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Norman D. Landing


bilko1
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General Apathy

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Copied from a post elsewhere on the forum replying to forum member Lt. Sanchez who wanted to know about visiting Normandy summer 2008

 

Hi Lt. Sanchez, I hope that you have a good trip to Europe and Normandy in particular if that's where your heading. Regarding your enquiry about is it legal and is it safe to metal detect in Normandy, here are two photographs of items that appeared on the shore this week after the winter tides ( Jan 08 ) .

 

The one shot shows three items, the two items at the rear are totally encrusted with sands, this is what happens with metal in the sea over the years. The item at the front shows what is inside the encrusted sand, they happen to be smoke shell canisters from an artillery shell. Sadly they could be something more dangerous, it is hard to say when you see these sand lumps. The second photo shows what they would have looked like 60 years ago.

 

Take care and enjoy it, but return home safe. There was a well known Belgium collector a couple of years back trying to disarm a shell in his garage, he and his garage are no more.

 

Forum correspondent Normandy France Feb 08, Cheers ( Lewis )

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General Apathy

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Hi Everyone, Nothing really exciting, but I found this little item amusing, a few days back I had to go to a lumber yard to purchase lengths of oak planking. In the office of the lumber yard was the poster you see attached which caught my eye due to the U.S. Jeep featured on it.

 

I made enquiries about the poster and it appears that they had supplied oak timber to the artist that had built a 1:1 scale model of a WWII Jeep being shown at a fairly local chateau. I will try sometime to get to the chateau and take more detailed photos if allowed to do so.

 

I expect that there will more things to report on as the summer gets closer, and all the ceremonies and commemorations start to happen. That's all for now.

 

Forum Normandy Correspondent, 24 Feb 08. Cheers ( Lewis ) thumbsup.gif

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General Apathy

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Hi each and all, this report from Normandy features on the final resting place of American 82nd Airborne

veteran Lt. Kelso C. Horne, who became the subject of one of the most famous front covers of ' LIFE'

magazine for August 14 1944.

 

Lt. Horne survived the war and returned to America at the wars end. After his death on November

25th 2000, his ashes were returned to France and interred under the monument commemorating

the battle of hill 95 above the town of La Haye-du-Puits which took place over the days of 4-6 July 1944.

Further information on the actual battle may possibly be found on other websites covering battle reports.

 

If you should wish to visit this site during a trip to Normandy then it is just off the intersection of the

route D900 and the D136, the D900 enters La Haye-du-Puit on the northern side from the direction of

Valognes / Cherbourg and if entering from this direction then the D136 would be off to the left before

the town. Otherwise exit the town on the D900 and take a right turn onto the D136. On current French

maps hill 95 has been re-classified as hill 93.

 

My apologies I wanted to add photos that I had taken at the memorial site, but my camera card reader

has malfunctioned at the moment and I am not computer savvy enough to correct it.

 

So that's all for this forum report Normandy France 12 April 2008, Cheers ( Lewis )

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General Apathy

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Hi Fellow Forum Members, attached here are a couple of additional photos to go with the previous report on deceased 82nd Airborne veteran Kelso C. Horne. In my previous report I had a minor blip with the camera card reader, which I have now fixed. Shown in one of the photos is the bronze plaque commemorating the battle at this site and mentioning Kelso C. Horne, and the second shot shows the two granite blocks of the memorial, with a bronze cast M-1 helmet attached to the left one and the plaque with Kelso Horne to the top of the right one. Seen in the one photo to the rear of the memorial is the actual hill, this does not appear very high or steep in the photo, but it is significant in terms of the surrounding ground it covers for great distances.

 

Today I visited the large American cemetery at Coleville-sur-Mer and saw a couple of hundred members of a French organisation which lays flowers at the crosses of the fallen American soldiers. This was a very dignified and moving scene to stand and watch and I will probably take steps to join this organisation for any future flower laying occasions. thumbsup.gif

 

Forum report from Normandy for 20 April 2008. Cheers ( Lewis )

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General Apathy

 

 

Hello Fellow Forum Members, This is a little piece of history a little closer to home for me, in fact it is my home. w00t.gif

 

I exchanged contracts for my Normandy property in August 2007, and since moving in I have spent most of my time sorting out the rooms the decoration and the furniture. However here is a little something that came to light during my work around the property.

 

Shown in the attached photograph in the top right corner there is the head of a .50 Cal machine-gun round embedded in the brickwork above an internal door on the top floor of my house. It has actually flaked off a little of the brickwork surface around the head, also there are some other smaller pieces of shrapnel around the door area, but nothing as large as or identifiable as the head.

 

My village was used as a German stronghold, and the small house on the other side of my lane was a machine-gun

pit, when the owner extended his property a number of years ago cans of German belted ammunition were found in the ground. think.gif

 

Forum Correspondent Normandy, France, April 21 2008, Cheers ( Lewis ) thumbsup.gif

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General Apathy

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Apologies this is the photograph missing from my previous report regarding the head of a .50 Cal round found embedded in the stonework of my house, Reference #Post 30 above this one.

 

Cheers ( Lewis )

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General Apathy

Hi Erwin, thanks for the contact I was beginning to wonder if any of this stuff I was writing was of any interest

to anyone.

 

Yes there are houses for sale and barns and sheds and ruins and fields, but there's a shortage of women, Hee Hee

 

Cheers ( Lewis )

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Johan Willaert
, but there's a shortage of women, Hee Hee

 

Ken,

 

I'll bring you mine next June and will trade here for that 29th Musette Bag.... ermm.gif

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I bet there are many here who find your posts interesting.

I know I do.

 

Shortage of women, huh? think.gif

Hmmm, don't know if I take my girlfriend with me when I go tour Normandy again.

Don't want her to get jumped by a horny Frenchman. :dry:

 

Do you know what German unit was in your area?

 

Erwin

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Please forgive me for not repying right away. Enjoyed every word of your posting. As far as I'm concerned you could write a daily article and post it here. Not just about your new neighborhood but about your collection or whatever stories you have about the wars ,veterans ETC. Or even write a new book with color photos and updated info. I'm hoping my son gets stationed in Germany again so I can take a long vacation there and visit Normandy, Bastone, Market Garden Etc. Keep up the posts

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General Apathy

Hi Johan,

 

Thinking about your offer of your wife in exchange for my named 29th veterans musette, sorry women don't last for ever, but musettes do, HeeHee think.gif

 

Hi Erwin,

 

Thanks for saying that you read my posts, appreciate that, sorry have not yet discovered which German

unit was in my village, but will try soon. ;)

 

Hi LtRGFRANK,

 

Thanks for your post on my reports and your suggestions, I do enjoy adding the posts as it encourages me to find out more about the area I am living in. I will continue to add posts as often as I can. Best wishes to yourself and I hope your son gets to Germany. At the time of writing my book it was terriffically expensive to feature color pages, hence the reason it was mainly mono-color. Also the method of publishing and printing was the end of the old way of doing things by cutting and pasting, and words and photographs being printed separately, then computers changed the costs and the way things were done, and books could be complete color. thumbsup.gif

 

Regards to you all. ( Lewis )

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Ken, I mean General,

 

Great reading and I also enjoy your posts. Obviously not living there as you now do but visiting many times (30 or so) I HIGHLY recommend a little club/discoteque in Montebourg on a Saturday Night (or it could be Sunday). They are only open one of the two nights each week. Point being you won't be disappointed and if so, there are bunkers and the beach right there!

 

Currahee!

 

Jake Powers

 

Hi Johan,

 

Thinking about your offer of your wife in exchange for my named 29th veterans musette, sorry women don't last for ever, but musettes do, HeeHee think.gif

 

Hi Erwin,

 

Thanks for saying that you read my posts, appreciate that, sorry have not yet discovered which German

unit was in my village, but will try soon. ;)

 

Hi LtRGFRANK,

 

Thanks for your post on my reports and your suggestions, I do enjoy adding the posts as it encourages me to find out more about the area I am living in. I will continue to add posts as often as I can. Best wishes to yourself and I hope your son gets to Germany. At the time of writing my book it was terriffically expensive to feature color pages, hence the reason it was mainly mono-color. Also the method of publishing and printing was the end of the old way of doing things by cutting and pasting, and words and photographs being printed separately, then computers changed the costs and the way things were done, and books could be complete color. thumbsup.gif

 

Regards to you all. ( Lewis )

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No problem, your posts are interesting.

So keep 'em coming.

 

Seems to be my "thing" these days ..... hey a village .... let's find out which US and German troops were stationed there. :lol:

 

Maybe I will leave the "firm" and go open a B&B in Normandy together with my girlfriend/fiancée. B)

 

Erwin

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General...I have been enjoying your posts - always fun to explore, especially when surrounded by such history. Please continue...

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General Apathy

Hi Party Animal, sorry I meant Jake, your suggestion of opening a nite club here. I figure I am a little too long in the tooth to be in night clubs, but I haven't give up on the women yet, I am still chasing them. I was impressed when I met John Finn ( MOH winner Dec 1941 ) at eighty he was still flattering women with words and looks. thanks again Jake for your comments.

 

Hi Erwin, Will you be visiting Normandy again this June.

 

Hi Disney Dave, Thanks for your post, I will be continuing with my ramblings, I leave the in-depth stuff to other authors and books.

 

From Norman D. Landing ( aka General Apathy )

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Not this year, Sir.

I hope maybe next year as I'd love to show my girlfriend/fiancée the area where history was written.

She said she likes it, so time to prove it. ;)

 

I plan to attend the Memorial Day Service at Henri-Chapelle on May 24.

Received my invitation yesterday.

 

Erwin

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General Apathy

Hi Erwin, sorry to hear that you will not make Normandy this year, hope you manage to get to next years.

 

Please check out my next post below, I have a 4th Armored veterans signature in my collection that won the Medal of Honor in Belgium, James R. Hendrix won his award at Assenois, Belgium, 26th December 1944.

 

Cheers ( Lewis )

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General Apathy

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Hi All Forum Members, today I am pleased to be able to show you an item from my collection.

 

In 1989 I was invited to attend the 1989 Medal of Honor meeting in Albuquerque NM., by my friend

Ernest Childers MOH. It was a great pleasure to be able to stay in the same hotel as the Medal of

Honor veterans, who had taken over all the rooms in the hotel. To attend the actual evening meeting

and also sit with various veterans for breakfast, drink at the bar, or open meetings in selected rooms

was fantastic. Also during the daytime I was a guest on the viewing platform for four hours as seemingly

endless procession paraded past, notably a small group of Navajo code talkers, prisoner of war groups,

vehicles, horse soldiers and honor guards.

 

I well remember the swelling in my throat as the pageant of the evening unfolded, with a parade of flags

and drum roll from active members of the U.S. Forces. There is far too much to write about here without

filling pages of memories.

 

Ernest Childers had presented me with a copy of ' America's Medal of Honor, Recipients ' published by

Highland Publishers, Golden Valley, Minnesota. At the end of all the march pasts, the meal and the

speeches I was able to wander around and gather veterans signatures named inside my MOH book.

I managed to gather seventy signatures without being to rushed as I wished to spend a few moments

with each veteran. Attached below is the list of signatures I assembled within my book.

 

I hope you enjoy the list and possibly find signatories from units that you have interest in.

 

Regards ( Lewis ) Reports from Normandy Correspondent April 27 2008

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General Apathy

Hi Forum Members, the list of seventy Medal of Honor winners from my post above.

 

( Apologies that it did not copy across very neatly from my master copy )

 

 

Medal of Honor Winners 1989, Albuquerque, NM.

 

Name / Page / Unit / Fought.

 

 

Anderson, Webster 19 101st Airborne Viet-Nam

Ballard, Donald E. 23 3rd USMC Viet-Nam

Barnum, Harvey C. ( Jr. ) 25 3rd USMC Viet-Nam

Day, George E. 43 USAF Viet-Nam

Dix, Drew Dennis 47 Mil. Advisor Viet-Nam

Ferguson, Frederick Edgar 53 1st Cav. Airmobile Viet-Nam

Fleming, James P. 56 USAF Spec. Ops. Viet-Nam

Foley, Robert F. 57 25th Inf. Viet-Nam

Fox, Wesley L. 60 3rd USMC Viet-Nam

Fritz, Harold A. 61 11th Arm. Cav. Viet-Nam

Jennings, Delbert O. 78 1st Air. Cav. Viet-Nam

Lang, George C. 90 9th Inf. Viet-Nam

Lemon, Peter C. 95 1st Air. Cav. Viet-Nam

Marm, Walter Joseph ( Jr ) 102 1st Air. Cav. Viet-Nam

McGonagle, William L. 107 USN Mediterranean Sea

Norris, Thomas R. 117 Seal Advisor Viet-Nam

Novosel, Michael J 118 68th Med. Group Viet-Nam

Rogers, Charles Calvin 135 1st Inf. Viet-Nam

Stockdale, James B. 146 USN North Viet-Nam

Williams, James E. 160 USN River Sect. Viet-Nam

Adams, Stanley T. 170 19th Inf. Korea

Barber, William E. 170 1st USMC Korea

Cafferata, Hector A. 176 1st USMC Korea

Davis, Raymond G. 183 1st USMC Korea

Ingman, Einar H. ( Jr ) 197 7th Inf. Korea

Miyamura Hiroshi H. 213 3rd Inf. Korea

Myers, Reginald ( Jr ) 217 1st USMC Korea

O’Brien, George H. ( Jr ) 218 1st USMC Korea

Simanek, Robert E. 230 1st USMC Korea

Wilson, Harold E. 240 1st USMC Korea

Biddle, Melvin E. 258 517th Para. Inf. Belgium

Britt, Maurice L. 266 3rd Inf. Italy

Bush, Robert Eugene 271 1st USMC ( Med. ) Okinawa

Childers, Ernest 278 45th Inf. Italy

Colalillo Mike 281 100th Inf. Germany

Coolidge, Charles H. 284 36th Inf. France

Crawford, William J 289 36th Inf. Italy

Crews, John R. 290 63rd Inf. Germany

DeBlanc, Jefferson Joseph 296 USMC Fighter Sq. 112 Soloman Islands

Dunham, Russell E. 302 3rd Inf. France

Ehlers, Walter D. ( Brit MM ) 305 1st Inf. France

Finn, John William 311 USN Hawaii ( Dec 7 1941 )

Fluckey, Eugene Bennett 313 Submarine Commander China Seas

Gordon, Nathan Green 324 USN Pilot Bismark Seas

Gregg, Stephen R. 326 36th Inf. France

Hawk, John D. 336 90th Inf. France

Hendrix, James R. 338 4th Armored Div. Belgium

Herring, Rufus G. 339 USN Iwo-Jima

Howard, James H. 341 USAAC ( Inc Flying Tigers ) Germany

Johnson, Oscar G. 347 91st Inf. Italy

Mabry, George L. ( Jr ) 372 4th Inf. Germany

MacGilivary, Charles A. 373 44th Inf. France

McCarthy, Joseph Jeremiah 381 4th USMC Iwo-Jima

Meagher, John 388 77th Inf. Okinawa

Montgomery, Jack C. 396 45th Inf. Italy

Morgan John C. 397 USAAF Europe

Ogden, Carlos C. 406 79th Inf. France

Oresko, Nicholas 409 94th Inf. Germany

Pope, Everett Parker 419 1st USMC Peleliu Island

Rodriguez, Cleto 428 37th Inf. Manila

Ross, Donald Kirby 430 USN Hawaii ( Dec 7 1941 )

Ross, Wilburn K. 431 3rd Inf. France

Rudolph, Donald E. 432 6th Inf. Luzon

Ruiz, Alejandro R. R. 433 27th Inf. Okinawa

Swett, James Elms 451 USMC Fighting Sq. 221 Soloman Islands

Tominac, John J. 455 3rd Inf. France

Urban, matt 459 60th Inf. France

Vlug, Dirk J. 465 32nd Inf. Leyte

Vosler, Forrest T. 465 USAAC Germany

Williams, Hersel Woodrow 477 3rd USMC Iwo-Jima

 

Best Regards ( Lewis ) Normandy Correspondent April 27 2008

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That's a great honor.

 

Do you mind telling me how Mr. Hendrikx got the MOH at Assenois?

Was he AIB?

I think I heard about him, but need to check.

I'm always interested in stories of the 4th AD.

 

Well, when I plan to go roam the Normandy countryside, I'll let you know. thumbsup.gif

Been there a couple of times and enjoyed the countryside (Belgium is too crowded).

 

In the meantime, keep posting, it sure is interesting, Sir.

 

Erwin

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General Apathy

Hi Erwin, thanks for your post asking about James R. Hendrix, 4th Armored Division.

 

Here is a shortened version of his story.

 

He was born in Lepanto Arkansas. The date of his action was 26th December 1944

near Assenois, Belgium.

 

He was a member of 53rd Armored Infantry of the 4th Armored Division, which was

engaged in breaking through to the surrounded garrison in Bastogne. He attacked two

German 88 guns with rifle fire and took the surrender of the crews.

 

He also later in the action attacked two machine gun pits and saved the lives of two

American soldiers that had been wounded and under fire from these machine guns.

 

Then again after under fire from German forces he mounted and rescued a wounded

soldier in a burning half-track, extinguished the soldiers burning clothing.

 

Hope this gives you an idea of the action he took part in.

 

Cheers ( Lewis )

 

p.s., Erwin it’s o.k. to call me Lewis. I never had the pleasure of being knighted by the

Queen so I am not yet entitled to be called Sir.

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General Apathy
What a great experience you were able to share in. Wonderful....

 

 

Hi DisneyDave, it was a real pleasure and a great experience to be in such company. However I still revere all the other soldiers who served during WWII, a trip to the American Cemetery at Omaha beach Normandy is a tragic reminder of many of these men who never won such honors.

 

Cheers ( Lewis )

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Johan Willaert

Hi Ken,

 

Are you around on the 6th of June? Can we meet up at Allan's place, or somewhere else in the region?

 

Johan

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