Which WWII historical sites have you visited?

[Rick Lee]

This could become a long thread and I've been to plenty of them. But I'll just list the coolest or most moving ones for now.

Warsaw Ghetto

Auschwitz

Colditz Castle (where the POW's built the glider plane)

Lidice (village near Prague wiped off the map as reprisal for Heydrich's assassination)

Braunau am Inn (birthplace of Hitler)

Cecilienhof (site of the Potsdam Conference)

Museum on Japanese Aggression, Nanjing, PRC (Rape of Nanking)

Unfortunately, I visited most of these places before I had a digicam, so not many photos.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

My grandfather. Visiting him again tomorrow.

[Soterik]

+1 on the Grandfather... in my case it's my Dad. I have coffee with him every day, and discuss saving the world. Many times I get him to somewhat open up on those days. He was a medic in the 41st div, 162nd Inf, 1st Battalion, A company. He saw action in Salamaua, Nassau Bay, Mt. Tambu, Hollandia, etc.

He recently told me that he saw his best friend get killed right in front of him in Salamaua. He still puts flowers on his grave every Memorial Day here in Seattle (just found out about that also).

I would like to visit some of those places mentioned in Europe, as I read about a lot of it when I was young ("Escape from Colditz" was one of my favorites). Also would like to go to the Pacific to New Guinea and the Phillipines if possible.

The closest I have come was a trip with dad in the mid 80's to Australia to see some of the places he was stationed back in ww2. We managed to find the old pub he was in when he "jumped ship" in Sydney (fairly long story).

Eric

[notfarnow]

I'd like to visit Normandy

My grandfather passed when I was 5. My grandmother put almost everything to the curb when she moved.

~20 years later, I found my grandfather's WWII army trunk at a flea market. The seller had pulled it from a ditch during spring cleanup the year before. We use it as a coffee table.

[Rick Lee]

I've been fortunate to know a lot of vets too, though the only grandfather that was alive while I was, served stateside and not overseas. My father's dad fought in N. Africa and even brought some German pistols back, which my uncle later sold to pay parking tickets - aaarrrggggg..

I've known a lot of German vets too, one who fought in Stalingrad, one in the Battle of the Bulge, a few who met Hitler when they were children and I've met countless Germans who were POW's inside the US and a few who were unfortunate enough to do time in Siberia.

[Jeff Higgins]

Yup, my father-in-law. He marched accross North Africa in puruit of Rommel, then all the way up Italy, into Germany, and finally Berlin. Fascinating guy to talk to. I won't, however, repeat his comments when I first showed up in a Porsche...

I spent summers as a kid in the '60's and early '70's with my Oma and Opa in Germany. It was amazing how many places had not yet been rebuilt. The whole freakin' place was a "WWII historical site".

[svandamme]

Blockhaus Eperlecques




also Dunkirk and Normandie

[MattKellett]

I did a cycle tour of Normandy back in '88. It really is quite an experience. To stand on the cliffs with the gun emplacements behind you, the sun shining, bird flying, the waves crashing on the shore below..... it's so hard to imagine the horror of war...... an then you go to the cemeteries.

If you think the French dont respect the US, go to Normandy, the whole area is dedicated to the bravery of the liberators. I cycled down small country roads, each one is named after a US soldier, street names in villages and towns the same ... these people have never forgotten.

Matt

[Craig 930 RS]

My vote for thread of the month.
Keep it up.........

[Tobra]

USS Arizona is about it.

Had a pair of patients who were WW II vets when I was in Texas, one US, one German. The US guy thought he had forgotten all his german, until he tried it on this other fellow in the nursing home who spoke no english. Turns out they fought in several of the same battles on opposing sides. They became close friends.

[Rick Lee]

Some other cool trips. I went swimming the Dnieper near Kiev (just downstream from Chernobyl) and there were still German tank turrets sticking out of the water.

I went to a super exhibit in Halle (E. Germany) called "Crimes of the Wehrmacht", which had some very moving photos and official documents, ordering all kinds of bad things.

Warsaw Ghetto Museum moved me more than Auschwitz did. I stayed at some old lady's house nearby and she was obviously old enough to have lived through it all, but spoke not a word of German or English. The last day I was there she had some other old lady friends over and one of them was from Danzig and spoke perfect German. She translated as the hostess told us about watching the Germans "clean things up" after the ghetto uprising.

I've been to Buchenwald near Weimar too. It wasn't an extermination camp, but held mostly POW's. Still, they killed most of the Soviet POW's there. After the war it became a political prisoner camp for East German undesirables (meet the new boss, same as the old boss). I was there before and after the unification. Afterwards, there was a guest book there for former German political prisoners to get in touch with one another.

[scottmandue]

Haven't been to Europe yet...

I have been to Pearl harbor and the punch bowl.

I live a few blocks from parts of the old Fort MacArthur army base that are open to the public... I walk there often.

Been to the Arlington National Cemetery.

[hook682]

Theres a tiny little island in Subic Bay that has a fortress from WWII. The name of it escapes me now.There are still the old cannons that have shrapnel gouges in them. There was the Arizona Memorial and if memory serves there was a downed plane somewhere on Aiea Loop trail that could still be found.

[Seahawk]

My wifes step father flunked out of flight school after leaving Yale in 1941 as a sophmore. They gave him limited choices, so he opted to go to sea as an enlisted crewman on PT boats. He spend three years in the South Pacific.

My mothers side of the family were all navy...a more raucous bunch of funny men would be hard to find.

Great stories, gently told without any heroics.

I have been to the Solomons Islands, Iwo, Pearl Harbor, , Midway, the Phillipines (Bataan), Japan, Thailand (the bridge) and Okinawa.

I have been to very few significant European WWII sites, which I hope to rectify.

[Jim727]

Great question. Too much to get right the first time through, but here's a start:

People:
Mother was in the first wave of Nurses to land at Normandy. Couldn't get her to talk about it. I understand, but still...
Father - U.S. Army, WWII. Also tight-lipped.
Uncle - Marine on Iwo Jima. Wounded and survived.
Uncle - B-24 gunner in the Pacific
Friend - her father designed the FW-190
Friend - Pathfinder for the Normandy Invasion
Friend - flew Mosquitos and Lancasters
Friend - Gunner on a Wellington. Shot down - escaped 5 times from a Luftstalag
Friend - landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day
...actually, lots of friends who are WWII vets, so enough.

Places:
Berlin and environs - too many places to list. Interestingly the old Reichsluftministerium (Luftwaffe HQ) is still there;
Nürnberg - the Reichsparteitagsgelande is definitely a must-see;
The Seelow Heights - one of the routes of the Soviet attack on Berlin. There's a huge soviet cemetery in the area;
Munich, Regensburg, Peenemünde, Fürstenwalde, Dresden, Jena - Germany obviously is littered with interesting places;
Avoided concentration camps, but did force myself to go to Dachau;
Leningrad - the whole city qualifies; if the monument to the siege doesn't bring a tear to your eye you are already dead;
Warsaw, Krakow, Prague - various sites;
London and environs has some interesting places, particularly Duxford and Hendon. Next time out I want to find some of the other old 8th AAF airfields;
Haven't been to Normandy; don't think I could take it;
U-Boat pens at Bordeaux;
Pearl Harbor;
Bataan;
Corregidor;
Wake Island;
Kwajalein.

Sad doesn't begin to describe it all.

[Craig 930 RS]

http://www.theswampghost.com/news/2007/natl-4-19/index.html

[GO DAWG GO]

[BeerBurner]

I have visited many, but I'm too young to remember all but two.

The first was Dachau. Even at 7 years old, you don't forget something like Dachau.

Second was Dunkirk. I remember that because our VW camper got bogged down in the sands of that beach. The irony of the situation didn't hit me until years later...

BB.

[Jim727]

Robert -

Recognize:

St. Marie Eglise.

Zeppelinfeld - is that you on the podium? Did you see the "Fazination und Gewalt" exhibit in the tribune? Manage to snag a beer at that great Biergarten across the lake from the Congress Hall?

The others??

[Rick Lee]

Forgot too mention that, while lost in Belgium, driving to Trier, I passed Malmedy. Didn't have time to stop though.