Good goin' kid!

[ShadowsDad]

http://www.tpnn.com/2015/05/22/video-d- ... aha-beach/

Both from the heart and spontaneous by others. My kind of Memorial Day remembrance.

Enjoy your Memorial Day gents!

[Jbbmad2]

Brian thanks for sharing this. There is hope that there is some in the younger generation still gets it.

[CMur12]

Moving indeed! What an incredible young man.

Thanks, Brian.

- Murray

[Squire]

Yes Brian, thanks.

[brothers]

Thanks Brian.

[brothers]

In what way?

[ShadowsDad]

Sorry in advance for errors. I have no time to proofread this. I've already spent too much time on it. My apology.

My experiences in Europe tell me that it's very possible. Let me tell you a story.

There were 2 GIs in West Germany in 1971. They had no civilian clothes yet as they had just arrived in country, so that first weekend saw them going into Mainz to buy some. They were in their army fatigues. They got to the city and went to the tourist information booth near the Bahnhof (train station) and were told that most of the hotels were booked full for a convention or some such that was going on. But the kindly older lady suggested that they go to a small place called The Winehouse Lorenz. Then she proceeded to give them directions that led them through the old roman (they assumed) section of the town, through alleys and such. Then they spied the small sign telling them that they had found it. The sign wasn't promising it was just a simple tin affair looking something like a license plate, but smaller. But they entered since the information lady convinced them that it was a good place and that the university students went there. The proprietor met them and invited them in, got them their room as they were poor GIs and couldn't afford separate rooms. Then they were led down into the old wine cellar that was now a dining room. The room was long and possibly 30' wide with an arched ceiling. the whole thing looked something like a Quonset hut but made of stone. There was a piano in the room.

They ordered their meal and the proprietor seemed sort of strange, but not in a creepy way. Sort of excited. The place began to fill up and sure enough they were all basically our age. They had had a few glasses of wine and were felling absolutely no pain, and the place was jumping. Then the proprietor came over with a bottle of cognac and 3 glasses and asked if he could sit down to which they agreed. He filled the glasses and passed them to the GIs, then he proceeded to tell them a story. It began, " During the 2nd world war I was a boy and my father was in the resistance in France.". We owe you Americans a great deal for what you did for us and I have never been able to thank any American. You are the first I have seen to be able to thank.". With that he raised his glass and they made the first of many toasts that night. After a time he left and told them to finish off the bottle. But during all of that the students began to play the piano and the old mans excitement started to reveal itself. The night was full of songs like, When Johnny comes marching home, The national anthem, America the Beautiful, you get the idea. They had one heck of a great time and all because of a Frenchman who never forgot what better people than those GIs did for the French.

I was one of those 2 GIs and I have a very good memory of that night. The other person was Ferman Davis from Tennessee.

Then possibly 6 months later my platoon had won a trip to France (best in battalion) with the battalion bus as our transport. We went to Paris sleeping under the Eiffel tower, then on to the Normandy beaches and specifically to the Airborne Museum in St. Mere Eglise as we were all paratroopers. When the people of the Airborne Museum realized what we were I thought they were going to soil their undies. But we didn't stick around to see what was going to develop. Clearly the lady running the museum was getting all excited though. The people with me that time were all from 1st Platoon CoA 12th Engr battalion 8th Inf Div . I have no idea what the head count was, probably near 30 troopers. It was a great time despite our poverty, but we didn't need much. The people of France are very caring about what we did for them.

Yes, I can absolutely see that happening.

[ShadowsDad]

I just checked and golly, you did indeed mention the French guy with the trumpet. I quoted it above for you.

When I was 11 could you get me to stand at parade rest or a variation of it for that time period? No way. Maybe you were different Dale and could be coerced to do that. But I would have told them where to stick it. The French gent? That's what I was referring to.

It wasn't typical 11 year old behavior? Exactly the point! Excellent! You got it! He appreciated it! Even if others might not today. The French gent with the trumpet got it also.

[brothers]

When I watched it, I was aware of the possibilities behind the somber act, but the longer I watched, as the young man stood there bearing his flag, I also began to imagine the thousands of young men coming ashore among the chaos and death and courage that he must have been honoring. I wondered how such a young boy could understand. I decided he might have had more than one great-grandfather or other relatives who struggled on that beach 70 years earlier.

[drmoss_ca]

Hmmm. What would my father have said? He was always on point (after an extremely interesting war that kept him in hospital from 1944 to 1946) that the reason for it all (and this was his way of justifying both what he had done and seen), was that I wouldn't have to do it over again. You see, his father had been in the trenches in WW1, and when he had done his bit in WW2, he was terribly scared that his sons would be doomed to the same. I hope he took some comfort as he died that I was 41 at the time, and beyond the age of conscription.

Chris

[Squire]

Why we fight indeed. I remember my GrandFather's great irritation over me going to Vietnam. He had sent sons off to WW2 and Korea and figured family obligations had been met and he didn't owe the government a grandson for another conflict, especially one that didn't make any sense to him.

[CMur12]

The whole point of the story is that it is extraordinary to the point that it strains belief. If we can give the boy and his father the benefit of the doubt, one can't help but be moved.

Of course, it is extremely unusual for a child of eleven years to possess such an appreciation of events so remote from his own reality. Even so, children are unpredictable and there are times that a child will unexpectedly grasp something and really get it on a level seemingly beyond their years. Children excel at imagination and it is very possible that it really struck the boy, for the first time, as he stood on that beach and imagined the troops coming in. The credibility of the story is up to the judgment of each individual, but, barring any actual evidence to the contrary, I'll give the boy the benefit of the doubt.

Trollface, I can nevertheless appreciate your skepticism.

- Murray