Today, June 6, is the anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy. France in 1944. 10's of thousands of American and Allied forces troops died that day and the coming days.

Yep.

If any of you get the chance, you should visit the national D-Day memorial in Bedford, Va.

We owe a debt to those kids on that beach that can never be repaid. Sadly, few care or even remember what they did.

I have known a handful of D day Vets , all gone now.Amazing men ,The Greatest Generation.

Remember, too it is the anniversary of the Battle of Midway , June 4-7, 1942 considered by many historians as the turning point in the Pacific War.

The Imperial War Museum in London and the WW2 museum in New Orleans along with the Marine Corp Museum in QuAntico and Holocaust museum in DC are all musts.

The Marine Corp Museum in Quantico was impressive -

The Pacific often gets overlooked because we have such deep ties to Europe. The museums and memorials in China are on par with the holocaust museums of America and Europe. So many mass graves from the Japanese occupation....I know because China moved to a communist style society that America quit caring about it but the brutality was insane. This museum has a katana used in head chopping competitions Japanese soldiers would have on Chinese prisoners.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_ ... e_Invaders

The fighting over there was so much nastier. Germans and Italians would surrender and often times in large numbers, yet we all know the code of the Japanese soldiers.

Midway was incredibly important, but when their mishaps attacking Hawaii did them in and not only put them on their heels, but it woke up a capitalist powered military industrial complex ready to rock on levels the world had never seen.

Spent 10 hours over 2 days in the WWII museum in NO, Rek. Well done. For anyone interested, “With The Old Breed,” by E. B. Sledge is a great one for the WWII history readers.

WVAPPeer wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 07, 2022 7:27 pm

The Marine Corp Museum in Quantico was impressive -

An aside. Back in Apps' NAIA days, we used to play the Quantico Marines football team.

I agree that the war in the Pacific is largely overlooked. This is a shame, considering the heroism of our Navy sailors and Marines is equal to that of American soldiers serving in any other theatre.

If you want to learn more about the war in the Pacific, I highly recommend Ian Toll's trilogy:

• Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942

• The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944

• Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945

Lengthy reads, but all are available on Audible and are great listens. I learned a tremendous amount about the price that was paid for our freedom by those brave sailors and soldiers, so many years ago.