Monday

[Donster]

Morning all. 58F under clear skies. Partly sunny, breezy and comfortable. High of 78F.

[Stans]

Morning y'all, 68F and partly cloudy skies, expecting a partly cloudy day with a high of 89F, slight chance of scattered afternoon thunderstorms.

Today is the 72nd anniversary of the D-day landings in Normandy.  Last week, I had a close encounter with a D-day veteran.  In casual conversation I mentioned the upcoming anniversary of D-day.  He said he remembered exactly where he was on that day.  My curiosity piqued, I inquired.  He said he was straffing and bombing Germans on that day.  I pried a little deeper and he opened up with his story.  He was a P-47 pilot, had fought with the 9th USAAF, 391st Fighter Squadron.  He talked in glowing terms about the capabilities of the P-47, both as a weapon and as a machine that could absorb a lot of damage.  Like most P-47 pilots, he did not care for the P-51.  He said the only weakness of the P-47 was dog fighting at low altitude, you just did not want to try it, but at high altitude it performed well as a fighter.  His unit was the first to operate from French soil, on an improvised air strip.  I wish I could have talked with him all day, but my schedule simply did not allow for that luxury.  Let us not forget the sacrifice that was made not just for our freedom, but to liberate others from tyranny.