Picture of the day

Old Ranger

The most moving memorials ever were the spontaneous gatherings on overpasses when " ....a soldier came home today, draped in the Maple Leaf flag ....". Your son was one of many unafraid to put it on the line. I82 didn't shirk when it mattered.

You sound like a man who would enjoy "Taking Chance" starring Kevin Bacon. He played the part of a desk bound Marine Officer who volunteered to escort a fallen soldier home to Montana. Once underway, the rules say that the escort must ALWAYS be in close proximity to the coffin. That meant he slept beside it on a cot during layovers. When it was being loaded/off loaded at terminals, people stopped, removed their hats and paid respect.

When he was on the final leg, following the hearse, people who tried to pass on the two lane highway respectfully fell behind, forming an impromptu funeral cortege with lights on, including a semi. Most moving part of the movie as it got longer and longer .....

Thinking of it now, my screen just got blurry ...... ;>(

Old Ranger said:
I might be a sentimental old dude but I'm also the father of an Afghan vet. Our boy was a young soldier at that time . Before he left he told me his greatest fear was not being able to do his job while deployed. In my mind every service person who traveled down the Highway of Heroes to Trenton (and other points of departure) are Heroes.
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Air Ministry, 5 August 1941

The KING has been graciously pleased to confer the VICTORIA CROSS on the undermentioned non-commissioned officer in recognition of most conspicuous bravery :-

NZ401793 Sergeant Pilot James Allen Ward

On the night of 7 July 1941, Sergeant Ward was second pilot of a Wellington bomber returning from an attack on Munster. While flying over the Zuider Zee at 13,000 feet his aircraft was attacked from beneath by a German ME110, which secured hits with cannon-shell and incendiary bullets. The rear gunner was wounded in the foot but delivered a burst of fire sending the enemy fighter down, apparently out of control. Fire then broke out in the Wellington's near-starboard engine and, fed by petrol from a split pipe, quickly gained an alarming hold and threatened to spread to the entire wing. The crew forced a hole in the fuselage and made strenuous efforts to reduce the fire with extinguishers, and even coffee from their flasks, without success. They were then warned to be ready to abandon the aircraft. As a last resort Sergeant Ward volunteered to make an attempt to smother the fire with an engine cover which happened to be in use as a cushion. At first he proposed discarding his parachute to reduce wind resistance, but was finally persuaded to take it. A rope from the aircraft dingy was tied to him, though this was of little help and might have become a danger had he been blown off the aircraft.

With the help of his navigator he then climbed through the narrow astrodome and put on his parachute. The bomber was flying at a reduced speed but the wind pressure must have been sufficient to render the operation one of extreme difficulty. Breaking the fabric to make hand and foot holds where necessary and also taking advantage of existing holes in the fabric, Sergeant Ward succeeded in descending three feet to the wing and proceeding another three feet to a position behind the engine, despite the slipstream from the airscrew which nearly blew him off the wing. Lying in this precarious position he smothered the fire in the wing fabric and tried to push the engine cover into the hole in the wing and on the leaking pipe from which the fire came. As soon as he had removed his hand, however, a terrific wind blew the cover out and when he tried again it was lost. Tired as he was, he was able, with the navigator's assistance, to make a successful but perilous journey back into the aircraft. There was now no danger of fire spreading from the petrol pipe as there was no fabric left near it and in due course it burned itself out. When the aircraft was nearly home, some petrol which had collected in the wing blazed up furiously but died down quite suddenly. A safe landing was made despite the damage sustained to the aircraft. The flight home had been made possible by the gallantry of Sergeant Ward in extinguishing the fire on the wing in circumstances of the greatest difficulty and at the risk of his life. [3]
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The rope securing him to the dinghy was a thoughtful touch -- I am surprised he wasnt asked to take a needle and thread with him as well to sew up the fabric he had to break for handholds!

You dont suppose the crew started drinking heavily when the engine started on fire?

(there's just something about throwing your coffee on a fire that was about to consume the entire cloth enclosed aircraft that makes this a little surreal )
 
Old Ranger said:
I might be a sentimental old dude but I'm also the father of an Afghan vet. Our boy was a young soldier at that time . Before he left he told me his greatest fear was not being able to do his job while deployed. In my mind every service person who traveled down the Highway of Heroes to Trenton (and other points of departure) are Heroes.
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This is what I mean. The heroes aren't only on the battlefield or in the hearses. I've always felt those left at home had a tougher time of it than the fallen or survivors. There is a lot of courage shown all around. I would like to take this opportunity to not only thank our servicemen and women/LEOs but the families that support them. I salute you all.

There are a lot of other public servants that deserve recognition as well. Just not enough room here to get it all down. I think you know who you are. Many thanks.
 
Kman303 said:
While it is interesting that the background of our ww1 and ww2 veterans made them significantly different than the young people of today, in many ways...as a young person I like to think that if required, members of my generation would do the same thing. Then I spend a day in class at University and my hope wains...
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Good on you for getting engaged on this.

I'm still shaking my head at the recent Leger survey which indicates that only 22% of Quebecers and 45% of other Canadians would take up arms to protect their country. A majority of Canadians claim to love their country and feel entitled to all of the benefits of citizenship, yet they aren't prepared to make any sacrifices to defend what we have.
 
Conscription during WWII wasn't exactly popular in Quebec.

purple said:
I'm still shaking my head at the recent Leger survey which indicates that only 22% of Quebecers and 45% of other Canadians would take up arms to protect their country. A majority of Canadians claim to love their country and feel entitled to all of the benefits of citizenship, yet they aren't prepared to make any sacrifices to defend what we have.
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purple said:
Good on you for getting engaged on this.

I'm still shaking my head at the recent Leger survey which indicates that only 22% of Quebecers and 45% of other Canadians would take up arms to protect their country. A majority of Canadians claim to love their country and feel entitled to all of the benefits of citizenship, yet they aren't prepared to make any sacrifices to defend what we have.
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John, if memory serves, I'm thinking of an article I read on this before. The numbers were similar or lower before WWII started. There wasn't a lot of faith or trust in governments all over the world and the League of Nations had just collapsed, mostly because of its corrupt nature. Very similar to the UN now. There is a reason most nations have to impose a "draft" to raise troops during war time emergencies.
 
Not sure how they managed this .....

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The B-36, AKA "the aluminum overcast". There's a story about a B-36 pilot calling the control tower saying, " Tower this is triple nickel, dime. I've got 6 turn'in and 4 burn'in, look'in for a place to land".
 
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