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Bobby Tony said:
( June 6th, 2016 @ 1:52 pm )
Without a doubt in my mind, our problems today pale in comparison to those of that generation when the fate of the world was in their young hands. They are mostly gone now but will live on for as long as we chose to remember their sacrifice.
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Thanks Wes.
71 years ago today, the Allied troops were all over the beaches of Normandy, dug in, creating huge docks, moving huge amounts of material into Fortress Europe, taking coastal towns, and preparing to move into the infamous Hedgerows, to rid western France of Nazis, in their bloody push into Paris. At that time my father, Robert Earle Deatherage, was finishing up his first year of NC State (they raised boys to be men back then), awaiting his 18th birthday (his mother would not sign for him at 17 to join) so he could join up, in August, 1944, to aid his nation at war. My father would go to the Pacific Theater, help clean up the Philippines and Saipan, and then hit the beaches at Okinawa way before his 19th birthday. By the time they were preparing for the Invasion of Japan, Robert Earl was a Buck Sargent, with a platoon in his care, and not yet 19 years old. These men were great heroes, flawed as humans as we all are, but determined to win the peace for their families, their nation that they loved as if it was a gentle mother, a kind uncle. For me, our soldiers, our patriots, those that give back to their communities are the real heroes. Not the false symbols in today's POP America. When we forget D-Day, Pearl Harbor, Inchon, the repulsion of the Tet Offensive, the successful Surge in Iraq, and, ultimately, then the Democrats' surrender of Iraq, we lose our nation in pieces, and then in large chunks. When the He/She Caitlyn Jenner is today's great hero, rather than observing the victory of Operation Overlord, as we witness now in POP America, some may make the argument that we have lost our nation ... for now at least ... until our patriots take it back. |
Would it be possible we could ever raise a generation without any of them having to go to war, my friends???
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Very well done, Stan. These heroes were our fathers, uncles and grandfathers. Those who survived this and all the other battles to preserve freedom came home to resume lives in our communities and, for my generation, were our teachers and role models. I have learned so much from the members of the Greatest Generation. Unfortunately, we are losing them at a rapid rate…and we will not see their equal when they pass. God bless them all, and God bless America!
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I wrote this as a response to civilians asking what it was like to ride a chopper into a battle zone. It may be similar to what those heroes of D-Day experienced in a much more destructive war when it was certain that they were stepping into hell.
"There is an eerie calm that descends on young men when they wait for the disembark order. In just a few seconds, you will meet either your maker or your enemy. You are highly trained, well practiced, fully supplied, and motivated. There is no noise among the brothers to your right or left. They like you are lost in their thoughts of home, girlfriends, or whatever. I would be tempted to say that there is loneliness in the crowd, but that would not be accurate. There is a lifetime ahead if you are lucky to be lonely. There is only a sense of purpose and one final equipment check, and then they flip the switch. It is similar to stepping from total darkness into bright sunlight or stepping in to total darkness from bright sunlight. All the planning and preparation give way and you are dependent on a few eighteen to twenty year olds who you may not ever have liked in civilian life but today you put your hands in their hands and vice a versa. Here you meet your destiny. The only reward for this is that you will survive to do it all over again. God bless those souls both living and dead for their willingness to partake in perhaps the highest game of chance with the highest stakes. If you lose, the consolation prize is a white stone barely one foot by one foot. They all look alike with the exception of a few words but they each have a story and a dream ended short of completion. As I write this, seventy one years ago the time is 11:48AM on the beaches and the outcome is unclear but the die is cast and they must persevere." |
What a great way, Stan, to start a special weekend! May we BOTH seek to meet in the middle and continue to appreciate one another as I do you, my friend.
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'What do you know?' We have something that we agree on.
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The complexity of that day boggles the mind. "The Longest Day" movie is about as close a depiction as could be put on film. I am glad The History Channel is putting together newly discovered archival film and some of it is in color.
What impressed me most about D-Day was the American ability to innovate when plans were not working and men were dying. The Germans were a top-down command structure so constraining their troops that they could not change quickly and, therefore, lost the battle. By the Grace of God we succeeded on that day. To have failed meant German horrors and intrusion on other nations could have led them to the shores of the US. According to all the public comments by the German leadership that day, they won. |
Thank you for this poignant message about a day that should never be forgotten.
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