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National East Meets West Day

donmdonm Posts: 10,241 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

National East Meets West Day is observed annually on April 25th. Also known as Elbe Day, this day commemorates the day the Eastern front of the Allied forces met the Western front on the River Elbe. 

World War II had been raging for over six years. During the previous year, several events had begun to turn the tides of the war against the Axis powers. In April of 1945, the Allies were marching toward peace, but it would require a coordinated effort from both American troops in the East and Soviet armies from the West.

The units were not supposed to make contact with each other. They were given orders to remain on their eastern and western banks of the river while officers from each division formalized occupation of Berlin.

However, when the two armies met on April 25th south of Berlin outside Torgau on the River Elbe, patrols were sent across the river in a small boat. The first to make contact were American First Lieutenant Albert Kotzebue and Soviet Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Gardiev along with their commands.

It is also National Take Sons and Daughters To Work Day. Any one in DN taking a child to work today ?

Comments

  • DvilleDawgDvilleDawg Posts: 2,695 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    My dad fought in WWII and his battalion leaders had somebody in each company write a journal all through the war and when it was over they combined all of the journals into a bound book and sent them to each member. Needless to say the book is a treasure. A little hard to read and understand if you are not accustomed to the military terminology but I still treasure the book. It's the only up close insight I could get on the war since my dad would never say a word about it to anybody in the family.


    As to taking your child to work day...I didn't even go into the office today myself much less take my son.

  • CatfishCatfish Posts: 1,703 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
    edited April 2019

    My great uncle drove a tank at the battle of the bulge. He was a tall man and the seat didn't fit him right. He ended up using a crate of hand grenades for a seat. @DvilleDawg that journal sounds neat. I always enjoy looking through stuff like that.


    As far as kids to work day, I'd be better off letting them take me to work!

  • donmdonm Posts: 10,241 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    My dad was a POW FOR 14 months and would hardly say a word about it.

  • DvilleDawgDvilleDawg Posts: 2,695 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    That's why when Band of Brothers came out I was amazed at those guys talking about it. The only thing my dad would talk about was going to Paris on leave and they could parachute out of a plane for a dollar.

  • CatfishCatfish Posts: 1,703 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
    edited April 2019

    My Dad was an Airborne Pathfinder in Korea. He got paid to jump out of airplanes. He said the first time he landed in an airplane is scared the crap out of him. He had been on 22 takeoffs and 0 landings. About all he ever said about it was that they were stationed in Austria and they would wake up and 4-5 of them would be gone and a few days later they would show back up.

  • WCDawgWCDawg Posts: 17,293 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    If you think about it east meets west wherever you are. to the front, back left or right is east, 180 degrees from it stands the west. It's cosmically perfect, like fluffy bunny pillows.

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