Don't forget that tomorrow is the 80th anniversary of D-Day
PTVETTER
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The US Mint minted a coin to remember D Day.
We owe so much to those that have served this nation we live in!
Pat Vetter,Mercury Dime registry set,1938 Proof set registry,Pat & BJ Coins:724-325-7211
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I am proud to say I am the keeper of my Grandpa's Purple Heart.
It was his second Purple Heart, he got it on Omaha Beach, 1944. They found him naked and unconcious, not even his dog tag., the explosion had sucked everything off his body and permanently damaged his hearing. We still have the missing in action letter. He told them who he was when he came to in a hospital in France.
No one knows what happened to the first Purple Heart, which he got fighting in Germany or France, we're not quite sure.
And to keep it coin related...one of my favorite 1944's...ANA Money Museum, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Coins are Neato!
"If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone...somewhere...is making a penny." - Steven Wright
You're starting early, okay.
Well, actually you're not. It's 0300 in Normandy right now! 👍 👍 Just about the time the amphibious landings began!
Fair winds and calm seas.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Unless he was in World War I, he couldn't have gotten his first purple heart fighting in Germany or France BEFORE D-Day.
D-Day, of course, was the beginning of the liberation of Europe. Probably was wounded in another campaign.
In any case...
God bless your grandpa and the Greatest Generation! Mine fought in the Pacific theater
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"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
These photos put the event in proper perspective.
Thank you @BLUEJAYWAY
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
You are absolutely correct.
I spoke with my Dad today, Grandpa's son, he did some extensive research a couple years ago and found the documents about my Grandpa and his service and discovered that for our entire lives he had been telling everyone that he was wounded on Omaha Beach and it turned out it was actually Utah Beach.
My Dad made a really nice little book about it from his research for my little brother and I.
So, I was remembering the beach incorrectly too, it was Utah Beach.
Grandpa had also told us that he was in the hospital for a couple weeks in France, my Dad found out it was actually a couple months. Grandpa really got his bell rung and he also ended up starting into Alzheimer's in his early 60's for almost another 20 years. My Dad is now in his 80's...I'll ask my Dad what he remembers about that other Purple Heart.
Here is the intro from the little documentary book my Dad wrote and put together...I've removed our last name.
I included a few pages of a document my Dad dug up at the library archives too, because I know there are some history buff in here who may appreciate seeing some of this...
THE WW II MILITARY HISTORY OF JERRY F********
I was born in Brooklyn, NY on January 7, 1943. I was the first child of my
mom, Esther (née Levine) and my dad, Gerald (“Jerry”).
I was seven months old when my dad was drafted. My mom had to give up
our apartment and move in with her parents. Their apartment was only a few
blocks away from ours, so all the time my dad was in the service I was raised
by my mom and maternal grandparents.
Dad joined the army - 79th Infantry Division (Cross of Lorraine Division),
313th Infantry Regiment. He was a Private and was trained for the position of
Gunner on a small (60mm) mortar. As my dad explained it when I was a
teenager, one person in the crew carried the base plate, one carried the firing
tube and bipod, and the Gunner carried the sight which was used to set the
angle of the firing tube. Two others in the crew were ammunition carriers.
The ammunition consisted of 2.5 pound shells filled with TNT.
The crew ran from location to location and set the base plate, then connected
the firing tube and bipod before the Gunner attached the sight and set the
angle. A shell was dropped back end into the firing tube and the mortar round
hit the firing pin and flew out toward its target. The crewmen covered their
ears to protect themselves from the launch blast.
The Gunner carried no rifle, only a 45 caliber pistol. My father told me that
when he learned that he was to carry only a pistol, he went to the firing range
every day until he was an expert marksman with his 45.
After basic training, he was shipped overseas to England on the luxury liner
Queen Mary which had been repurposed as a troop ship. Many years later,
when I lived in California, he was able to visit the Queen Mary, now a hotel,
docked in Long Beach harbor.
Dad was in England from April to June of 1944. He spent time, immediately
before shipping to France, in the north of England, at Ashton-in-Makersfield.
His regiment made a landing in Normandy, at Utah Beach, eight days after
the D-Day invasion.
The Commanding General of the 79th Infantry Division, Major General I. T.
Wyche, wrote the WW II history of his division. I have included his account
up to the point of the capture of La-Haye-du-Puits in July, 1944.
General Wyche’s Commanding Officer of the 313th Regiment, Colonel
Sterling A. Wood, wrote the WW II history of his regiment. I have included
his account for the same time frame I’ve included for the division.
Bangor Public Library
Bangor Community: Digital Commons@bpl
World War Regimental Histories World War Collections
1946
The Cross of Lorraine: a combat history of the 79th
Infantry Division, June 1942-December 1945
United States Army
Coins are Neato!
"If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone...somewhere...is making a penny." - Steven Wright
France 5 franc note issued by the American army.
(Hand printed) H-Hour 0630 D-Day June 6, 1944.
Paper, 3-1/8 x 2-5/8 inches (7.8 x 6.7 cm)
My mother managed a US Navy finance office in San Francisco from 1944 to 1946 and the note was in her files.
It was probably exchanged by a sailor for American currency.
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The greatest generation. I am a huge WWII history buff. I always have been. If Hitler had not attacked Russia (operation barbarossa) we would all be living under a national socialist goverment. I really have a deep respect for the brave men who gave their lives or risked their lives to defend our democracy.
Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
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Dantheman984 Toyz4geo SurfinxHI greencopper RWW bigjpst bretsan
They went in as boys and came out as men. 🇺🇸
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
I used to play some very detailed WW2 war games. From those results, I suspect that if Germany and Japan had both attacked Russia instead of attacking Western Europe and the Unites States, things would have turned out vastly different. In that scenario, Germany does not lose the battle of Stalingrad.
I have had the privilege to visit those beaches, and my father and I stayed at a small inn right on Omaha Beach. I will never forget that when we were in the hotel, an elderly gentleman came in with his wife. We struck up a conversation and learned he was part of the landings on June 6, 1944. The innkeeper found out and told the veteran in his best English that his money was no good, this man and his wife were his special guests. This was 2010, and the feelings still ran deep, as they should. Everyone should visit the site, the museum and most importantly our cemetery, hallowed ground. We are free because of what those men did that day eighty years ago today.
My grandfather was a paratrooper in the pacific.
My other grandfather built planes at the converted GE locomotive factory in Erie, PA.
I had a cousin named Walter Nies who was captured after his plane crashed in Germany. He was shot and killed in a POW camp when they thought he tried to escape.
God bless all those folks that stormed those beaches 🥲
BHNC #248 … 130 and counting.
I asked my dad what he was doing on D-Day. He was sight seeing in Rome with 5th Army.
fka renman95, Sep 2005, 7,000 posts
My Dad went into Normandy on D-Day plus 10. The letter that he wrote to my Mom said the aftermath was very bad there.
I never forget June 6th or December 7th. God bless those serving, those who served and those who gave all.
Had the privilege of letting my daughters meet a few ww2 veterans today, and got to watch them take a ride in a b-25 bomber. Hoping they will always remember it.
Pass to get into 60th anniversary ceremony.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
I was there also, but in 1995. A local was kind enough to point out some signage stating to STAY OUT OF THE DUNES as there was still unexploded ordnance there! I was also told that even 40 years later, shell casings, ammo, and other various war related items would be found washed ashore, brought in by the waves.
The emotions of the local French were indeed strong and thankful. I visited some of the local military cemeteries and many others across Western Europe. They are solemn places and immaculately kept. School children were often brought in to place flowers on the graves. It was and still is very emotional to me.
When you stand on the beaches and curtilage you really get a sense of the tactical difficulties those boys faced, but I can never imagine what ran through their minds against such staggering odds. God Bless all of the men and women of what is truly the Greatest Generation.
Having fun while switching things up and focusing on a next level PCGS slabbed 1950+ type set, while still looking for great examples for the 7070.
I just saw that the British Royal Mint has issued a new D-Day 80th anniversary coin. Something about it looks familiar.
Ah yes, it looks a lot like my WW2 commemorative silver dollar obverse drawing that I did in 1993.
Plagiarism ?
No, I assume just a coincidence.
As an aside, the US Mint held an open design competition for the WW2 50th anniversary coins in 1993. One requirement was that the silver dollar had to represent D-Day. These were my entries, produced entirely by hand using pencil and ink on paper. I included on my panels a rendition of each coin at actual size. The US Mint did not ask for that. But after the contest, they started requiring that for all submissions.
What airport is that?
Someone did a great job of polishing that airplane!
Bowman Field in Louisville KY.