Some ask why I fly the flag today...

[PALADIN85020]

They may walk by my house and wonder why the flag is flying there today. They'll check and remember that today is June 6. And they may wonder to themselves "What's so special about today?"

A few may ask me if they see me working in the yard or washing my car.

It's been a long time since June 6, 1944. Seventy-one years. I was just a 5-year old kid then, but I remember the adults anxiously listening to their radios and buying and reading the newspapers.

The greatest amphibious assault ever undertaken was launched on this day. American, British and Canadian forces, combined with exiled soldiers from occupied nations, stormed the beaches of German-occupied Normandy, France. It was called D-Day. Thousands of men lost their lives, and many more were grievously wounded. If you want to get an inkling of how it was, fire up your DVD player and re-view the first few minutes of "Saving Private Ryan." It was pure hell, and the outcome was in in doubt for a long time.

But we overcame the Germans who bastioned Fortress Europe, and it was the beginning of the end for Adolf Hitler and his Nazi government. From the beaches of Normandy, we took the battle to the German homeland, and ultimately prevailed, together with our (then) ally, the Soviet Union, who invaded from the East.

So, today I fly the flag. And I remember. God bless all who were there. God save the souls of the fallen and keep safe those who survived as honored members of the Greatest Generation. We may never see their like again.

You might want to pause a moment in homage to those brave men. We must never forget.

John

 

[Mule Packer]

Yep, I'm with you, John. My flag is flying today, too. God bless America.

 

[loknload]

My flag is flying today as well!

 

[Rustyt1953]

I also.......

 

[1morethan8]

Yet, last Wednesday came and went without much notice...
it was a Memorial Day in the states of Tennessee, Louisiana, and Kentucky.
It was a day to honor those who died fighting for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War...
all 260.000 Americans!

 

[DeathGrip]

My flag flies proudly every day.

 

[sophie]

My flag is flying today also and does so on most days. We have lots of wind around here so when we have high winds I take my flag down.

 

[DeadAye]

My flag flies proudly every day.

And mine (ours) at night too - It's well lit.
I do take it in during storms though - Put it right back out when the storm passes.

 

[mr-mom]

One flag on my lakeside deck flies daily. A special flag is flown on the roadside deck on notable days like this one.
Dave
SWCA #2778

 

[pmosley]

 

[16thVACav]

My flag is flying today - had it up before breakfast.

 

[Watchdog]

So, today I fly the flag. And I remember. God bless all who were there. God save the souls of the fallen and keep safe those who survived as honored members of the Greatest Generation. We may never see their like again.

You might want to pause a moment in homage to those brave men. We must never forget.

John

Well said.

I have an old childhood friend, Ron Alley. His father, Tom, was in Fox Company and dropped into France along with Easy Company (Band of Brothers). If you go here, you can read a bit about Mr. Alley, and see a short video in which he described the jump.

When Tom Alley joined the army, he was a licensed pilot, so he signed up with the Army Air Corps. It was a twist of fate that turned him into a Screaming Eagle paratrooper. He had bought a new car, and the payment was coming due. He found out you got an extra $50 a month in the airborne...so that settled it for him!

He ended up parachuting into France on D-Day. He fought at Carentan and described what it was like when he killed his first German soldier. He parachuted into Holland, fought across Europe, including Bastogne, the Battle of the Bulge.

SSgt. Alley and Fox Company, along with Easy Company, helped capture Hitler's mountain resort, the Berghof, near Berchtesgaden.

Mr. Alley also "liberated" a beautiful presentation grade rifle from the Berghof. I've seen and held this rifle, although I can't remember the caliber or the manufacturer. Inlaid into the beatiful stock is a finely crafted and detailed Nazi eagle and swastika, along with the initials "A. H." I'll leave it up to you to think whose initials those are. I can't remember if the inscription mentions who the rifle was from...it's been five years since I've seen it.

My friend Ron actually contacted the rifle's manufacturer in Germany. They are still in business, but no longer make firearms. Ron was looking for more details about the rifle. The people he spoke with flatly refused to discuss anything relating to WWII Germany, and any role their firm may have played in arming the Nazis. If I remember right, they sent Ron a letter reiterating that.

Mr. Alley ended the war with a Purple Heart and Bronze Star, along with several battle ribbons. In 2011, by a decree from French President Sarkozy, he was made a Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor.

I think it was in 2011 that he and his son Ron and Ron's wife Donna (another childhood friend) returned to Normandy and revisited some of his old battlefields.

He was interviewed several times by Stephen Ambrose, author of Band of Brothers.

These men like Tom Alley were real, and they were real men...not actors in a movie, not fictional characters in novels. Someone said it best by saying they were ordinary men who did extraordinary things.

Things might be a lot different today if men like Tom Alley hadn't stood up for what's right.

I've seen quite a few photos of Mr. Alley, but this is the only one I can come up with right now. It isn't that great a photo, but it's him. In his youth, he looked like a movie star, his eyes were the color of blue ice.

I've told this little story as best I can, and to the best of my recollection, because I think men like him and their deeds should be remembered. What I've written here certainly doesn't come close to describing what Mr. Alley experienced on D-Day and in the ensuing actions.

Tom Alley passed away on January 18, 2012, at the age of 89. His medals, patches, and other memorabilia were displayed at his service. He was buried with full military honors.

 

[the ringo kid]

I havent yet replaced my flag that was pinched from me last year but--will be doing so for July fourth. Its difficult around here to find an AMERICAN made American flag.I AINT--buying chinese.I wish I still had my Reb Battle flag--that one was American made.

 

[wilkoi]

Every day and night, well lit with solar powered circle light on top of pole.

 

[jdlii]

"Old Glory" is being graced by the wind in my Tennesse yard today, June 6, 2015 in memory of the longest day.

 

[7shooter]

My Dad was at Normandy and my flag is flying today.

I shot in a USPSA match today where each of the five stages were named after the five beaches at Normandy. I thanked the club president for doing that.

There was nothing in our local paper about why this day is significant.

 

[Muss Muggins]

When you fly the flag every day, you don't get so many questions. Just the half staff stuff . . .

 

[shouldazagged]

John, I'm very glad my dad, who died at ninety in 2000, never saw the first few minutes of "Saving Private Ryan". As a terribly shortsighted thirty-three-year-old war correspondent he hit Omaha Beach with one of the first units ashore in the first wave on 6 June. He never discussed it, except an occasional very brief and understated sentence at intervals of years.

He had a distinguished career as a journalist--he was one of only forty newsmen in the world to witness both the Able and Baker atom bomb tests at Bikini in 1946, toured displaced persons (DP) camps in Europe in 1947 and '48, etc., etc.--then retired and entered the Methodist ministry, from which he retired three times. But in his last years. when asked what his profession had been, his back would straighten as he proudly answered, "War correspondent."

The anniversary of D-Day is always very special to me, though I was not quite two years older than you were at the time.

 

[oldtimer63]

My flag flies every day.

Looked for The Longest Day on tv. Could not find it. Went to the cabinet and pulled out the VHS tape and watched it tonight. I try to watch it every June 6.

 

[Bat Guano]

Daily flag here, too. I sure like to see it fly in the wind here...

Got hornswoggled into going to a monster truck show with the grandson today. Among other things the announced requested that all veterans stand up and be recognized.

There weren't all that many, considering it was a pretty large crowd...