WW2 veteran during the Annual Victory Day Parade, 2007
Wednesday, 12 Mar 2025
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And the band played the Walzing Matilda
And the old men still answered the call
But year after year, the numbers got fewer
Someday noone will march there at all
My parents live in Normandy and there’s a Canadian dude who was a part of the D-Day landings that comes back periodically for the celebrations there. Still kicking, he is. Not kicking very high, but still kicking.
Edit: Point is, it’s a rapidly vanishing population, and it’s super cool and interesting to be able to interact with those folks while they’re still around. Both of my grandfathers fought, but they’re both gone now, so I don’t think I’ll know any more about their stories than I will at this point.
The current oldest veteran is Ilie Ciocan of Romania, born in 1913.
On the bright side, he won the tontine.
Forgot to put it in the title. The photographer is [Alexander Petrosyan](https://plainmagazine.com/alexander-petrosyan-documents-the-enigmatic-beauty-of-his-native-saint-petersburg/)
Less and less each Year…😢😓
God, I can’t image what it must feel like to be a world war 2 vet and see what happening in the world today.
If I remember correctly, he was the last survivor from his battle group.
How orangina got reelected calling heroes like this gentleman “suckers and losers” is a permanent mark on the US
What a gnarly feeling that must be to come out of that war alive.
My grandpa was part of the second fleet to land on Normandy, after the high casualty of the first fleet that landed. He couldn’t talk about the war without crying either.
Now and always… F**k Nazis.
That is the saddest part. Less and less of our Veterans every year. If they have’nt heard it in a while…..THANK YOU!! We all appreciate what you’ve done.
so heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. The weight of history in one photo, like how do you even process that?
Oddly enough just came across this song in a book (once in a sunburnt country, by Bill Bryson) – didn’t get to this verse though. Hits hard.
Edit: oh oh oh. I was wrong. Not even remotely close. Waltzing Matilda is an Australian anthem. Lyrics above are from The Pogues. The latter is … not uplifting.
My grandfather was a WW2 veteran, born in 1925.
I remember in the 90’s he was the president of the local veterans association; each year he witnessed the numbers shrinking, until he was the only one left.
For a couple of years, though, it was nice to see the veterans gathering, sharing their stories, some of the cammarads met after 50 years, and learned from them.
Interbellum era was totally different.
If he had lived to 2024, he would also be crying. But for a different reason.
New users are to post original content and not common pictures from the internet
If anyone else is wondering why it looks AI generated, it’s because it was upscale with AI
Incredible image.
My grandfather was a WW2 veteran, born in 1925.
I remember in the 90’s he was the president of the local veterans association; each year he witnessed the numbers shrinking, until he was the only one left.
For a couple of years, though, it was nice to see the veterans gathering, sharing their stories, some of the cammarads met after 50 years, and learned from them.
Interbellum era was totally different.
My grandfather was a WW2 veteran, born in 1925.
I remember in the 90’s he was the president of the local veterans association; each year he witnessed the numbers shrinking, until he was the only one left.
For a couple of years, though, it was nice to see the veterans gathering, sharing their stories, some of the cammarads met after 50 years, and learned from them.
Interbellum era was totally different.
the man it his 70s, if this photo was made in 2007, teh question how old was he in 40s?
Damn
Ai
This is your reminder that we call them the Greatest Generation because they shot a lot of Nazis.
He was hit so hard in battle that his hips rotated 180 degrees. That’s why he’s wearing his pants backward.
Normally I have a hard time connecting with the stories that are told by a photograph but this one really hit me hard. I’m not sure what it is about it.
Something about how he’s surrounded by people, but just… completely alone. Even with specifically those people who have gathered to celebrate him, they don’t *know.* Not really, at least. How could they?
I think I might be the only one weirded out by the fact we still commemorate this war so heavily, 80 years later, while letting other equally horrendous shit happen. I cannot think about that when looking at stuff like this.
https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/35dy8w/emotional_wwii_veteran_at_a_victory_day_parade_in/
Survivors guilt is real! 😇
Around 27 MILLION Soviets died fighting the Nazism……out of 10 Nazis, 7 were killed by Soviet bullet……..facts!
When there is no one alive who directly remembers the actual Nazis the new Nazis will make themselves known.
Stop living in the past.. get over it.. stop playing victim