D-Day 70th Anniversary: Remembering the Kelley Brothers

6/6/19:  Today is the 75th anniversary of D-Day and I am reposting my tribute to Shreveport's own Kelley brothers.  During the course of this research I was blessed to meet Charlotte, one of the members of the Kelley family and she was a great help in filling out some of the family history.  As this article explains, Bose Kelley was killed in the Normandy invasion on D-Day and is buried in Greenwood cemetery in the veteran's section in Shreveport. If you want to visit his grave it is not hard to find: there are always flowers placed on his grave, and a flag, and he is buried right next to his brother, William.




On this 70th anniversary of D-Day, I'm running a version of one of my columns at DaTechGuy; here in Shreveport, one family lost three sons in less than two years in World War II.  During that war many families across our nation lost more than one son, but as far as I know, the Kelley family is the only family in Shreveport that lost three sons-- one of them in the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.  

Like all of America, Shreveport watched the unfolding events at Pearl Harbor in 1941 with horror.  

In February 1942, William G. Kelley (his friends and family called him “Bob”) felt the call to service and enlisted in the Army Air Corps.  He had graduated from the local high school, attended Louisiana College, and was attending seminary.  He was ordained at the First Baptist Church in Shreveport by Dr. M. E. Dodd.  When he enlisted, Bob was preaching at the Evangeline Mission, a new church in town that he helped build with the assistance of the Queensborough Baptist Church.

Bob Kelley went to officers’ school and became a bombardier; he went with the Eighth Air Force to England.  Lt. Kelley had been overseas only six weeks when his plane crashed near Fontainebleau, France and claimed his life on November 10, 1944.  He was twenty-four years old.

The Evangeline Mission, where Bob was a preacher, was renamed for him as Kelley Memorial Baptist Church.

A second Kelley son, Bose, Jr., died in the D-Day invasion.  Al McIntosh, writing for the Rock County Star Herald, wrote on June 8, 1944, after learning that the expected invasion of France had finally taken place:

“This is no time for any premature rejoicing or cockiness because the coming weeks are going to bring grim news.  This struggle is far from over – it has only started – and if anyone thinks that a gain of ten miles means that the next three hundred are going to go as fast or easy he is only an ostrich.”

He was correct:  the grim news was only beginning.

William Kelley

Bose Kelly, Jr. enlisted in May 1942.  Bose graduated from Fair Park High School in Shreveport.  He was married to Betty Miller and working as a mechanic at Central Motor Company, a car dealership.  Bose volunteered for the Army Airborne, went to jump school and became a paratrooper.  Bose was part of the 507 PIR which became attached to the 82^nd Airborne in 1943. The 507 PIR was activated at Fort Benning, Georgia on July 20, 1942 and trained there and in Alliance, Nebraska.  In 1943, the 507^th PIR shipped out to Northern Ireland, then England, and it was in Nottingham where they prepared for the coming Allied invasion of France.  They studied sand tables, drop zones, and were given Hershey’s chocolates and a carton of cigarettes.

Bose was on a C-47, number 13 in his stick, as the plane lumbered through the fog banks toward Drop Zone T, near the west bank of the Merderet River.  Because of the fog and the incoming German flak, the C-47s flew faster and higher than anticipated which caused almost all of the paratroopers to miss the drop zone.  They were scattered over a 15 mile area.  The 507^th was the last regiment to jump and by the time Bose Kelley’s C-47 was over the Cotentin peninsula the entire area was stirred up with flak coming from every direction. There were sixteen men in Bose Kelley’s stick and at least eight of them were killed that night.  The Germans had flooded the valley as a defensive tactic and some paratroopers, weighted down by equipment and unable to swim, drowned.  Bose Kelley was killed by a direct hit from an artillery shell.

Major General Paul F. Smith wrote in his Foreword to Dominique Francois’s history of the 507^th,

“This regiment unquestionably received the worst drop of the six US parachute regiments dropped that night.”

Howard Huebner, who was number 3 in Bose’s stick, survived that drop.  He wrote:

I am a Paratrooper! I was 21 yrs old when we jumped into Normandy. 

We knew the area where we were supposed to land, because we had studied it on sand tables, and then had to draw it on paper by memory, but that all faded as our regiment was the last to jump, and things had changed on the ground. Most of us missed our drop zone by miles.  As we were over our drop zone there was a downed burning plane. Later I found out it was one of ours. The flack was hitting our plane and everything from the ground coming our way looked like the Fourth of July. 

When I hit the ground in Normandy, I looked at my watch.  It was 2:32 AM, June 6, 1944. I cut myself out of my chute, and the first thing I heard was shooting and some Germans hollering in German, "mucksnell toot sweet Americanos". 

We the 507th, was supposed to land fifteen miles inland, but I landed three or four miles from Utah Beach by the little town of Pouppeville. I wound up about 1000 yards from a French farm house that the Germans were using for a barracks, and about 200 feet from a river, an area that the Germans had flooded. If I would have landed in the water, I may not be here today as I can’t swim. A lot of paratroopers drowned because of the flooded area.

Local writer Gary Hines spoke to Bose’s widow, Betty, for an article he wrote for the August 2000 issue of SB Magazine.  She told him, “He was going to win the war and come back home.”  Betty was married at 18 and a widow at 20.  She told Mr. Hines “We were both young enough to feel that he was coming home.  He wasn’t going to be one of the ones who was lost.”

A third Kelley son, Edgar Rew, was drafted into the Army in 1943.  He was sent to Camp McCain in Mississippi where he died five weeks later from an outbreak of spinal meningitis.  He never made it out of basic training.  He was 27 years old; he left behind a wife of five years.

The remaining Kelley brother was Jack.  Jack Richard Kelley was serving in the medical corps in Washington at Fort Lewis.  His father, Bose Kelley, Sr., wrote to U.S. Representative Overton Brooks and pleaded with him to prevent his oldest son from going overseas.   It is reminiscent of the scene in Saving Private Ryan where General Marshall reads the Bixby letter to his officers.  In this case, in a letter dated December 8, 1944, Mr. Kelley received word that his son Jack would remain stateside for the duration of the war.  Jack Kelley died in 1998.

The bodies of Bose Kelley, Jr. and his brother William (Bob) were buried in separate military funerals in France but were returned to the United States in September 1948.  Bose and his brother now rest side by side in the veterans section of Greenwood Cemetery in Shreveport.  Their brother, Edgar Rew Kelley, is in a civilian cemetery across town, the Jewella Cemetery on Greenwood Road.  Their father, who pleaded for his fourth son to be spared, died just one month after Bose and William’s bodies were buried in Greenwood Cemetery.  It’s as if he was just waiting for them to come home.

For sixty-five years their sister, Ruby, tended the graves of her brothers.  There has never been a time that I visited the graves that there was not a crisp American flag flying over each and flowers.  Ruby died last year and the graves are now tended by Ruby's daughter.  I visited the graves of Bose and William last week and sure enough, there were two new flags and flowers steadfastly in place.

As we observe this 70th anniversary of D-Day, we remember the sacrifices of young men like the Kelleys all across the country. Their name belongs alongside the Sullivan brothers, the Borgstrum brothers, the Niland brothers, and the Wright brothers.  It is their heroism and their sacrifice, along with that of so many others, that we remember and honor.

For further reading:

Veterans Return to Normandy for D-Day Anniversary

D-Day at 70:  Historic Photos From the Invasion of Normandy

D-Day Veteran Remembers Sword Beach

D-Day Veteran:  I Don't Want Them to be Forgotten

The National WWII Museum: Timeline, Maps, Videos and Photos of D-Day

The 507th PIR Unit History

D-Day 2016: Remembering the Kelley Brothers

On this anniversary of D-Day, I'm running a version of one of my columns at DaTechGuy; here in Shreveport, one family lost three sons in less than two years in World War II.  During that war many families across our nation lost more than one son, but as far as I know, the Kelley family is the only family in Shreveport that lost three sons-- one of them in the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.  

Like all of America, Shreveport watched the unfolding events at Pearl Harbor in 1941 with horror.  

In February 1942, William G. Kelley (his friends and family called him “Bob”) felt the call to service and enlisted in the Army Air Corps.  He had graduated from the local high school, attended Louisiana College, and was attending seminary.  He was ordained at the First Baptist Church in Shreveport by Dr. M. E. Dodd.  When he enlisted, Bob was preaching at the Evangeline Mission, a new church in town that he helped build with the assistance of the Queensborough Baptist Church.

William "Bob" Kelley

Bob Kelley went to officers’ school and became a bombardier; he went with the Eighth Air Force to England.  Lt. Kelley had been overseas only six weeks when his plane crashed near Fontainebleau, France and claimed his life on November 10, 1944.  He was twenty-four years old.

The Evangeline Mission, where Bob was a preacher, was renamed for him as Kelley Memorial Baptist Church.

A second Kelley son, Bose, Jr., died in the D-Day invasion.  Al McIntosh, writing for the Rock County Star Herald, wrote on June 8, 1944, after learning that the expected invasion of France had finally taken place:

“This is no time for any premature rejoicing or cockiness because the coming weeks are going to bring grim news.  This struggle is far from over – it has only started – and if anyone thinks that a gain of ten miles means that the next three hundred are going to go as fast or easy he is only an ostrich.”

He was correct:  the grim news was only beginning.

Bose F. Kelley, Jr.

Bose Kelly, Jr. enlisted in May 1942.  Bose graduated from Fair Park High School in Shreveport.  He was married to Betty Miller and working as a mechanic at Central Motor Company, a car dealership.  Bose volunteered for the Army Airborne, went to jump school and became a paratrooper.  Bose was part of the 507 PIR which became attached to the 82^nd Airborne in 1943. The 507 PIR was activated at Fort Benning, Georgia on July 20, 1942 and trained there and in Alliance, Nebraska.  In 1943, the 507^th PIR shipped out to Northern Ireland, then England, and it was in Nottingham where they prepared for the coming Allied invasion of France.  They studied sand tables, drop zones, and were given Hershey’s chocolates and a carton of cigarettes.

Bose was on a C-47, number 13 in his stick, as the plane lumbered through the fog banks toward Drop Zone T, near the west bank of the Merderet River.  Because of the fog and the incoming German flak, the C-47s flew faster and higher than anticipated which caused almost all of the paratroopers to miss the drop zone.  They were scattered over a 15 mile area.  The 507^th was the last regiment to jump and by the time Bose Kelley’s C-47 was over the Cotentin peninsula the entire area was stirred up with flak coming from every direction. There were sixteen men in Bose Kelley’s stick and at least eight of them were killed that night.  The Germans had flooded the valley as a defensive tactic and some paratroopers, weighted down by equipment and unable to swim, drowned.  Bose Kelley was killed by a direct hit from an artillery shell.

Major General Paul F. Smith wrote in his Foreword to Dominique Francois’s history of the 507^th,

“This regiment unquestionably received the worst drop of the six US parachute regiments dropped that night.”

Howard Huebner, who was number 3 in Bose’s stick, survived that drop.  He wrote:

I am a Paratrooper! I was 21 yrs old when we jumped into Normandy. 

We knew the area where we were supposed to land, because we had studied it on sand tables, and then had to draw it on paper by memory, but that all faded as our regiment was the last to jump, and things had changed on the ground. Most of us missed our drop zone by miles.  As we were over our drop zone there was a downed burning plane. Later I found out it was one of ours. The flack was hitting our plane and everything from the ground coming our way looked like the Fourth of July. 

When I hit the ground in Normandy, I looked at my watch.  It was 2:32 AM, June 6, 1944. I cut myself out of my chute, and the first thing I heard was shooting and some Germans hollering in German, "mucksnell toot sweet Americanos". 

We the 507th, was supposed to land fifteen miles inland, but I landed three or four miles from Utah Beach by the little town of Pouppeville. I wound up about 1000 yards from a French farm house that the Germans were using for a barracks, and about 200 feet from a river, an area that the Germans had flooded. If I would have landed in the water, I may not be here today as I can’t swim. A lot of paratroopers drowned because of the flooded area.

Local writer Gary Hines spoke to Bose’s widow, Betty, for an article he wrote for the August 2000 issue of SB Magazine.  She told him, “He was going to win the war and come back home.”  Betty was married at 18 and a widow at 20.  She told Mr. Hines “We were both young enough to feel that he was coming home.  He wasn’t going to be one of the ones who was lost.”

Edgar Rew Kelley

A third Kelley son, Edgar Rew, was drafted into the Army in 1943.  He was sent to Camp McCain in Mississippi where he died five weeks later from an outbreak of spinal meningitis.  He never made it out of basic training.  He was 27 years old; he left behind a wife of five years.

The remaining Kelley brother was Jack.  Jack Richard Kelley was serving in the medical corps in Washington at Fort Lewis.  His father, Bose Kelley, Sr., wrote to U.S. Representative Overton Brooks and pleaded with him to prevent his oldest son from going overseas.   It is reminiscent of the scene in Saving Private Ryan where General Marshall reads the Bixby letter to his officers.  In this case, in a letter dated December 8, 1944, Mr. Kelley received word that his son Jack would remain stateside for the duration of the war.  Jack Kelley died in 1998.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

The bodies of Bose Kelley, Jr. and his brother William (Bob) were buried in separate military funerals in France but were returned to the United States in September 1948.  Bose and his brother now rest side by side in the veterans section of Greenwood Cemetery in Shreveport.  Their brother, Edgar Rew Kelley, is in a civilian cemetery across town, the Jewella Cemetery on Greenwood Road.  Their father, who pleaded for his fourth son to be spared, died just one month after Bose and William’s bodies were buried in Greenwood Cemetery.  It’s as if he was just waiting for them to come home.

For sixty-five years their sister, Ruby, tended the graves of her brothers.  There has never been a time that I visited the graves that there was not a crisp American flag flying over each and flowers.  Ruby died last year and the graves are now tended by Ruby's daughter.  I visited the graves of Bose and William last week and sure enough, there were two new flags and flowers steadfastly in place.

As we observe this 70th anniversary of D-Day, we remember the sacrifices of young men like the Kelleys all across the country. Their name belongs alongside the Sullivan brothers, the Borgstrum brothers, the Niland brothers, and the Wright brothers.  It is their heroism and their sacrifice, along with that of so many others, that we remember and honor.

For further reading:

Veterans Return to Normandy for D-Day Anniversary

D-Day at 70:  Historic Photos From the Invasion of Normandy

D-Day Veteran Remembers Sword Beach

D-Day Veteran:  I Don't Want Them to be Forgotten

The National WWII Museum: Timeline, Maps, Videos and Photos of D-Day

The 507th PIR Unit History

The 507th PIR on D-Day

Today is the 68th anniversary of D-Day.

From History.com:

During World War II (1939-1945), the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.

Check out the site for videos and interactive maps.

One of the groups involved in that invasion was the 507 P.I.R. (Parachute Infantry Regiment).  This unit is sometimes called "the forgotten regiment."  The unit was activated in 1942 at Ft. Benning, GA.  A little history about the unit can be found here.  Here's an excerpt of their participation in the D-Day invasion:

The 507th PIR first saw combat during the Normandy invasion - 6 June 1944. The 507th and the 508th PIRs were to be dropped near the west bank of the Merderet River. The objectives of both regiments was to establish defensive positions in those areas and prepare to attack westward sealing off the Cotentin Peninsula. 

In the pre the predawn hours of D-Day the sporadic patterns of the 507th and the 508th PIRs left troopers spread out over a twenty mile area.  Some who overshot the Drop Zone (DZ) dropped into the Merderet River and its adjoining marshes. Many troopers who jumped with heavy equipment were unable to swim free and drowned. Others roamed the countryside until they encountered other units and joined their effort. Even Colonel Millett, the commanding officer of the 507th was unable to muster his troops and was captured three days after the drop in the vicinity of Amfreville. Only the 2nd Battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles J Timmes  was able to function as a team and began digging in around Cauquigny on the west bank of the Merderet River. 

At that point the 507th was joined with the 508th for the rest of the mission.  Read the rest.

For the Normandy invasion the 507th flew from airbases further north in England than other regiments and thus arrived later to the battle than other units, therefore losing the element of surprise.

Sergeant Bob Bearden was a squad leader of a mortar squad in the 507th  PIR.  Here's an excerpt from his book:

Massive anti-aircraft fire and dense cloud banks encountered over the Normandy coast caused the 507^th to have the worst drop of any of the airborne units participating in Normandy. Most sticks completely missed their drop zones and ended up stranded as individuals or in small groups in totally unknown territory. In addition, their drop zone and surrounding low-lying marshes had been flooded by the Germans, who manipulated locks to make the Merderet River overflow its banks, causing many of the heavily overloaded 507 troopers to drown before they got out of their chutes. 

There's much more at the link.

Here is a photo gallery of some of the members of the 507th PIR.  Look at their faces; check out the guy with the pipe!  So many young lives.

Here is the story of Howard Huebner who was in the 507th PIR, assigned to Company C.  An excerpt:

I am a Paratrooper! I was 21 yrs old when we jumped into Normandy. 

We knew the area where we were supposed to land, because we had studied it on sand tables, and then had to draw it on paper by memory, but that all faded as our regiment was the last to jump, and things had changed on the ground. Most of us missed our drop zone by miles.  As we were over our drop zone there was a downed burning plane. Later I found out it was one of ours. The flack was hitting our plane and everything from the ground coming our way looked like the Fourth of July.  

When I hit the ground in Normandy, I looked at my watch.  It was 2:32 AM, June 6, 1944. I cut myself out of my chute, and the first thing I heard was shooting and some Germans hollering in German, "mucksnell toot sweet Americanos".  

We the 507th, was supposed to land fifteen miles inland, but I landed three or four miles from Utah Beach by the little town of Pouppeville. I wound up about 1000 yards from a French farm house that the Germans were using for a barracks, and about 200 feet from a river, an area that the Germans had flooded. If I would have landed in the water, I may not be here today as I can’t swim. A lot of paratroopers drowned because of the flooded area.

Be sure to read the part where he talks about "a soldier I will never forget."

Huebner was in the same drop plane as Pfc. Bose Kelley; in the drop order, Huebner was #3 and Kelley was #13.

Pfc. Bose F. Kelley, Jr. was from Shreveport.  He died on D-day and is buried here in Shreveport at Greenwood cemetery.

Take time today to read through some of these stories and to remember.

Added:  There's an interesting D-Day documentary at SnagFilms about the secrecy behind the D-Day invasion and the subterfuge against the German army.  (Thanks, Harold, for the heads up.)

Remembering D-Day

In remembering D-Day today, I want to reprint a portion of my post from last year:

I've written before about Greenwood Cemetery here in Shreveport.  It's not far from my house and Steve and I visit there occasionally because there's a huge veteran's section; plus, I have some family buried there.  One day a few weeks ago we decided it had been a while since we'd gone through there so we pulled in, got out of the car and started walking through the veterans section reading headstones.

The veterans buried there are from the Spanish American war on up to current times.  I've mentioned before, we found several with "Purple Heart" notations on their headstones.  I'm always curious about their stories.  Every one of those people buried there has a story.  I wish I knew them all.

I'm particularly interested in the Kelley (brothers?).  I posted on these two not long ago.  We stopped at these graves first because we noticed that they both had the same last name ("Oh how sad for this family to lose two sons in the same year!") and on closer inspection, Steve gasped and said, "Oh no!  He died on D-day!"

Bose F. Kelley died on D-day, June 6, 1944.  William G. Kelley, (his brother?) died on November 10, 1944.

I've tried to do some online research on them but come up pretty empty.  I found this:

...but I can't swear it's the same guy because the date of death isn't the same as what's on his stone.  I have found record of Bose F. Kelley here.  He was part of the 507 parachute infantry regiment; their mission was to drop near Amfreville and "hold the La Fiere causeway in support of the 505th PIR."  They were to hold a defensive line between Gourbesville and Le-Hameau Renouf.  You can read about the mission here and here.  Here is one soldier's testimony of that day.  Here is the site of the son of one of the members of the 507th with pictures and information about that day.

I wish I knew the Kelley's stories.  They have surviving family here somewhere; somebody goes out there regularly and places flowers.  They are not forgotten.

I'm not trying to be lazy in recycling last year's post, but I think about these two fellows on D-Day.  Like I said, I don't know them, never knew them, don't know their family, but I hope one day to learn who they were and hear their story. 

In all actuality, they were like most boys in WWII: young hometown boys who went off on a war to support their country. 

Here are a few D-Day links for you:

WWII Veterans Mark D-Day Anniversary in Normandy.

Omaha Beach and the 67th Anniversary of D-Day

D-Day Veteran Recounts Battle

D-Day Veterans Remember Fighting, Fear, Courage

Watch this lovely video of one veteran's trip with the Louisiana Honor Air program:


Take time to remember today.  I'm going to place a flag at the graves of the Kelley brothers.

Remember D-Day

It's the 66th anniversary of D-Day today but you wouldn't know it by looking at the front of my local paper.  Not a single mention.  Online, I looked at the New York Times site, nothing.  Checked Fox - nope.  Have we become complacent?  Is it too soon after Memorial Day to pay tribute once again to those soldiers of WWII who made such sacrifices for our freedom?

I surfed on over to History.com and found what I was looking for.  Here you can find veteran's stories, videos and interactive maps.

I've written before about Greenwood Cemetery here in Shreveport.  It's not far from my house and Steve and I visit there occasionally because there's a huge veteran's section; plus, I have some family buried there.  One day a few weeks ago we decided it had been a while since we'd gone through there so we pulled in, got out of the car and started walking through the veterans section reading headstones.

The veterans buried there are from the Spanish American war on up to current times.  I've mentioned before, we found several with "Purple Heart" notations on their headstones.  I'm always curious about their stories.  Every one of those people buried there has a story.  I wish I knew them all.

I'm particularly interested in the Kelley (brothers?).  I posted on these two not long ago.  We stopped at these graves first because we noticed that they both had the same last name ("Oh how sad for this family to lose two sons in the same year!") and on closer inspection, Steve gasped and said, "Oh no!  He died on D-day!"

Bose F. Kelley died on D-day, June 6, 1944.  William G. Kelley, (his brother?) died on November 10, 1944.

I've tried to do some online research on them but come up pretty empty.  I found this:

...but I can't swear it's the same guy because the date of death isn't the same as what's on his stone.  I have found record of Bose F. Kelley here.  He was part of the 507 parachute infantry regiment; their mission was to drop near Amfreville and "hold the La Fiere causeway in support of the 505th PIR."  They were to hold a defensive line between Gourbesville and Le-Hameau Renouf.  You can read about the mission here and here.  Here is one soldier's testimony of that day.  Here is the site of the son of one of the members of the 507th with pictures and information about that day.

I wish I knew the Kelley's stories.  They have surviving family here somewhere; somebody goes out there regularly and places flowers.  They are not forgotten.  I went to the cemetery this morning and left a flag for them both.  I'd have left one for every other veteran but Steve would give me the evil eye if he knew I was walking around that cemetery alone and unprotected.  

At any rate, today is D-Day and is another wonderful opportunity to pay tribute and remember.  Go here to read some stories of D-Day veterans.  Go to a cemetery and place a flag.  Hang out your own flag at your home.  Watch a rerun of Band of Brothers.  Visit a veteran's home.  But take time to remember.

Never forget.

Also:  Jules Crittenden has a D-Day post.

Added:  Hot Air has a post.

If you have a D-Day post, email me and I'll link it.

Update:  A Tulsa veteran shares his story.

Right in Florida had the same trouble I did finding any media coverage of the D-Day anniversary.  Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel?  C'mon.

The Other McCain has a D-Day post remembering the Bedford Boys.

My Bossier posts and links back.

SWAC Girl posts and links to a veteran's story from Chesterfield County, VA.

Queen Feels Snubbed

The queen is NOT amused. The NYT reports that Queen Elizabeth is decidedly ticked off at being left out of the upcoming D-Day commemoration to be attended by BHO and Sarkozy. Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be there, but not the queen. The French are blaming the snafu on Brown for not seeing to it that she was invited. The British are blaming the French, saying Sarkozy wants the spotlight for himself and that he will be focused on hosting Obama.

From the NYT: "The queen, who is 83, is the only living head of state who served in uniform during World War II. As Elizabeth Windsor, service number 230873, she volunteered as a subaltern in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, training as a driver and a mechanic. Eventually, she drove military trucks in support roles in England."

Maybe Obama could find a way to smooth this over and make amends for previous snubs instead than adding this one to the list. Or maybe not.


(H/T: Red State)

The Incredible Arrogance of Obama - Asks French Government to Deny Tourists at Normandy When He Visits

John Romano (via Memeorandum) has a brilliant piece on Big Hollywood. And I'd like to write about it but I'm trying to clean my brains off the wall where I beat my head until it exploded. I'll try to get myself together and encourage you to read his article.

That beating my head against the wall thing? It's because I just can't understand, I just can't GET why people adore Barack Obama.

I have commenters on this blog and I know people that fawn over every move he makes. I hear comments along the lines of "Thank GOD we have an intelligent president now! He's awesome! I love him! I *heart* him! He's going to restore America's popularity in the world! Everyone will like us again! He's going to provide health care to EVERY American! He's going to give you a TAX CUT! " Oh, it goes on and on. I don't begrudge them their feelings and opinions, really. That's what makes politics, but I just don't GET it. I guess I'm a knuckle dragging neanderthal. Not intelligent enough to keep up with the masses.

Back to Romano. He's writing about Obama's upcoming visit to Normandy and he compares what is to come with George W. Bush's visit in 2004. For Obama's visit - he has asked that no tourists be allowed to tour Normandy that day because HE will be there. It's the 65th anniversary of D-Day and he doesn't want to let anybody else in. What arrogance!

Don't tell me it's about security either. They managed security when Bush went.

"The 65th Anniversary of D-Day is fast approaching. Barack Obama will attend the events on June 6th as George Bush did in 2004 for the sixtieth memorial service. Here is the rub, as of now Obama’s State Department has asked (read demanded) the French government not allow tour guide services to operate that day. It is a big day for Normandy tourism. Yet, the king will not allow those not connected with government to enjoy the day. Obama is very important you know. This is an unprecedented request. I hope the French come to their senses and deny it.

Compare that with 2004. Security was tight as President Bush and other world leaders were in attendance, but the event was still open to all. A friend relayed the story of waiting in line to use a port-a-potty (a French port-a-potty no doubt, yuck, believe me.) She looks to her left and who he is in the next line waiting patiently? President Bush. Sure he had Secret Service nearby, but he waited like everyone else."

Obama's arrogance is simply beyond belief. I suppose to many people, the people who voted for him, this is not a character flaw. To me, it is. I don't think you can argue a case that he is not arrogant, although I am sure someone will try. Romano has Obama on video (I'm not going to steal his entire post - you'll have to go watch it for yourself!) saying "a light will shine down from somewhere...You will experience an epiphany. And you will say to yourself, 'I have to vote for Barack.'"

Was he "just joking"? Is that "out of context"? Hell, no. He believes this drivel.

Arrogance is a serious character flaw because it leads you to believe that you are always right and you are unable to listen to those who may be able to guide you. You believe your way is the only way and that you can make no mistakes. Like Caesar. Or Oediupus.

You have Wanda Sykes at the Nerd Prom last night telling people that Rush Limbaugh ought to be tried for treason because he said he hopes Obama fails. Okay, she's a comedienne and can say crap like that. But when a President of the United States releases documents that endanger troops and national security, when he releases terrorists onto United States soil, when he alienates longtime allies in favor of leaders who have expressed hate and disdain for us, instituting nationalized health care, nationalizing automakers and banks, well, maybe Wanda Sykes wasn't looking in the right direction when she decided to call someone out for treason.

Romano enourages us to remember the 2010 elections are coming and that there is still time to slow down this train wreck. I honestly do not, at this point, believe that the Obamabots will turn against their leader; they love him. They love Michelle. They love Michelle's arms. They love the dog. But the elections will give the rest of us a chance to slow down the havoc that he is imposing on our country. If he gets all four years unchecked then the damage will be practically unreparable.

As Romano says, NOT what those boys in Normandy died for.

I've got to go finish cleaning brain matter off my walls.