D Day 1944 (White Giant)

65 years ago today Allied forces embarked on humanity's greatest endeavor.


"June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which 'we will accept nothing less than full victory.' More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day's end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded -- but more than 100,000 Soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler."

"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere ma

Let us NEVER forget.

I too salute those brave men, and thank them.

Let us with every endeavor, every action towards our fellow man, in the words Capt. Miller, the character from the movie "Saving Private Ryan", "EARN THIS".
With their blood and deeds those humble brave men gave us this freedom. We who thank them with words should also thank them by never allowing that kind of evil to take root again ANYWHERE in the world.

The saddest thing of all has been the attitude of politicians as of late. In a desperate bid to get on the good side of the Americans, the French President seemed to neglect the substantial efforts of the other D-Day allies in the liberation of his country.

We do not all forget so easily the price that was paid in blood for our freedom.

My deepest appreciation to everybody who has fought in the name of our rights.

On D-Day, 156,000 Allied soldiers fought on land against 380,000 Germans. Britons, Americans, Canadians, Norwegians, Polish, Free French, Australians, Czechs, Greeks - the list goes on - champions of freedom all.

As with all things, whilst being mindful of the past, we must look to the future by taking care of the present.

There are many events which have resulted in our rights (I quite liked the alternative histories thread which ran recently, conjecture can be entertaining) and we should be mindful of these as well. Perhaps becoming fixated on particular events blinds us to the importance of other events. Perhaps in the future it will be the subtle events we should be most mindful of.

I join everyone here is taking a moment to remember the dramatic events which are conventionally remembered on this day. I also urge everyone to consider what events, large or small, personal or impersonal which have affected their lives.

i would like to thank the following

pfc.john allen
gefreiter hans rueller