Remembering D-Day June 6, 1944

Today, June 6 is the anniversary of D Day.....the day allied forces re-established a bloody foothold on European soil.

Anyone who has seen the movie Saving Private Ryan or similar depictions of the invasion knows what a horrific event it was for tens of thousands of frightened young men who stormed open beaches and fought their way ashore through well prepared and heavily fortified German defenses.

This was one war that the American public stood firmly behind and patriotism knew no bounds as there was no question that the Nazi juggernaut that had overrun much of Europe and was in the process of exterminating an entire race of people must be stopped.

It was a period of patriotism that will never be seen again in this country,

Like many American families all of my of age uncles and aunts volunteered for military service and served for the duration of the war, including my one uncle who having survived a 100 foot fall from a construction worksite which broke multiple bones and left him badly hobbled. Rejected by the army four times he was finally accepted when the pool of eligible and preferred young, healthy men had dried completely up. He proudly served for the duration of the war, as did two aunts, one of which served as a combat nurse and another, which served in the Army Women's Corps.

A second uncle landed on June 6 on the beaches of Normandy where he experienced the horror and the bravery of American troops. He was fortunate enough to have lived through the entire war, fighting his way through France and deep into Germany by the time the war ended.

This latter uncle was always reluctant to speak of the war. He had lost many friends and had witnessed so much death and destruction it pained him to recall any of it. On one occasion (at the funeral of a fellow soldier) he did discuss that day, D-Day, when he as an 18-year-old farm boy landed at Normandy.

He landed in the sixth wave to find the beach littered with equipment that had either been swamped by the high seas or had been knocked out by heavy direct fire from the fortified German bunkers. American tanks on which the American forces depended to neutralize the concrete bunker fire sat submerged in six feet of water. By the time he waded ashore none of the three tank companies (54 tanks) had made it ashore.

Landing craft used to shuttle men ashore lay entangled in underwater obstacles planted by the Germans for that purpose. Many of these craft contained remnants of their crews some wounded, others dead.

On the beach bodies of those killed lay like litter every 10-12 feet, as the enemy fire was still too heavy to recover the bodies. Others floated face down in the surf, having never come close to making it ashore.

The beach was pure, disorganized chaos.

With giant tears rolling down his cheeks my uncle described how incredibly brave young men attempted to climb 200 foot high cliffs, in the face of heavy German fire, supported only by a thin rope and a tenuously held grappling hook. As one man fell to enemy machine gun and rifle fire, another quickly took his place until late in the day the summit was reached and the enemy fire could be neutralized.

The sacrifices made on that day 64 years ago were too numerous and too tragic to summarize, but should never, ever be forgotten.

It was the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany.

We can never be grateful enough for those who gave everything on the invasion beaches of France...Tom Brokaw has labeled these men and women who served a fought in WWII as The "Greatest Generation". ..who can debate it?

On D Day and every day we need to give thanks for the brave men and women who participated on June 6, 1944.