So I just read this article [www.npr.org] about how many of the people gathering at Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-day are dressing up in military uniforms like its some kind of cosplay. Not really sure how I feel about that. Maybe I'm jus turning into an old old curmudgeon but that just doesn't seem right to me. What's your thoughts?https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100083#msg-1100083Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:47:45 -0400 Phorum 5.2.18 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1101199#msg-1101199 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1101199#msg-1101199 21Dog Bucky's PubSat, 15 Jun 2024 09:53:22 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1101025#msg-1101025 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1101025#msg-1101025
These appreciation medals have the distinction of being handed out by President Eisenhower himself or by his direction through military aides. This Presidential provenance limits availability to collectors as these medals are treated as presidential heirlooms by the original recipients' families.

President Eisenhower presented these medals to deserving individuals in thankful recognition for service to our nation, the White House, or the Presidency. This Presidential provenance limits availability to collectors as these medals are treated as presidential heirlooms by the original recipients' families. Also, several of the medals were presented to foreign nationals during Eisenhower's multi-nation trips.

There are three classes of the medals: US Half-Dollar Size, US Silver Dollar size, and Inaugural Medal size. Gomez catalogued the 17 medals as DDE-01 through DDE-017. A total of 9,858 medals were struck at the US Mint in Philadelphia. 1,451 medals were destroyed before the end of President Eisenhower's 2nd term in office. 160 medals are part of the D.D.E. Presidential Library. A USSR, Philippines, Formosa, and Alaska medals were originally ordered and later cancelled.

DDE-02 is the rarest US half-dollar size medal with a population of 436. DDE-08 is the 5th rarest of the 10 US Silver Dollar size medals, with a remaining population of 267. I also included a few interesting memos.

Today, there are 8,247 which are in the hands of the original recipients (or their heirs) and collectors. 160 medals are part of museum collections.

There are 3 classes of Dwight D. Eisenhower appreciation medals. The first class is the same size as the US silver half-dollar. The second class is the same size as a US Morgan or Peace silver dollar. The third class is the same size as the US Mint 1957 inauguration medal.

The US silver dollar size medal is the most interesting as it depicts a design of the location in which President Eisenhower traveled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I saw a Paris Summit medal just like mine for sale on eBay for around $1500.]]> MamaRAMa Bucky's PubThu, 13 Jun 2024 21:25:46 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100980#msg-1100980 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100980#msg-1100980 IowaRam Bucky's PubThu, 13 Jun 2024 17:50:20 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100491#msg-1100491 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100491#msg-1100491 Atlantic Ram Bucky's PubSun, 09 Jun 2024 18:34:30 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100465#msg-1100465 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100465#msg-1100465
I also did my duty in Germany, as you know. A little north of you in Heidelberg. Used to travel to your base often.

At that time there were still some active duty WWII vets, quite a few actually. Spent many days having a lager with many and listening to their stories, loving every second of it!]]> JamesJM Bucky's PubSun, 09 Jun 2024 14:58:02 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100464#msg-1100464 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100464#msg-1100464 Ramgator Bucky's PubSun, 09 Jun 2024 14:57:16 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100427#msg-1100427 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100427#msg-1100427 ferragamo79 Bucky's PubSun, 09 Jun 2024 11:40:20 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100422#msg-1100422 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100422#msg-1100422The movie Bridge of Spies (2015) is about the U-2 spy incident that made the conference fall apart. Anyhow, my dad was one of the pilots who flew Secretary of State, Dean Rusk along with other government dignitaries on the journey to the conference. As a thank you, President Eisenhower gave the pilots a presidential medal which is now considered to be a cold war artifact. My dad was so honored and proud to receive it that he packaged it up and sent it my mom while we were still in Wichita. I was in the 3rd grade and my teacher had been my dad's teacher when HE was a kid. I took the medal to school for show-and-tell. While I was at recess... someone stole the medal out of my desk. I was so upset that I cried for the rest of the day. I was afraid to go home after school. I just knew my mom was gonna give me a spanking I'd never forget.

I walked into the house with a tree limb I'd found in the yard so she could give me what I had coming. I could barely get out what happened I was crying so hard. My mom was not happy. She was sympathetic. We went back up to the school and looked everywhere for the medal. We talked to the principal, the custodian, other teachers. Of course, nobody had seen it. When we got back home, I asked if maybe I could write a letter to President Eisenhower asking him to replace the medal which had been stolen. My mom said;... it doesn't hurt to try. I wrote a letter addressed to President Eisenhower at the White House and told him what happened and how important that medal was to my dad. My letter was about 3 pages long so my mom helped me shorten it. About a month later, I got a letter from President Eisenhower on White House stationery, signed by him... with another medal! OH HAPPY DAY!! My mom said.. This medal does not leave the house again and for the next 50 years, it never did. . My dad had his medal back, but I had the letter from President Eisenhower and it became my most prized possession.

When I was in college, I lived with my grandparents for a time. I got a summer job working at a camp in Massachusetts and stored all my stuff in their basement: mementos, scrapbooks, yearbooks, diaries, important papers, etc. While I was away, their basement flooded and, ... you guessed it, the letter from President Eisenhower was destroyed and could not be salvaged. I was sick. Still am.
There was nothing I could do about it. Nothing. Years later, my dad came down with lung cancer and his health was failing. During one of my visits to see him, he presented me with the medal. My dad told me that he wanted me to have the medal because of my part in what it took to get it. My dad died in Aug. 2013. That medal had a special meaning to me and my dad that my brothers and sister just wouldn't have.

I treasure it now more than ever and keep it under lock and key. Here's a pic of it.

[attachment 11310 ParisSummit1960-Eisenhowermedal1.jpg]
[attachment 11311 ParisSummit1960-Eisenhowermedal2.jpg]]]> MamaRAMa Bucky's PubSun, 09 Jun 2024 11:13:43 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100367#msg-1100367 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100367#msg-1100367
so by the time this movie had come out , Eisenhower had already been President for 8 years , pretty much the entire world knew what he sounded like

if the actor didn't sound anything like him , it would have been pretty noticeable

the one actor I never bought into playing Eisenhower was Tom Selleck , a decent enough movie , but not for a second , I ever felt like I was watching Eisenhower

poster-342.jpg

]]> IowaRam Bucky's PubSat, 08 Jun 2024 12:51:28 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100321#msg-1100321 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100321#msg-1100321 Ramgator Bucky's PubFri, 07 Jun 2024 22:10:26 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100310#msg-1100310 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100310#msg-1100310
The interesting thing is... Henry Grace wasn't an actor at all. He was a set decorator who won an Oscar in 1958 for Best Art Direction for the movie Gigi. During his career in film as a set decorator Grace was nominated in the category of Best Art Direction for twelve other movies. He got the part in The Longest Day" because he strongly resembled Eisenhower. Ironically, it's not Henry Grace's voice we hear in the movie, though. The voice of General Eisenhower in The Lontest Day was dubbed by voice-over artist Allen Swift.]]> MamaRAMa Bucky's PubFri, 07 Jun 2024 19:02:48 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100308#msg-1100308 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100308#msg-1100308
but............

as a documentary , or a docudrama , it's A+

the film it's self has some pretty bad acting , and some pretty bad cringe moment

but as a docudrama , it's awesome , as it gives , names , places , and even the time , right down to the minute , as the invasion was happening

I still remember every second of that scene with Red Buttons hanging from the church roof , or whatever building that was , saw it as a kid , and I still remembered every bit of it





but...........

I had forgotten Sean Connery was in it



]]> IowaRam Bucky's PubFri, 07 Jun 2024 18:50:55 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100306#msg-1100306 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100306#msg-1100306
but none of them had what you would call a Lead roll , most everyone were very little more then cameos

even big name actors like John Wayne and Henry Fonda were probably in it for no more the 10 minutes

there were a couple German actors , that might have had the largest parts

they did do a great job casting the actor to play Eisenhower , you almost have to take a double take , to see if they didn't actually cast Eisenhower to play Eisenhower......................lol

e03bb3885261fb39-600x338.jpg

]]> IowaRam Bucky's PubFri, 07 Jun 2024 18:37:30 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100232#msg-1100232 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100232#msg-1100232 Ramgator Bucky's PubFri, 07 Jun 2024 08:34:57 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100199#msg-1100199 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100199#msg-1100199I haven't seen it again since then. All I remember is that it had a bunch of well-known actors in it. I guess I need to watch it again sometime.]]> MamaRAMa Bucky's PubThu, 06 Jun 2024 22:48:51 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100195#msg-1100195 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100195#msg-1100195
]]> SeattleRam Bucky's PubThu, 06 Jun 2024 21:31:19 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100191#msg-1100191 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100191#msg-1100191 Ramgator Bucky's PubThu, 06 Jun 2024 21:13:40 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100170#msg-1100170 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100170#msg-1100170
it's been several years since we've watched it]]> IowaRam Bucky's PubThu, 06 Jun 2024 18:12:07 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100166#msg-1100166 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100166#msg-1100166World War II veteran Robert Persichitti dies at 102 while traveling to France for D-Day’s 80th anniversary

By Dakin Andone, CNN
Updated 3:11 PM EDT, Thu June 6, 2024

[attachment 11296 RobertPersichittiWW2veteran.jpg]
US Navy veteran Robert Persichitti, seen here in March 2019, passed away while on his way to Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Sgt. Mark Gibson/US Marine Corps


Robert Persichitti, a 102-year-old World War II US Navy veteran, died last week while on his way to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, according to Honor Flight Rochester, a veteran’s organization.

Persichitti was a “wonderful, pleasant, humble guy,” who was “easy know, easy to talk to,” said Honor Flight Rochester President and CEO Richard Stewart, who told CNN he learned of his friend’s death last Friday.

“We miss him,” said Stewart.

While Persichitti passed away bound for Normandy — where the Allied forces’ landing on June 6, 1944, laid the foundation for the defeat of Nazi Germany — he served in the Pacific as a radioman aboard the USS Eldorado, Stewart said. His tour of duty included Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Guam, according to Stewart and the New York State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame, into which Persichitti was inducted in 2020.

Persichitti fell ill last week during a stop in Germany while headed for Normandy, Al DeCarlo, a friend who was traveling with Persichitti, told CNN affiliate WHAM. Persichitti was airlifted to the hospital and died soon after, DeCarlo said.

“The doctor was with him. He was not alone, he was at peace and he was comfortable,” DeCarlo said. “She put his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, on her phone and he peacefully left us.”

Persichitti had heart problems in the past, “but for 102, I would say he was in superb health,” Stewart told CNN.

Persichitti was born in a coal mining town outside Pittsburgh, Stewart said, describing his friend Bob’s “humble, poor beginnings.” After the war, Persichitti worked as a carpentry teacher in Rochester, New York, according to the Veterans Hall of Fame, and in 1972 received a degree from SUNY Buffalo.

Persichitti enjoyed traveling and speaking with younger generations about his experiences, often visiting schools to talk with students about World War II, his friend, Pastor William Leone, told WHAM.

“It was a privilege to know him, and I will miss him,” Leone told the station.

Persichitti was one of the few surviving Americans who served in World War II, a population that is rapidly waning. As of 2023, just 119,550 of the 16.4 million who served – less than one percent – were still alive, according to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. At that time, about 131 World War II veterans were dying each day, the museum said.

US President Joe Biden underscored this point Thursday, telling those gathered at this year’s D-Day commemoration in Normandy that it may be the last to involve living veterans. That fact, he said, should push Americans to continue the fight against tyranny.

“We’re not far off from the time when the last living voices of those who fought and bled on D-Day will no longer be with us,” Biden said. “So we have a special obligation. We cannot let what happened here be lost in the silence of the years to come.”

[www.cnn.com]]]> MamaRAMa Bucky's PubThu, 06 Jun 2024 17:49:04 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100120#msg-1100120 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100120#msg-1100120 Ramgator Bucky's PubThu, 06 Jun 2024 09:00:52 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100085#msg-1100085 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100085#msg-1100085 JamesJM Bucky's PubWed, 05 Jun 2024 21:41:12 -0400 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100083#msg-1100083 https://ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?4,1100083,1100083#msg-1100083www.npr.org] about how many of the people gathering at Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-day are dressing up in military uniforms like its some kind of cosplay. Not really sure how I feel about that. Maybe I'm jus turning into an old old curmudgeon but that just doesn't seem right to me. What's your thoughts?]]> SeattleRam Bucky's PubWed, 05 Jun 2024 20:36:56 -0400