Ah, D-Day. 80 years later.
“Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and Security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-1941. The United Nations have inflicted upon the German great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!
Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”
-Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
80 years is just as long as it isn’t. The boys who jumped that day are now very old men, still able to recall the treacherous firefights they ensued on June 6th, 1944 - some of them, no longer with us. Some of them made it home to live very long lives, recounting their tales of War to their bloodline - and some of them were boys who died before their feet even hit the beaches - What they all had in common was their willingness to sacrifice for something much greater than themselves.
It’s impossible to understand the courage it took to make that jump, pilot that plane, or storm that beach, but each and every one of those men who performed their duty that day were a necessity to secure the free world.
It’s hard not to look back on the Greatest Generation with gratitude & romance for their selflessness & bravery - along with a track record to prove it. We’ll be unapologetically indebted for as long we live that such men once roamed the earth, defending freedom when it was most in peril, and an oppressed people when they had nowhere else to turn.
Today, it’s nothing but gratitude For god, For country, and for the bravest men the world has ever seen.
