I Am Interested In Ww1 and Ww2

Today is the 75th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofSF463vpCQ]

[i]Threescore and fifteen years ago,

On Iwo Jima's scoriac stones

Many a young man bled and died

For country, God or emperor.

Now looking at this desolate isle

Today, but little more remains

Than mostly unkempt monuments

And dreadful artifacts of war,

Rusting where they fell, so long ago.[/i]

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Freeranger · M

I used to attend the Marine Corps birthday celebrations with a fellow Marine, my former science teacher, who was a WWII/Korea Corsair pilot. He was still picking me up at a spry 90 years old, still "piloting" his car down the highway. That man was [i]not[/i] afraid to use the gas pedal....whew!
One year, we had the widow of one of the flag raisers, Rene Gagnon in attendance. I had a chance to meet her.

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@Freeranger

👍

Heartlander · 80-89, M

@Freeranger I well remember a Navy vet's description of what it was like to make a dive bomb attack on a Japanese war ship, flying through hundreds of tracers, bullets nicking his airplane, missing tracers by inches. He said it was accepting that you were likely going to die. And when you didn't die it was purely a miracle.

Freeranger · M

@Heartlander Yup, no where to go but onward to the target. The Colonel stated in conversation that, the corsair could absorb a surprising amount of damage. I would not know personally, but he knew those birds inside and out.....he kinda drove his car that way. Never a dull moment when I rode with him. We enjoyed swapping sea stories to the Ball and back.
I miss him......hell, I miss the attitude of his generation. They all came home, and having hung up their uniforms, rolled up their sleeves and went to work. Steady as a rock, and none of today's self-entitlement whiners among them.

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@Freeranger

Copland's 'Fanfare for the Common Man' could aptly be called the fanfare for the Greatest Generation.

[media=https://youtu.be/0KxMc_tyQBo]

Freeranger · M

@Thinkerbell Music is the balm for the soul......I would completely agree......from the Colonel to my granfather, killed by a Nazi Uboat in 1943, so many personal stories of sacrifice and courage. I pray the coming generations understand how much they have been given, as Americans.
Music.....this type of music is a balm for the soul of those who, are either military familes, or Gold Star families. I'm grateful for it.....as it stirs the soul.