I'm posting this at 1 A.M. local time. I'll be quite interested to see how much attention is paid to the anniversary of the D-Day invasion by our major media sources today.
Two things can quickly bring me nearly to tears when I dwell on them-
Thoughts of the guys in the landing craft approaching Omaha beach, looking at the high ground they'd be facing when they started their beach crossing...
And the Eighth Air Force guys that knew they had something like a 25% chance of being shot down each time they departed on a mission, and therefore had very little likelihood of succeeding in completing the 25 flights they needed to log in order to muster home, yet they nevertheless climbed into those lumbering bombers and went out to try to preserve the freedoms their loved ones back home enjoyed.
If we are not regularly reminded, we'll soon forget.
And we ARE NOT being regularly reminded.
To BZ's Dad, my Dad, my Uncle Garlin, and all that generation of men who knew first-hand what evil there is in this world-
Thank you. God Bless you.
6 comments:
We are in violent agreement, you and I. And the math on the 25% x 25 flights...what courage, what hope, what daring.
God rest the souls who have passed, and God prolong and bless those that remain.
Example of media coverage from the west: Today's Sacramento Bee and the SF Chronicle off the news stand. I went through every page, article, and insert. NOT ONE MENTION OF D-DAY. Maybe they covered it in their internet editions, but print got exactly zip.
Zilch on this end.
Hi GB,
You might want to read this.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1960/11/first-wave-at-omaha-beach/3365/
Best,
Erik.
Thank you sir.
My Dad pulled all of his missions and only managed to crash one.
He survived or otherwise I wouldn't be here.
Then the AAF, in its infinite wisdom, decided to make him an instructor in the B-25 Mitchell INSTEAD of the aircraft that he actually flew over Germany.
When he flew at Mather, that's when he met his wife and my mother.
There is such a miniscule number of those men alive today.
I completely fear that, in the near future, few Americans will be cognizant of the sacrifices The Greatest Generation made on behalf of the future of the entire WORLD.
BZ
Further, I would submit this to all the actual MEN of the United States:
You need to attend two very specific historical venues, accessible in your own nation:
1. Pearl Harbor
2. The Tomb of the Unknowns
If you don't cry hot tears down your cheeks at either venue, then I submit you're not actually an American.
BZ
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