Anniversaries

June 6, 2019

Seventy-five years ago today, thousands of young men stormed the beaches of Normandy in the face of withering artillery, machine gun, and small arms fire. Operation Overlord, the largest amphibian military operation in history had begun. The planning was done; now it was time for action, and these mostly teenagers and twenty-somethings succeeded, but it was far from a sure thing on that blustery June morning. Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower had stuffed into his pocket a note he had written earlier: 

"Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone."

Fortunately, he didn’t have to use that note. Although the allies suffered about 12,000 casualties—with an estimated 4900 U.S. troops killed—155,000 successfully made it ashore, with thousands more on the way. Two years earlier, Winston Churchill had spoken of the Second Battle of El Alamein, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning.” With D Day, it was the beginning of the end for Hitler’s Nazi menace. 

It is popular today to label even slight offenses as “Nazi.” Such talk is designed to shut down conversation and debate, but it is an insult to those who sacrificed so much to rid the world of that evil. The freedoms we enjoy today, not only here, but throughout Europe and indeed, the world, have been bought and preserved at great price, and is easily and casually squandered by those who will not take the time nor make the effort to learn and remember. Gratitude is the least we should offer to those remaining from that horrendous conflict.

On a personal note, I am thankful for the years of contentment and fulfillment I have been given through the love, grace, and forgiveness of my wife. Forty-nine years tonight, and I am blessed.