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Post by kerouac2 on May 31, 2019 3:41:24 GMT
I don't know. Beach? Parking lot? Nearby fields?
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Post by Kimby on May 31, 2019 4:18:32 GMT
It took Miss Montana 10 days to work her way from Missoula to England. And she’s not the last of the 15 from the US, there are two more making the journey as we speak.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 31, 2019 8:06:23 GMT
I hope we get to see the event...hopefully the BBC will cover at least some of it. Fascinating thread Kimby.
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Post by Kimby on May 31, 2019 14:24:14 GMT
If you can get American TV channels, watch the June 2nd CBS Sunday Morning show with Jane Pauley.
They’ll be doing a feature on the Daks Over Normandy event and have been filming with Miss Montana several times.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 3, 2019 18:34:36 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Jun 3, 2019 21:42:27 GMT
Thanks for that, K2. (I’m in a public library so had the sound turned off, but part of it was subtitled.)
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Post by Kimby on Jun 3, 2019 22:04:44 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 4, 2019 3:30:47 GMT
No problem for that link.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 6, 2019 3:30:11 GMT
It’s begun. Video link in this article (use link below) missoulacurrent.com/government/2019/06/miss-montana-parachutists/?fbclid=IwAR1kMYnM_z9Z-qFGPf7es3R24xraZ-eAODkQdmw5f7g7aZisGiiF_9M40sUVIDEO: Miss Montana drops smokejumpers over Normandy during D-Day commemoration By Dennis Bragg/KPAXJune 5, 2019 (KPAX) DUXFORD, ENGLAND – Parachutes filled the skies over the French coast on Wednesday as Miss Montana and other historical aircraft ferried dozens of paratrooper re-enactors as part of 75th anniversary commemorations marking D-Day in 1944. After spending the past couple of days in final practice jumps, the planes that are part of the “D-Day Squadron” flew across the English Channel to drop their main “invasion force” of jumpers over the French coast. The weather hasn’t been perfect, but so far the flights have been going well. Miss Montana, the restored C-47, was the sixth plane in formation, dropping its paratroopers, including a number of Montana smokejumpers, around 11 a.m. Montana time. Thousands of people gazed into the cloudy evening skies to watch the amazing sight. The plane was restored in a year-long volunteer effort by the Museum of Mountain Flying. |
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Post by Kimby on Jun 6, 2019 10:12:23 GMT
Watching 75th anniversary commemoration live on TV in Montana at 4:30 am. (Pearl woke me up at 4:30, so why not?). Tuned in as the national anthem was winding down. Macron gave a beautiful speech and presented Legion of Honor medals to a handful of nonogenerian veterans.
Trump is reading his speech off the TelePrompTer now. He’s behaving himself, so far.
I’m ready for the airplanes. Miss Montana is honored to have been selected as part of the flyover squadron.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 6, 2019 11:56:19 GMT
Haven’t seen any flyover action. Either it happened at the beginning before I woke up, or during a local programming break from the live broadcast. GPS tracker in Miss Montana indicates she’s back over the Channel. Dang! Maybe the evening newscasts will have footage...
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Post by mossie on Jun 6, 2019 16:06:06 GMT
The BBC have been showing odd bits in their news broadcasts, including many interviews with veterans attending both at Duxford and in France. Good to see the British Legion chartered a boat to take some 200plus vets to France, very emotional for some. Mr Trump appears to be on his best behaviour so far.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 7, 2019 1:19:19 GMT
“Mr.” Trump stayed on the TelePrompTer this time, which makes him seem almost normal. He must have been sternly warned by his handlers.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 8, 2019 18:18:53 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 11, 2019 18:10:02 GMT
Among all of the other stories regarding this commemoration, I was particularly touched by a report on France 2 about one of the soldiers who returned for the ceremonies. He fell in love with a French woman 75 years ago, but they never saw each other again. He married and had kids, and then his wife died. What happened to the French woman? He assumed that she was already dead. But France 2 found her in a retirement home. She of course married and had a bundle of kids and then became a widow as well. France 2 took the American across France to the retirement home and reunited them. It was as heart rending as you can imagine, and they both said that they had thought of each other over all of these years. And then he had to go back to Normandy for the official ceremonies.
Apparently, they have promised to see each other again.
I have not been able to find the report on YouTube yet, but I will post it if it appears.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 12, 2019 11:13:26 GMT
Here is the report of the two lovers meeting again after 75 years. I saw that Belgian television picked up the report as well, and the anchorwoman was in tears at the end.
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Post by mich64 on Jun 12, 2019 14:56:58 GMT
Kimby I hope you got to see your Miss Montana at the end of this journey on line that your were following!
Today is Air Force Day here in Canada. My hometown is lucky to have the Canadian Snowbirds giving a show this afternoon and this evening a CF18 will perform. The day is designed to honour our Air Force and the members, current and past and to hopefully give an understanding and connection to their contributions. The waterfront will be filled with school children and those fortunate to not be working today. Hearing the planes and jet come in yesterday filled me with good memories of the air bases we lived on where we would hear them almost every day.
I understand for many veterans and for civilians who lived through wars, this may not be a pleasant sound, because of the service and sacrifices of those service members, I grew up in a era of peacekeeping. Forever grateful.
Kerouac, that was a beautiful and emotional reunion. It is wonderful that they found her and arranged for the two to meet.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 12, 2019 15:02:59 GMT
It is extremely rare for an item on the evening news to last for more than 5 minutes, but apparently it became a trending topic on Twitter because people were so moved by it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 12, 2019 17:22:18 GMT
Here is a version with English subtitles.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 12, 2019 17:28:41 GMT
One thing that makes this almost creepy for me is that they met in Briey in 1944. Briey is 12 kilometres from my ancestral village. My parents met in Thionville, 38 kilometres from the village, also in 1944. The man is from Mississippi, just like my biological father. So exactly the same thing could have happened, and I would have never been born, at least not the current version of me. Then again, neither of my parents lasted another 75 years.
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