...by the way they were both "D-Days"...the Invasion of mainland Japan would have dwarfed both of them IF it had ever gone forward

Posted by: Nevergiveup at June 06, 2016 12:42 PM (zp+j1)

33 16 Was D-Day really the largest amphibious invasion ever? I thought that was Okinawa.
Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 12:36 PM (QHgTq)

Without seeking to detract from the subject matter of the post, the answer I've often seen is "agree to disagree." Ships and air were easier to come by near Europe than in the middle of the Pacific, so more small craft involved if "size" to you means "number of vehicles." Overall troop strength and casualties dramatically tilt to Oki, though - although I am not informed enough on the subject to know the time over which that troop strength was built and whether, in either case, it was still a storm landing by the time the reported peak numbers were reached.

Posted by: 0302 at June 06, 2016 12:43 PM (wx6iv)

34
Now to be snarky.

It took a year to plan. Now, it would take 3-5 years for the initial environmental impact assessments to move out of committee.
Posted by: alexthechick - All Your Parfait Is Belong To Me at June 06, 2016 12:34 PM (mf5HN)
--------------------

Now to join you.

Now, it would take 3-5 years to plan, and then it would all be published in the New York Times.

Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 12:43 PM (pC96u)

35
I wonder how many, of those who survived, spent their last years looking at the domestic wreckage around them and asked themselves, "I fought for this?"

My father-in-law (a hale 91), was in the Pacific theater and was scheduled for the invasion of Japan. He said once that the only time he ever got down on his knees to God was when Hiroshima was nuked, because he knew he wouldn't have to go.

Although he did, later, being part of the occupation force.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 06, 2016 12:43 PM (X6fMO)

36 29
25

The first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan is the worthwhile part to watch.

Posted by: Misheard Lyrics Guy at June 06, 2016 12:38 PM (X+aMx)

Thank you. I hate that movie, except for the D-Day scenes. Put the
whole war effort on hold, just for one soldier's mommy. And that was the
only good thing to come out of the war? Utter horseshit.

Posted by: josephistan

When I was in ROTC advanced camp, I got in a debate over whether as platoon leaders (lieutenants) we should risk sacrificing soldiers to retrieve the bodies of fallen comrades. I said no. It's one thing to risk lives to save injured soldiers who can be saved, but corpses, I wouldn't risk one life to retrieve a corpse. I took hell, but I held fast.

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 12:43 PM (dZ756)

37 "----we should thank God that such men lived."

------

Imagine the courage it took to get off those boats, wade through the water and run onto those beaches. I try and put myself in their boots---whew.

Now those guys are real heroes.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 12:44 PM (U+nHb)

38 "18
It seems that what the Allies were facing at Normandy was much like what
the Allies were facing against Germany in WWI - an entrenched enemy,
armed with artillery machine guns. And this time the Allies had
their backs to the sea. So why did mass attacks against such defenses in
WWI fail, yet succeed at D-Day? Was it armor? Did air power make that
much of a difference?

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 12:36 PM (7HtZB)"

One big difference was the existence of man portable radios. With a radio you can call in artillery on points of enemy resistance. I think that armored vehicles would have been more effective in WW I if they had made them lighter and skipped left off the guns but just used them to carry radios and forward artillery observers.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 12:44 PM (QHgTq)

39
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."

-- George Patton
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at June 06, 2016 12:39 PM (8ZskC)
------------------

I might disagree with that.

Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 12:44 PM (pC96u)

40
we are in no position to fight a world war. That was the scum's intent all along.

Posted by: Blano at June 06, 2016 12:42 PM (lbcdD)
----------------------

Absolutely.

Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 12:45 PM (pC96u)

41 Immeasurable bravery engraved in history on that beach. I'm always in awe.

May God still bless them all.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at June 06, 2016 12:46 PM (1CroS)

42 When I was in ROTC advanced camp, I got in a debate over whether as platoon leaders (lieutenants) we should risk sacrificing soldiers to retrieve the bodies of fallen comrades. I said no. It's one thing to risk lives to save injured soldiers who can be saved, but corpses, I wouldn't risk one life to retrieve a corpse. I took hell, but I held fast.
Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 12:43 PM (dZ756)

It certainly wasn't the attitude during WWII, but maybe now that a fallen American soldier will be degraded & paraded around for propaganda there could be an argument made to retrieve the dead.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 12:46 PM (7HtZB)

43 My Great-great uncle took part in the Normandy invasion. He was there on day 2, in a tank. We'd ever only heard him talk about it once, and I doubt he'll talk about it again (as he's mid 90s now).

Among other things, he said that he'd the ship dropping them off was afraid to get too close to the artillery fire, and that his CO had to argue with the captain that if they rolled out where he wanted to drop them off, they'd drown in the tank.

Posted by: joe, living dangerously at June 06, 2016 12:46 PM (KUaJL)

44 >>I might disagree with that.

I might feed my boot to your ass, Soldier!

Posted by: Zombie Patton at June 06, 2016 12:46 PM (6kxiP)

45 My Dad was in the Pacific during WWII. As were my uncles. Getting them to talk about it was not easy, but when they did their stories were incredible.
Oh, almost forgot, fuck Google.

Posted by: kraken at June 06, 2016 12:47 PM (sdxPm)

46 I want to laugh at your funny but it's true. Remember the Sec of the Navy puts climate change policy on top of his "to do" list.
Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 12:36 PM (U+nHb)

I wasn't really joking.

Posted by: alexthechick - All Your Parfait Is Belong To Me at June 06, 2016 12:47 PM (mf5HN)

47 Now to be snarky.

It took a year to plan. Now, it would take 3-5 years for the initial environmental impact assessments to move out of committee.

Posted by: alexthechick - All Your Parfait Is Belong To Me at June 06, 2016 12:34 PM (mf5HN)

--------------------

Now to join you.

Now, it would take 3-5 years to plan, and then it would all be ~~published in the New York Times~~ discovered by Nazis hacking Hillary's illegal server.

FIFY!

Posted by: Tex Lovera at June 06, 2016 12:47 PM (wtvvX)

48
I might feed my boot to your ass, Soldier!

Posted by: Zombie Patton at June 06, 2016 12:46 PM (6kxiP)
----------------------

Okay fine, zombie, I won't mourn YOU.

Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 12:48 PM (pC96u)

49 72 Years After the Largest Amphibious Invasion Ever

Europe unilaterally surrendered to an invasion by the 13th Century Nazi Party,

because their leaders like fancy cocktail parties.

Posted by: naturalfake at June 06, 2016 12:48 PM (HGtd0)

50 If we want to refight the Eastern Front, there are a multitude of factors that lead to Stalingrad including the Fuhrer's order for Army Group South to take Stalingrad and still go for the oil fields. That caused a division of forces. Now factor in how long the German supply lines were and the lack of mechanized support with the weather changing in Russia while the Soviet high command was very happy to just throw troops into the meat-grinder, it becomes obvious that Stalingrad was doomed for the Germans. Long before Goering boasted he resupply the 6th from the air or the Fuhrer refusing to allow Paulus the option to retreat. The place truly became a Witch's Cauldron.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 12:48 PM (jFXTk)

51 >>>Now to join you.

Now, it would take 3-5 years to plan, and then it would all be published in the New York Times.

Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 12:43 PM (pC96u)<<<

And I'd eventually give the go ahead... after ~~a few weeks, and several rounds of golf~~ agonizing hours of careful consideration.

Posted by: SCOAMF at June 06, 2016 12:48 PM (H9MG5)

52 Executive summary: saving Europe at enormous cost from totalitarian fascism, then defending Europe, again at enormous cost, from totalitarian Communism, then watching the Europeans meekly surrender themselves to totalitarian Islam a few decades later. Rendering all previous sacrifices and exertions moot.

Perhaps there was a simpler, different path to be taken.

Posted by: torquewrench at June 06, 2016 12:48 PM (noWW6)

53
One big difference was the existence of man portable radios. With a radio you can call in artillery on points of enemy resistance. I think that armored vehicles would have been more effective in WW I if they had made them lighter and skipped left off the guns but just used them to carry radios and forward artillery observers.
Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 12:44 PM (QHgTq)

So I guess a mass amphibious assault in WWI to go around the German defenses would have been out of the question?

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 12:48 PM (7HtZB)

54 It's really a pity America couldn't live up to what those men did. I feel both apologetic and envious. Strange mix.

Posted by: Puddin Head at June 06, 2016 12:49 PM (oDCMR)

55 any guesses of if Obama will honor D-Day the way he did Muhammed Ali, with a tweet of a picture of himself?

Posted by: Rick in SK at June 06, 2016 12:40 PM (/CIN4)

A quiet, and contemplative day of golfing. And selfies.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at June 06, 2016 12:49 PM (i2t8l)

56 When I was in ROTC advanced camp, I got in a debate over whether as platoon leaders (lieutenants) we should risk sacrificing soldiers to retrieve the bodies of fallen comrades. I said no. It's one thing to risk lives to save injured soldiers who can be saved, but corpses, I wouldn't risk one life to retrieve a corpse. I took hell, but I held fast.
Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 12:43 PM (dZ756)

It certainly wasn't the attitude during WWII, but maybe now that a fallen American soldier will be degraded & paraded around for propaganda there could be an argument made to retrieve the dead.

------------

Hmm, interesting question. I do think the responder may have this right. There is an argument that it may be worth it now, depending on who the enemy is and what may become of the fallen.

Posted by: SH at June 06, 2016 12:49 PM (gmeXX)

57 Had two Great Uncles who fought at Normandy.

Grandfather and two others fought in Pacific.

All 5 came home.

We were lucky to have such men and luckier still that they won the War and came home.

Posted by: garrett at June 06, 2016 12:49 PM (6kxiP)

58 Perhaps there was a simpler, different path to be taken.

Posted by: torquewrench at June 06, 2016 12:48 PM (noWW6)

Indeed.

Posted by: Sixkiller at June 06, 2016 12:49 PM (pcyHg)

59 Radio announcements earlier were making a point to add that French troops were also involved.

Well, yes. Technically true. There were 4 ships, a score of paratroopers, some air support, and a few army. Not the heavy lifting.

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 12:50 PM (fToHD)

60 any guesses of if Obama will honor D-Day the way he did Muhammed Ali, with a tweet of a picture of himself?

Posted by: Rick in SK at June 06, 2016 12:40 PM (/CIN4)

A quiet, and contemplative day of golfing. And selfies.

--------

Wow you guys are giving O a lot of credit. I doubt D-Day has even crossed his mind today.

Posted by: SH at June 06, 2016 12:50 PM (gmeXX)

61 God Bless 'em All. American. British. Canadian.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at June 06, 2016 12:51 PM (LA7Cm)

62 And that is not to say they weren't brave or anything.

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 12:51 PM (fToHD)

63 Normandy is listed as the largest amphibious invasion ever. Not Okinawa.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at June 06, 2016 12:51 PM (mpXpK)

64 Radio announcements earlier were making a point to add that French troops were also involved.

Well, yes. Technically true. There were 4 ships, a score of paratroopers, some air support, and a few army. Not the heavy lifting.
Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 12:50 PM (fToHD)
----------
I hope the Danes were not forgotten!

Posted by: RioBravo at June 06, 2016 12:51 PM (NUqwG)

65 50
If we want to refight the Eastern Front, there are a multitude of
factors that lead to Stalingrad including the Fuhrer's order for Army
Group South to take Stalingrad and still go for the oil fields. That
caused a division of forces. Now factor in how long the German supply
lines were and the lack of mechanized support with the weather changing
in Russia while the Soviet high command was very happy to just throw
troops into the meat-grinder, it becomes obvious that Stalingrad was
doomed for the Germans. Long before Goering boasted he resupply the 6th
from the air or the Fuhrer refusing to allow Paulus the option to
retreat. The place truly became a Witch's Cauldron.

Posted by: Anna Puma

<333

I LOVE discussing the Eastern front. So much to talk about. The Caucasus diversion was stupid -- I'm not aware of any general who favored it.

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 12:52 PM (dZ756)

66 So why did mass attacks against such defenses in WWI fail, yet succeed at D-Day? Was it armor? Did air power make that much of a difference?
Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 12:36 PM (7HtZB)

a little bit of everthing -

- air power critically damaged the german's logistics chain and prevented the armored vehicles in reserve from making it past caen

- tanks were landed in the first waves and helped quickly establish the beachheads except at Omaha where they sank in heavy surf. once the combined beachhead was able to receive them, the armor allowed the allies to make steady but slow progress in pushing back the defenders, and once through the bocage country, it allowed Patton to quickly take territory by the mile until the logistics chain ran too long.

- although well entrenched, the allies were able pick a less heavily defended portion of the defense line because how thinly spread the Germans were, thanks to the Italians failures

- the ability to bring heavy naval firepower saved the situation on Omaha. The raised defense positions became a liability as flat trajectory rounds could hit the entrenched positions, unlike in WWI

Posted by: George Marshall at June 06, 2016 12:52 PM (12kBq)

67 My Dad was in Army service during the Korean War. He never refers to himself as a veteran. There's service and then there's service. He thought his contribution to be too insignificant to mention in the same breath as those who actually fought. I always admired that position.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at June 06, 2016 12:52 PM (1CroS)

68 I have two family members, one in Lorraine and another in Luxembourg that never made it back.

Thinking about them today...

Posted by: Marcus T at June 06, 2016 12:53 PM (O0lVq)

69 It's really a pity America couldn't live up to what those men did. I feel both apologetic and envious. Strange mix.Posted by: Puddin Head at June 06, 2016 12:49 PM (oDCMR)I've said many a time before that, at times, I absolutely wish I were a silly, puddingheaded LIV with no other thoughts than the latest video game or fantasy draft. Living through the fall of America is no fun.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 06, 2016 12:53 PM (X6fMO)

70 >> Radio announcements earlier were making a point to add that French troops were also involved.

According to my Uncles, the French Women did their part a few weeks later.

Posted by: garrett at June 06, 2016 12:53 PM (6kxiP)

71 Another thing people forget is how most of Holland and Denmark were not liberated until Germany surrendered. After Monty's disastrous excursion to Arnhem, the ardor for that one bold stroke to end things sputtered out.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 12:53 PM (jFXTk)

72 "It took a year to plan. Now, it would take 3-5 years for the initial environmental impact assessments to move out of committee.

Posted by: alexthechick - All Your Parfait Is Belong To Me at June 06, 2016 12:34 PM (mf5HN)"

As they say at NASA, President Kennedy promised to put a man on the Moon and return him safely to earth within the decade and it was done. Today we no longer have that capability. Not just we don't have the capability to send a man to the Moon. We don't have the capability to sent a man to the Moon in ten years.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 12:53 PM (QHgTq)

73 "No safe spaces back then. I wonder what the world would do now, should a world war break out."

That world war is already happening. Islam has declared war on western civilization. Europe is overrun by Muslim invaders as far north and west as Germany, Scandinavia, and England -- farther than they got prior to the rise of Charles Martel. A Europe intent on survival would already repelled the invasion.

America has already seen plenty of attack on her own soil, and colonies and beachheads are already established in various places. We have a President who is facilitating the invasion and a nation lacking the politic spine to do anything but surrender. The enemy is allowed to act freely against us, under names like the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

I don't wonder what the world would do. I'm watching it first-hand.

Posted by: Qoheleth at June 06, 2016 12:55 PM (iIzG7)

74 Grandpa Zod had about 30 German POWs who worked on his Kansas farm (captured in N. Africa). He claimed that one day, he looked out into the field and saw one of the Germans, who was driving a tractor, hunched over the wheel; the tractor was stopped. Thought the POW must've had a heart attack.

Went out to the vehicle, found the German sobbing. Asked why he was weeping; German said, "I'm from Austria, and I just learned that the Russians have taken Vienna." His family was there; he knew they were in for a *bad* time.

Always wondered how a German POW in mid-Kansas could've gotten such current news...

Posted by: General Zod at June 06, 2016 12:55 PM (Bdeb0)

75 Islam has declared war on western civilization.

----------

1400 years ago

Posted by: SH at June 06, 2016 12:55 PM (gmeXX)

76 >>>the Largest Amphibious Invasion Ever<<<

Are capsized refugee boats considered amphibious?

Posted by: Fritz at June 06, 2016 12:57 PM (UzPAd)

77 66 So why did mass attacks against such defenses in WWI fail, yet succeed at D-Day? Was it armor? Did air power make that much of a difference?
Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 12:36 PM (7HtZB)

a little bit of everthing -

- air power critically damaged the german's logistics chain and prevented the armored vehicles in reserve from making it past caen

- tanks were landed in the first waves and helped quickly establish the beachheads except at Omaha where they sank in heavy surf. once the combined beachhead was able to receive them, the armor allowed the allies to make steady but slow progress in pushing back the defenders, and once through the bocage country, it allowed Patton to quickly take territory by the mile until the logistics chain ran too long.

- although well entrenched, the allies were able pick a less heavily defended portion of the defense line because how thinly spread the Germans were, thanks to the Italians failures

- the ability to bring heavy naval firepower saved the situation on Omaha. The raised defense positions became a liability as flat trajectory rounds could hit the entrenched positions, unlike in WWI

-------------------
I would add that we invented the Variable Time Fuze that allowed artillery to burst over trenches. Germans didn't have that.

Posted by: Puddin Head at June 06, 2016 12:57 PM (oDCMR)

78 Anyone who travels to Virginia to visit historical sites MUST at least try to go to the D-Day Memorial in Bedford.

I am ashamed to say that I lived in the state for years, actually decades, even passing the exit often and never stopped. ("Next time," I always said.) Then one day I went there.

Beautiful, deeply moving, and very educational. If you can't get to Normandy, go there. Unforgettable.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at June 06, 2016 12:58 PM (T/5A0)

79 Always wondered how a German POW in mid-Kansas could've gotten such current news...
Posted by: General Zod at June 06, 2016 12:55 PM (Bdeb0)
---------
Rural Area Delivery of Information and Organization

Posted by: RioBravo at June 06, 2016 12:58 PM (NUqwG)

80 I LOVE discussing the Eastern front. So much to talk about. The Caucasus diversion was stupid -- I'm not aware of any general who favored it.
Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 12:52 PM (dZ756)

Cleaning up after the failure of the italians in Greece delayed Barbarossa by 7 weeks. The germans might have taken Moscow before the fall monsoons

Posted by: George S Patton at June 06, 2016 12:59 PM (12kBq)

81
The march from "The Longest Day". Sung by Mitch Miller and the Gang and written by Paul Anka

https://youtu.be/Ff4ci4-tY_0

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot, Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 06, 2016 01:00 PM (fOgSR)

82 69 It's really a pity America couldn't live up to what those men did. I feel both apologetic and envious. Strange mix.Posted by: Puddin Head at June 06, 2016 12:49 PM (oDCMR)I've said many a time before that, at times, I absolutely wish I were a silly, puddingheaded LIV with no other thoughts than the latest video game or fantasy draft. Living through the fall of America is no fun.
-------------------
True. To be a moron takes effort but the benefits are beatific. See any Ivy League college.

Posted by: Puddin Head at June 06, 2016 01:00 PM (oDCMR)

83 The situation in Greece and then the revolt in Yugoslavia did delay the German timetables for Operation Barbarossa.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 01:01 PM (jFXTk)

84
Not just we don't have the capability to send a man to the Moon. We don't have the capability to sent a man to the Moon in ten years.
Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 12:53 PM (QHgTq)
---------------------

But Muslims feel better about themselves because of algebra.

Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 01:01 PM (pC96u)

85 >>Operation Barbarossa

Those Big Titted Space Bitches would have rolled over Stalingrad.

Posted by: garrett at June 06, 2016 01:02 PM (6kxiP)

86 Rural Area Delivery of Information and Organization

-----

Eggshell, bit of wire, a nail.

Can't find that on a farm though

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 01:03 PM (fToHD)

87 That was Barbarella... go back to reading comics and Penthouse Forums.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 01:03 PM (jFXTk)

88 Imagine the courage it took to get off those boats, wade through the water and run onto those beaches. I try and put myself in their boots---whew.

Now those guys are real heroes.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 12:44 PM (U+nHb)

Yes, it took a great deal of courage to fight on those beaches.

However, we need to think about the word "hero". In order to insure we don't take away from the many heroes that showed themselves that day, we can't bestow the honor on everyone.

It's like giving a "worlds greatest winner" trophy to everyone in a race.

When the troops hit the beaches, there were a few cowards, there were thousands of courageous men doing their duty and then there were true heroes, who gave their lives or who put their lives in graver risk than was necessary to save the lives of others and/or complete their mission.

Words matter.

Posted by: jwest at June 06, 2016 01:04 PM (Zs4uk)

89 Climbing up those ropes under fire... I remember it well.

Posted by: Brian Williams at June 06, 2016 01:04 PM (9stgl)

90 85 >>Operation Barbarossa

Those Big Titted Space Bitches would have rolled over Stalingrad.
----------------------
I have a hard time believing Jane Fonda could roll over a group of make up artist much less Russkies in itchy suits.

Posted by: Puddin Head at June 06, 2016 01:04 PM (oDCMR)

91 you know you laughed

Posted by: garrett at June 06, 2016 01:04 PM (6kxiP)

92 The Normandy landing, live reporting: 72 yrs after
Crisis On Omaha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px_XBJHrs4I

Posted by: G6loq at June 06, 2016 01:04 PM (zj+JZ)

93 80
I LOVE discussing the Eastern front. So much to talk about. The
Caucasus diversion was stupid -- I'm not aware of any general who
favored it.

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 12:52 PM (dZ756)

Cleaning up after the failure of the italians in Greece delayed
Barbarossa by 7 weeks. The germans might have taken Moscow before the
fall monsoons

Posted by: George S Patton at June 06, 2016 12:59 PM (12kBq)
Gotta disagree with that. Spring rains in central/eastern Europe were really bad that year and bridge crossings would have been really tough. Also, those 7 weeks were responsible for a fair amount of critical armament production. What stopped Hitler from taking Moscow was his own decision to let it wait until he had secured his flanks -- Kiev and Leningrad. He basically sat Army Group Center for over a month while he diverted its armor north and south. If he had simply focused on Moscow while providing just enough flank support to neutralize flank attacks, he would have taken it. Also, he couldn't let the Balkans, including Greece, sit undefended else while he was deep in Russia, the British would've invaded through Greece/Balkans in a sort of reprise of Hitler's France strategy (feint through the Low countries to draw off the bulk of the French army and the BEF then stab quickly through the Ardennes).

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 01:05 PM (dZ756)

94
I'm most of the way through Reagan's speech in another tab.

DAMN I want an American in the White House again, not some far-seeing, deep-thinking citizen of the world.

Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 01:05 PM (pC96u)

95 I just can't keep up with you guys. I give up.

Posted by: Miley's Tongue at June 06, 2016 01:05 PM (knRe2)

96 When the troops hit the beaches, there were a few cowards, there were thousands of courageous men doing their duty and then there were true heroes, who gave their lives or who put their lives in graver risk than was necessary to save the lives of others and/or complete their mission.

Words matter.

----------------

They do, but does the passage of time allow us to bestow the word on most?

Posted by: SH at June 06, 2016 01:05 PM (gmeXX)

97 The march from "The Longest Day". Sung by Mitch Miller and the Gang and written by Paul Anka

Allies get shirts.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at June 06, 2016 01:05 PM (iLoHX)

98 Paradox released Hearts of Iron IV today for those of a gaming and historical bent.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 06, 2016 01:05 PM (3ZoRf)

99 Words matter.
Posted by: jwest at June 06, 2016 01:04 PM (Zs4uk)

Do me a favor and STFU.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:05 PM (U+nHb)

100 I thank God that such men existed, and that they answered the call to fight for freedom. Every one of their wives and children served, as well, in fear and sadness and waiting, if nothing else. We owe them all a debt we can never repay.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:06 PM (39g3+)

101 Wasn't it at Normandy that Obama's Uncle liberated a Concentration Camp?

Posted by: Puddin Head at June 06, 2016 01:06 PM (oDCMR)

102 So why did mass attacks against such defenses in WWI fail, yet succeed at D-Day? Was it armor? Did air power make that much of a difference?
Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 12:36 PM (7HtZB)

Another factor is that the Jerries, thanks to really good deception ops on the part of the allies (particularly the Brits), thought any invasion landing would be at Calais and had forces concentrated there.

Posted by: My-T-Sharp Barbers at June 06, 2016 01:06 PM (uiwCw)

103 Can't find that on a farm though
Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 01:03 PM (fToHD)
----------
Strange then how they managed to listen to the occasional fireside chat.

Posted by: RioBravo at June 06, 2016 01:06 PM (NUqwG)

104 "But Muslims feel better about themselves because of algebra."

They stole algebra from India. They get credit for giving us Zero (both the number, and the occupant of the White House).

All they seem to be able to invent now is sadistic new ways of murdering people in orange jumpsuits.

Posted by: Qoheleth at June 06, 2016 01:07 PM (iIzG7)

105 101 Wasn't it at Normandy that Obama's Uncle liberated a Concentration Camp?
Posted by: Puddin Head at June 06, 2016 01:06 PM (oDCMR)

they speak Austrian there, right?

Posted by: Rick in SK at June 06, 2016 01:07 PM (/CIN4)

106 >>Rural Area Delivery of Information and Organization. Posted by: RioBravo at June 06, 2016 12:58 PM (NUqwG)

Yeah, probably, on the camp-issue Philco wireless set each German was required to keep next to his cot.

Posted by: General Zod at June 06, 2016 01:07 PM (Bdeb0)

107 Gotta disagree with that. Spring rains in
central/eastern Europe were really bad that year and bridge crossings
would have been really tough. Also, those 7 weeks were responsible for a
fair amount of critical armament production. What stopped Hitler from
taking Moscow was his own decision to let it wait until he had secured
his flanks -- Kiev and Leningrad. He basically sat Army Group Center for
over a month while he diverted its armor north and south. If he had
simply focused on Moscow while providing just enough flank support to
neutralize flank attacks, he would have taken it. Also, he couldn't let
the Balkans, including Greece, sit undefended else while he was deep in
Russia, the British would've invaded through Greece/Balkans in a sort of
reprise of Hitler's France strategy (feint through the Low countries to
draw off the bulk of the French army and the BEF then stab quickly
through the Ardennes).

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 01:05 PM (dZ756)
And the Germans caused their own problems in Kiev. When they rolled into the Ukraine, they were viewed by the natives as liberators.....and they immediately set about destroying that good will.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at June 06, 2016 01:08 PM (i2t8l)

108 They do, but does the passage of time allow us to bestow the word on most?

Posted by: SH at June 06, 2016 01:05 PM (gmeXX)

It would be nice and everyone can accept the desire to do it, but it still wouldn't be right.

Then we would have to call the real heroes "superheroes".

Posted by: jwest at June 06, 2016 01:08 PM (Zs4uk)

109 Another factor is that the Jerries, thanks to really good deception ops on the part of the allies (particularly the Brits), thought any invasion landing would be at Calais and had forces concentrated there.
Posted by: My-T-Sharp Barbers at June 06, 2016 01:06 PM (uiwCw)

------

I think there was a movie about that...a very good one. I'll have to search around.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:08 PM (U+nHb)

110 Thank God we were successful in Freeing France of Germans to make room for the Muslim Invasion.

Posted by: Puddin Head at June 06, 2016 01:08 PM (oDCMR)

111 I think anyone that hit those beaches and kept going no matter how or why are all heroes. They are to me, anyway.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:08 PM (39g3+)

112 34
Now to be snarky.

It took a year to plan. Now, it would take 3-5 years for the initial environmental impact assessments to move out of committee.
Posted by: alexthechick - All Your Parfait Is Belong To Me at June 06, 2016 12:34 PM (mf5HN)
--------------------

Now to join you.

Now, it would take 3-5 years to plan, and then it would all be published in the New York Times.
Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 12:43 PM (pC96u)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Then criticized relentlessly and a "we're losing" mentality would become the dominent theme.

Posted by: MTF, Please excuse iphone spelling errors at June 06, 2016 01:09 PM (/m8T6)

113 Progressives in general only honor and respect two wars in our history, World War II, and the Civil War. Everything else, just bad and racist and Imperialist. ( Too ignorant to notice WWI).

Posted by: kraken at June 06, 2016 01:10 PM (sdxPm)

114 The situations in Greece and Yugoslavia might have allowed the Germans to produce more arms, but it also diverted manpower and equipment to secondary fronts.

North Africa and Greece did prove one thing. Benito's Italians would have been hard pressed to organize one of Caligula's orgies, much less conquer the world.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 01:10 PM (jFXTk)

115 It's amazing what America can accomplish when there aren't traitorous Senators yelling 'quagmire' and 'exit strategy'

Posted by: Donald Rumsfeld at June 06, 2016 01:10 PM (12kBq)

116 Do me a favor and STFU.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:05 PM (U+nHb)

Oh yes. Please fill the thread with your manufactured outrage.

It's English, motherfucker. You either speak it or you don't.

Posted by: jwest at June 06, 2016 01:11 PM (Zs4uk)

117 Allies get shirts.

lol

Posted by: eleven at June 06, 2016 01:11 PM (qUNWi)

118

Pvt. Herbert S. Winkler

508th PIR, 82nd Airborne

October 13th, 1923-June 6th, 1944

Forever 20. May the Lord Bless you and keep you.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:11 PM (p4UlV)

119 98
Paradox released Hearts of Iron IV today for those of a gaming and historical bent.

Posted by: Aetius451AD

I'm still working on HOI III, so something for my bucket list.

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (dZ756)

120 A reminder to any morons who may visit Savannah. The National Museum of the Might Eighth Air Force is worth the trip on its own.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (1ZOkK)

121 I think anyone that hit those beaches and kept going no matter how or why are all heroes. They are to me, anyway.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:08 PM (39g3+)

-------

This was my point Christopher. Just screwing up the courage to leave the boat, lots of water and then the beach. Many (most?) must have known they were going to die just by looking around.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (U+nHb)

122 >>Wasn't it at Normandy that Obama's Uncle liberated a Concentration Camp?

Uncle Normand 'Pooky' Obama.

True Fact : He liberated Auschwitz and he didn't even speak a word of Austrian.

Posted by: garrett at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (6kxiP)

123 And the Germans caused their own problems in Kiev. When they rolled into the Ukraine, they were viewed by the natives as liberators.....and they immediately set about destroying that good will.
Posted by: Sticky Wicket at June 06, 2016 01:08 PM (i2t8l)
----------
Several thousand Russians fought in the German forces in Normandy.

Posted by: RioBravo at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (NUqwG)

124 Seems Legit, #99:

Dafuq? Are you pissed at him over something else, or is this really your response to #88?

Posted by: JPS at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (mH5lL)

125 I'll tell you one thing about the Normandy invasion.
The US Coast Guard is not to be sneezed at.

Until I visited the memorial in Bedford, I had no I idea of the role they played. Unbelievable courage.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (T/5A0)

126
Progressives in general only honor and respect two wars in our history,
World War II, and the Civil War. Everything else, just bad and racist
and Imperialist. ( Too ignorant to notice WWI). Posted by: kraken at June 06, 2016 01:10 PM (sdxPm)
=====

My impression is that WWI was just a skirmish to the real thing as far as modern history is concerned. Grandpa was a WWI disabled vet, so maybe I am just more aware of WWI than most.

Posted by: mustbequantum at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (MIKMs)

127 That was a mistake all across the Eastern Front, SS murder squads immediately set up shop.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 01:13 PM (jFXTk)

128 Off, snipping sock.

Posted by: Country Singer at June 06, 2016 01:13 PM (uiwCw)

129 Progressives in general only honor and respect two wars in our history, World War II

___

We do?

Posted by: Google Doodle Guys at June 06, 2016 01:13 PM (0LHZx)

130 Posted by: jwest at June 06, 2016 01:11 PM (Zs4uk)

------

I have no outrage. I was speaking of the courage just to get out of the fucking boats.

But, yes, of course we need YOU to explain words to us. Thank you.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:14 PM (U+nHb)

131 123 And the Germans caused their own problems in Kiev. When they rolled into the Ukraine, they were viewed by the natives as liberators.....and they immediately set about destroying that good will.
Posted by: Sticky Wicket at June 06, 2016 01:08 PM (i2t8l)
----------
Several thousand Russians fought in the German forces in Normandy.
Posted by: RioBravo at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (NUqwG)

And sadly, the Jews of the Ukraine were almost wiped out by their fellow countrymen, who did not view them the same way.

See: Einsatzgruppen, Babi Yar.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:14 PM (p4UlV)

132 Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial. It's just too large to fit into a few photos:
http://www.303rdbg.com/cem-lorraine.jpg

http://tinyurl.com/hyu2wsl

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 06, 2016 01:14 PM (9mTYi)

133 That aerial shot of Pointe du Hoc at Bing is something.

I really, really want to go back some day. May have to skip Paris, though. Sigh.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:15 PM (1ZOkK)

134 132 Dammit! First photo is NOT at Cambridge

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 06, 2016 01:15 PM (9mTYi)

135 Dafuq? Are you pissed at him over something else, or is this really your response to #88?
Posted by: JPS at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (mH5lL)

------

Yes.

Relax.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:15 PM (U+nHb)

136 104 "But Muslims feel better about themselves because of algebra."

They stole algebra from India. They get credit for giving us Zero (both the number, and the occupant of the White House).

Posted by: Qoheleth at June 06, 2016 01:07 PM (iIzG7)
---------------------------
IIRC, they stole algebra from the Greeks and "Arabic" numbers and zero from India.
But you're right that they can take at least partial credit for Zerobama!

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at June 06, 2016 01:16 PM (T/5A0)

137 I am sure it's been said. FUCK GOOGLE. Not one mention of D Day.

Bing has a picture of Omaha landing area.

Posted by: Nip Sip at June 06, 2016 01:16 PM (jJRIy)

138 126
My impression is that WWI was just a skirmish to the real thing as far as modern history is concerned. Grandpa was a WWI disabled vet, so maybe I am just more aware of WWI than most.
Posted by: mustbequantum at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (MIKMs)

The late Stephen Ambrose (like him or not) viewed the First and Second World Wars as essentially a European civil war which was to settle once and for all who would dominate the continent. The irony, of course, is that it was America and the Soviets - two non-European nations - that wound up victorious.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:16 PM (p4UlV)

139 114 The situations in Greece and Yugoslavia might have allowed the Germans to produce more arms, but it also diverted manpower and equipment to secondary fronts.

North Africa and Greece did prove one thing. Benito's Italians would have been hard pressed to organize one of Caligula's orgies, much less conquer the world.
Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 01:10 PM (jFXTk)

But we showed the Ethiopians who's boss, eh?

Posted by: Benito's Italian Army at June 06, 2016 01:16 PM (7HtZB)

140 Go to Normandy. It really is a great War Memorial. Moving. Beautiful. Gives perspective.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:16 PM (U+nHb)

141 I have no outrage. I was speaking of the courage just to get out of the fucking boats.

But, yes, of course we need YOU to explain words to us. Thank you.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:14 PM (U+nHb)

Apparently, you do need someone to explain words to you.

I spoke of the courage it took too. You must have missed that or not understood the words.

The word "hero" means something. If you paid attention, I explained it to you. Now, you're not so fucking ignorant.

You're welcome.

Posted by: jwest at June 06, 2016 01:16 PM (Zs4uk)

142 I remember learning about WW1 in 9th grade history class. Yeah this was back when kids actually learned about evil white Europeans in history. It was pretty cool to learn what caused the war to happen, all the positioning by the empires, and how seemingly small events on their own all built upon each other until all hell broke loose.

Plus my teacher was awesome and made thats stuff interesting to 14 year olds.

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at June 06, 2016 01:16 PM (0LHZx)

143 132 Dammit! First photo is NOT at Cambridge
---------

But this one is:

http://tinyurl.com/zabgybx

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 06, 2016 01:16 PM (9mTYi)

144 Islam has declared war on western civilization.

----------

1400 years ago

--

Yes, but it is a modern development that western civilization is now actively helping islam with the destruction of itself.

Posted by: Lady in Black - Death to the Man Bun at June 06, 2016 01:17 PM (+FSld)

145 All of you who had family in the fight against the Axis, thank your parents and grandparents for me.

The French have vandalism etc at their graveyards sometimes but the Dutch truly revere their fallen American heroes. I know a lot of dutch people, including some who were alive during the Nazi occupation. They truly love America and are endlessly grateful.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:17 PM (39g3+)

146 You're probably right, Margarita - but it was still a great opportunity to shoot off some witty snarkiness about the SCOAMF.

And take a shot at current Muslim inventiveness.

Posted by: Qoheleth at June 06, 2016 01:18 PM (iIzG7)

147 Thankfully we've seen the end of vast worldwide conflicts.

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at June 06, 2016 01:18 PM (fWAjv)

148 Progressives in general only honor and respect two wars in our history
---------

Okay. Ghey Marriage, but, the other?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 06, 2016 01:19 PM (9mTYi)

149 Okay. Ghey Marriage, but, the other?
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 06, 2016 01:19 PM (9mTYi)

----

HA!

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:19 PM (U+nHb)

150 No fighting in the Dday thread PLZ. THX.

Posted by: eleven at June 06, 2016 01:19 PM (qUNWi)

151 Transgender rights.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:19 PM (U+nHb)

152 I remember SCOAMF's first year in office, and his and Mooch's visit to Normandy.

Ol' Mooch giving the stink-eye to the French First Lady, whose name totally escapes me now.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:20 PM (1ZOkK)

153 Just taking a look at the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA. Wow, that is an impressive site. And I've never heard of it before now. Got to take a road trip there soon.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:20 PM (7HtZB)

154 120 A reminder to any morons who may visit Savannah. The National Museum of the Might Eighth Air Force is worth the trip on its own.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (1ZOkK)

I was this >

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:20 PM (p4UlV)

155 Listening to the Reagan speech.

What is staggering to me is how the passage of time affects one's sense of time.

I was a full grown 24 year old at the time of this speech. The things that were done "forty years ago" were ancient history.

Now "forty years ago" is the day before yesterday. It's amazing how close the distant past is.

My grandfather, my mother's father, was born in the year of Custer's stand.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at June 06, 2016 01:21 PM (1xUj/)

156 152 I remember SCOAMF's first year in office, and his and Mooch's visit to Normandy.

Ol' Mooch giving the stink-eye to the French First Lady, whose name totally escapes me now.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:20 PM (1ZOkK)

Carla Bruni. Yowza.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 06, 2016 01:21 PM (0mRoj)

157 There will be no fighting in the war room!!!

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 01:21 PM (jFXTk)

158 #150 Fat chance.

Posted by: Miley's Tongue at June 06, 2016 01:21 PM (knRe2)

159 150 No fighting in the Dday thread PLZ. THX.

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.

Posted by: President Merkin Muffley at June 06, 2016 01:21 PM (/CIN4)

160 I've never heard of it either, josephistan. I know talk radio hosts have been highlighting the WWII museum in New Orleans. Didn't know about that one either until talk radio took it under their wing.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:22 PM (U+nHb)

161 #152 Carla Bruni

Posted by: Miley's Tongue at June 06, 2016 01:22 PM (knRe2)

162 When men were men and didn't want to use girl's restrooms.

Posted by: wth at June 06, 2016 01:22 PM (HgMAr)

163 Transgender rights.
Posted by: Seems Legit
----------

You will assign bathrooms as we tell you to assign bathrooms.

Posted by: Loretta Lynch, Commissar of Bathrooms at June 06, 2016 01:22 PM (9mTYi)

164 Ol' Mooch giving the stink-eye to the French First Lady, whose name totally escapes me now.

Mooch has resting stink-eye face.

Posted by: eleven at June 06, 2016 01:22 PM (qUNWi)

165 Even with cruise missiles, drones and A10's, putting that many boots on the ground at Normandy today would be daunting. Standing on those cliffs and looking down makes you realize how absolutely incredible the assault was.

Posted by: MTF, please excuse iphone spelling errors at June 06, 2016 01:22 PM (/m8T6)

166 I need to get down to the new WW2 memorial in town here. Its small but... so many names of Oregonians. It just makes me cry to think how much they paid, both the survivors and the fallen, and what we then turned around and did with what they earned.

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.

One of the best movie lines, ever

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:23 PM (39g3+)

167 145 All of you who had family in the fight against the Axis, thank your parents and grandparents for me.

The French have vandalism etc at their graveyards sometimes but the Dutch truly revere their fallen American heroes. I know a lot of dutch people, including some who were alive during the Nazi occupation. They truly love America and are endlessly grateful.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:17 PM (39g3+)

Lost my dad's brother on Saipan, 52 years ago on July 1st, and my mom and family survived hell on earth in the camps.

The war is very much a part of who I am on a very deep level, as you might imagine.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:23 PM (p4UlV)

168 LOL@#164

Posted by: Miley's Tongue at June 06, 2016 01:23 PM (knRe2)

169
Make that 72 years ago.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:23 PM (p4UlV)

170 The Germans screwed themselves in Russia by not having any long-range bombers to bomb the Soviet factories churning out T-34s & fighter planes.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:23 PM (7HtZB)

171 I think I recall Hollande is divorced and there are a variety of "first ladies".

Posted by: MTF, please excuse iphone spelling errors at June 06, 2016 01:23 PM (/m8T6)

172 I had relatives that died at D Day too

One guy, the 88 had a misfire

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 01:24 PM (fToHD)

173 Oddly enough, Hearts of Iron IV does not seem to be on sale from paradox at amazon (it is sold as a physical copy through a third party.)

It is on Steam.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 06, 2016 01:24 PM (3ZoRf)

174 #171 So cheesy, not in a good way.

Posted by: Miley's Tongue at June 06, 2016 01:24 PM (knRe2)

175 Living in Germany while Daddy was in the Air Force was pretty cool, as a school kid. Had the best history teacher in the world, a young man, Mr. Fitzsimmons. He would take us on field trips to all these cool sites, WWII, old Roman ruins, etc.

He brought history alive.

I wonder how many gubmint school teachers are like that?

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:24 PM (1ZOkK)

176 I have this urge to go off on a AtC quality rage fest about the decline of the Republic because of Progressive Pussification of our society, but not here, not now. D-Day was one of America's finest hours, and we have this time in our history to be proud of, and will always be ours.

Posted by: kraken at June 06, 2016 01:25 PM (sdxPm)

177 OT
Authorities say Roger Clinton, younger half-brother of former President Bill Clinton, has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in Southern California.

He's pillar of rectitude compared to his bro and Scankles

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot, Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 06, 2016 01:25 PM (fOgSR)

178 I had relatives that died at D Day too

I had relatives die waiting for D-Day.

Sigh

Posted by: Nevergiveup at June 06, 2016 01:25 PM (zp+j1)

179 I can't help but think of the final lines of Bridges at Toko-Ri

"Where do we get such men?"

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:26 PM (39g3+)

180 spent many of hours of single life playing HOI 2 and viewing porn.....

Posted by: Rick in SK at June 06, 2016 01:26 PM (/CIN4)

181 160 I've never heard of it either, josephistan. I know talk radio hosts have been highlighting the WWII museum in New Orleans. Didn't know about that one either until talk radio took it under their wing.
Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:22 PM (U+nHb)

I've been donating to the U.S. Army Museum for over 10 years now & they still have yet to break ground. The Marines got their museum up & running in no time, and they continue to expand it.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:27 PM (7HtZB)

182 Has President Putt apologized to Germany for the atrocities committed by American's at Normandy?

I wish that I were just kidding.

Posted by: Cheri at June 06, 2016 01:27 PM (oiNtH)

183 170 The Germans screwed themselves in Russia by not having any long-range bombers to bomb the Soviet factories churning out T-34s & fighter planes.
Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:23 PM (7HtZB)

They screwed themselves by not putting everything they had into taking Moscow before the snows fell in '41. Stalin was set to evacuate and then sue for peace, ready to cede European Russia to Hitler.

The other insane move was declaring war on the USA on December 11th.

There were a lot of other stupid moves that cost him the war, but even with smart moves, he never would be able to overcome the manpower the Soviets had.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:27 PM (p4UlV)

184 Jackson, MS has several obscure and interesting links to WWII.

Cederlawn Cemetery is where Dutch pilots who died while training at Hawkins Field in WWII are now buried.
http://mdah.state.ms.us/senseofplace/2011/07/18/jacksons-flying-dutchmen/

Then there was Camp Clinton that housed German POWs, mostly Afrika Corps.
http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/index.php?id=233

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 01:27 PM (jFXTk)

185
"Where do we get such men?"

----

Conscription.

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 01:28 PM (fToHD)

186 "All of you who had family in the fight against the Axis, thank your parents and grandparents for me. "

Had several uncles in the war but all in the Pacific by some odd chance. Got one to talk a little about it one time. And he told me things that still make my stomach churn.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at June 06, 2016 01:28 PM (LA7Cm)

187 There is a WWII memorial on River Street in Savannah. It's a globe, split in half, honoring those who fought in Europe and the Pacific, with the names of local men who died in both theaters.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:28 PM (1ZOkK)

188 Don't forget to honor the English and Polish and other soldiers, sailors, marines, and pilots along side the Americans. They paid a very dear price as well. God bless them all. I sit in my chair at home comfortable and safe on the internet, and get upset when the wireless is laggy or drops. They faced a meat grinder on those beaches and in the air.

Time to watch some Band of Brothers again, I think.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:28 PM (39g3+)

189
Bing has an aerial view of Pointe du Hoc. Arguably the most heavily bombarded single target in all of the war, at least in the ETO.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:29 PM (p4UlV)

190 Posted this earlier, but here it is again. Picture I snapped on Memorial Day, the pictured Vet went ashore at Normandy June 6th. He now serves on the Rifle Salute Team. Handled his M1 smartly too. A STRACT troop.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/jyks8qt

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 06, 2016 01:29 PM (9mTYi)

191 No relatives that I know of at D-Day, but one that was killed taking Cherbourg two weeks later, one that survived the Bataan Death March, and another that brought back an Arisaka he took off a Nip that he killed. I have the bayonet hanging on my wall.

Posted by: Country Singer at June 06, 2016 01:29 PM (uiwCw)

192 Thanks Dave in Texas.

God Bless those men.

I posted this on the News Dump but will carry it up here for those who may have missed it and are interested.

On this date in 1944- news of the Normandy landings reaches the Allied troops in Italy. Optimistically, EZ Dog hopes that with an offensive push from "Joe" Stalin, Germany will fold. Unfortunately there is lots of fighting still to be done.

The EZ Dog Journal

June 6, 1944
First news this morning was the invasion. Really sounded good. I'll bet Gerry doesn't last long now. The beauty of the thing is this is no small scale operation. We have enough troops and tanks and planes to move right on.

With our front cracked wide open Gerry has lots of worry on his mind. Now if "Joe" only decides to open up we'll have the thing pretty well sewed up. Corps Arty moved again today. This time to a "villa" about a mile and a half across the river, just west of the Vatican.

Nobody knows where any one else is. Everybody, it seems, has one idea in mind and that is to head north. Our leading elements are 25 miles beyond Rome. PW count is beyond all expectation. Over 2500 came in in one day. Latest VI Corps count, which is incomplete, is 8,028 as of yesterday.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at June 06, 2016 01:29 PM (NeFrd)

193 Don't forget to honor the English and Polish and other soldiers, sailors, marines, and pilots along side the Americans. They paid a very dear price as well.
------------

Canadians.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 06, 2016 01:30 PM (9mTYi)

194 140
Go to Normandy. It really is a great War Memorial. Moving. Beautiful. Gives perspective.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:16 PM (U+nHb)
Been twice. You will do OK till the bells start playing the armed services hymn.

Then you will cry. See if you can get through this without crying.

The Navy Hymn. http://tinyurl.com/hs6dgkv

Posted by: Nip Sip at June 06, 2016 01:30 PM (jJRIy)

195 153 Just taking a look at the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA. Wow, that is an impressive site. And I've never heard of it before now. Got to take a road trip there soon.
Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:20 PM
------------------------
As I say, once I went, I was kicking myself for procrastinating. I don't know what I expected but it surpassed anything I could have imagined.

(The site was picked because Bedford County VA had the highest death rate on D-Day.)

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at June 06, 2016 01:30 PM (T/5A0)

196 191 No relatives that I know of at D-Day, but one that was killed taking Cherbourg two weeks later, one that survived the Bataan Death March, and another that brought back an Arisaka he took off a Nip that he killed. I have the bayonet hanging on my wall.
Posted by: Country Singer at June 06, 2016 01:29 PM (uiwCw)

G-d bless all of them, from me.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:30 PM (p4UlV)

197 And sadly, the Jews of the Ukraine were almost wiped out by their fellow countrymen, who did not view them the same way.
See: Einsatzgruppen, Babi Yar.
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:14 PM (p4UlV)

There had been a long sad history of enmity of the Ukrainians for Jews, but just a few years before WWII when Stalin had starved to death ca. 7-10 million in the Holodomor, he used the NKVD to do it, and the NKVD was founded by a Jew - Genrick Yagoda - and largely led by Jews.

"And us, the Jews? An
Israeli student finishes high school without ever hearing the name
"Genrikh Yagoda," the greatest Jewish murderer of the 20th Century, the
GPU's deputy commander and the founder and commander of the NKVD. Yagoda
diligently implemented Stalin's collectivization orders and is
responsible for the deaths of at least 10 million people. His Jewish
deputies established and managed the Gulag system."

See http://tinyurl.com/y2pumk

Needless to say, this history did not help relations between the two groups.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:31 PM (oKE6c)

198 "The Germans screwed themselves in Russia by not having any long-range bombers to bomb the Soviet factories churning out T-34s & fighter planes."

Apart from the U-Boat Germany was not well equipped for strategic warfare. They considered their air force to largely be aerial artillery for the army. They were also fairly bad at intelligence gathering. The would assume that whatever conclusions they had come to naturally so would the enemy. Not so much.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at June 06, 2016 01:31 PM (LA7Cm)

199 Cool, Mike.

Yeah, thanks Dave in Texas. He's always good on the military memorials.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:31 PM (U+nHb)

200 196
191 No relatives that I know of at D-Day, but one that was killed
taking Cherbourg two weeks later, one that survived the Bataan Death
March, and another that brought back an Arisaka he took off a Nip that
he killed. I have the bayonet hanging on my wall.

Posted by: Country Singer at June 06, 2016 01:29 PM (uiwCw)

My husband's late uncle showed our boy his collection of Nazi stuff he brought back after the war.

Now, if a soldier or Marine brings a Taliban keepsake home from Afghanistan, it's off to Leavenworth.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:33 PM (1ZOkK)

201 Also, speaking of museums, the one at Camp Shelby, MS (just outside of Hattiesburg) is really good. Among the items on display is a miniature piano made for the commandant's daughter by one of the German POWs that was housed there.

Posted by: Country Singer at June 06, 2016 01:33 PM (uiwCw)

202 I have been waiting for just that diary entry, Seamus. Thank you.

It doesn't matter what theater your family was in. It was all one fight for freedom against evil. Thank you all.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:33 PM (39g3+)

203 186 "All of you who had family in the fight against the Axis, thank your parents and grandparents for me. "

Had several uncles in the war but all in the Pacific by some odd chance. Got one to talk a little about it one time. And he told me things that still make my stomach churn.
Posted by: Ricardo Kill at June 06, 2016 01:28 PM (LA7Cm)

Same thing here, plus my Dad too. Nasty, bad, dirty business. Dad had the bonus of coming back deathly ill with malaria and hepatitis. One uncle, just shot to shit.
Come to think of it, all my ancestors I know about had nasty wars. One of them had the pleasure of being in Andersonville in the Civil War. It wasn't Guantanamo, by a long shot.

Posted by: kraken at June 06, 2016 01:33 PM (sdxPm)

204 Been twice. You will do OK till the bells start playing the armed services hymn.

Then you will cry. See if you can get through this without crying.

------

Correct.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:34 PM (U+nHb)

205 197 Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:31 PM (oKE6c)

Let me get this straight. The actions of individual people who happened to be born Jewish are cause to equivocate?????

You didn't really type that did you????

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:34 PM (p4UlV)

206 Now, if a soldier or Marine brings a Taliban keepsake home from Afghanistan, it's off to Leavenworth.

That's a crime to me. Looting is one of the few compensations of being a soldier. Within reason.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:34 PM (39g3+)

207 Calais and had forces concentrated there.
Posted by: My-T-Sharp Barbers at June 06, 2016 01:06 PM (uiwCw)
------
I think there was a movie about that...a very good one. I'll have to search around.
Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:08 PM (U+nHb)

Eye of the Needle?

Posted by: OregonMuse at June 06, 2016 01:35 PM (cgeHX)

208 "and another that brought back an Arisaka he took off a Nip that he killed. I have the bayonet hanging on my wall."

Got my uncle's. Also, a Japanese battle-flag with some Japanese hand-written on it.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at June 06, 2016 01:35 PM (LA7Cm)

209
God Bless Them, gave 6 decades of freedom to Europe and saved alot of lives.

So the question is was it worth it now that Europe is going to give in to islamic fascism instead? Certainly for the people living in those 6 decades, but it sticks in my craw they so willingly buckle under now.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at June 06, 2016 01:36 PM (ODxAs)

210 170
The Germans screwed themselves in Russia by not having any long-range
bombers to bomb the Soviet factories churning out T-34s fighter
planes.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:23 PM (7HtZB)
Given that Tankograd (tank city) was moved 1700 klicks east of Moscow (to Chelabynsk), not sure what bomber in existence at that time could've hit it from German-controlled Russian territory. Besides, Germany didn't have the resources to build, equip, and fuel a heavy bomber force. Even with our awesome resources and manufacturing base, we had only a moderate, albeit important, impact on German arms production and we had a much easier time navigating than Germany would over the Soviet Union.

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 01:36 PM (dZ756)

211 http://celebritynudecentury.blogspot.com/search?q=Carla+Bruni

call it a piece offering, and no it is NOT SFW

Posted by: redc1c4 at June 06, 2016 01:37 PM (iRosR)

212 Eye of the Needle?
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 06, 2016 01:35 PM (cgeHX)

-------

No it was old British movie, how they outfitted a corpse (the story of how they obtained that corpse is a good part of the movie) with fake plans, how every detail had to be perfect etc. Damn, I cannot remember the name.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:37 PM (U+nHb)

213 198 "The Germans screwed themselves in Russia by not having any long-range bombers to bomb the Soviet factories churning out T-34s & fighter planes."

Apart from the U-Boat Germany was not well equipped for strategic warfare. They considered their air force to largely be aerial artillery for the army. They were also fairly bad at intelligence gathering. The would assume that whatever conclusions they had come to naturally so would the enemy. Not so much.

Also the fact the nazis were willing to commit huge resources into murdering millions of innocents, their warped ideology caused them to lose sight of what was their main goal, to win the war. (and in no way defending their heinous actions)

Posted by: Rick in SK at June 06, 2016 01:37 PM (/CIN4)

214 @183 been reading Diane Wiest's "American Betrayal." Only a little way into it, but the "Lend-Lease" info is eye-opening. Apparently we were supplying the Soviets at the expense of our own troops.

FDR should burn in hell.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at June 06, 2016 01:37 PM (AroJD)

215 206 Now, if a soldier or Marine brings a Taliban keepsake home from Afghanistan, it's off to Leavenworth.

That's a crime to me. Looting is one of the few compensations of being a soldier. Within reason.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:34 PM (39g3+)

obamam hasn't given Mexico Santa Anna's wooden leg back. Yet.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:37 PM (7HtZB)

216 208 "and another that brought back an Arisaka he took off a Nip that he killed. I have the bayonet hanging on my wall."
Got my uncle's. Also, a Japanese battle-flag with some Japanese hand-written on it.
Posted by: Ricardo Kill at June 06, 2016 01:35 PM (LA7Cm)

After my father died I found a small container of volcanic sand from Beach Yellow 2, where he landed on Iwo Jima on 19 Feb. 1945.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:38 PM (oKE6c)

217 No it was old British movie, how they outfitted a corpse (the story of how they obtained that corpse is a good part of the movie) with fake plans, how every detail had to be perfect etc. Damn, I cannot remember the name.
Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:37 PM (U+nHb)

The Man Who Never Was?

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:38 PM (7HtZB)

218
No it was old British movie, how they outfitted a
corpse (the story of how they obtained that corpse is a good part of
the movie) with fake plans, how every detail had to be perfect etc.
Damn, I cannot remember the name.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:37 PM (U+nHb)

The Man Who Never Was.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (oKE6c)

219 The Man Who Never Was?

Posted by: Lincolntf at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (2cS/G)

220 Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois (Medill/McCormick Chicago Tribune family) has been salvaging and restoring old jeeps and tanks. They actually have tanks that kids can crawl around in. I know that they do marching groups with the equipment. A local school also did Civil War reenactments every year.

Posted by: mustbequantum at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (MIKMs)

221 Missed it by thaaaaaaaaat much.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (oKE6c)

222 205
197 Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:31 PM (oKE6c)

Let me get this straight. The actions of individual people who happened to be born Jewish are cause to equivocate?????

You didn't really type that did you????

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:34 PM (p4UlV)
That's how I read it too. It's essentially the Nazi view of who's Jewish. No one in the Communist party was a practicing Jew, or even identified as Jewish beyond acknowledging their ancestry. It's like saying he was male, therefore, all males are responsible....

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (dZ756)

223 Another mistake of the Germans was the siege at Leningrad. That became a manpower sink also. Meanwhile Moscow was there for the taking, even if most of the city had been evacuated. Psychological impact of taking an enemy capital can not be overstated, cf Adolph's little jig in regards to France.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (jFXTk)

224 Not a guarantee we would have prevailed and whether we had the stomach for it but we should have confronted Russia and their land grabs immediately after Germany's surrender. Hindsight 20/20 but think of all future conflicts that would not have existed.

He gets a lot of deserved credit for success of WWII but I put a lot blame on Churchill for this.

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (KtcMg)

225

Oh and I was too late for the last thread to note that Google hates Jews.

And now so noted.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (ODxAs)

226 obamam hasn't given Mexico Santa Anna's wooden leg back. Yet.
Posted by: josephistan
------------

To be fair, he is giving people back to the Taliban. Free transportation too. Probably fixes them up with some pocket money.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (9mTYi)

227 Thank you.

The Man Who Never Was.

Saved me from waking at 3:00am shouting the title.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:40 PM (U+nHb)

228 No it was old British movie, how they outfitted a corpse (the story of how they obtained that corpse is a good part of the movie) with fake plans, how every detail had to be perfect etc. Damn, I cannot remember the name.

The Man Who Never Was. And yeah, its really good. Good enough to own a copy and rewatch.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:40 PM (39g3+)

229 They light the NC State Bell Tower red today and on Veteran's Day.

ROTC cadets guard it 24 hours on those days.

http://tinyurl.com/gpeddg2

Posted by: Nip Sip at June 06, 2016 01:40 PM (jJRIy)

230 We REFUSE to take part in FDR'S Illegal War for Romanian Oil! Germany is a Nation of Peace whose actions against the imperialist US are totes understandable because......Meuse-Argonne!

Posted by: Rangers at Pointe du Hoc, circa 2016 at June 06, 2016 01:40 PM (ZSJgQ)

231 220
Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois (Medill/McCormick Chicago Tribune
family) has been salvaging and restoring old jeeps and tanks. They
actually have tanks that kids can crawl around in. I know that they do
marching groups with the equipment. A local school also did Civil War
reenactments every year.

Posted by: mustbequantum at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (MIKMs)

When we lived in Chicagoland, our son's fourth grade class went to the museum there. The kids had a blast playing on the old tanks.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:41 PM (1ZOkK)

232 I put a lot blame on Churchill for this.

Churchill was all for it, but FDR was not, and by that point there really was no more will left to fight.

We proved in Greece that simply demonstrating the desire to fight them to defend the area would turn the Russians back, but we didn't do it with so much of Eastern Europe.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:41 PM (39g3+)

233 He gets a lot of deserved credit for success of WWII but I put a lot blame on Churchill for this.
Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck
-------------

I'm less inclined to do that. Churchill had grave misgivings about the Bolshies and Uncle Joe. It is true that he was compliant with Roosevelt's flawed perspective.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 06, 2016 01:42 PM (9mTYi)

234
Has President Putt apologized to Germany for the atrocities committed by American's at Normandy?

I wish that I were just kidding.
Posted by: Cheri at June 06, 2016 01:27 PM (oiNtH)
------------------

Germans are white. No apologies required.

I wish that I were just kidding.

Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 01:42 PM (pC96u)

235 A bit of trivia for the Horde: Lynn "Buck" Compton, who was portrayed in Band of Brothers by Neal McDonough.

Compton went on to be an LAPD cop, studied law, and joined the District Attorney's office. He eventually was the lead prosecutor in the case of Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated Bobby Kennedy. Sirhan's testimony demonstrated that his motivation for the murder was that he was a "Palestinian" and was intent on avenging against America's pro-Israeli stance.

The irony is that more than two decades after the end of WWII, one of the last acts of a member of Easy Company against international conflict was against one of the first acts of Islamic terrorism on American soil. Think about that.

Posted by: Qoheleth at June 06, 2016 01:43 PM (iIzG7)

236 The story of The Man Who Never Was is quite poignant. The body used was that of Glyndwr Michael, a poor homeless man who wasn't fit for service in the war. He died after eating garbage that had rat poison in it. But his death, in part, made it possible for the Normandy invasion to be a success.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:43 PM (7HtZB)

237 ROTC cadets guard it 24 hours on those days.
---------

The red high-heels should compliment the picture.

Posted by: Mike Hammer , still REALLY pissed off. at June 06, 2016 01:43 PM (9mTYi)

238 Churchill knew the dangers in regards to the Soviet Union. But in '41 the UK needed all the allies it could get. Which is why Sir Churchill said about the USSR as I paraphrase - "If I knew Satan had joined our side, I would sing his praises in Parliament."

And by the time the Big Three were dividing post-war Europe, the voters had kicked Churchill to the curb and had elected a Socialist who sold everyone out.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 01:44 PM (jFXTk)

239 The irony is that more than two decades after the end of WWII, one of the last acts of a member of Easy Company against international conflict was against one of the first acts of Islamic terrorism on American soil. Think about that.
Posted by: Qoheleth at June 06, 2016 01:43 PM (iIzG7)

------

Incredible.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:44 PM (U+nHb)

240 222 That's how I read it too. It's essentially the Nazi view of who's Jewish. No one in the Communist party was a practicing Jew, or even identified as Jewish beyond acknowledging their ancestry. It's like saying he was male, therefore, all males are responsible....
Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (dZ756)

Plus add in the pogroms over the previous few hundred years and the fact that Jews were less than 2nd class citizens. It distorts history and I'm really rather cheesed off about it.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:44 PM (p4UlV)

241 Screaming Lefty Vid at WeaselZippers is awesome.

Posted by: garrett at June 06, 2016 01:44 PM (6kxiP)

242 So, in honor of D Day, the local fish wrap had another Hate Whitey piece by Leonard Pitts. He was on a rant about how awesome the new Roots is, and how he's sick of white guilt, because just like the Jews having to live among Nazi descendants in Germany, blacks here have to live among the descendants of slave owners.

So whites = Nazis.

He's such a POS.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:45 PM (1ZOkK)

243 I should say "Truman wasn't" since FDR was quite dead by that point.

The body used was that of Glyndwr Michael, a poor homeless man who wasn't fit for service in the war. He died after eating garbage that had rat poison in it. But his death, in part, made it possible for the Normandy invasion to be a success.

He was, in his own way, a hero, posthumously.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:45 PM (39g3+)

244 "Ol' Mooch giving the stink-eye to the French First Lady, whose name totally escapes me now."

As noted, Carla Bruni. As not noted, married to Nicolas Sarkozy.

Part of the visible waves of antipathy radiating from Mooch may have had to do with the fact that Sarkozy had met privately with al-Buraq in 2008, during Obama's triumphant pre-election victory tour of Europe.

Let's recall at that time that the Euros were all treating the advent of Obama as though the guy were some sort of literal supernatural figure descended from celestial elevations, to instruct and correct we mere mortals in the error of our ways.

Sarkozy was much less impressed. He spoke to Obama politely, but then later allowed the Elysee to leak his actual impressions of the man, which came down to: egocentric empty suit, no there there, no comprehension of policy complexities.

Posted by: torquewrench at June 06, 2016 01:45 PM (noWW6)

245 Let me get this straight. The actions of individual people who happened to be born Jewish are cause to equivocate?????
You didn't really type that did you????
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:34 PM (p4UlV)

Now don't get excited.

First, I was putting some of the enmity in historical perspective. Did you read the article? If not, you should: it's from Y-net. In any case, what matters is what the Ukrainians thought, not what I think. If they considered Jews to blame for the Holodomor, rightly or wrongly, that bears on their subsequent atrocities, doesn't it?

Second, your argument cuts two ways. The actions of individual people who happened to be born Ukrainians now suffice to condemn Ukrainians generally? I'm not into collective guilt, but the argument either makes both ways or neither way.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:45 PM (oKE6c)

246 Churchill had grave misgivings about the Bolshies and Uncle Joe. It is true that he was compliant with Roosevelt's flawed perspective.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 06, 2016 01:42 PM (9mTYi)

It wasn't a matter of Churchill being "Compliant". It was a recognition of who held all the cards at that point

Posted by: Nevergiveup at June 06, 2016 01:46 PM (zp+j1)

247 Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 06, 2016 01:42 PM (9mTYi)

Churchill met with Stalin and made agreement on dividing up Europe. Supposedly the USA was not a participant.

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 01:46 PM (KtcMg)

248 He was, in his own way, a hero, posthumously.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:45 P

------

careful

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:47 PM (U+nHb)

249 >>>obamam hasn't given Mexico Santa Anna's wooden leg back. Yet.
Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:37 PM (7HtZB)

I'm thinkin' all those Rethuglicans in Arizona, Nuevo Mejico, y Tejas to be a fair substitute, don't you? I won't even ask those Mexicans for a dollar-in-hand deal, just do it with my pen and phone!

Posted by: Barry HUSSEIN 0Bola, America-H8r at June 06, 2016 01:47 PM (ZSJgQ)

250 Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:45 PM (oKE6c)

???
Enmity is one thing, Genocide is another.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at June 06, 2016 01:47 PM (zp+j1)

251 Compton went on to be an LAPD cop, studied law, and joined the District Attorney's office. He eventually was the lead prosecutor in the case of Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated Bobby Kennedy. Sirhan's testimony demonstrated that his motivation for the murder was that he was a "Palestinian" and was intent on avenging against America's pro-Israeli stance.

Buck Compton was all that is man.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:47 PM (39g3+)

252 "210
170

The Germans screwed themselves in Russia by not having any long-range

bombers to bomb the Soviet factories churning out T-34s fighter

planes.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:23 PM (7HtZB)
Given
that Tankograd (tank city) was moved 1700 klicks east of Moscow (to
Chelabynsk), not sure what bomber in existence at that time could've hit
it from German-controlled Russian territory. Besides, Germany didn't
have the resources to build, equip, and fuel a heavy bomber force. Even
with our awesome resources and manufacturing base, we had only a
moderate, albeit important, impact on German arms production and we had a
much easier time navigating than Germany would over the Soviet Union.

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 01:36 PM (dZ756)"

I seem to recall that the B-29 program cost more than the Manhattan Project. Germany did not have that type of resources. They did have a four engine bomber that was made from a converted passenger plane that was used against ships at sea. I don't know if it was suitable to have served as a B-17 type heavy bomber.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 01:47 PM (QHgTq)

253
Trying to listen to the news, but dang, it's all Ali and Trump said "Mexican."

Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 01:48 PM (pC96u)

254 Obama will apologize to the all black units of the us army in WWII

Total American blacks KIA in WWII: 708 per Wikipedia.

Noted solely because of the movies like Tuskegee Airmen. I kinda thought there would be more somehow

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 01:48 PM (fToHD)

255 Sarkozy was much less impressed. He spoke to Obama politely, but then later allowed the Elysee to leak his actual impressions of the man, which came down to: egocentric empty suit, no there there, no comprehension of policy complexities.
Posted by: torquewrench at June 06, 2016 01:45 PM (noWW6)

----

Nailed it.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:48 PM (U+nHb)

256 "Obamam hasn't given Mexico Santa Anna's wooden leg back. Yet."
Posted by: josephistan
---------------------------------
He's waiting for the glorious day when we give the whole SW back to Mexico. Then the leg can be presented on an apology tour by whoever is the current Obamaist president.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at June 06, 2016 01:49 PM (T/5A0)

257 Churchill met with Stalin and made agreement on dividing up Europe. Supposedly the USA was not a participant.
Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 01:46 PM (KtcMg)

NO not really. They were talking about specific area's of influence only of specific countries. And it was only that, an understanding.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at June 06, 2016 01:49 PM (zp+j1)

258 There were good legitimate reasons to call bullshit on Ali's CO status

Yeah. FORTY YEARS AGO. We aren't required to hate people for their political stances or things they did a long time ago. I mean... is there not some concept of forgiveness or time healing wounds any more, or do we have to crank up the outrage machine and scream all day at everything?

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 12:35 PM (39g3+)

If I wasnt clear I was respinding to Bandersnatch, who said that Ali was a civil rights hero who was punished with the draft because of his political beliefs

neither is true

it isn't racist to note that
Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 01:45 PM (zOTsN)

334

they didnt change Ali's draft status because of his political beliefs

which is what Bandersnatch said

they change his draft status because they lowered the standards for EVERYBODY

as for the rejection of his CO status

it wasnt politically motivated as Bandersnatch said

NOI was a new religion then

he was a boxer and not a pacifist

lets stick to facts and not hyperbole, ok?
Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 01:47 PM (zOTsN)

implying that I am racist because I know history is bullshit

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 01:49 PM (zOTsN)

259 Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:34 PM (p4UlV)
That's
how I read it too. It's essentially the Nazi view of who's Jewish. No
one in the Communist party was a practicing Jew, or even identified as
Jewish beyond acknowledging their ancestry. It's like saying he was
male, therefore, all males are responsible....

Posted by: SFGoth at June 06, 2016 01:39 PM (dZ756)
You're aware that the article I linked to is from the Israeli press, right?

Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:49 PM (oKE6c)

260 253
Trying to listen to the news, but dang, it's all Ali and Trump said "Mexican."

finally a break about the zoo offing the gorilla

Posted by: Rick in SK at June 06, 2016 01:49 PM (/CIN4)

261 72 years ago my cousin Roy was going ashore on Omaha beach. Dropped short of the beach, he was trying not to drown or get shot.
He spotted an American clinging to a metal tank obstacle and realized it would provide a way to stay alive. He wrenched the other guy off and took his place. He clung there a while, fighting off other Americans who tried to pull him off.

I am not sure how he got ashore as he broke down crying at the memory. R.I.P. Roy. You earned it.

Posted by: Tilikum KAW at June 06, 2016 01:49 PM (uhftQ)

262 So whites = Nazis.

He's such a POS.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:45 PM (1ZOkK)
Amen. This guy is one of the worst racists in journalism. What a fucked up mind he must have, to walk around 24/7 being so angry and resentful about shit that's never impacted his privileged, immune to criticism life.
That he gets national ink is a sad testimony to what the country has become.

Posted by: kraken at June 06, 2016 01:50 PM (sdxPm)

263 My dad was one of the countless teenage boys who volunteered on December 8, 1941. He and his younger brother Bill were under-age but I don't think much attention was paid. My dad had just graduated high school and it was clear he was smart. They made him a radio operator on the Big Island of Hawaii, where he spent the war watching all the USO shows, drinking, and getting busted back to private with some regularity.

Died at 70 in 1993. Still miss you, dad.

Posted by: Lurkette at June 06, 2016 01:50 PM (PLmfk)

264 The Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condor was the four-engine transport plane used by the Luftwaffe to find convoys going to Murmansk. But the weight of guns and such to make it a war fighting aircraft had a fatal side-effect, the plane's wing spar would break.

Then there was the He-177 Grief. Four engines driving two propellers. It gave the Germans large amounts of grief because it was a mechanical nightmare.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 01:50 PM (jFXTk)

265
implying that I am racist because I know history is bullshit
Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 01:49 PM (zOTsN)

_____

If we couldn't do that, we'd be finished.

Posted by: SJWs Everywhere at June 06, 2016 01:51 PM (0LHZx)

266 because just like the Jews having to live among Nazi descendants in Germany, blacks here have to live among the descendants of slave owners.

----

Oh BS whites flee from the cities

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 01:52 PM (fToHD)

267 "Largest Amphibious Invasion Ever"

How would you know? I mean, that's awfully speciesist of you, don't you think? To just assume.....

Posted by: Frogs in your basement at June 06, 2016 01:52 PM (TOk1P)

268 250 Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:45 PM (oKE6c)
???
Enmity is one thing, Genocide is another.
Posted by: Nevergiveup at June 06, 2016 01:47 PM (zp+j1)

__________

It is indeed.

Wiki:

The Holodomor also known as the Terror-Famine and Famine-Genocide in Ukraine, was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1932 and 1933 that killed an estimated 2.5-7.5 million Ukrainians, with millions more counted in demographic estimates.

2.5-7.5 million dead sounds like genocide to me.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:52 PM (oKE6c)

269
Lost my dad's brother on Saipan, 52 years ago on July 1st, and my mom and family survived hell on earth in the camps.

The war is very much a part of who I am on a very deep level, as you might imagine.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:23 PM (p4UlV)
____________________________________

My dad was on the Maryland at Saipan.

Posted by: Kudzu King at June 06, 2016 01:53 PM (HSmrB)

270 egocentric empty suit, no there there, no comprehension of policy complexities.

Although in this case its true about President Obama... he'd have said that about any American president, lets be honest. French.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:53 PM (39g3+)

271 pointing out history doesnt mean I hate anybody

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 01:53 PM (zOTsN)

272 Roots Rebooted sucked ass. Just from a purely technical aspect, the acting was atrocious, the soundtrack, barf (it's from Questlove, lol). Oh and Kunta Kinte is now Muslim. Why? Who the fuck knows. But he is.

I only sat through an episode because my wife wanted to watch it. After 90 minutes of me bitching about it she said, go away, I want to watch on my own. And I said, thank you babe, and went away.

Posted by: SJWs Everywhere at June 06, 2016 01:53 PM (0LHZx)

273 "Largest Amphibious Invasion Ever"

How would you know? I mean, that's awfully speciesist of you, don't you think? To just assume.....

Posted by: Frogs in your basement at June 06, 2016 01:52 PM (TOk1P)

And what if we CHOOSE to self-identify as amphibious? What then???

Posted by: Your Friendly Neighborhood Cockroaches at June 06, 2016 01:54 PM (TOk1P)

274 But despite the fact it was unwatchable, look for Roots to win about 27 Emmys.

Posted by: SJWs Everywhere at June 06, 2016 01:54 PM (0LHZx)

275 So I guess a mass amphibious assault in WWI to go around the German defenses would have been out of the question?

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 12:48 PM (7HtZB)

With the High Seas Fleet still in being?

Absolutely.

Posted by: *Mikey NTH - The Outrage Outlet carries Billy Kristol DIY Candidate Kits! at June 06, 2016 01:54 PM (hLRSq)

276 Several thousand Russians fought in the German forces in Normandy.

Posted by: RioBravo at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (NUqwG)

I'm reminded of the amazing story of Yank Kyoungjong, a Korean born in Manchuria who was conscripted to fight in the Kwangjung Army (the army of the Japanese Manchurian client state) and was captured by the Soviets in the 1938 battles between the two countries in western Manchuria. He was sent to a work camp, but when the Germans invaded he and other prisoners were conscripted and sent to the front, where he was captured by the Germans in 1943 near Kharkov. They pressed him into service in an "Eastern battalion" (a low-quality unit of various former Soviet soldiers) and put on duty in the Western wall. He was captured by US paratroopers following the D-Day landings; they were amazed to find Asians in German uniforms in France. He was sent to a prisoner camp in Britain and later sent to the US, where he remained, dying in Illinois in 1992. He didn't tell his children about his story; they only found out following his death.

Posted by: Cody's Feed Bag at June 06, 2016 01:55 PM (W2YA6)

277 My dad was on the Maryland at Saipan.

Posted by: Kudzu King at June 06, 2016 01:53 PM (HSmrB)
My father landed on Saipan as well (4th Marine Div.)

Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:55 PM (oKE6c)

278 Jane, that sound you just heard was Leonard Pitts NOT giving back his 2004 Pulitzer Prize, earned in this horribly racist country where a black man can win such a prize for 35 years of anti-white hate screeds.

Re: June 6, 1944: I am endlessly fascinated by the bravery of every one of the men who fought that day. So fascinated that it is sorta easy to forget that it was just the first day, and that the men who followed entered a charnel house that was probably only second to the Russian v. German experience in the Ost. But I don't forget.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 06, 2016 01:55 PM (hjEjJ)

279 229---Posted by: Nip Sip at June 06, 2016 01:40 PM
-------------------------------
Nice!
God bless the Wolfback for that.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at June 06, 2016 01:55 PM (T/5A0)

280 2.5-7.5 million dead sounds like genocide to me.
Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:52 PM (oKE6c)

And your blaming Jews for that?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at June 06, 2016 01:56 PM (zp+j1)

281 I'm reminded of the amazing story of Yank Kyoungjong, a Korean born in Manchuria who was conscripted to fight in the Kwangjung Army (the army of the Japanese Manchurian client state) and was captured by the Soviets in the 1938 battles between the two countries in western Manchuria. He was sent to a work camp, but when the Germans invaded he and other prisoners were conscripted and sent to the front, where he was captured by the Germans in 1943 near Kharkov. They pressed him into service in an "Eastern battalion" (a low-quality unit of various former Soviet soldiers) and put on duty in the Western wall. He was captured by US paratroopers following the D-Day landings; they were amazed to find Asians in German uniforms in France. He was sent to a prisoner camp in Britain and later sent to the US, where he remained, dying in Illinois in 1992. He didn't tell his children about his story; they only found out following his death.
Posted by: Cody's Feed Bag at June 06, 2016 01:55 PM (W2YA6)

That is... one way to see the world.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 06, 2016 01:56 PM (3ZoRf)

282 Seriously, is Kunta Kinte a muslim in the new Roots?

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:56 PM (U+nHb)

283 My dad was a junior at Clemson when it was a military college. He, and most of his class, joined up immediately after Pearl Harbor.

He was flat-footed and underweight. The doc told him to go drink as much water as he could, and he barely made weight.

Served in the Army Air Corp(se) as a test pilot, finally retired after 22 years.

He died in '95 at the age of 76. I still miss him so much. Sadly, our son was only five and barely remembers him.

Our son was his only grandchild, and Daddy loved him dearly. He would be so proud of the young man he is, and his service.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:56 PM (1ZOkK)

284 off SJW sock

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at June 06, 2016 01:57 PM (0LHZx)

285 Oh and Kunta Kinte is now Muslim. Why? Who the fuck knows.

I suppose its not impossible that he could have been, given Northern Africa, but its really unlikely since most of the slaves were captured from rival tribes in the interior, not up north.

But since Kunta is entirely invented, I suppose he could have been freakin' Shintoist, just because. I mean, he never actually existed so whatever.

But its kind of blatantly obvious why they made him Muslim. And made all the white people evil. But my brother saw the first episode and said Kunta was even whiter than Obama, which he thought was very strange casting.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 01:58 PM (39g3+)

286 Can we all agree that the history of socialism is one of mass murder in the extreme without getting caught up in total murder baseball statistics?

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 06, 2016 01:58 PM (3ZoRf)

287 I only sat through an episode because my wife wanted to watch it.
After 90 minutes of me bitching about it she said, go away, I want to
watch on my own. And I said, thank you babe, and went away.

Posted by: SJWs Everywhere at June 06, 2016 01:53 PM (0LHZx)

Sounds like a real master/slave relationship you two got going there.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 06, 2016 01:58 PM (TOk1P)

288 Then there was the He-177 Grief. Four engines driving two propellers. It gave the Germans large amounts of grief because it was a mechanical nightmare.
Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 01:50 PM (jFXTk)

Which the Germans cannibalized to re-work as a jet bomber in the closing days of the war.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 01:58 PM (7HtZB)

289 272----Oh and Kunta Kinte is now Muslim. Why? Who the fuck knows. But he is.

Posted by: SJWs Everywhere at June 06, 2016 01:53 PM
---------------------------------
Good grief.
Then they should have made him a slave-trader, rather than a slave.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at June 06, 2016 01:58 PM (T/5A0)

290 my dad was at Saipan too

and Conscientious Objectors worked in WWII as medics

they didnt avoid service entirely

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 01:59 PM (zOTsN)

291 >>>Looting is one of the few compensations of being a soldier. Within reason.<<<

Barry Obama wanted to bring back some dancing boys, but they wouldn't fit in his rucksack.

Posted by: Fritz at June 06, 2016 01:59 PM (UzPAd)

292 Oh BS whites flee from the cities

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 01:52 PM (fToHD)
=====Snarkily observing that black flight (courtesy of HUD) has cleared the way for the new 'urban pioneers' -- who are mostly white and flipping real estate for all they are worth.

Posted by: mustbequantum at June 06, 2016 02:00 PM (MIKMs)

293 because. I mean, he never actually existed so whatever.

----

LOL

Yes, but, again, it's more political pandering and it's f'ing irritating.

Although I don't know why, I'm not watching it.

Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 02:00 PM (U+nHb)

294 Love these stories of fathers and uncles and grandparents. God bless them all.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 02:00 PM (39g3+)

295 Tell us about the Foo Fighters Anna!

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 02:00 PM (fToHD)

296 281 I'm reminded of the amazing story of Yank Kyoungjong, a Korean born in Manchuria who was conscripted to fight in the Kwangjung Army (the army of the Japanese Manchurian client state) and was captured by the Soviets in the 1938 battles between the two countries in western Manchuria. He was sent to a work camp, but when the Germans invaded he and other prisoners were conscripted and sent to the front, where he was captured by the Germans in 1943 near Kharkov. They pressed him into service in an "Eastern battalion" (a low-quality unit of various former Soviet soldiers) and put on duty in the Western wall. He was captured by US paratroopers following the D-Day landings; they were amazed to find Asians in German uniforms in France. He was sent to a prisoner camp in Britain and later sent to the US, where he remained, dying in Illinois in 1992. He didn't tell his children about his story; they only found out following his death.
Posted by: Cody's Feed Bag at June 06, 2016 01:55 PM (W2YA6)

There's a Korean movie about his wartime experiences - "My Way." Jaw-dropping battle porn. Highly recommend it.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 02:00 PM (7HtZB)

297 Can we all agree that the history of socialism is
one of mass murder in the extreme without getting caught up in total
murder baseball statistics?

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 06, 2016 01:58 PM (3ZoRf)

Agreed. And I'm pretty sure Hilter was on steroids anyway, so I don't know how you make sense of the numbers.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 06, 2016 02:01 PM (TOk1P)

298 The Italians had a four engine bomber that looked vaguely like the B-17D. After Italy switched sides, a few still flew for the Germans. It was built by Piagio.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 06, 2016 02:01 PM (jFXTk)

299 I'd dearly love for Obama to go on that show (on PBS?) where the black professor buddy of his (damn, I can't think straight today) Dr. Whatshisname, goes waaaaay back through your family history.

It would be damned hilarious if he discovered Barry's ancestors were Muslim slavers and captured and sold Mooch's ancestors.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:01 PM (1ZOkK)

300 Only a prelude to the reptilian invasion.

Posted by: eleven at June 06, 2016 02:01 PM (qUNWi)

301 An excerpt of a letter written on July 14, 1944 by my grandfather, a surgeon, about his D-Day landing on Omaha Beach.
"We landed about noon on D-Day on the beach that has since been reported as being the most difficult....Many combat units were not landed according to schedule because the beach was under too much shell fire. The G-- D--- Medics were landed though,..."

Posted by: Gouverneur Morris at June 06, 2016 02:02 PM (dQJCS)

302 Posted by: josephistan at June 06

It succeeded because the men knew that when night fell the survivors wouldn't have a choice to slip back to their lines and reorganize for a new attack several days later.

The men following the first waves were piling up so the only choice was either to crawl forward and fight through the afternoon or evening, or stay on the beach and die.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 06, 2016 02:02 PM (hjEjJ)

303 >>And your blaming Jews for that?

The whole thing was an Israeli False Flag Operation...or, something.

Posted by: garrett at June 06, 2016 02:02 PM (6kxiP)

304 >>because just like the Jews having to live among Nazi descendants in
Germany, blacks here have to live among the descendants of slave owners.

So I guess those of us who are descendants of the men who helped free them (Yankee soldiers) don't count? And the many whose ancestors arrived after slavery ended are somehow just as bad as slave owners, too?

Sick of white guilt?
I raise you with being sick of guilt by (very distant) association.

Posted by: Lizzy at June 06, 2016 02:03 PM (NOIQH)

305 "Now don't get excited.

First, I was putting
some of the enmity in historical perspective. Did you read the article?
If not, you should: it's from Y-net. In any case, what matters is what
the Ukrainians thought, not what I think. If they considered Jews to
blame for the Holodomor, rightly or wrongly, that bears on their
subsequent atrocities, doesn't it?

Second, your argument cuts two
ways. The actions of individual people who happened to be born
Ukrainians now suffice to condemn Ukrainians generally? I'm not into
collective guilt, but the argument either makes both ways or neither
way.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:45 PM (oKE6c)"

There was also some history there. The Chielmnicky uprising in the 17th century had, before the Holocaust, been the largest massacre of Jews in history. The Ukrainian peasants had been oppressed pretty hard by the land owners who, for whatever reason, preferred to hire Jewish agents to manage their properties locally. When the locals rose up in revolt, they killed the local agents, and their families, and their relatives, and everybody who looked like them or had the same name or a similar name and so on and so on.

There is also the matter of Communist comisars being disproportionately Jewish. Yes, there are a lot of historical and social reasons that leftist organizations have a disproportionately higher proportion of Jews in their membership than in the general population but for the average Ukrainian kholhoznik who had lived through the starvation and in some cases survived only by cannibalism, that was a nuance that they were not inclined to dwell on.

I recommend the book "Savage Continent" for stories about the aftermath of WW II in case you are inclined to think any particular group has a monopoly of virtue or evil. The book is also a cure for thinking well of your fellow human beings.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:03 PM (QHgTq)

306 He's such a POS.
Posted by: Jane D'oh
------------

No! We rejected his application to join. There are some depths that we refuse to plumb.

Posted by: POS Guild at June 06, 2016 02:03 PM (9mTYi)

307
I seem to recall that the B-29 program cost more than the Manhattan Project. Germany did not have that type of resources. They did have a four engine bomber that was made from a converted passenger plane that was used against ships at sea. I don't know if it was suitable to have served as a B-17 type heavy bomber.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 01:47 PM (QHgTq)

The Condor was a beautiful plane, but it was never built in sufficient numbers to have any impact as part of a strategic bombing campaign. Early in the war the Germans had some success using them to scout for merchant ships and target in U-boat packs, but once allied bombers and fighters could reach the airfields they used in France, the losses became too great and they were pulled back.

Posted by: Cody's Feed Bag at June 06, 2016 02:03 PM (W2YA6)

308 I'm out of here

Posted by: Nevergiveup at June 06, 2016 02:04 PM (zp+j1)

309 >>>Barry Obama wanted to bring back some dancing boys, but they wouldn't fit in his rucksack.
Posted by: Fritz at June 06, 2016 01:59 PM (UzPAd)

!!!!

Posted by: Reggie "On the Down-Low" Love at June 06, 2016 02:05 PM (ZSJgQ)

310 Posted by: Cody's Feed Bag at June 06, 2016 01:55 PM (W2YA6)
------
There is a South Korean movie (tanr. "My Way") that is "based on" or "inspired by" the story.

Posted by: RioBravo at June 06, 2016 02:05 PM (NUqwG)

311 here's an upbeat thought:

given the moose slime invasion of Europe, how long before all those cemeteries are desecrated by yutes?

i mean really, all those icky crosses and stars of David are just asking for it...

Posted by: redc1c4 at June 06, 2016 02:05 PM (iRosR)

312 Only a prelude to the reptilian invasion.

Posted by: eleven at June 06, 2016 02:01 PM (qUNWi)

Pretty much, yeah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8FHjHfK58A

Posted by: BurtTC at June 06, 2016 02:05 PM (TOk1P)

313 Conscientious Objectors could also serve as research subjects. I know because of the experiment on starvation (different diets, different calorie counts). I think that was in Gary Taubes' book Why We Get Fat.

Posted by: Lurkette at June 06, 2016 02:05 PM (PLmfk)

314 It would be damned hilarious if he discovered Barry's ancestors were Muslim slavers and captured and sold Mooch's ancestors.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016

Sadly, Kenya is in the Eastern part of the Dark Continent. Were King ShitMidas from Nigeria, rather, I'd say the odds for such a delicious irony would be 1 to 1.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 06, 2016 02:07 PM (hjEjJ)

315
My lord, what is in the water? Everyone attacking everyone!

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at June 06, 2016 02:07 PM (iQIUe)

316 Germany's defense industry also suffered from having Hitler as a leader. He became increasingly involved, meddling with everything, even when he was really not qualified. He was kind of paranoid about his soldiers turning against him etc, and really thought he was a super genius in every aspect of life (sound familiar?).

So instead of building necessarily what they needed to do the job, they built his fantasy ideas and worked on projects like a super long range bomber to attack America, etc. He wanted to use the ME-262 as a bomber, for crying out loud.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 02:07 PM (39g3+)

317 311

I'm pretty sure those boys could've told you that everything goes to ruin eventually. They saw a lot of that.

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 02:07 PM (fToHD)

318

so a prefessional boxer who had an objection to fighting could have performed another kind of duty

I denounce myself

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:07 PM (zOTsN)

319 315
My lord, what is in the water? Everyone attacking everyone!
Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at June 06, 2016 02:07 PM (iQIUe)

Forty Years of Darkness!

Posted by: Egon Spengler at June 06, 2016 02:08 PM (3ZoRf)

320 So has obama commented on D-Day? Did He show a picture of Himself gazing at a photo?

Posted by: donna at June 06, 2016 02:08 PM (O2RFr)

321 Dogs and Cats! Living together!

Mass Hysteria!

Posted by: Peter Venkman at June 06, 2016 02:08 PM (3ZoRf)

322 Imagine WWII being fought with the ridiculous ROE we have in Afghanistan and Iraq today.

Don't fire at the enemy until you're fired upon first.

And don't hurt anyone's feelz.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:09 PM (1ZOkK)

323 320
So has obama commented on D-Day? Did He show a picture of Himself gazing at a photo?

Posted by: donna at June 06, 2016 02:08 PM (O2RFr)

Nah. Too many dead whiteys.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:10 PM (1ZOkK)

324 So instead of building necessarily what they needed to do the job, they built his fantasy ideas and worked on projects like a super long range bomber to attack America, etc. He wanted to use the ME-262 as a bomber, for crying out loud.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 02:07 PM (39g3+)

I actually saw the Me-262 they had added an 88mm anti-tank cannon to at the Wright Paterson Air Force Museum.

Insane.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 06, 2016 02:10 PM (3ZoRf)

325 "Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that Bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone."

------

Ikes prewritten letter in case the Normandy landings were repulsed.

Barrack, listen up. This is how a real leader behaves.

Posted by: fixerupper at June 06, 2016 02:10 PM (8XRCm)

326 Obama probably throws a party celebrating how so many crackers died on D-Day.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 02:10 PM (39g3+)

327 "The Holodomor also known as the Terror-Famine
and Famine-Genocide in Ukraine, was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian
Soviet Socialist Republic in 1932 and 1933 that killed an estimated
2.5-7.5 million Ukrainians, with millions more counted in demographic
estimates.

2.5-7.5 million dead sounds like genocide to me.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at June 06, 2016 01:52 PM (oKE6c)"

That is just a slander against the Soviet Union. The New York Times said it never happened and they have a Pulitzer prize in their lobby to prove it.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:11 PM (QHgTq)

328 My lord, what is in the water? Everyone attacking everyone!
Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at June 06, 2016 02:07 PM (iQIUe)

Pretty much the way things are everywhere anymore.
Everything reverting back to tribalism. Which might be the natural human state.

Posted by: kraken at June 06, 2016 02:11 PM (sdxPm)

329 I guess you can classify the Jewish communist commissars in Russia and Ukraine like the Jewish far Left in the USA and Israel now. Is that a fair comparison ?

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:11 PM (KtcMg)

330 OT --- Nice to see that the new Miss USA is an Army Reserve officer --- and very proud of it.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at June 06, 2016 02:12 PM (T/5A0)

331 Imagine WWII being fought with the ridiculous ROE we have in Afghanistan and Iraq today.

Don't fire at the enemy until you're fired upon first.

And don't hurt anyone's feelz.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:09 PM (1ZOkK)

----

Watch Saving Private Ryan, or Band of Brothers or The Pacific.

Half the combat would be called war crimes by the left today.

Posted by: fixerupper at June 06, 2016 02:12 PM (8XRCm)

332 326 Obama probably throws a party celebrating how so many crackers died on D-Day.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 02:10 PM (39g3+)

I have found most liberals grasp of history to be tenuous at best. My impression of the man is that unless someone mentions it to him or he comes across a google doodle, he does not pay attention much to history.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 06, 2016 02:12 PM (3ZoRf)

333
316 Germany's defense industry also suffered from having Hitler as a leader. He became increasingly involved, meddling with everything, even when he was really not qualified. He was kind of paranoid about his soldiers turning against him etc, and really thought he was a super genius in every aspect of life (sound familiar?).

So instead of building necessarily what they needed to do the job, they built his fantasy ideas and worked on projects like a super long range bomber to attack America, etc. He wanted to use the ME-262 as a bomber, for crying out loud.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 02:07 PM (39g3+)

He also encouraged his subordinates to jockey with each other for his blessings, and divvied out monies for various military expenditures based on who he favored (or disfavored) at the time. This helped ensure there was no center of opposition anywhere in the government or military. Goring knew how to curry favor so the Luftwaffe saw a lot of rewards, but the navy never saw the same concentration of resources as the Russian navy had been where the Russian Revolution began.

Posted by: Cody's Feed Bag at June 06, 2016 02:13 PM (W2YA6)

334 I actually saw the Me-262 they had added an 88mm anti-tank cannon to at the Wright Paterson Air Force Museum.

Insane.

Posted by: Aetius451AD
****

The A-10's grandfather.

Posted by: Tilikum KAW at June 06, 2016 02:14 PM (0x/TW)

335
OT --- Nice to see that the new Miss USA is an Army Reserve officer --- and very proud of it.
Posted by: Margarita DeVille at June 06, 2016 02:12 PM (T/5A0)
-------------------

Everyone's talking about it today -- she gave good answers to the questions, gave a good speech, etc. I can't find anything in the news. Trump said "Mexican" and Ali was the greatest, that's it.

Posted by: iforgot at June 06, 2016 02:14 PM (pC96u)

336 272 Roots Rebooted sucked ass. Just from a purely technical aspect, the acting was atrocious, the soundtrack, barf (it's from Questlove, lol). Oh and Kunta Kinte is now Muslim. Why? Who the fuck knows. But he is.

I only sat through an episode because my wife wanted to watch it. After 90 minutes of me bitching about it she said, go away, I want to watch on my own. And I said, thank you babe, and went away.

KK was muslim in the 1st rendition. go back and watch it again

Posted by: Rick in SK at June 06, 2016 02:14 PM (K2T58)

337 My lord, what is in the water? Everyone attacking everyone!
Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at June 06, 2016 02:07 PM (iQIUe)

Pretty much the way things are everywhere anymore.
Everything reverting back to tribalism. Which might be the natural human state.

-
B B B B But Obozo brought us together!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at June 06, 2016 02:14 PM (Nwg0u)

338 Anyway

I wonder if the relative rarity of black Americans in WWII has had any negative impact on how identify with the USA they are. If nothing else it's a seminal moment that they have no personal connection to, for the most part.

Like how there's such a division between rich and poor Vietnam era families, how they have such different outlooks based on their participation or not.

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 02:15 PM (fToHD)

339 Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:07 PM (zOTsN)

If you are going to look at history you have to judge it by the context of the time. Separate facilities and widespread discrimination is not a great motivator to go above and beyond.

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:16 PM (KtcMg)

340 "The Condor was a beautiful plane, but it was never
built in sufficient numbers to have any impact as part of a strategic
bombing campaign. Early in the war the Germans had some success using
them to scout for merchant ships and target in U-boat packs, but once
allied bombers and fighters could reach the airfields they used in
France, the losses became too great and they were pulled back.

Posted by: Cody's Feed Bag at June 06, 2016 02:03 PM (W2YA6)"

Could they carry a heavy enough bomb load far enough to have been used effectively against the Soviet factories in the Urals? How about if they carried V-1 cruise missiles for an extra 200 miles of range?

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:16 PM (QHgTq)

341 KK was muslim in the 1st rendition. go back and watch it again>>>

I am sure I watched at least part of it the first time around but hell if I'm gonna watch it again.

Posted by: Buzzsaw at June 06, 2016 02:16 PM (Mxs5H)

342 Roots Rebooted sucked ass. Just from a purely technical aspect, the
acting was atrocious, the soundtrack, barf (it's from Questlove, lol).
Oh and Kunta Kinte is now Muslim. Why? Who the fuck knows. But he is.
=================

Check the production funding.

Posted by: mrp at June 06, 2016 02:16 PM (JBggj)

343
Watch Saving Private Ryan, or Band of Brothers or The Pacific.

Half the combat would be called war crimes by the left today.

Posted by: fixerupper at June 06, 2016 02:12 PM (8XRCm)

I've watched them all. And, yes.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:16 PM (1ZOkK)

344 If you are going to look at history you have to judge it by the context of the time. Separate facilities and widespread discrimination is not a great motivator to go above and beyond.
Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:16 PM (KtcMg)

-----

Some of the most decorated units in the war were Negro or Japanese descent only units.

Posted by: fixerupper at June 06, 2016 02:17 PM (8XRCm)

345 If you are going to look at history you have to judge it by the context of the time. Separate facilities and widespread discrimination is not a great motivator to go above and beyond.

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:16 PM (KtcMg)

if you are going to post about the legitiamacy of a persons Conscientious Objector status, perhaps you should apply the facts and the laws, not your "feels"

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:17 PM (zOTsN)

346 322 Imagine WWII being fought with the ridiculous ROE we have in Afghanistan and Iraq today.

Don't fire at the enemy until you're fired upon first.

And don't hurt anyone's feelz.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:09 PM (1ZOkK)

Dear Ike...

It was bad enough when you took my Gas away to give it to the Limey Prima Donna...

But now you take my gas away because I am emitting too much CO2???

Posted by: Gen George S. Patton, who was on his way to Germany at June 06, 2016 02:17 PM (qf6WZ)

347 "B B B B But Obozo brought us together!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at June 06, 2016 02:14 PM (Nwg0u)"

My favorite part of the Obama Era is all the racial healing.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:17 PM (QHgTq)

348 Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:17 PM (zOTsN)

That's all you have posted is about your feels.

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:18 PM (KtcMg)

349 Father in law was a D-day vet, 2nd wave as far as I can tell landing around 7 am. Never forget.

Posted by: Skip at June 06, 2016 02:19 PM (3wHFl)

350 329 I guess you can classify the Jewish communist commissars in Russia and Ukraine like the Jewish far Left in the USA and Israel now. Is that a fair comparison ?
Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:11 PM (KtcMg)

Pretty much the history of socialism is essentially giving up any personal or familial history in subsumation to the state. The state becomes their tribe. That is what is always interesting to me when someone wants to mention tribal affiliation to anyone when talking about this.

Does the fact that a socialist is black, white, Jewish, Islamic or Catholic change the inherent idiocy of their arguments? It misses the point. They have given all that up in pursuit of socialism. Anything else is a convenient foil they may or may not use against you.

Also, guys be careful about tossing the Jewish or whatever tribal monikers are around. People who are of those tribes, who do not believe in the socialist parade may feel you are trying to tar them with the same brush.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 06, 2016 02:19 PM (3ZoRf)

351 342 Roots Rebooted sucked ass. Just from a purely technical aspect, the
acting was atrocious, the soundtrack, barf (it's from Questlove, lol).
Oh and Kunta Kinte is now Muslim. Why? Who the fuck knows. But he is.
=================

Check the production funding.
Posted by: mrp at June 06, 2016 02:16 PM (JBggj)

They'll have a new award category for it.... "The Feel Bad, Feel Mad Movie of the Year"....

Posted by: kraken at June 06, 2016 02:19 PM (sdxPm)

352

Joe you literally do not know what you are talking about

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:19 PM (zOTsN)

353 Joe you literally do not know what you are talking about
Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:19 PM (zOTsN)

----

So..... Monday.

Posted by: fixerupper at June 06, 2016 02:20 PM (8XRCm)

354 Separate facilities and widespread discrimination is not a great motivator to go above and beyond.

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:16 PM (KtcMg)

Posted by: fixerupper at June 06, 2016 02:17 PM (8XRCm)

442nd Regimental Combat Team (mostly Japanese) just sat on their asses and stuck it to The Man.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 06, 2016 02:20 PM (Zu3d9)

355 Posted by: fixerupper at June 06, 2016 02:17 PM (8XRCm)

And that has nothing to do with judging a person's actions in context of what was occurring at the time of those actions.

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:21 PM (KtcMg)

356 The A-10's grandfather.
Posted by: Tilikum KAW at June 06, 2016 02:14 PM (0x/TW)

Possibly as a concept, but the A-10 was designed around the gun. This thing just looked like a fighter someone had shoved a tank cannon on- which it was.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 06, 2016 02:21 PM (3ZoRf)

357 This blog has a case o the Mondays.

Later...gotta go eat.

Some food.

Posted by: eleven at June 06, 2016 02:21 PM (qUNWi)

358 329 I guess you can classify the Jewish communist commissars in Russia and Ukraine like the Jewish far Left in the USA and Israel now. Is that a fair comparison ?

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:11 PM (KtcMg)

Yes. Those commissars were about as devoted to the Jewish religion and traditions as pedophile Jeffrey Epstein is. Or Bernie Sanders for that matter.

In other words, they were and are non-Jewish Jews. (However, that wouldn't have kept any of them safe from the gas chambers - they would have been shoved in to die right next to devout rabbis.)

Bernie hates Israel - but if Bernie were to be elected president and then fail big time, you'd better believe that his devout leftist followers would turn on him and call him a k*ke without a second thought.

Posted by: Donna and V. (sans ampersands at the present time) at June 06, 2016 02:21 PM (u0lmX)

359 Save us, Cake Girl...

you're our only hope.

Posted by: garrett at June 06, 2016 02:21 PM (6kxiP)

360 "Watch Saving Private Ryan, or Band of Brothers or The Pacific.

Half the combat would be called war crimes by the left today.

Posted by: fixerupper at June 06, 2016 02:12 PM (8XRCm)"

On the bright side, amalgam fillings are not as valuable as gold so there is not much point in digging them out.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:22 PM (QHgTq)

361 "Watch Saving Private Ryan..."

The first fifteen or twenty minutes is amazing to me. After that, it's just another in a long list of movies where Matt Damon needs to be rescued.

(Courage Under Fire, Titan A.E., Syriana, Green Zone, Elysium, Interstellar, The Martian...)

Posted by: Qoheleth at June 06, 2016 02:22 PM (iIzG7)

362 "Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that Bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone."

------

Ikes prewritten letter in case the Normandy landings were repulsed.

-
If Obozo had been president:

The landings have failed. It was because of that Chaplin movie that offended Hitler. That and the radical Republicans who are out of the mainstream and hate the middle class. And taxes weren't high enough and there weren't enough transgenders in positions of power. And the weather! Don't even get me started on the weather!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at June 06, 2016 02:22 PM (Nwg0u)

363 There were, thank God, very brave all minority units. They were also very few, unfortunately.

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 02:22 PM (fToHD)

364 Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:19 PM (zOTsN)

I know exactly what I'm talking about and its everthing you choose to ignore.

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:22 PM (KtcMg)

365 Had Hitler delayed his 'adventures' for five years, the world would be a much different place today. Had he waited, (and the rest of Europe was just fine with waiting), he would have had the bomb. Long range jet powered bombers, and fighters. Intercontinental ballistic missiles.

All his biggest mistakes were almost game changing.

But...the cheese had already slid off his cracker, and his increasing insanity doomed his thousand year Reich.

Keep in Mind, Christopher Taylor, it was Hitler's Fantasy Ideas that years later put an American man on the moon. Dial back his crazy just a bit, and Britain would have fallen long before he, and Japan dragged the U.S. into the war.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at June 06, 2016 02:23 PM (i2t8l)

366 442nd Regimental Combat Team (mostly Japanese) just sat on their asses and stuck it to The Man.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 06, 2016 02:20 PM (Zu3d9)

----

Sarc tag???

8 Presidential Unit Citation
21 Medal of Honors
Called The Puprle Heart Battalion.

Posted by: fixerupper at June 06, 2016 02:23 PM (8XRCm)

367 350----Does the fact that a socialist is black, white, Jewish, Islamic or Catholic change the inherent idiocy of their arguments? It misses the point. They have given all that up in pursuit of socialism. Anything else is a convenient foil they may or may not use against you.

Also, guys be careful about tossing the Jewish or whatever tribal monikers are around. People who are of those tribes, who do not believe in the socialist parade may feel you are trying to tar them with the same brush.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 06, 2016 02:19 PM
------------------
Well said.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at June 06, 2016 02:23 PM (T/5A0)

368 Conscientious Objection is defined as

A firm, fixed, and sincere objection to participation in war in any form or the bearing of arms, by reason of religious training and/or belief

not because you oppose the particular war, or you feel the country is racist

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:24 PM (zOTsN)

369 KK was muslim in the 1st rendition. go back and watch it again
Posted by: Rick in SK at June 06, 2016 02:14 PM (K2T5

______

"Thanks to the success of the novel and the miniseries in the '70s, more people wanted to research Kunta Kinte's origins, Burton claimed in his interview with Bell. Burton cited that more has been learned about the Mandinka culture, of which Kunta was a part, like that they were horse warriors and Bell pointed out that the new series shows that the Kinte family was Muslim. "

Burton being LaVar Burton, who played the original Kunta and is now the producer of the remake.

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at June 06, 2016 02:24 PM (0LHZx)

370 Sarc tag???

Posted by: fixerupper at June 06, 2016 02:23 PM (8XRCm)

Uh...what do you think?

The most decorated unit in the history of the United States military.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 06, 2016 02:25 PM (Zu3d9)

371 "442nd Regimental Combat Team (mostly Japanese) just sat on their asses and stuck it to The Man.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 06, 2016 02:20 PM (Zu3d9)"

A truly amazing fact about the "Go For Broke" RCT is how many of them volunteered from behind barbed wire where their families were being held.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:25 PM (QHgTq)

372 really Joe?

Have you ever processed a CO case? I have

all you have written about is the racism Ali endured as a young man. All true

none of which is a lawful, legitimate reason to avoid service

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:25 PM (zOTsN)

373 282 Seriously, is Kunta Kinte a muslim in the new Roots?
Posted by: Seems Legit at June 06, 2016 01:56 PM (U+nHb)

____

Very much so. But it's OK he's a moderate Muslim.

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at June 06, 2016 02:25 PM (0LHZx)

374 fixerupper, 325:

"Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops."

My favorite footnote to that discarded message is that he originally wrote, "the troops have been withdrawn." Then he lined it out and wrote, "I have withdrawn the troops."

I find that note very moving.

Posted by: JPS at June 06, 2016 02:25 PM (mH5lL)

375 My grandfather was an Infantryman, landed at Omaha Beach. Never, ever talked about it. Not even to his wife and kids. We've got a few pics of him in uniform, a few medals, but no account of what he did. I did name my sand-colored Siamese cat "Omaha" as a lame tribute to his service.

Posted by: Lincolntf at June 06, 2016 02:25 PM (2cS/G)

376 Reading above, I'm not a combat vet, but reading comments from many who were say a leisure walk through occupied France to get a paratrooper to remove him from combat is supposed to be the stupidest thing in Saving Private Ryan.

Posted by: Skip at June 06, 2016 02:26 PM (3wHFl)

377
A truly amazing fact about the "Go For Broke" RCT is how many of them volunteered from behind barbed wire where their families were being held.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:25 PM (QHgTq)

Yes.... no one else would EVER do that....

Posted by: La Legion Entrangere at June 06, 2016 02:26 PM (qf6WZ)

378 Separate facilities and widespread discrimination is not a great motivator to go above and beyond.

its also not a sufficient basis for CO status

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:26 PM (zOTsN)

379 "Oh and Kunta Kinte is now Muslim. Why? Who the fuck knows. But he is."

I vaguely remember reading the book back in high school and I believe Kinte was portrayed as one by Haley. I recall a scene where the 13 year old Kinte is lined up with other adolescents and circumcised - which is how the Muzzies do it. (I don't have a dick and it still made me squirm.)

But the Islamic aspect wasn't emphasized by Haley and I don't know if it was mentioned in the original miniseries or not.

Posted by: Donna and V. (sans ampersands at the present time) at June 06, 2016 02:27 PM (u0lmX)

380 >>So has obama commented on D-Day? Did He show a picture of Himself gazing at a photo?

I'm still wondering when he'll get around to noticing the 9 Ft. Hood servicemen. Guess he's been too busy golfing and mourning the loss of Ali.

That sort of stuff has been officially delegated to Pres. Ash Carter, eh?

Posted by: Lizzy at June 06, 2016 02:27 PM (NOIQH)

381 442nd Regimental Combat Team (mostly Japanese) just sat on their asses and stuck it to The Man.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 06, 2016 02:20 PM (Zu3d9)

You forgot to add the mandatory Sarc tag to the end of your post.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at June 06, 2016 02:27 PM (i2t8l)

382 376 Reading above, I'm not a combat vet, but reading comments from many who were say a leisure walk through occupied France to get a paratrooper to remove him from combat is supposed to be the stupidest thing in Saving Private Ryan.
Posted by: Skip at June 06, 2016 02:26 PM (3wHFl)

___

They should have texted him to come home.

Posted by: Milenial at June 06, 2016 02:27 PM (0LHZx)

383 I'm still wondering when he'll get around to
noticing the 9 Ft. Hood servicemen. Guess he's been too busy golfing and
mourning the loss of Ali.

That sort of stuff has been officially delegated to Pres. Ash Carter, eh?

Posted by: Lizzy at June 06, 2016 02:27 PM (NOIQH)

Have flags been ordered to half-staff?

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:28 PM (1ZOkK)

384 Far more peopl died in the Normandy invasion than in Hiroshima. Will Obama also be hugging a Nazi to commemorate those lost to war as he just did in Japan?

Posted by: A Mal at June 06, 2016 02:28 PM (ObACq)

385
Very much so. But it's OK he's a moderate Muslim

+-++++

And a Freedom fighter

/Sarc

Posted by: Bigbys Cellphone at June 06, 2016 02:28 PM (fToHD)

386 Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:25 PM (QHgTq)

Daniel Inouye was in the 442nd....which is why I cut him all the slack in the world for his politics.

Those men were giants.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 06, 2016 02:28 PM (Zu3d9)

387 Barky's ancestors were Luo, which is one of the Christian tribes. His immediate Obama clan converted to Islam after the Brits had already sort-of abolished slavery in Kenya (except for the slaves the Brits ended up owning themselves - I'll admit we did *not* behave well there, but that's OT).

Anyway Barky's Luo side probably had a few slavers in it, but not as many as some of the other tribes, especially Muslim tribes like the Somalis.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at June 06, 2016 02:28 PM (f/x25)

388 Some of the most decorated units in the war were Negro or Japanese descent only units.

-
The movie Redtails may have sucked donkey dong but the unit it represents was amazing. They never lost a bomber they were escorting and that was because they did crazy ass stuff like continuing to fight when their fuel gauges told them to go home.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at June 06, 2016 02:28 PM (Nwg0u)

389 This D-Day thing sounded, ummmmmmm, tough. But certainly not as uhhhhhhh, hard as the ummmmmm, Social Justice Warriering that I, ummmmm, do.

Posted by: TEH WON at June 06, 2016 02:28 PM (wcSGs)

390 All his biggest mistakes were almost game changing.

You can't really credit Hitler for those innovations, though. It was a core of truly brilliant scientists and engineers, geniuses living and working in Germany at the time. Of course, England and America had their share as well, working on the same kinds of things.

As for Kunta Kinte, I remember his family and tribe in the story as being more ancestral tribalists than anything, not Muslim at all. Gambia is mostly Muslim today (the nation Kunta came from) but how true that was in the 16th century or how much it pervaded interior tribes is something I don't know enough about to comment on.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 02:29 PM (39g3+)

391 Posted by: Sticky Wicket at June 06, 2016 02:27 PM (i2t8l)

Anybody who doesn't know that it was sarcastic, and that the 442nd were great Americans in every respect deserves to be confused!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 06, 2016 02:30 PM (Zu3d9)

392 I'll bet Obama has NEVER watched a war movie, or the series Band of Brothers or The Pacific.

He may have watched Saving Private Ryan because Hanks and Damon are two of his greatest admirers.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:30 PM (1ZOkK)

393 Even though I knew my father in law for 25 years or so only ever heard a couple of stories and even then we're mostly from other family members who recounted them with him only adding a couple of words. I got lucky and couple of years ago a website popped up ( but disappeared shortly after) of memorabilia from a someone in his company. So it gave me a few pieces to work from.

Posted by: Skip at June 06, 2016 02:30 PM (3wHFl)

394
Conscientious Objection is defined as

A firm, fixed, and sincere objection to participation in war in any form or the bearing of arms, by reason of religious training and/or belief

not because you oppose the particular war, or you feel the country is racist

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:24 PM (zOTsN)
_____________________________

Yep, I recon that sounds about right....

Posted by: Sgt. Alvin York at June 06, 2016 02:31 PM (HSmrB)

395 June 6, 1944 D - Day

June 6, 2016: A SJW somewhere will be offended because someone used the word HIStory to describe the event.

We've come a long way baby!

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at June 06, 2016 02:31 PM (0LHZx)

396 The movie Redtails may have sucked donkey dong but the unit it represents was amazing. They never lost a bomber they were escorting

Actually they lost a few. They were quite good and all those escort pilots were heroes to me, but a lot of mythology has been built up around the Tuskeegee Airmen/Red Tails

http://www.wordaroundthe.net/2012/02/common-knowledge-red-tails.html

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 02:31 PM (39g3+)

397 >>Have flags been ordered to half-staff?

No idea.

Obama has a habit of making a big show when a celebrity dies, while ignoring military deaths that happen around the same time.

Whitney Houston vs. Chris Kyle
[can't remember who] vs. the Chattanooga recruiters
Now...Mohammed Ali vs. Ft. Hood 9/airman who crashed during Air Force graduation ceremony

I cannot wait for him to leave office.

Posted by: Lizzy at June 06, 2016 02:31 PM (NOIQH)

398
I'm still wondering when he'll get around to
noticing the 9 Ft. Hood servicemen. Guess he's been too busy golfing and
mourning the loss of Ali.

That sort of stuff has been officially delegated to Pres. Ash Carter, eh?

Posted by: Lizzy at June 06, 2016 02:27 PM (NOIQH)

He's taking selfies just as fast as his effeminate fingers can weakly mash the shutter button!

Posted by: White House Press Secretary Reginald Quimsniffer III at June 06, 2016 02:32 PM (i2t8l)

399 A truly amazing fact about the "Go For Broke" RCT is how many of them volunteered from behind barbed wire where their families were being held.

-
Several years ago, I visited the ruins of the Japanese internment camp near Granada CO. There is a memorial to an inmate who won a posthumus Medal of Honor.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at June 06, 2016 02:32 PM (Nwg0u)

400 He may have watched Saving Private Ryan because Hanks and Damon are two of his greatest admirers.

I love watching all those ofays get it in the first and third acts!

Posted by: President Barack Hussein O'Bama at June 06, 2016 02:32 PM (39g3+)

401 Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:25 PM (zOTsN)

His CO status was submiited by him based on his religious conversion. You and the government chose not to believe him and he was convicted. You made the statement that even as a CO he could have volunteered for a non combat role. I pointed out that the motivation to do would be hindered by the racism of the time.

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:32 PM (KtcMg)

402
I cannot wait for him to leave office.

Posted by: Lizzy at June 06, 2016 02:31 PM (NOIQH)

I'll be overjoyed when Mooch no longer has to wake up every morning in the house that slaves built.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:33 PM (1ZOkK)

403 "He also encouraged his subordinates to jockey
with each other for his blessings, and divvied out monies for various
military expenditures based on who he favored (or disfavored) at the
time. This helped ensure there was no center of opposition anywhere in
the government or military. Goring knew how to curry favor so the
Luftwaffe saw a lot of rewards, but the navy never saw the same
concentration of resources as the Russian navy had been where the
Russian Revolution began.

Posted by: Cody's Feed Bag at June 06, 2016 02:13 PM (W2YA6)"

The entire German surface fleet was a waste of resources in both WW I and WW II. That is basically a matter of geography and England having the biggest navy in the world at the time and being located right in the way.

If Germany had started WW I or WW II with 1000 U-Boats that could have been built with the resources that went into the surface fleets, the outcome would have been very different.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:33 PM (QHgTq)

404 The movie Redtails may have sucked donkey dong but the unit it represents was amazing. They never lost a bomber they were escorting and that was because they did crazy ass stuff like continuing to fight when their fuel gauges told them to go home.------------Anonosaurus Wrecks

Actually they did lose some. One of their members caught some flack for proving so. It doesn't diminish what they did in my eyes.

Posted by: Tilikum KAW at June 06, 2016 02:33 PM (uhftQ)

405 You can't really credit Hitler for those innovations, though. It was a core of truly brilliant scientists and engineers, geniuses living and working in Germany at the time.

"I aim for the stars, but sometimes I hit London."

Posted by: Werner von Braun at June 06, 2016 02:33 PM (8ZskC)

406

Could they carry a heavy enough bomb load far enough to have been used effectively against the Soviet factories in the Urals? How about if they carried V-1 cruise missiles for an extra 200 miles of range?

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:16 PM (QHgTq)

They could carry about 12k lbs of ordinance, similar to what the B-17 carried. V-1s required fixed launch sites, though; it wasn't until very late in the war that the Germans experimented with launches from aircraft. The V-1 wasn't guided, either. As the Condor had been developed as an airliner it's range from the German conquests in the Soviet Union should have been sufficient to allow it to hit many targets in the Urals, but that assumes there were sufficient numbers and the strategic and tactical will to use them. The biggest proponent of a Luftwaffe strategic bombing force, Walther Weaver, died in 1936, and Goering, Milch, and Udets all favored dive bombers.

Posted by: Cody's Feed Bag at June 06, 2016 02:33 PM (W2YA6)

407 Barky's ancestors were Luo, which is one of the Christian tribes. His immediate Obama clan converted to Islam after the Brits had already sort-of abolished slavery in Kenya (except for the slaves the Brits ended up owning themselves - I'll admit we did *not* behave well there, but that's OT).

Anyway Barky's Luo side probably had a few slavers in it, but not as many as some of the other tribes, especially Muslim tribes like the Somalis.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at June 06, 2016 02:28 PM (f/x25)

Frank Marshall Davis was Kenyan?

Posted by: Country Singer at June 06, 2016 02:34 PM (uiwCw)

408 D-Day on June 6th was amazing. Then figure that 9 days later there was another D-Day in the pacific with the invasion of Saipan. We were fighting then on a 2 front war. Just think of the men and materials garnered for both invasions. You have to ask yourselves if we could even do that today?

Posted by: the morigu at June 06, 2016 02:34 PM (Bjy3Q)

409 His CO status was submiited by him based on his religious conversion. You and the government chose not to believe him and he was convicted. You made the statement that even as a CO he could have volunteered for a non combat role. I pointed out that the motivation to do would be hindered by the racism of the time.

Posted by: Joe Hallenbeck at June 06, 2016 02:32 PM (KtcMg)

1. that isnt what you said

2. he didnt ask

3. we will never know

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:34 PM (zOTsN)

410 Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:33 PM (QHgTq)

Battleships and big cruisers are beautiful, magnificent weapons.

Submarines are boring.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 06, 2016 02:35 PM (Zu3d9)

411 This day is a blight on history. D-Day was a shameful display of military imperialism.

Posted by: Barry in DC at June 06, 2016 02:35 PM (7Kbxu)

412 408
D-Day on June 6th was amazing. Then figure that 9 days later there was
another D-Day in the pacific with the invasion of Saipan. We were
fighting then on a 2 front war. Just think of the men and materials
garnered for both invasions. You have to ask yourselves if we could
even do that today?

Posted by: the morigu at June 06, 2016 02:34 PM (Bjy3Q)

We have an all-volunteer military that would be up to the task, if allowed to actually fight.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:36 PM (1ZOkK)

413 The entire German surface fleet was a waste of resources in both WW I and WW II. That is basically a matter of geography and England having the biggest navy in the world at the time and being located right in the way.

Hitler, and all Germany, had a big yen for outdoing England at sea. They tried really hard in WWI and got smoked, so they tried again in WWII and did better, but eventually beaten. It was a kind of rivalry between Germany and England. England ruled the waves, and had for over a century. Germany wanted to prove they were better, and beating the UK at sea was the measuring stick. So they blew a lot of money on those gigantic battleships etc.

For all his many, gross, evil, and overwhelming faults, Hitler did really, really love Germany, and he was infuriated by the bombing and how it hurt his country, so he wanted to retaliate for every bomb dropped. Hence, his fixation on bombing London and America.

Posted by: President Barack Hussein O'Bama at June 06, 2016 02:36 PM (39g3+)

414 Some of the reviews for Hearts of Iron IV on steam are typically internet worthy (read: bizarre in the extreme.)

Some are quite helpful though.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 06, 2016 02:36 PM (3ZoRf)

415 411 This day is a blight on history. D-Day was a shameful display of military imperialism.
Posted by: Barry in DC at June 06, 2016 02:35 PM (7Kbxu)

_____

While this statement would be true of most wars for Obammy, I don't think he minds D-Day. It was after all whites killing whites. I think he truly thinks today is a wonderful day.

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at June 06, 2016 02:37 PM (0LHZx)

416 Posted by: Lincolntf at June 06, 2016 02:25 PM (2cS/G)

You can likely get his service record from the National Personnel Records Center.

Posted by: Country Singer at June 06, 2016 02:37 PM (uiwCw)

417 You can't really credit Hitler for those
innovations, though. It was a core of truly brilliant scientists and
engineers, geniuses living and working in Germany at the time. Of
course, England and America had their share as well, working on the same
kinds of things.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 02:29 PM (39g3+)

I understand that...but the output of Germany's quite considerable brain trust was dancing to his (loony) tune.

Posted by: White House Press Secretary Reginald Quimsniffer III at June 06, 2016 02:38 PM (i2t8l)

418

Posted by: White House Press Secretary Reginald Quimsniffer III at June 06, 2016 02:38 PM (i2t8l)

419 Dodged the barrel by that much!

Posted by: White House Press Secretary Reginald Quimsniffer III at June 06, 2016 02:39 PM (i2t8l)

420 "do we have to crank up the outrage machine and scream all day at everything? "

I thought that was almost a requirement at AOS.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 06, 2016 02:39 PM (rmw+9)

421 We have an all-volunteer military that would be up to the task, if allowed to actually fight.

I think if given the resources, backing, and rules of engagement required, yes. It would be really tough if we started right this instant, but we could build up, with the right leadership and administration.

With the president we have right now? I'd rather not even contemplate it. Obama would have gone on a hajj and groveled in Riyadh after 9/11.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 06, 2016 02:39 PM (39g3+)

422 412 408

We have an all-volunteer military that would be up to the task, if allowed to actually fight.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:36 PM (1ZOkK)

Of the men in I have no doubt their performance would be outstanding. It is the supplies, logistics, and the objections of to many snowflakes that would be problematic.

Posted by: the morigu at June 06, 2016 02:40 PM (Bjy3Q)

423 Are invasion days still referred to as "d-Day" or has that been changed?

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 02:40 PM (7HtZB)

424 "He was on a rant about how awesome the new Roots is, and how he's sick
of white guilt, because just like the Jews having to live among Nazi
descendants in Germany, blacks here have to live among the descendants
of slave owners."

If unbiased history were taught in the USA, blacks would realize that they're living among the descendants of slave owners even when they're in all-black communities. The very first slave in the colonies was a black man owned by a black man. By the peak of slavery, black slaveowners were quite numerous.

As for _Roots_, it's not as though the original had any claim to historical accuracy either. White slavers bursting into African villages? Um, no. It was pretty much guaranteed death by disease for any white entering the interior. Whites bought black slaves on the coast, from black slavers who had captured those slaves inland.

Posted by: torquewrench at June 06, 2016 02:41 PM (noWW6)

425 we dont even call them "invasions" anymore. Too imperial. They are "Operation X"

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:42 PM (zOTsN)

426 242 So, in honor of D Day, the local fish wrap had another Hate Whitey piece by Leonard Pitts. He was on a rant about how awesome the new Roots is, and how he's sick of white guilt, because just like the Jews having to live among Nazi descendants in Germany, blacks here have to live among the descendants of slave owners.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 01:45 PM (1ZOkK)

I'm sick of white guilt, too. It played a large part in electing Obama.

Posted by: rickl at June 06, 2016 02:42 PM (zoehZ)

427 Country Singer, Good call, don't know why I haven't done that yet. Gonna go check it out.

Posted by: Lincolntf at June 06, 2016 02:43 PM (2cS/G)

428 "Are invasion days still referred to as "d-Day" or has that been changed?"

If we were to invade a foreign enemy today, the only reason this administration would refer to it as "D-Day" would be because the SCOAMF does, in fact, stutter.

Posted by: Qoheleth at June 06, 2016 02:43 PM (iIzG7)

429 "276
Several thousand Russians fought in the German forces in Normandy.

Posted by: RioBravo at June 06, 2016 01:12 PM (NUqwG)

I'm reminded of the amazing story of Yank Kyoungjong, a Korean born
in Manchuria who was conscripted to fight in the Kwangjung Army (the
army of the Japanese Manchurian client state) and was captured by the
Soviets in the 1938 battles between the two countries in western
Manchuria. He was sent to a work camp, but when the Germans invaded he
and other prisoners were conscripted and sent to the front, where he was
captured by the Germans in 1943 near Kharkov. They pressed him into
service in an "Eastern battalion" (a low-quality unit of various former
Soviet soldiers) and put on duty in the Western wall. He was captured by
US paratroopers following the D-Day landings; they were amazed to find
Asians in German uniforms in France. He was sent to a prisoner camp in
Britain and later sent to the US, where he remained, dying in Illinois
in 1992. He didn't tell his children about his story; they only found
out following his death.

Posted by: Cody's Feed Bag at June 06, 2016 01:55 PM (W2YA6)"

I knew it! I knew that D-Day was just an excuse for racist white Americans to kill people of color.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:43 PM (QHgTq)

430 There were many invasions using D-Day. Then a timetable would spell out objectives, so for instance a bridge might be required to be taken on D-+2, a town on D-+4. Hours were also spelled out. There is a website that has unloading per ship and what was on each per unit or major equipment.

Posted by: Skip at June 06, 2016 02:44 PM (3wHFl)

431 "If Germany had started WW I or WW II with 1000 U-Boats that could have
been built with the resources that went into the surface fleets, the
outcome would have been very different."

Not clear, given how fast the U-boats started being systematically rolled up starting in 1943, that any amount of production could have offset Doenitz's doctrinal stupidities.

_Iron Coffins_ makes for instructive reading on this matter.

Posted by: torquewrench at June 06, 2016 02:44 PM (noWW6)

432 I'm reminded of the amazing story of Yank Kyoungjong

Fitting that a Korean named "Yank" became an American.

Posted by: josephistan at June 06, 2016 02:45 PM (7HtZB)

433 410
Submarines are boring.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 06, 2016 02:35 PM (Zu3d9)

Not when you're being depth-charged.

Posted by: rickl at June 06, 2016 02:46 PM (zoehZ)

434 The Nazi's recruited many pow's into their army.

Posted by: Skip at June 06, 2016 02:49 PM (3wHFl)

435 nood

Posted by: ThunderB at June 06, 2016 02:50 PM (zOTsN)

436 Not when you're being depth-charged.------rickl

Or fart raped

Posted by: Tilikum KAW at June 06, 2016 02:51 PM (uhftQ)

437 "The other insane move was declaring war on the USA on December 11th.

There were a lot of other stupid moves that cost him the war, but
even with smart moves, he never would be able to overcome the manpower
the Soviets had.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at June 06, 2016 01:27 PM (p4UlV)"

Hitler thought that if he declared war on the US that Japan would reciprocate by declaring war on the USSR. Oops. It seems that after Nomonhan the Japanese Army was not having any of that if they could help it.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:53 PM (QHgTq)

438 "431
"If Germany had started WW I or WW II with 1000 U-Boats that could have

been built with the resources that went into the surface fleets, the

outcome would have been very different."

Not clear, given how
fast the U-boats started being systematically rolled up starting in
1943, that any amount of production could have offset Doenitz's
doctrinal stupidities.

_Iron Coffins_ makes for instructive reading on this matter.

Posted by: torquewrench at June 06, 2016 02:44 PM (noWW6)"

If Germany had 1000 submarines when WW II started in September 1939, Great Britain would not have lasted until December 7, 1941.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:56 PM (QHgTq)

439 Here's a trailer for the movie My Way that Cody's Feed Bag mentioned above:

http://tinyurl.com/Not-Sinatra-s-My-Way

The movie would have been more accurately titled "Yes, I Fought In All The Wars"

Posted by: Sharkman at June 06, 2016 02:56 PM (hoB5A)

440 And to reciprocate the Soviet Union didn't declare war on Japan till the very end.

Posted by: Skip at June 06, 2016 02:57 PM (3wHFl)

441
We have an all-volunteer military that would be up to the task, if allowed to actually fight.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 06, 2016 02:36 PM (1ZOkK)

I was in Signal for most of my military career...and I don't exaggerate when I say that the biggest complaint in my units was that hair dryers kept tripping the generators. I was in satellite, and had a nice 30 Kw monster almost all to myself, and I had every morning a bevy of young women, fresh from their tactical canteen baths, looking to dry, and style their hair with their 1000 watt hair dryers.

Women in tactical units should have their hair cut short. Doesn't have to be man short, but should be short enough to negate the need for a hair dryer.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at June 06, 2016 02:58 PM (i2t8l)

442 This finished me with Google, especially since two years ago they celebrated D-Day's 70th anniversary by putting a Japanese Go champion up.

I'm not going to stomp my feet all over the Intertoobes over it, but here? Fuck Google. Be evil.

Posted by: Uma Thurman's Feet at June 06, 2016 03:09 PM (ikpSa)

443 In fact, I'm hoping they still display search enquiries in their headquarters, so I'm typing in "google can go fuck itself" and send it out a couple times in hopes one will appear there.

I tend to be passive-aggressive in my pissiness.

Posted by: Uma Thurman's Feet at June 06, 2016 03:11 PM (ikpSa)

444 "406

Could they carry a heavy enough bomb load far enough to have been
used effectively against the Soviet factories in the Urals? How about if
they carried V-1 cruise missiles for an extra 200 miles of range?

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 02:16 PM (QHgTq)

They could carry about 12k lbs of ordinance, similar to what the
B-17 carried. V-1s required fixed launch sites, though; it wasn't until
very late in the war that the Germans experimented with launches from
aircraft. The V-1 wasn't guided, either. As the Condor had been
developed as an airliner it's range from the German conquests in the
Soviet Union should have been sufficient to allow it to hit many targets
in the Urals, but that assumes there were sufficient numbers and the
strategic and tactical will to use them. The biggest proponent of a
Luftwaffe strategic bombing force, Walther Weaver, died in 1936, and
Goering, Milch, and Udets all favored dive bombers.

Posted by: Cody's Feed Bag at June 06, 2016 02:33 PM (W2YA6)"

One might think that even before the B-17s and B-24s the British Lancaster bombers might have been suggesting to the top German leadership that perhaps there might be something to this new fangled four engine strategic bomber stuff and perhaps, maybe they could ramp up production of the Condors or maybe go the Tu-4 route and build copies of B-17s or B-24s.

The V-1 did have guidance of a sort. It flew along a preset compass heading for a distance that was also preset before launch. Distance was determined by an impeller on the nose and after a certain number of rotations it would cut off the fuel and lock the elevator into a maximum dive position.

During the Battle of Britain, the Germans had used a radio guidance system to assist navigation, although the British were apparently successful at fooling it pretty often so that bombers, who were flying at night, would drop their bombs on empty fields instead of their targets. If they could deal with the jamming and deception problem, it might have been possible to provide directional guidance of the V-1s with something like VORTAC beacons.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at June 06, 2016 04:02 PM (QHgTq)

445 Just a small contribution to a dying thread (the sort I'd normally pollute with all sorts of stuff).

Cody's Feed Bag had a great entry above (#276) about the ethnic Korean impressed into Japan's Kwangtung Army in Manchuria, captured by the Soviets, then captured by the Germans, then captured by the Americans in Normandy (to their amazement).

I cannot recall the book. But in one of the many D-Day books (a fairly recent one, meaning 1990s-on), a favorite anecdote was the soldier asking an officer (I think at Utah beach), after some GIs had rounded up yet another exotic group of POWs in German uniform who spoke no German - "sir, just who are we fighting here, anyway?"

Posted by: rhomboid at June 06, 2016 04:38 PM (QDnY+)

446 Please go to the nationalww2museum.org website to learn more about D-Day, and other battles in the war. If you have a vet in your family, you can buy them a commemorative brick.

The oral histories of D-Day are gripping. No one, including Army Air personnel or Navy personnel had an easy day.

Posted by: pointsnfigures at June 06, 2016 06:27 PM (oPFsu)

447 444 Cody's Feed Bag@406:

The Lancaster was coeval with the B-17 and B-24; but the British already had the Stirling and Halifax. The Fw 200 Kondor was unfitted to that role anyway; it was a converted airliner and too flimsy. And the Germans simply didn't have the resources to build and operate a fleet of heavy bombers. Once BARBAROSSA started, the Luftwaffe was fully engaged in ground support and air supremacy fighting.

Posted by: Rich Rostrom at June 07, 2016 01:32 AM (YkV15)

Processing 0.04, elapsed 0.0548 seconds.
15 queries taking 0.0209 seconds, 456 records returned.
Page size 260 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.