Seventy-five years have passed since a victory by American and Allied forces changed the world.
Greatest wartime victory?
There are no bad or even mediocre ones. Anytime our country is called to defend its freedom, to send troops and risk lives for the red, white and blue, it is a meaningful moment.
D-Day is how we know it in retrospect. We were drawn into a world war in December of 1941, on a “day of infamy,” and on June 6, 1944, the tide turned on the beaches of northwestern France.
Dwight Eisenhower, then a general, had been appointed commander of Operation Overlord in January. In the ensuing months, he outsmarted Adolf Hitler and crushed Erwin Rommel’s charges.
The Germans believed an invasion was coming, but Eisenhower stoked them with deception toward various targets. He sold it, too. Fake equipment, fake radio transmissions, a fake army commanded by George Patton, double agents — the master tactician gave his very best to deliver an unprecedented action.
The ploy set up more than 5,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft to move into position. We often remember the Allies famously landing on the beaches, but paratroopers and glider troops were also landing behind enemy lines. Allies secured bridges, exit roads and forced the Germans into long detours.
Eisenhower’s brilliance in victory came with a cost. The amphibious landing, depicted in many movies about the war, was horrific in loss of life. As vessels approached and gates were lowered, bullets dropped soldiers rapidly.
We cannot imagine the true emotions of those brave young men. Fear of what was about to happen, or confident power in the numbers carrying out the operation?
For many involved on those beaches that day, there were long periods of time before they would talk about it. For some, never. We can understand their reluctance; for there’s no way we can comprehend what those moments of the war were like.
Seventy-five years later, the story of that day is slowly being left to the history books. Survivors are 90 to 100, and more history has happened since then. Those veterans will tell us their days of seeing the history of the Civil War and World War I fade are now happening again with World War II.
D-Day will never be forgotten. But how it resonates with the generations that have followed will continue to change, fading a bit in relevance as our country faces and defeats new threats.
Our gratitude to veterans never wavers, no matter their time of service in our great country’s history or their place among its battles or peacetime. They offer their lives for us, a debt that we cannot repay.
The life Hitler would have for the world was awful. June 6, 1944, was the beginning of the end to his plan.
We mourn the loss of so many lives. We rejoice and celebrate their courage and triumph.