On this day, June 6th, 2009, I am remembering the brave men who fought, and died, on the beaches of occupied France. The names of those beaches is etched in history... Omaha, Utah, Juno, Sword, Gold...
On June 6th, 1944, 150,000 Allied soldiers clambered aboard heaving landing craft and braved 6 foot swells, relentless machine gun fire and more than 6 million land mines to claim a stretch of sand in a place called Normandy. Their mission was to carve out an Allied foothold on the edge of Nazi-occupied Europe for the army of one million that would follow. That army would burst forth from this beach and roll across Europe and into the heart of Germany. They would liberate millions, topple a genocidal regime and end a dark nightmare. But this all began, on these beaches, on THIS day.
The historical and human consequences of their actions are epic.
This is the 65th anniversary of D-Day and the very youngest of these veterans are turning 82 this year. The years to come will see fewer and fewer of their ranks...fewer and fewer of them to share their memories...
Valor, Fidelity, Sacrifice...
