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Editor [∞]
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TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 7:00 AM
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Head Coach [788]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 7:16 AM
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Wow David, that was really powerful. Thank you. We are very blessed to live this life, a life given us by others who didn't get to live it. The very least we can do is to be grateful to them.
Go Tigers
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CU Guru [1632]
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Our Brothers. Our Family. Our Heroes.
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May 27, 2024, 7:22 AM
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May we never take for granted their dedication, resolve, and sacrifice to the ideals of our great nation. They will not be forgotten.
May they Rest in Peace. Amen.
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CU Medallion [63723]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 7:30 AM
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An uncle I never got to meet was one of those men lost on D-Day and has a cross among the brave.
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110%er [5351]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 7:37 AM
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Good stuff David. I wonder where the next batch will come from? My 2 boys are too old to fight now but yours are not. I fear and pray for all their futures.
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Orange Blooded [2962]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 7:38 AM
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Well said! Thank you, David. And thanx to the fallen … in battle, hospitals after the battle and as POWs! Memorial Day is to honor/remember The War Dead and we do.
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 8:03 AM
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I thank all the soldiers who have fallen for the purpose of giving us all the chance to live in the greatest country in history!!!
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 8:09 AM
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David - you brought tears to me eyes with this beautiful story. God bless you and thank you.
David
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 8:10 AM
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I have had the privilege of visiting Normandy several times, along with the cemetery there, plus several others. One visit was when I was on a Band of Brothers tour. I had seen pictures of the cliffs at Normandy and reenactments of D-Day, like in Saving Private Ryan, but until you see them in person, you cannot fully appreciate what our fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and others did for us to save our democracy. Today I wonder what they would say about the current state of our nation. Is it what they gave their lives for? The bravery of this nation, its men and women, who sacrificed so much in WWII, is being lost on many of our youth, according to some reports. In is incumbent on us to never forget the gifts given to us by all of our soldiers, from the Revolutionary War to the present, but I will always remember most those who were part of The Great Generation, which included my parents. Especially my father, who survived WWII. I pray that their courage and sacrifices will not be forgotten and that, regardless of our differences of opinions, we will never lose sight of what it means to live in a democracy. With all of its flaws, it’s what this nation’s soldiers have fought to preserve for hundreds of years. Let’s not lose it to our enemies or by our own actions. My God Bless America.
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Asst Coach [718]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 8:11 AM
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I have had the privilege of visiting Normandy several times, along with the cemetery there, plus several others. One visit was when I was on a Band of Brothers tour. I had seen pictures of the cliffs at Normandy and reenactments of D-Day, like in Saving Private Ryan, but until you see them in person, you cannot fully appreciate what our fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and others did for us to save our democracy. Today I wonder what they would say about the current state of our nation. Is it what they gave their lives for? The bravery of this nation, its men and women, who sacrificed so much in WWII, is being lost on many of our youth, according to some reports. In is incumbent on us to never forget the gifts given to us by all of our soldiers, from the Revolutionary War to the present, but I will always remember most those who were part of The Great Generation, which included my parents. Especially my father, who survived WWII. I pray that their courage and sacrifices will not be forgotten and that, regardless of our differences of opinions, we will never lose sight of what it means to live in a democracy. With all of its flaws, it’s what this nation’s soldiers have fought to preserve for hundreds of years. Let’s not lose it to our enemies or by our own actions. My God Bless America.
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 8:38 AM
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Thank you for this beautifully written piece. I have been to Normandy and the cemetery. I hope you make it there one day. Also check out the National World War II museum in New Orleans.
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 9:14 AM
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An uncle, my mother's brother, was one of those men. He was a machine gunner and wounded in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. By the rules, a soldier was supposed to go home after two different wounds, but he kept refusing to leave.
He wrote to my mother that most his fellow soldiers were married with families, and he was still single. He said that if he left, his replacement would likely be a family man, and it was better for him to stay.
He recovered from his Italy wound in England and went across the channel on June 11. He was killed at St. Lo, France on July 12, 1944, a few days before his 24th birthday.
He was buried in one of the French cemeteries, and his body was returned to South Carolina for permanent burial in 1948. I have a photo taken about 1945 of his and my mother's younger brother at his French grave.
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110%er [8591]
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You sure know how to bring the confetti. Great story.
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May 27, 2024, 8:48 AM
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God bless America.
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Orange Blooded [3501]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 9:11 AM
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What was done in WWII by young men from many countries is amazing. When you consider most were very young and barely out of school is a sobering though to a grandfather like me with grandkids that age. It was an amazing time with amazing things being done by very young people. We owe them such a debt of gratitude.
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Orange Blooded [2045]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 9:25 AM
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Tremendous writing David. May we never forget these those who lost their lives defending our freedom. God bless America 🇺🇸
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Orange Blooded [4688]
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Powerful article. Great writing***
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May 27, 2024, 9:34 AM
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Orange Blooded [2486]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 9:40 AM
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Thank you David. Such a wonderful tribute. We will never forget.
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All-In [33871]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 9:47 AM
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Thank you for this beautiful story. God bless the USA 🇺🇸
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110%er [6808]
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Veterans History Project, Library of Congress
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May 27, 2024, 9:49 AM
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I interviewed 32 for that wonderful project but only abour 10 were WW2 Veterans. Also, on ym YouTube channel WISDOM OF WW2 Veterans by RON ALEXANDER
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Oculus Spirit [94121]
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S A L U T E !
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May 27, 2024, 10:18 AM
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Thank YOU For Your Ultimate SACRIFICE For America..And REST In PEACE~
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Re: Veterans History Project, Library of Congress - If you Watch the videos
May 27, 2024, 5:49 PM
[ in reply to Veterans History Project, Library of Congress ] |
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remember they are in their 90s, with some in the VA Hospital at the Hospice in Charleston. So they are hard to understand, and I had to interpret for most of them. A couple thought they were to never tell their stories. However reminded it was a 50 year agreement and that it was over in 1995. All agreed it was theraputic to get it out to die more peacefully some of the families did not even know, and they wee relieved. I wish my Father was still alive for these interviews and it was easy to see he was bothered by his combat Service as a Platoon Sgt. as a Marine in Okinawa, one of the worst wars in WW2.
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 10:43 AM
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David, I had the privilege of visiting Normandy last year on a 7-day "Beaches of Normandy" tour. I highly recommend it.
The chronicles of the invasion seem to concentrate on the Omaha landing and the cliffs at Pointe-du-Hoc. That's also one of the favorite parts of a visit to Normandy, but the overwhelming sense of awe for me was the narrow geographical scope of the beachfront from Sword Beach to the North (where I spent 5 nights) to Utah Beach to the South.
The guide books and maps list it as 69 miles point-to-point, but that's the mileage covered by vehicle and you have to drive inland to get to the highway and then from the highway back to the beach, so the distance on the beach is more like 30 miles. When you stand at the beach and realize how much equipment and how many men poured onto that narrow stretch of beach, you can almost see the flotilla logjam in front of you. At Sword beach there are no cliffs and the elevation is like being at Myrtle Beach with no sand dunes.
You also realize that given our successful disinformation had the Germans confused and without their main force at our landing spot...... and a batallion of German tanks poised to go to either the advertised attack point or south to Normandy held back from crossing the river because they needed Hitler's orders to move and he had left orders not to wake him - and was asleep when the attack started.
Just before that tank battalion was ready to cross the river to Normandy, a squadron of towed-gliders landed on the south bank of the river and the Allies blew the bridge. That in itself was a minor miracle because the overcast condition cleared moments before they were going to abort due to no visibility. Where they landed was an incredibly narrow river bank which if they overshot the landing, they would crash into the bridge. This was at night in a situation where there were no go-arounds or second chances. I stood on that riverbank astounded at what they were able to do that night.
The craters from bombs and naval gunfire are still very evident around the German gun mounts and pillboxes - depressions about 20' across and 10' deep - not as deep as when they were originally made as time has allowed weather to fill in some of the depth. You can tell the difference between air-dropped bomb craters and naval ordinance craters - the air-dropped ones are round and shaped like a bowl, but the naval ordinance comes in at an angle and makes a teaar-drop shaped impression - deeper at one end. Thousands of pounds of ordinance is still recovered each year from those beaches and many areas around the German bunkers are roped off due to potential explosions if ordinance is uncovered.
The overall impression I got with respect to tactics and execution was the incredible logistical planning, production capability, sense of purpose and nearly flawless execution and bravery that allowed that landing to be successful. We caught the Germans nearly flat-footed, out-of-position and over-manned. Their main force was many miles away, their 5 big guns which had been removed for rebuilding of new bunker implacements had not been remounted because it took 1 year for fresh concrete in those bunkers to cure sufficiently to allow mounting and it was less than 1 year from the construction pour. We took a lot of casualties from what advantages the Germans did have from their defensive positions, but in reality they never had a chance against the magnitude of what we put on those beaches.
It's very hard to imagine what happened without seeing the area in person. A lot of things happened that provided us with very good luck, but in the end it was the resolve of our nation that paved the way for success.
I wonder and worry if we could ever accomplish something so unbelievable again.
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CU Guru [1010]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
May 27, 2024, 12:39 PM
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Thank you for that short history of Normandy. It remains one of the most amazing landings in military history.
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 11:01 AM
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Thank you for that great story. Years ago I visited the memorial and cemetery where thousands of brave men on both sides lost their lives at the Battle of the Bulge and the feeling we got was overwhelming. War is truly ####, always has been, always will be. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes and because we celebrate Memorial Day, we owe all of those heroes our gratitude. Thank you to those living and to the memory of the hundreds of thousands that made the ultimate sacrifice.
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Lbb is a draft dodger
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May 27, 2024, 11:07 AM
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Never forget.
lightbulbbill®
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110%er [6808]
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Re: Lbb is a draft dodger
May 27, 2024, 5:52 PM
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I wish I had gotten my Dear Brother Barry out of VietNam even if it meant going to Canada.
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 12:02 PM
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David, one of your best articles ever! Thank you for what you do. We idolize our athletes and I am among that crowd. From childhood I grew up with memories of my Dad and his four brothers who served in the WWII period. Three were in the Army, one in the Navy, and one in the Air Force. One was a Clemson graduate with extensive combat in Germany and the one in the Navy had extensive combat experience on Okinawa and the Pacific theatre. On my Mother's side of the family, her uncle had extensive combat as a master sergeant in WWI and another family member was killed in Europe in WWII. Also one of my Dad's sisters had a son who is still listed as MIA and presumed dead from the Korean war. I grew up proud of my family's military service and always wanted to be part of that family tradition. I graduated Clemson in 1964 and was commissioned as a lieutenant and entered the Army 8 days after graduation. I was among the early troops deployed from Ft.Bragg to Vietnam in 1965. I did a lot of dumb things in Nam that could have got me killed but was fortunate and saw very little actual combat as an ammunition officer. Many great memories,some dangerous trips through VC controlled areas on the rivers between the Mekong Delta and Saigon, some very dangerous convoying of combat troops in enemy controlled areas, but God blessed me and apparently had other things planned for me. I experienced nothing approaching what Clover and many others experienced. To my knowledge the closest a bullet ever came to me was a couple of feet away. After two years in the military, I served as a civilian engineer in the space program throughout the Apollo and lunar landing programs and did early Space Shuttle and Skylab preliminary design before transitioning to defense programs in 1972. Much of the space efforts and technology directly benefitted military efforts. I was privileged to serve in important defense assignments in development of defense systems and directly supported our troops in Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom. I also directly supported our NATO allies and other allies in the Middle East and Pacific. I spent much time in the Pentagon supporting U.S. defense efforts. I was fortunate to be continually associated with military and defense efforts from 1972 through my retirement in 2014. I will always be grateful for my fellow soldiers, family members, friends, and all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. They are the heroes that we commemorate today. My prayers are with their families. Their legacy will endure.
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 12:30 PM
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David- you are a gifted writer and we thank you for such a beautiful tribute to the fallen. The only way we can possibly repay them is to make sure that the ideals of this country, the ideals they gave their lives for, continue to live on. If we and the generations to come can accomplish this then the fallen will not have died in vain.
General Patton said, “It’s wrong and foolish to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.” God bless the USA and her fallen heroes.
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CU Guru [1010]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
May 27, 2024, 12:34 PM
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Nice article and appropriate for Memorial Day. One of the things I love about Clemson is that we are proud of our military and agricultural history.
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1st Rounder [623]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
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May 27, 2024, 1:20 PM
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Thanks David. You have reminded me I am a graduate of a university where you can find such men.
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CU Guru [1010]
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
May 27, 2024, 7:10 PM
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###* sure not in the portal!
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
May 27, 2024, 9:40 PM
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David, As a Class of 78 grad and a commissioned Army ROTC officer, I applaud your redirect on Memorial Day. I too have stood at the South Carolina Confederate Monument at Gettysburg wondering, with tears, what could make theses ordinary men do extraordinary things. We need to look no further than our own Col. Beverly Skardon and his Clemson alumni fellow POWs that saved his life but lost theirs in WW II. I was very fortunate to have him as a proffessor while I was finishing my degree. Normandy is on my bucket list too - my dad was a WWII vet - and I'd love to make that trip with someone who understands what those white crosses really mean. Again, my thanks for your blog story today!
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
May 28, 2024, 10:22 AM
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Incredible article David! You truly have a gift with words!! I have toured the Gettysburg Battlefields, Cowpens, Manassas, Fort McHenry, the Cemetery at Normandy and surrounding Beaches. There is an erie feeling as you walk across the fresh grassy fields that were once the platform for the greatest stands for freedom known to man. What courage, bravery and commitment it must have taken to continue forward while watching many of your brothers in this eternal pursuit fall by the wayside in a bloody heap. The Cemetary at Normandy is Special. It is truly a place of honor! If your heart doesn't soften and your eyes well up at the sight of the thousands of bleached white headstones I would wonder if you have a heart at all.
We have a daughter that lives in Metz, France and now has dual citizenship. As a result of her 14 years in France we have visited numerous historical battlegrounds. Recently we visited the largest U.S. Military Cemetery in France. I had assumed that the Normandy Cemetary was the largest. This monument is the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial. There lies the graves of 10,487 American Military soldiers and listed on marble walls adjacent is 444 names of soldiers Missing In Action. There are 30 sets of brothers who are buried side by side. The sight is immaculate. The memorial itself is breathtaking, but the grounds were manicured to an extreme degree of detail. The day we visited there were 5 John Deere mowers buzzing throughout the headstones and the hedges were trimmed in perfectly squared shapes gently sloping toward the graves.
A couple of situations happened while we were in Metz that made me proud to be an American: 1) While visiting the Musee de la Moselle 1939 - 1945, the tour presenters were extremely complimentary of the American soldiers who liberated the area and especially the antics of General Patton. Afterward they discovered that my wife and I were Americans. They took our picture and posted it on their website. 2) A neighbor 2 doors down from our daughter saw me helping trim the hedges one day and walked down and struck up a conversation with our son-in-law. As he was leaving I asked what he had said. He told him that his Dad had been held in Dacau Concentration Camp and the Americans had liberated him among the others. He said he was eternally grateful for what the Amercans had done. He realized I was American and wanted to shake my hande before he left.
The 3rd Army liberated Metz, Saarsburg, St. Avold and the surrounding areas. Patton moved so swiftly across France that he outran his supplies in Metz, giving the Germans time to reinforce while they were waiting. Patton set up headquarters in Luxembourg and used it as a springboard as he headed to Bastogne for the "Battle of the Bulge".
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Re: TNET: Clemson and Memorial Day: Where do we find such men?
May 28, 2024, 10:45 AM
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Great read David!! I hope you were able to see the National Memorial day concert from Washington on ETV Sunday night. That is a tradition now for our family to watch it. The stories told of our brave men and women will bring you to tears. Let us never forget their ultimate sacrifice!! Thx so much David!!
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