Today’s date is June 6th, a
very important date, not only to America, but to the entire world. On this date
in 1944, the United States, England, France and all of their allies launched
the “D-Day” invasion of Normandy against Hitler’s NAZI regime. There wasn’t a
home or family in the entire free world which didn’t have an interest in an
Allied victory on that fateful day. Hitler had a virtual stranglehold on all of
Europe, and he was hoping for a victory over Russia to steal her wealth of oil
and natural resources to make his quest for world domination a reality.
Hitler’s walk through Europe had been
relatively easy; some nations just laid down their arms in surrender while
other nations fell in a few short weeks to the German onslaught. England had
been the chief target of Hitler’s “Blitzkrieg” of saturation bombing and the
world’s first rocket attacks from the “V-2”, a precursor to our modern guided
missiles. Hitler had some scientists working on “heavy water” in preparation
for the development of atomic weapons; and he wasn’t too far away from the
development of those weapons near the end of the war. The Germans were even in
development of jet aircraft, and that would have most certainly been a game
changer for all of us.
To date, the “D-Day” invasion stands
as the largest single invasion by sea in human history. Hundreds of thousands
of people from numerous backgrounds and nations chose to move against one of
history’s most vicious war machines. Many of the commanders felt that if this
invasion wasn’t a success, the war could be lost, and Hitler would not only
control Europe, but defeat Russia and then be able to move against the entire
world. This was a battle that had to be won at all cost. Wave after wave of
fighting men “hit those beaches”, some dying while their boots were still wet
with Atlantic water as they ran ashore. All of the Allies paid a dear price to
turn the NAZI horde from their gun emplacements and cause them to move inland.
OZ had a “yellow brick road”; the road from Normandy was “bright red”, paved
with soldier’s blood! The initial invasion suffered 10,000 Allied casualties,
and that was just the beginning!
This successful invasion made Hitler’s
dream crumble, as he now was facing a “Two-Front” war with enemies who were
determined to obliterate this dictator and his dreams from the face of the
earth. The Germans fought with great tenacity and victories in battle after
battle were never easy; many letters were sent home to grieving families during
those years of hope and pain, as fighting men gave their all to attain that
final victory.
In less than a year from that invasion,
Hitler would take his own life in a bunker far below the Berlin streets. He
died like a cowardly criminal, afraid to face the responsibility of what he had
done to the world and to the people of Germany.
The generation that defeated the NAZI
menace and preserved our freedom, when freedom was in real jeopardy, is growing
thin. My Uncles and my Dad are gone, and I’m sure many of you have parents and
grandparents who are aging or gone, who were part of this amazing generation.
We just celebrated “Memorial Day” not
long ago, and as a veteran, I believe in that tribute to our fallen heroes. I
would like to take this opportunity to put in a plug for this date, June 6th
, as a new national holiday, to honor those men who gave up so much on that
day; and not only those men, but their families who also paid the price to free
an entire world from its greatest threat to date. We should never forget that
“Greatest Generation” and June 6th would be a good date to do just
that!
(This is my last blog until next
Wednesday. I’m taking a short vacation, fly your flag today.)
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