They have thanked us year after year after year. Most of the people that
lived under the German rule have died. How long do you expect them to
be grateful, especially enough to pay for plane tickets. Telling them they
need to show how grateful they are is pretty bad.

(05-18-2014 08:00 PM)smn1256 Wrote:  France needs to thank our vets.

A buddy told me a story about taking his grandfather to Normandy a few years ago on the anniversary of the landing. Said it was a typical tourist visit until it was discovered his grandfather was part of the landing party.

From that point forward, they were rock stars. Said teenagers took their pictures with him, he was invited to speak to a couple of veterans groups and a school, and did not spend another dime on food or liquor.

(05-18-2014 08:43 PM)Smaug Wrote:  

(05-18-2014 08:00 PM)smn1256 Wrote:  France needs to thank our vets.

A buddy told me a story about taking his grandfather to Normandy a few years ago on the anniversary of the landing. Said it was a typical tourist visit until it was discovered his grandfather was part of the landing party.

From that point forward, they were rock stars. Said teenagers took their pictures with him, he was invited to speak to a couple of veterans groups and a school, and did not spend another dime on food or liquor.

THis is true.

It also happened to my sister's father-in-law, who was a POW after the Battle of the Bulge and was rationed to one potato a day to eat. The camp he was in was in Belgium.

His son, my sister, the FIL, and a few others went over to BE in 2005 or 2006 to visit the town nearest the former camp, tour the area, etc. WHen the locals found out the FIL had actually served and been a POW, everything was free - food, drink, hotel, transport. It blew my sister away that virtually the whole town - even young people born well after WWII - came up to thank him for his service. The last night there, some other veterans - both American and EU - were treated to a dinner at some fine restaurant, the mayor spoke, etc.

Maybe Belgium citizens appreciate the effort more.

I've never been a big fan of France for various reasons but there are many examples of their gratitude toward American WWII veterans. Check out this CBS story of one village in France that continues to honor an American pilot who died in the Normandy invasion and welcomes his widow annually. I could not copy the video directly to this post but it is worth watching for about 3 minutes.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/they-dont-fo...sacrifice/

Quote:LES VENTES, France - On this anniversary of D-day, we continue the story of one of the American soldiers who fought to liberate France from the Nazis, 1st Lt. Billie Harris. On Tuesday, the "CBS Evening News" reported on how it took Harris' widow six decades of battling bureaucracy to learn his fate.

But it turns out his death was just the beginning of an amazing tale.

It's now been 67 years since the liberation of France, but at Wednesday's D-Day ceremony in Normandy there was one woman who's still in mourning. In fact, until recently, Peggy Harris of Vernon, Texas, didn't even know her husband Billie was buried here. And certainly didn't know the story of what he means to Les Ventes, France.

Billie was a fighter pilot, shot down and killed in July of 1944 over Nazi-occupied northern France. But because of a series of snafus, miscues and miscommunications, that information never got to his wife. As far as she knew, Bill was just missing.

She waited, she said, "All of my life."

Peggy never remarried, never moved on, and might never have known the whole story if a relative hadn't looked into his military records a few years ago. The surprise wasn't so much that he died -- Peggy had come to assume that -- it was what happened after.

In the tiny Normandy town of Les Ventes, the main road is actually called Place Billie D. Harris. It's the same road townspeople have been marching down three times a year for the last 60 -- in part to commemorate his sacrifice.

To understand what Billie means to the these people, you need only hear the mayor read his name on the monument, her voice quivering. And by extension, that admiration now goes to his wife.

Since learning her husband crashed near here, Peggy has been making an annual pilgrimage. She visits the nearby woods where the plane went down -- escorted by 91-year-old Guy Surleau, the only witness still living.

He was able to maintain control of the plane, despite his condition, and avoid the village, Guy said.

A hero in death, at first they buried Billie in their local cemetery and covered his grave with flowers -- knee deep. Even after his body was moved to the American cemetery at Normandy, the town continued to take flowers to his grave, assuming he had no living relatives to do so.

"How can I not be grateful and hold these people very dear," Peggy said.

The people of Les Ventes say they just wish they could have done more.

If only I was able to help, Guy said.

You did, Peggy told him.

"I like to think that he was still conscious enough to know that a friend stood by him," Peggy said, sobbing, beside Guy in the forest. "And that this man is that friend."

Her gratitude is matched only by theirs.

In Les Ventes, the American sacrifice is still very much treasured and honored.

"We don't forget," the mayor said, and Peggy echoed her words.

"They don't forget."