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The Longest Day

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crazymac:

--- Quote from: littlepow on June 07, 2009, 22:12:03 ---After chatting to a Vet from the Omaha beach landing - he said that the intro to Saving Private Ryan was the most realistic anyone has come to getting near to the actual landing itself. (be it slightlty edited for Hollywood history and film perposes!)

--- End quote ---

Strangely enough, I had recorded Saving Private Ryan during the week having never seen it before nor knew what it was about. I sat down to watch it saturday afternoon, and was surprised to find the opening scenes were of that day 65 years previously!! It was a moving film for me as a result, albeit a Hollywood version, and I was humbled by the opening scenes.

The film finished at 5pm and I turned it off then went straight into the memorial service coverage on BBC1. A moving day all in.

Lord Shagg-Pyle:
If you have never been to the Beaches or any of the battlefields in Europe, I would strongly recommend it. I've been to the Somme, Ypres and Normandy.
I went with this chap; http://www.memorial-tours.org.uk/
If you have relatives who served in the campaigns, he can find out all the history you would need to know.
He was able to work out to within a 1/4 mile where my grandfather was injured on the Ypres Salient in 1918. It left me a bit choked up.
I was amazed when watching the Commemorations at Arromanche on the box at the weekend, and seeing all the Vets still showing the mettle they had all those years ago, especially when Gordon Brown stood up and they boo'ed him! :D
Top Blokes, every single one!

littlepow:
I spent a week with some of the Vets from Stalag Luft 3 (Great Escape), there attitude to going off to fly bombers and fighters over enemy territory was very interesting. But the games they played with the German guards (when concentration camp / firing squad was the punishment) was very eye opening.

It is amazing what these guys went through, what they did to survive and how they dealt with the loss of freinds and there crews.
They could walk around thhe ruins of the camp, tell you what building was what, where they lived and where the tunnels they dug were (even the ones that were never found or used!).

Would highly recommend talking to the vets from the wars - it will make history much more interesting and real. Rather than the classroom taught way. That and most still like a tipple or too!

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