Today is June 6, 2023, the 79th anniversary of the airborne assault and amphibious landings made primarily by American, British and Canadian Forces along a 50-mile stretch on the Normandy Coast. So long as human beings live in freedom, it will rank as one of human civilization’s most monumental days. The scale of the endeavor was epic. In fact, it may be the most complicated one ever executed by human beings en masse.
I have been to the beaches, landing zones and cemetery in Normandy while on a visit to Paris. The ride by train and tour I took with my wife and teenage son at the time was in many ways the highlight of the week-long trip to France. Like visiting the USS Arizona, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, it is hallowed ground. Impeccably maintained, I could not escape the reality of the thousands of lives cut short, who gave what Lincoln called the last full measure of devotion. It was an extraordinary and emotional moment for me. As I left the cemetery, I was compelled to stop, turn and look back at those grave markers row upon row and simply said quietly, “thank you boys. You helped save the world.” The visit should be a pilgrimage for every person that believes in Democracy. I am a lifelong history lover and passionate about the history of WWII in particular but I cannot recommend the visit and trip enough to anyone -- history buff or not!
I lived in the UK with my family, 2 little boys, for five years when they were small. Able to visit the sites of battles, markers on buildings, learning how the US was revered following the war. Standing on ground where a cathedral was bombed, ruins left, graves nearby, St. Paul's American Memorial -- the same in France, but the visit to the beaches, to Normandy took me to my knees. There my Dad's stories became reality, and he, more than being my Dad, a sailor whose battleship came to the north of Africa as well as the South Pacific, became a hero, a very real hero with a heart touched by memories of loss and victory from a war that shaped his life and my Moms. This prayer is priceless - God, how we need prayers today in this country that has become unserious/dangerous.
I have a friend who was a little girl living under German occupation and witnessed the sky full of paratroopers that day. She told me she thought they were angels coming to save her. They were.
So today is my Birthday. I was born 11 years after D-Day. Growing up there was this mingling of my Birthday with D-Day. So I learned early about this day. Even now, when I woke up this morning, my first thought was Happy Birthday to me and the second thought was it’s D-Day.
Grass covers the indentations created by the blasts next to the remains of bunkers. I sat quietly on an outcropping away from the tourists to imagine the scene of Allied ships and troops coming closer to the beaches. The French have not forgotten that day and I hope we never will.
And Steve Many including myself believe that it is now "Our" turn to fight and sacrifice for the good of our democratic freedom here at home and not on some foreign soil.
Our Democracy and very way of life will require all of our resolve and ability to muster every form of muscle and support in order for free men and women to defeat the fascist leaders of our enemy here in the next few months.
We must accomplish a vote that will deliver a "Super" majority to our next President who in my mind is our current President.
May the Force be with us in whatever religion or spiritual belief we cherish so that we all as brothers and sisters shall deliver the democratic victory for our future generations of people may not have to fight for freedom again.
My mother would talk about World War ll and how young men would go directly from graduation to fight in the war. My father was one of those men, along with my uncles. They never talked about it and I unfortunately never thought to ask. After he past we found a scrapbook of pictures of my Dad as a very young man with his war buddies equally as young. Pictures of France, the forum and many other places that we weren't familiar with. My mom told us when they were engaged he showed her the scrapbook. It was very important to him.
I had the honour of standing on Juno Beach, assigned to the Canadian Armed Forces, on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, with a couple dozen of veterans (and the Prime Minister and other dignitaries) in attendance. The sense of awe the achievements of that day evoke still lingers.
I have also spoken at the cemeteries of Canadians who fell in the liberation of the Netherlands, many of whom had come ashore in Normandy that day, or fought their way across Italy. Each time I spoke of their achievements and the debt we owed them, I also spoke of how they would feel - knowing the threat of fascism was rising, again, in the nations they had fought and died for. #LestWeForget
As a child of the 50’s, we often played WW II. It seems a bit strange I suppose. But the war was still fresh in our National memory. We would don helmets and gas masks our Fathers had brought home from war. We often memorialized D-Day, Sixth of June in our play. We didn’t realize the full scope of what that meant until we were older and it was taught in school. We were also exposed to movies about it as well. Parents didn’t talk about the War much. But we knew what an important day it was for the world. I don’t think many kids today know much about it. I still think of the men and women lost to that war. I try to respect those lost by never missing an opportunity to vote. Thank you for your article and the link to the statement by FDR. I think these are such important sacrifices to honor and remember.
Thank you for remembering D-Day and the lives lost so man could remain free from the tyranny of fascism. D-Day and Guadalcanal are just a few examples of why my father's generation were considered the greatest generation of the modern Era. Their determination and sacrifice must be acknowledged and taught in schools so their achievements are not forgotten. When sacrifice is forgotten more lives will be lost in future wars.
Jun 7, 2023·edited Jun 7, 2023Liked by Steve Schmidt
The poem below was written by my father just before he flew overseas as a ROG aboard a B17 in the infamous "Bloody 100th" Bomb Group, so named because of its enormous casualty rate. While not specifically about D Day, which came almost two years later, it likely captures the unconscious feelings of so many of those other young men who stormed ashore that day.
I have been to the beaches, landing zones and cemetery in Normandy while on a visit to Paris. The ride by train and tour I took with my wife and teenage son at the time was in many ways the highlight of the week-long trip to France. Like visiting the USS Arizona, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, it is hallowed ground. Impeccably maintained, I could not escape the reality of the thousands of lives cut short, who gave what Lincoln called the last full measure of devotion. It was an extraordinary and emotional moment for me. As I left the cemetery, I was compelled to stop, turn and look back at those grave markers row upon row and simply said quietly, “thank you boys. You helped save the world.” The visit should be a pilgrimage for every person that believes in Democracy. I am a lifelong history lover and passionate about the history of WWII in particular but I cannot recommend the visit and trip enough to anyone -- history buff or not!
I lived in the UK with my family, 2 little boys, for five years when they were small. Able to visit the sites of battles, markers on buildings, learning how the US was revered following the war. Standing on ground where a cathedral was bombed, ruins left, graves nearby, St. Paul's American Memorial -- the same in France, but the visit to the beaches, to Normandy took me to my knees. There my Dad's stories became reality, and he, more than being my Dad, a sailor whose battleship came to the north of Africa as well as the South Pacific, became a hero, a very real hero with a heart touched by memories of loss and victory from a war that shaped his life and my Moms. This prayer is priceless - God, how we need prayers today in this country that has become unserious/dangerous.
I have a friend who was a little girl living under German occupation and witnessed the sky full of paratroopers that day. She told me she thought they were angels coming to save her. They were.
So today is my Birthday. I was born 11 years after D-Day. Growing up there was this mingling of my Birthday with D-Day. So I learned early about this day. Even now, when I woke up this morning, my first thought was Happy Birthday to me and the second thought was it’s D-Day.
Happy birthday, Susan!
Thank you, Steve
Happy Birthday!
Grass covers the indentations created by the blasts next to the remains of bunkers. I sat quietly on an outcropping away from the tourists to imagine the scene of Allied ships and troops coming closer to the beaches. The French have not forgotten that day and I hope we never will.
And Steve Many including myself believe that it is now "Our" turn to fight and sacrifice for the good of our democratic freedom here at home and not on some foreign soil.
Our Democracy and very way of life will require all of our resolve and ability to muster every form of muscle and support in order for free men and women to defeat the fascist leaders of our enemy here in the next few months.
We must accomplish a vote that will deliver a "Super" majority to our next President who in my mind is our current President.
May the Force be with us in whatever religion or spiritual belief we cherish so that we all as brothers and sisters shall deliver the democratic victory for our future generations of people may not have to fight for freedom again.
My mother would talk about World War ll and how young men would go directly from graduation to fight in the war. My father was one of those men, along with my uncles. They never talked about it and I unfortunately never thought to ask. After he past we found a scrapbook of pictures of my Dad as a very young man with his war buddies equally as young. Pictures of France, the forum and many other places that we weren't familiar with. My mom told us when they were engaged he showed her the scrapbook. It was very important to him.
I have walked the beaches of that coast remembering the young men who crawled on them on that fateful day
They were not suckers
There are only a couple events in my life that still move me profoundly. Your comment has moved me significantly but will soon pass by.
The beaches of Normandy await.
Bill Thanks for the note - The endless expanse of sand moved me profoundly - Paul
I traveled to the D-Day beaches last October while on a trip to France. It was an incredibly powerful and moving experience.
I had the honour of standing on Juno Beach, assigned to the Canadian Armed Forces, on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, with a couple dozen of veterans (and the Prime Minister and other dignitaries) in attendance. The sense of awe the achievements of that day evoke still lingers.
I have also spoken at the cemeteries of Canadians who fell in the liberation of the Netherlands, many of whom had come ashore in Normandy that day, or fought their way across Italy. Each time I spoke of their achievements and the debt we owed them, I also spoke of how they would feel - knowing the threat of fascism was rising, again, in the nations they had fought and died for. #LestWeForget
As a child of the 50’s, we often played WW II. It seems a bit strange I suppose. But the war was still fresh in our National memory. We would don helmets and gas masks our Fathers had brought home from war. We often memorialized D-Day, Sixth of June in our play. We didn’t realize the full scope of what that meant until we were older and it was taught in school. We were also exposed to movies about it as well. Parents didn’t talk about the War much. But we knew what an important day it was for the world. I don’t think many kids today know much about it. I still think of the men and women lost to that war. I try to respect those lost by never missing an opportunity to vote. Thank you for your article and the link to the statement by FDR. I think these are such important sacrifices to honor and remember.
Thank you for remembering D-Day and the lives lost so man could remain free from the tyranny of fascism. D-Day and Guadalcanal are just a few examples of why my father's generation were considered the greatest generation of the modern Era. Their determination and sacrifice must be acknowledged and taught in schools so their achievements are not forgotten. When sacrifice is forgotten more lives will be lost in future wars.
Bless you Steve
The poem below was written by my father just before he flew overseas as a ROG aboard a B17 in the infamous "Bloody 100th" Bomb Group, so named because of its enormous casualty rate. While not specifically about D Day, which came almost two years later, it likely captures the unconscious feelings of so many of those other young men who stormed ashore that day.
THE TRAIN FOR WAR
--------------------
Once before this night
ln those other growing nights
ln our millions of childhoods
Within a fluid land
We heard lost trains wheeling
On endless tracks,
Ships seeking perfect harbors
Along a teasing coast
Searching us for directions
Making questions that curved us
To bowstrings of listening in the dark
ln those growing nights before
This night
Our tuned ears pointing, hearing
The fluid land chime its asking
Speechless wonders.
And then the muting
The land flattening to the shape
Of our despairs
Losing its signals
Giving us nothing between
Those nights and this night
Except the steady sound of the years
Like loaded dice rolling us
At last to the harshest remembering,
To this guarding stupor against
A rising in the blood
Holding us still, cunningly
Saving us with dullness.
Until this night, this strangest night
This night destroying all our
Careful pride of bitterness
Ruining our hope of hopelessness
This night as we climb aboard
The train for war
As we listen once again
ln this asking night
ln this breathing wordless asking night
ln this land whose tracks are endless
Between the curve of Puget Sound
And Handy's Saint Louis Blues
ln this luring undiscovered land
That was always there
Beneath our longest winter, our dullest day
Hearing its groundbeat once again
Standing listening in this night
Before we climb aboard for war.
Saul Levitt
Thank you for sharing this, Dan.
Steve
Thanks for providing this unique forum to share these ideas.
My father was in Normandy. Thank ja, he came home.
The "Greatest Generation"!
Lest we forget......🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦
Moving story about effort to return Purple Heart to family of one D-Day fatality. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/the-mysterious-story-of-a-cast-off-purple-heart-citation/