Remembrance Day | Page 5 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Remembrance Day

Reviving an old thread to remember.Three brothers went war.Three came home.My father in law is 91 now.His brothers are gone.Raymond is on the right.My wife would like to get new ribbons for his decorations.They are very tattered.Does anyone know where they can be had?
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Reviving an old thread to remember.Three brothers went war.Three came home.My father in law is 91 now.His brothers are gone.Raymond is on the right.My wife would like to get new ribbons for his decorations.They are very tattered.Does anyone know where they can be had?
Brothers_zpsxseygfwx.jpg
Dude in the middle look badass. Must be high ranking
 
Thank you.
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glad the CDN Italian campaign is finally getting some attention, everyone thinks of Normandy as the turning point , but if the CND ground force didn't keep 100,000 germans busy they would have been available for France.

Taking FIL to services tomorrow, He's 90 and enlisted at 16 for WW2, ground is getting pretty thin for WW2 vets.
 
I gave my poppy to veteran today.Last week my 94 year old father in law Raymond Clayfield went to the hospital with congestive heart failure.Other complications have him back at his retirement home in palliative care.He was super happy to be back where he was comfortable and able to do his crafts.
Getting out of hospital garb and into his clothes,i noticed he didn't have a poppy.When i put mine on him,he smiled and thanked me as big as i have ever seen him smile.It was great.
Thanks for serving Ray.
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It takes tremendous courage for a someone to risk it all to protect his or her country. Many paid the ultimate sacrifice. Many who returned struggled to live with the experience.

The very least we can do is to offer thanks to these extraordinary men and women. My best wishes to your father in law.
 
Bumping this thread because i am free to do so.

Thanks for the bump. I don't know how I missed the thread previously.

I had several uncles who served in WWII and have met a couple of German military veterans.

One uncle (I can see his old haversack from where I type) was injured but came back with some funny stories.

He was a mechanic who went ashore on D-Day to keep the vehicles running. As the war progressed he moved forward with the troops. He liked to collect souvenirs (Technically it was looting) and would wander into bombed out houses when he thought it was safe but he wasn't supposed to be there. One day he walked into a back yard and there were dozen German soldiers wanting to surrender. He told them to surrender to someone else and took off. I wonder if it piss** them off that they were not only losing but weren't even wanted as prisoners.

In the latter stages of the war the big motorcycles were more popular, Harleys, Indians, Triumphs etc but earlier on the light bikes, Famous James etc were better because if you had to ditch one to avoid gunfire you could pull it out by yourself.

He said that the Luger pistols were prized finds but the officers would smash their excellent field glasses on a rock before handing them over.

I met a German ex-soldiers who recalled in the later days of the war being in the trenches with 12 year old boys crying for their mothers.

I also me an ex Luftwaffe pilot who became a Canadian and was a really decent guy. It makes one think on how the brain washing worked.

My father-in-law was a Ukrainian who was conscripted by the Russians, captured by the Germans and spent a lot of the war in POW and labour camps. He had a bent finger from when, during "questioning", it was put in the hinge line of a door and the door closed.

Then came the displaced peoples camps before coming to Canada. Like most immigrants he worked hard and prospered.

The war movies show the violence but I don't think there is any way of conveying the numbing fears of the seemingly never ending days of fear, horrors and suffering.

Time for silence.
 
I watched an amazing movie on a flight recently . It was called “They Shall Not Grow Old”.

It was made by Peter Jackson and since I’m a big Lord Of The Rings fan I thought I would give it a chance.

It was one of the best movies I have ever seen, but at the same time one of the hardest things I have ever watched. It was WW1 footage that had been colourized with actual veterans commentary added as an audio track. Its even more powerful when you consider that those men are now also gone and there are no longer any WW1 vertans living. These are truly voices from the past. It was just incredible what those people went through

2 of my Great Grandfathers served in the trenches. One at Ypres, one at Vimmy Ridge. They both came home. I didn’t know them, and although their medals and citations are still in the family, I didn’t understand what they had to go through until I watched that movie

If you can find it, it’s worth watching
 
I watched an amazing movie on a flight recently . It was called “They Shall Not Grow Old”.

It was made by Peter Jackson and since I’m a big Lord Of The Rings fan I thought I would give it a chance.

It was one of the best movies I have ever seen, but at the same time one of the hardest things I have ever watched. It was WW1 footage that had been colourized with actual veterans commentary added as an audio track. Its even more powerful when you consider that those men are now also gone and there are no longer any WW1 vertans living. These are truly voices from the past. It was just incredible what those people went through

2 of my Great Grandfathers served in the trenches. One at Ypres, one at Vimmy Ridge. They both came home. I didn’t know them, and although their medals and citations are still in the family, I didn’t understand what they had to go through until I watched that movie

If you can find it, it’s worth watching
It doesn't seem to be available for streaming in Canada. Amazon has a blu-ray for $31 or it may be on itunes ($25 in US, not sure about canada store).
 
Heads up. The only way to express yourself on Nov 11 is to buy a poppy from a veteran or Canadian Legion member. Hanging a bunch of reds xmas lights in you tree is NOT remembering.
And to my neighbours with your xmas lights up before remembrance day. Shame!
Old guy rant off.
 

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