Remembering D-Day: June 6, 1944

Two of my cousins from Tennessee, neither of them having yet reached the age of twenty-one, were on the beach on D-Day.

Both came home physically whole but never the same in their souls. What they had seen and experienced in that battle scarred them forever.

But I never saw nor met two others as patriotic as my two cousins. They remained staunch patriots for the rest of their lives.

They never spoke one word about what happened on that beach. Neither did they sleep through another night again without nightmares and calling out in their sleep. And they never uttered one word of complaint about having served our nation, nor did they want any special recognition.

Would that all Americans today had the same humble determination to preserve freedom and the same willingness to fight for the noble cause of preserving that freedom!

Hat tip to Mustang of Social Sense for the following video:



Read the eloquent words of Dwight D. Eisenhower before that great battle:

SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the 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 march with you.

In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well
equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.

The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

SIGNED: Dwight D. Eisenhower

Ronald Reagan commemorating D-Day in 1984 (another hat tip to Mustang:



I wish that my two cousins from Tennessee had lived long enough to hear Reagan's words.

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Video: Ronald Reagan On The 40th Anniversary Of D-Day

In commemoration of this 65th anniversary of D-Day:




Two of my cousins, both in their early twenties, served at Normandy. Both came home, but were never the same and died premature deaths. As most who served there, my two cousins never spoke of what they saw and experienced in that terrible battle.

On this anniversary of D-Day, may we reflect on just what our forces did and still do to keep us free!

Note: Also see Mustang's post today. You'll note that General Eisenhower used the words "the Great Crusade," words that today inflame the Islamist enemmy.

(Hat tip to Mike's America for the video in this posting)

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RIP: Irena Sendler

Excerpt from this obituary in the Washington Post:

...In recent years, a biography of Mrs. Sendler called her "Mother of the children of the Holocaust," and Polish President Lech Kaczynski awarded her the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest civilian decoration.

"Every Jewish child who survived due to my efforts has justified my existence on this Earth but is no cause for praise," Mrs. Sendler told the Express. "We who were rescuing children are not some kind of heroes. That term irritates me greatly. The opposite is true. I continue to have qualms of conscience that I did so little. I could have done more. This regret will follow me to my death."...

Read the rest of the article.

Read more about Irena Sendler and "Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project" HERE. More details about her acts of heroism in saving 2500 Jewish children can be found HERE.

(The above entry also posted at THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS)

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