1) My girl friend's father was in the 29th Division and survived the
landing and the war. He was active in veterans affairs and the
American Legion and VFW. Sadly, he died of old age a week before the
movie was released. He had all his faculties up to the end, and could
have gone to see it. We both wondered what his reaction would have
been.....
The first thing his daughter said to me after the movie was over was "
now I know why Pop would never take the family to the beach".
2) As a WWII reenactor I participated in the 50th anniversary event at
Ft. Story, VA. As a Brit reenactor, we were on the second wave. We
felt the landing craft lurch as we hit a sand bar and then we were
aground off the beach. The door came down and we swarmed off into the
"trough" between sand bars and walked off the ramp into water almost
over our heads. The jeep coming off the landing craft next to us was
completely submerged as it rolled off. As soon as we hit the beach,
sand stuck to everything. I got off about 5 or 6 rounds and then went
to top off the mag while I was in a shell hole. Sand got on everything
and the Enfield jammed. I had 10 pounds of "club" for the rest of the
assault.
Although I did my 20 years in the Navy, I had never experienced
anything like that landing. After the event, I felt a bit "full of
myself" for having that extra experience of the landing over other
armchair historians.
After seeing "Ryan", I realize I hadn't even come close....
The next time you hear "Taps" or "Last Post", think about your
reaction to the movie and your respect for the veterans.
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