Sixty-five years ago, at about 6:30 in the morning, a group of young men committed an act of bravery that will live as long as this country exists on the face of the earth. I happen to be a WWII buff, more ETO than the Pacific, especially Normandy. I’m pretty sure I’ve read almost every word written about Operation Overlord. I’ve walked the long rows of white crosses and stars of David that stretch for hundreds of yards at the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. I’ve stood on Omaha Beach. It is absolutely stunning how narrow that beach is, how small is the distance between the shoreline and the cliffs where the German emplacements were. The films don’t really give you a sense of that. It’s almost inconceivable that those boys stepped–or fell, or were shot–out of those crappy little landing boats into the shitstorm on that beach. They faced artillery, rockets, and most diabolically, mounted heavy machine guns that were set up to lay enfilading fire along the beach. Many of them died when the door to their landing craft fell open. Please take a moment to remember them.
That is all.
Comment by happyfeet on 6/7 @ 12:56 am #
I want to but when I try mostly I remember that fascists are evil.
Comment by David on 6/7 @ 5:02 am #
When I visited the American Cemetary at Normady a few years ago I was amazed at how people –families with multiple generations in tow — where there to see a particular grave. I felt like an intruder as I watched two men, clearly brothers, scatter a handful of soil onto a grave that they clearly carried from their home turf in the US.
Comment by Rusty on 6/7 @ 6:02 am #
I managed to drive through Brittany and Normandy without visiting any of our military cemetaries. In every little crossroad town we drove through. It may have had half a dozen houses and a cafe. In the middle of the intersection there would be a manument. Sometimes it was just a small plaque, other villages would have a little oblisk. All of them were well kept as if they were erected the day before. All of them were dedicated to the soldiers of the United States , or Britain, or Canada who died to liberate that small village on June 6 or 7 or 8 1944.
Everything our president has done has trivialized that sacrifice.
Comment by serr8d on 6/7 @ 6:05 am #
I wonder how many Americans raised in today’s ..differing.. society would have the courage to face such a thing. Those men, then, were operating at higher level(s).
Comment by geoffb on 6/7 @ 6:31 am #
I did my comment about D day on another thread before I went to bed.
I would like to again express my thanks for the men and women who have and do serve this country that I love with all my heart.
Comment by serr8d on 6/7 @ 6:56 am #
Still inspiring.
Now there, ladies and gentlemen, was a good man.
Comment by ducktrapper on 6/7 @ 7:45 am #
Let us not forget the courageous young British and Canadian men who fell on the beaches of Juno, Sword and Gold as well as the brave young Americans at Utah and Omaha. God bless them all and thank you. An incredible accomplishment.
Comment by The Monster on 6/7 @ 4:25 pm #
Comment by Swen Swenson on 6/7 @ 4:46 pm #
We should never forget those who have fought for this country. In that spirit we should also remember that we also have a duty to them, as expressed by Lincoln on anther battlefield:
Comment by Mikey NTH on 6/8 @ 5:16 pm #
#4: If you ask, they will come. The last seven+ years attest to that.
Do not forget the great battle that happened two years before. Midway.
Comment by Blitz on 6/9 @ 4:51 pm #
Words are funny things Craig C…I have them, but am afraid to use them here…
Will a hat tip, a flag and a tear do? ‘cus that’s all I got on that. I’m as well read on WWII as any person here, but the words? They don’t flow easily.
Comment by Ron on 10/14 @ 5:33 pm #
I visited the American cemetary at Normandy last summer with my family. When you hear that WWII caused 50,000,000 deaths in the European theater, it’s a meaningless statistic but when you see 9,000 graves the impact is tremendous. All those kids – all those hopeful lives destroyed. It could have been avoided if just a handful of men – perhaps 5 or 10 American, French and British politicians – had opposed the feel-good populist sentiments for disarmament, isolationism and pacifism the 1920’s and 1930’s. Hopefully, today’s politicians who are taking the easy path of populist feel good politics don’t cause a new catastrophe.