FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

My Dad was not in Normandy but in the South Pacific. Bougainville, Guadalcanal. He just died at the end of March at the age of 95, retired Colonel in the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Kristin,
Thank you for your thoughts. You are right about the draft, and how fortunate Max is to have never known it. My era is Vietnam, but I have visited Ohmaha Beach and the American cemetery there. Do you remember in Star Wars, as our heroes arrive at the planet Alderan, just after Darth Vader destroys it, and Obi-Wan says that he just felt a giant disturbance in the Force? That's what I felt when I visited the cemetery. It was quite moving.
The museum in Caen is also worth visiting, and Veterans of any era can get a discount on the admission fee.
But yes, absolutely, let us never forget those who gave their lives for our freedom.

My husband and I visited the American Cemetery in Normandy on Memorial Day 2010. We were amazed by the flowers sent from towns all over France and by the small American and French flags placed at each grave by school children. It was quite moving and a reminder of the bond between the United States and France.

I have seen that view from the bunker of Omaha beach and walked through the American cemetery more than once ... and am so very grateful.I also have sons who never knew the Draft.
But Verdun,that really made my heart cry.WWII really was a continuation of The great War.Standing on the Fields at Verdun made me understand why Soldiers walked away.
A lighter note: When my husband and I were living in Paris in 1996-97,there was a large transportation strike which seem to last forever.We had rented a car to go somewhere outside the city.I saw a much older woman standing and waiting for a bus(it ran very infrequently).I said to my husband,"let's stop and pick her up".We did,and dropped her at her destination.As she was getting from the car,she thanked us,and commented that it was the second time she was saved by Americans!

I never met my grandfather, Bernard Glenn Ross because he was killed on the way to Metz in October, 1944. He died when a bomb hit the building in which he was sleeping located in Sivry, near Pont a Mousson. I think of him every year over the Memorial Day weekend because his loss, when my father was 8, had such an effect on our family in the years to come. I wish you a lovely Mother's Day, Kristin and I offer my thoughts and prayers for the brave men that came before us.

Thank you, Kristin. You wrote a very nice piece.

I'll be in Normandy next week, on those beaches and in those cemeteries. My first visit during D-Day week. It's an overwhelming experience any time, but I'm hoping to be able to speak with some people who lived through that day.

Never forgotten.

My ancestor, John Carothers, commanded the Armory in Carlisle, PA during the Revolutionary War. Growing up I remember learning about "Uncle Johnny", my great-grandmother's older brother who died, not of injuries but of disease, as did a great number, during the Civil War. My husband served in the Navy in Special Forces during the Viet Nam conflict. My son served as a US Marine early in the Noriega days in Panama and was recalled after his discharge to serve in the first Gulf War. I salute those who died for my freedom and those who were willing to do so.

Thought provoking & moving photos & words . I have visited Vimy Ridge & war cemetries, British, Canadian & German. Those lines of crosses & those young ages on them all point to the horror & needless slaughter which ensued. In any small village here in France there is always a War Memorial listing ,sometimes, all the male members of one family.
You can only salute all those who gave their lives. Will we ever learn ??

Kristin: My only sibling, brother Conrad was a survivor of the Bataan Death March and 3 1/2 years a prisoner of the Japanese. He retired from the US Air Force; died in 1975. One nephew Conrad, Jr., a Naval Aviator, first carrier in the Gulf War. Nephew John, Navy, Nuculer (sp) welder. His four sons: Air Force, Marine, two currently in Navy. Remember them. Vivian

War is not the answer, but it keeps happening. My husband and I visited Normandy and the cemeteries, which touch the soul and you know that there should not be more wars. The letters at the German cemetery stated the exact same sentiments, but no avail.
Thank you for taking a picture which includes the Star of David,because most pictures of the American cemetery never show the Jewish star and least we forget how many of our Jewish brothers/sisters fought during WW II.
And as Rick mentioned, everyone should visit the Peace Museum in Caen. It is so moving. We were there one year from the day of 9/11 and there was a piece if the World Trade Center there.
My father also was in WWII and was in Morocco and ended up in Paris. He only spoke about the liberation,but not about the horrors of the war.
Thank you Kristin for your remembering of our fallen and disabled. There are few Veterans still alive today. My father died in 1982.

My husband's father fought in WWI in France when he was a boy of 14. When my husband and I were in France a few years ago, we made a point of going to the war memorials and the cemeteries in the North. Even the smallest town, it seemed, had a war memorial. Each one brought tears to my eyes, but the Canadian memorial dropped me to my knees.

Kristin:

My wife's half brother (her father's first wife died) was 17 years old when he was seriously wounded while landing at Normandy just after D day. He died in England and is buried at Cambridge. This is the 70th anniversary of his death and we plan to lay a wreath (the first from our family) on his grave in June. Your post brought back the memory of Joseph Laskody a young American who gave his life for France and for civilization. Living in France now we think of him often. We are all the beneficiaries of these sacrifices.

Randy and Debbie Komisarek
Bateau "Alouette"

Thank you Kristin for the lovely post & photos.

God bless all the fallen patriots, and current patriots for their sacrifices and for keeping our country safe.

I agree with Mary Underwood, who believes that if all of our young men and women were subject to conscription, our Congress might not be in such a hurry to send them into battle. For millennia, old men have sent the young ones out to be killed and to kill. But if the sons & daughters of those old men are among the youngsters? In Vietnam, the soldiers *who did not want to be there* brought the war to an earlier close than might have otherwise been the case. Isn't an all-volunteer military force in a democracy very dangerous? And I still honor the millions of young American lives (since 1860) and those of our "enemies" that have been cut down.

Kristan-
Thank you for writing your own story about Memorial Day, WWII, visiting cemeteries, and honoring the dead (and I thank you for letting me write my story last year, remember? -about my Uncle Alan who is in the Lorraine American Cemetery.)
Anyway, wanted to say that my grandmother's birthday was Nov 11, Armistice Day, and her son, my uncle Alan, had been KIA on Nov 10, 1944. Somewhat the same as Mother's Day, Memorial Day. It is a curious, but poignant, juxtaposition.

Thank you for your article. If only every American could have the opportunity to visit all of the Normandy beaches and war memorials. My husband and I were in the American Cemetery in October and he had the privilege of helping lower and fold the American flag late one afternoon. Such an honor and so moving as Taps was played. We spent 6 full days reliving WWII! Also, the Memorial in Caen in just incredible. We spent over 5 hours there - that much time should be allowed for a visit. We could've easily spent another hour or more. I'm so glad we were able to do all of that and more in Normandy. What a beautiful part of France - truly hallowed ground.

I visited Normandy on a cold, rainy February day. I was one of only a few people there that day. It was my first and only time that I have made a visit to this sacred spot. I still remember walking into the cemetery and being so moved by the sight in front of me.

As I walked around and contemplated the events that happened there I could here in the distance the American National Anthem play. I looked around to see what was happening and saw the American Flag being lowered for the ending of the day. It was in the distance and I stood there with my hand over my heart as tears swelled in my eyes and I watched my country's flag being lowered. I was filled with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude but also guilt as I have never had to fight in any war but yet am the recipient of so much that others have given and sacrificed. May we live each day, not just holidays, with this in mind and show it in our everyday actions towards each other.

Thank you for bringing this memory and feelings back to me.

Our dear Kristi,
What an incredibly touching post today.
The first picture of Thank You brought tears to my eyes.
My father,Thomas B. Grandin,made the first eye witness radio broadcast of the Normandy Invasion;the jeep he was driving was later blown up by a bomb and he hardly survived.
I regret that during his lifetime I was never really and truly aware of the heroism and sacrifice which he,and all of his fellow soldiers, made on our behalf so that we may live with the privileges of freedom that we do today.
THANK YOU for such a meaningful reminder.
Love
Natalia XO

My dad,Leo Fish was in the Navy in WWI and my husband was in the Air Force in Europe during WWll. Many memories of the stories they both told of their experiences. We thought we would never need to go to war again. Unfortunately a new generation came and the old men took us into more and more wars. It is so sad. Thank you Kristin for today's post. I,too, have been to the beaches and the memorials and cried for the lives lost. It is a puzzle why mankind can't fine a way to live without conflict. I have many ideas but no one will listen.

What a beautiful tribute. I plan to visit Normandy one day. My my half-brother's father was shot down over French soil.

Thank you , Kristin for this lovely remembrance.

I heard on pbs that a total of 70 million people died in ww2. Many brave many not but all gave their lives. WW2 probably changed our lives even today more than any other evenr in the 20th century. the largest invasion in history, d day left only 2 kind of people on the beaches, including Normandy...those already dead and those who would die if they did get off the beach...
When I was 21 a pre-induction physical related to being drafted. If I has passed it, I would have received a draft notice. As an immigrant but not a citizen, I would have the choice to leave within 40 days, losing my immigration status forever. Ironically, if I had passed the physical, perhaps today I would be living in France
By the way, when I was in school in England in the fifties, Both England, I know, and France had a draft. I am curious when did it stop? What were the politics involved?