06 June 2009

D-Day Remembered


On June 6, 1944 history was made by those who's blood would dampened Omaha beach in a courageous confrontation with evil. In the words of fellow native Michiganian (or Michigander if you prefer) Ted Nugent :

"As you read this, 65 years ago almost to the exact day, tens of thousands of scared young American soldiers were crammed together on landing craft in the English Channel heading for the beaches of Normandy, France. Their mission: save the world. Though they surely didn't know it, these young men in all those landing craft would be forever known in American history as the Greatest Generation.

. . . As the gates of the landing crafts fell, the Nazis unleashed Hell upon the Greatest Generation. In mere minutes, hundreds had been killed or wounded. By day's end the American military would suffer 5,000 casualties, all in the name of freedom. Know it.

. . . The American dead and wounded was so severe that American commanders considered abandoning the beach. But what our commanders had not counted on was the tenacity and fighting spirit of the Greatest Generation. Just as the firemen on 9/11 kept rushing up the stairs of the burning Twin Towers into the hands of God, the landing craft full of American infantry kept coming.

. . . Those young Americans who stormed Omaha beach on that morning 65 years ago on June 6th accomplished their mission: they saved the world."
May we never forget the strength and sacrifice of those who decided to face evil that day. And may we live up to their example when evil needs to be faced in our day.

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