65 years ago , at 6:30 in the morning British Summer Time, by the light of the moon, 160,000 men of the Allied Forces (US, UK, Canadian, Norwegian and Polish troops) began the unthinkable. Operation Overlord, the storming of the beaches of Normandy, France to push back the Nazis and retake Europe. approx 10K casualties , over 6,000 Americans in one days assault. It had to be done , but could it ever be done again if needed....probably not .....but today is not about that, today is about them.
we all truly owe our lives to them , in so many different ways, not just the freedoms we enjoy , but the fact that we came to exist in the first place. My age group was born only 21 years after the invasion....how different would OUR Parents lives have been if not for this invasion, if we sat down with Hitler and his henchmen instead of exterminating them off the map.....how different would the paths of the Allied Nations have been if they hid their heads in the sand. How different would the generation of frenchmen grown up had they been left under Nazi guide?
I personally had the Honor to partake in ceremonies commemorating the invasion, at the time it was May-June 1988 and it was the 44th Anniversary. My Ship the USS Luce DDG-38 was in the midst of a Med/Persian Gulf cruise, and we spent two weeks on the French Riviera attending ceremonies and wreath laying events.....at the post ceremony receptions , over a glass or 20 of Kronenberg, each and everyone , the surviving members of the French Resistance came up to US , 20 something year old U.S. Navy Sailors , and thanked US for what the U.S. Navy had done for them......the re-occurring theme , and I hope I recapture the jist of what they told us , and I hope I do justice in conveying their emotions was
"When i awoke that morning and saw the U.S. Navy Ships as far as the eye could see, I cried with Joy , because although I did not know if I would live through the Day , I would die Happy because I knew my Nation would be free again"
God Bless the Allied Forces,
God Bless the U.S. Navy
God Bless America.
1 comment:
if your ever in new orleans and chances are you will be,visit the d day museum on a very hot afternoon.
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