Remembering D-Day

Today is the 69th anniversary of the Allied landings at Normandy in WW II - better known as D-Day.

''London, Tuesday, June 6, 1944: Under command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.''

The world caught its breath. Not since 1688 had an invading army crossed the English Channel, but now it was happening -- Operation Overlord, D-Day, the all-out attack on Hitler's fortress Europe. 

That was a different time, when America was united against a ruthless, cruel, and barbaric enemy.

Today we face an enemy no less ruthless, cruel, and barbaric. Unfortunately, however, we are far from united. Also, thanks in large part to a public school system that is more concerned with political correctness than historical accuracy, our young people have forgotten the lessons painfully learned from the past.

Nevertheless, many of us remember and honor those who fought and died that day.

Following are three links to sites that provide some interesting human and historical insights into D-Day. The first is the U.S. Army's official D-Day web page which includes, among other information, photos of the invasion and a recording of Dwight D. Eisenhower's message broadcast to the troops just prior to the landings.

The second is a site related to the excellent PBS film D-Day:

D-Day is told entirely with rare archival footage -- much of it never shown before -- and the voices of 43 people who were there. Produced by Charles Guggenheim, the film is also a centerpiece for the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans.

There is much more at the link, including links to several human-interest pages (click the Special Features link).

Finally we have a collection of wonderful color photos from Life magazine.

In an interesting coincidence, one of the pictures in the series (below) is of a couple of combat engineers using a crate of ammunition as a makeshift table prior to the invasion. My father was a combat engineer who landed at Omaha Beach. (No, he's not in the picture. That would have been too much of a coincidence.)

"It should never be forgotten that, of all events of our tumultuous 20th century, perhaps the most important was the defeat of the Nazi empire; and for a long and very dark time, for nearly five years, that outcome was by no means certain. D-Day was the turning point. It was day one of the final drive to complete Allied victory."

Bless 'em all...