VETERAN'S DAY

[roger]

Thanking my father (Sgt. William Myers), my uncle (Cpl. Kenneth Dressback), my brother-in-law (Sgt. Jerry Parker), my friend Floyd Ragsdale and all veterans for their service on this special day. God bless all of you, living and deceased....and God bless the USA.

Roger

[connie]

I'd like to echo Roger's words thanking all the veterans who gave so much more than we can begin to imagine. My thoughts also go out with gratitude to the groups that make an effort to put flags on veterans graves-- honoring men they do not know. I am counting on these strangers to visit my father's grave. Today I travel the 3000 miles to my hometown stomping grounds only in my mind.

Today I also think about the veterans of the 106th who were the last to cross the Atlantic -- the Special Forces, Band, Field Artillery, etc. who sailed on the Wakefield. Yesterday was the 68th Anniversary of the day those veterans left Boston Harbor bound for the ETO. 68 years ago they were facing rough seas today... For me Veteran's Day will always carry that connection with it.

To our veterans who have gone on and those still among us I wish smooth sailing and a following wind.

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PS. You might also check out the Veterans Day 2011 thread: 106thdivision.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=remembering&action=display&thread=642

You can also find links to info on the voyages of the Wakefield (and the other ships that carried division troops across the Atlantic on the Board labeled Dates and Places in Division History in the thread on Voyages: 106thdivision.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=dates&action=display&thread=587

[floydragsdale]

The 106jth Division Infantry Soldier faced diverse situations every day. He wore the same clothes 24/7 for weeks at a time. Ate when there was food and he had the time to consume it; sometimes while he sat on the frozen bodies of dead enemy soldiers.

He used his steel helmet as a pot to shave, cook chow, wash his socks in and to relieve him self while standing in a fox hole.

For a place to sleep, he dug slit trenches long and wide enough for his body; then placed logs and pine boughs on the top of it for protection from artillery shells bursting in tree tops and to help hold body heat

He went to sleep while walking; used his knees for a desktop when writing a letter to his loved ones back home. In winter months he struggled to survive days and nights of freezing hell in temperatures as low as twenty five degrees below zero.

He saw his comrades fall, mortally wounded, while obeying orders that demanded “Hold your positions at all costs.” Translated, that means stay where you are and fight until you’re dead.

In battle, the American Infantry Soldier fought to save our nation. A country, with the best flag and the best Government ever given to man. For a brief moment in history, American Infantry Soldiers, and those who supported him in combat, held the fate of our nation and the world in their hands. These Soldiers and the others like them are the servicemen, who, in the hours when the earth’s foundation quivered, and the ground shook, stood firm amid the whine of bullets, the blast of mortars and the zinging sound of jagged artillery shrapnel filling the air around them.

Now the majority of WWII service men and women have left the framework of life. A few are left behind, and are waiting for their summons to follow their comrades in arms. All served this nation with the meager pay of a soldier; yet, with a code - - - duty, honor, country. They’re worthy to take their place in history alongside those Soldiers who fought in the armed conflicts at Valley Forge, the Alamo and Gettysburg. Summoned by the clarion call to arms, they came from across the U.S.A, from the factories and the farms, from schools and their offices, from the sidewalks of New York to the shores of San Francisco, they came. Their generation had a rendezvous with destiny. They met it head on and came out with the trophy of victory and freedom for our country. May God bless their memory to future generations of the United States.

The Infantry Soldier of the 106th Infantry Division merit a salute this Veterans Day

Floyd D. Ragsdale,

[Carl W.]

Yesterday was a very special day here in Europe, first of all as a remembrance to the end of the war that raged here from 1914 till 1918 and second as a remembrance of all the veterans of all conflicts, past and present.

Happy Veteran's Day!
Greetings
Carl

[connie]

Veteran's Day 2014

Today, once again, we remember all our Veterans. And I especially remember those living and those no longer living who were at this time 70 years ago in or on their way to England in their first stage of the journey toward the front-- the men of the 106th Infantry Division...

Connie

[connie]

Veteran's Day 2015

My thoughts today are with the Veterans-- especially those from the 106th Infantry Division who are still among us.

For those who are not aware, when our men were in and heading to England, this date appeared on the 1944 calendar as Armistice Day and marked the official end of hostilities in WWI.

We thank you for your service and the sacrifices you made. I remember watching people in Belgium come up to Floyd with tears in their eyes to thank him (and by extension all his fellow soldiers) for his service. They got it.

Connie

[connie]

Veteran's Day 2016

The day has come and gone again. Hopefully it was not a day forgotten by anyone.

As I work at compiling a story of the men of the 106th Infantry Division, I am keenly aware that as that as November 11 (then Armistice Day) dawned in 1944, the members of the Division's Field Artillery, Medical Battalion, Division Band, Engineers Reconnaissance, and Military Police were among those awaking to their first full day at sea aboard the Wakefield.

So while the 11th has passed, the journey those soldiers were on continued for several more days. They would land in Liverpool on the afternoon of November 17.

My thoughts are with those who made that journey and with those who have made similar journeys through the centuries.

Thank you will never be enough...

Connie


PS. For another Veteran's Day Salute from 2016 see: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4389/thread

[connie]

Veterans Day, Saturday November 11 2017

On this Veterans Day my thoughts are especially with the men who were with the 106th Infantry Division-- those who came back home and those who were lost; those who are with us still and those who have gone on to another place.

I think of individuals, real people who faced the dehumanizing horrors of war.... men who fought on the battle field and men who fought to retain hope and life in POW camps... many very young.
I am forever grateful for the freedoms they struggled to preserve. And I think about the bits and pieces of their lives and hopes and dreams that I have come to know.

This day in 1944 found the men of the division's field artillery and special forces on their first full day of their week's voyage across the Atlantic-- many seasick on the stormy sea. The division's infantry troops were already scattered across the English Midlands preparing for December journeys across the English Channel.

Incidentally, the day of the week for dates on the 1944 calendar corresponds to the day of the week on the 2017 calendar. So this day--known as Armistice Day to them-- was a Saturday in 1944, too.

This morning as my thoughts turned to men whose grandchildren are now older than they were then. I turned to a contraption given to us by two of those grandchildren of the 106th.
Then I said,
"Alexa, play some music by Glenn Miller!"
Then I heard, "Shuffling tunes by Glenn Miller" followed next by the tones of "Chattanooga Choo Choo!"

It may seem a bit mundane and a bit too easy. But it is a small piece of my always inadequate tribute to real people... touching the things they enjoyed in an era that we can only begin to imagine. I hope Dad and Mom could hear this and the many Glenn Miller tunes that followed as I ate. Yes, I guess my Veterans Day tribute also goes to the others at home who waited anxiously and supported our Veterans. The sacrifice was theirs, too. And my heart goes out to the offspring who would never get to meet their fathers. Their loss continues daily.

May who you were, what you loved, and the struggles you endured never be forgotten.

[connie]

Veterans Day 2018

Today I opened my e-mail to find an announcement from the Washington State Ferries of an observation of Veterans Day that I don't remember happening before:
" ALL ROUTES:
In honor of Veterans Day WSF will be observing a moment of silence on all vessels at 11:11 a.m. followed by a blowing of the vessel’s whistle. Please join us in remembering and thanking our veterans for their service in the U.S. Armed Forces.


This alert was sent on 11/11/2018 at 6:28AM."

It warms my heart to know that caring people are still finding new and touching ways to remember those who served. The deep, rich sound of the vessels "whistles" will be echoing over the waters of the Puget Sound from Tacoma to the chain of islands east of British Columbia's Vancouver Island.

And I will listen for that sound and pause to remember all who served-- with special thoughts for the men of the 106th, including my dad.


Connie

[bigjohn]

100 years ago the "War to end all wars" came to it's conclusion. A generation later the world was at war again, 5 years after that came Korea and a decade after that Vietnam. Regardless of the conflict, from the early days of the Revolution to the modern day conflicts in the Middle East we as a Nation should be proud that there have ALWAYS been men and women who were willing to pay any price, up to and including their lives, to maintain our freedom. The causes and reasons have not always been clear or popular but we are fortunate that there have always been those willing to answer when their country called. THANK YOU VETERANS!!!!