May 8th 1945 Victory In Europe Is Declared!!

[Steely Dan]

Linkage

 

On this day in 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine.

 

The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark--the German surrender was realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany.

 

The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Soviet forces, to keep from being taken prisoner. About 1 million Germans attempted a mass exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended, but were stopped by the Russians and taken captive. The Russians took approximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before and after the German surrender.

 

Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British POWs were released and sent back to Great Britain.

 

Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation would continue into the next day. On May 9, the Soviets would lose 600 more soldiers in Silesia before the Germans finally surrendered. Consequently, V-E Day was not celebrated until the ninth in Moscow, with a radio broadcast salute from Stalin himself: "The age-long struggle of the Slav nations...has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated the Nazis. The war is over."

 

A friend of mine who fought in Vietnam went to see Saving Private Ryan and there were some young teenage kids in front of him laughing and joking about what a cool movie this was going to be before it began. When the movie was over they walked out ashen faced and very quiet. My friend was thinking; "Now you know what people went through to fight for your freedoms."

 

Another friend told me she finally understands why her grandfather wakes up in the middle of the night screaming.

 

If you haven't seen Saving Private Ryan you must see it. I'm not ashamed to say that the first 15 minutes of the film made me cry. The Normandy beach landing was TRULY HELL ON EARTH. I have no idea how those guys mustered the courage to do what they did.

[Wacka]

Linkage

 

On this day in 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine.

 

The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark--the German surrender was realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany.

 

The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Soviet forces, to keep from being taken prisoner. About 1 million Germans attempted a mass exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended, but were stopped by the Russians and taken captive. The Russians took approximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before and after the German surrender.

 

Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British POWs were released and sent back to Great Britain.

 

Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation would continue into the next day. On May 9, the Soviets would lose 600 more soldiers in Silesia before the Germans finally surrendered. Consequently, V-E Day was not celebrated until the ninth in Moscow, with a radio broadcast salute from Stalin himself: "The age-long struggle of the Slav nations...has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated the Nazis. The war is over."

 

A friend of mine who fought in Vietnam went to see Saving Private Ryan and there were some young teenage kids in front of him laughing and joking about what a cool movie this was going to be before it began. When the movie was over they walked out ashen faced and very quiet. My friend was thinking; "Now you know what people went through to fight for your freedoms."

 

Another friend told me she finally understands why her grandfather wakes up in the middle of the night screaming.

 

If you haven't seen Saving Private Ryan you must see it. I'm not ashamed to say that the first 15 minutes of the film made me cry. The Normandy beach landing was TRULY HELL ON EARTH. I have no idea how those guys mustered the courage to do what they did.

 

 

That was probably the most realistic battle scenes in any movie and people who were there said that it was no where near as bad as the real thing.

I saw Charles Durning on an NCIS episode recently playing a WWII veteran. I started reading up on him. He landed on D-Day and was wounded pretty bad a week later. He recovered quickly and was taken prisoner in the Battle of the Bulge. he was one of the POWs who survived the Malmadey Massacre although getting a chest wound. He received a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts.

 

Also, James Doohan (Scotty-Star Trek), a Canadian, landed on D-Day and was shot in the leg and lost a finger (which he his very well on TV).

[Steely Dan]

That was probably the most realistic battle scenes in any movie and people who were there said that it was no where near as bad as the real thing.

I saw Charles Durning on an NCIS episode recently playing a WWII veteran. I started reading up on him. He landed on D-Day and was wounded pretty bad a week later. He recovered quickly and was taken prisoner in the Battle of the Bulge. he was one of the POWs who survived the Malmadey Massacre although getting a chest wound. He received a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts.

 

Also, James Doohan (Scotty-Star Trek), a Canadian, landed on D-Day and was shot in the leg and lost a finger (which he his very well on TV).

 

You're right about it not being perfect but it was bad enough that movie theatres had do set up counselors to help the WWII vets who saw it. Spielberg did everything he could all the way down to the insignias on the various helmets.

 

I didn't know that about Durning or Doohan. I had a gym teacher who was on the beach at Normandy. I'm still amazed at how those guys could dig down so far into their courage that they were able to take that beach.

 

Some cool things were done by the Allies to convince the Germans we were landing elsewhere. They worked very well too!

[Steely Dan]

BTW, it's sad that this thread, as of now, has only had twenty hits.

[swede316]

My dad was in WW2...He drove landing craft in the Pacific. I can only imagine the horrors he saw. I used to ask him about the war as a kid but he wouldn't say much. I only understood why when I was much older. I will always be proud of him and the things he stood for. I am also proud of the work today's men and women are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here to them

[molson_golden2002]

My dad was in WW2...He drove landing craft in the Pacific. I can only imagine the horrors he saw. I used to ask him about the war as a kid but he wouldn't say much. I only understood why when I was much older. I will always be proud of him and the things he stood for. I am also proud of the work today's men and women are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here to them

My dad was in France when the Germans surrendered and would have been shipped to Japan had the war not ended. My uncle Adolph--lol, yes, that was confusing as a kid--was on the battleship New Jersey during the war. He died just five years ago. Neither of them talked about the war at all. My mother's family was from a small hillbilly town in Kentucky that had but one rail line in and out of town, no roads. So everyone knew everyone else. The train stopped one day in late 1945 or early '46 and this really skinny man got off and started walking thru town and no one recognized him. Then someone did. It was uncle Bob who had been captured at Bataan and had lived off of potato peels in a Japanese prison camp. My uncle Chester had been on the Red ball express and when he came home he was the only one in the family who knew how to drive, so he was the delivery man for the furniture store they opened in Hazard, Kentucky.

 

Saving Private Ryan was indeed a great war movie.

[Steely Dan]

My dad was in WW2...He drove landing craft in the Pacific. I can only imagine the horrors he saw. I used to ask him about the war as a kid but he wouldn't say much. I only understood why when I was much older. I will always be proud of him and the things he stood for. I am also proud of the work today's men and women are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here to them

 

I'm proud of anyone who puts their life on the line for this country. The men and women who sacrificed and fought and gave their lives for their country during WWII especially. As Marv Levy said; "WWII was a must win." Those men and women died for a entire planet rather than just their country.

 

I'm saddened by the loss of life in Iraq. Those men and women are dying because a stupid President wanted to start a stupid war.