Thread: D-Day anniversary

Today is the anniversary of D-Day: 65 years ago, many men and women, mainly from Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Poland, United Kingdom and United States, gave their lives to free Europe.

If there are any veterans - or family of veterans - here on the forum, I would like to thank them for their sacrifice to free the world from the Nazi tyranny.

God bless.

It was a tough day for all involved.

The passing of time takes more and more of the witnesses of that War from us. I remember as a child knowing several dozen survivors within my family's social circle. The fellow across the street from my parents house was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed, and later fought in the Ardennes and at the Bulge. There was an old Jewish couple who lived down the block from us, She a survivor of the Warwsaw Ghetto, and he am escapee from Stalin's purges after having been deported to Siberia during the war. My father-in-law from my first marriage was a bomber/navigator in the Pacific Theater (he saw quite a bit of action, and was involved in the sinking of the Yamato). The parents and grandparents of friends were there in so many forgotten battles and and actions.

But we didn't appreciate what their sacrifices were at the time. Most peoples understanding of the war came from melodramitic war movies with sanitized violence and the good guys winning. In the '70s, the VFW, the Leagionars, and all of the symbolism of the war and patriotism were viewed as anachrostic relics from a naive and silly past. America was involved in an unpopular war and the national mood was cynical and self absorbed. The baby boomers wanted to trivialize the accomplishments of their parents generation, I imagine.

We eventually grew up, I suppose, but not untill the years had robbed us of many of the living histories of that unbelievably violent time. I think nowdays people are nostalgic, not for the war, but for the idea that we could fight against so clear an enemy, that the good guys would be all good, and the bad guys so easy to spot, and that common citizens could unite in a heroic effort to topple the tyrants and monsters of the world. But it was never that way, really. Our grandparents muddled through the tough choices and on the whole, made the right decisions. Maybe they made a few missteps, but they did the best they could with what they had. And they did it mostly for us.

All we can hope for is to do as well today for our kids.

I heard the other day (in reference to live TAPS at veteran funerals) that 1,800 WWII vets die every day in the US.

It makes you stop and think about the scale of the conflict.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpK5uglhO1Q