D-Day +75 years
June 6, 1944 - June 6, 2019
"They did not know if they would survive the hour. They did not know if they would grow old. But they knew that America had to prevail. Their cause was this Nation, and generations yet unborn.” -President Donald J. Trump
WWII had been raging for years. The German Navy had been actively attacking our support vessels at sea and our military was directly combating their occupation of the northern African countries. Needless to say, America was actively supporting our Alliance of free Nations, but after the Japanese attack on our Pearl Harbor Naval fleet, we now had to send our men to join Freedom’s war effort in Europe and Asia.
D-Day in military speak means the start day of a planed operation, this one was called Operation Neptune, the largest ever amphibious landing in history. NAZI Germans had invaded all the way to France and heavily fortified the French coastline facing the UK. During the night of June 5,1944 (D-Day minus 1), C-47s left England and flew to Normandy, France behind the beaches under fire and dropped 24,000 paratroopers from the US, UK, and Canada. The zebra stripes on their tails were painted on for this particular mission.
According to the D-Day Center, 156,115 men, 6,939 ships & landing craft, 2,395 aircraft and 867 gliders took part in our invasion assault to liberate occupied France. Sadly, 9,388 Americans are now buried in the American Normandy Cemetery, which rests above the Omaha Beach cliff in Normandy, France. All of the white headstones are lined in rows facing the ocean toward home.
Please, take time to learn about this sacrifice, teach your children and grandchildren, and if you have the means, go to France and stand on this hallowed ground. We have been there and recently an art visitor shared with us their grandchild’s reaction upon being taken to Normandy. She said it was the most beautiful sad place she’s ever seen.
“Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” –Winston Churchill, former UK Prime Minister, 1948
(c) 2019 YS
