June 6th? June 6th? Do I have something on June 6th?

It’s been driving me crazy all week. What is June 6th? What am I supposed to be doing on June 6th? Do I have an appointment? What the hell is happening on June sixth? What?

Oh. This.

Sixty-four years ago today, Allied forces swept onto the beaches of Normandy to liberate France and put an end to Nazi domination of Europe. The D-Day assault comprised American, Canadian, and British forces, but the Americans led, and for the most part the Americans bled, especially on Omaha.

There were 2,500 American deaths the first day. Kind of puts the AP daily Iraq military death count into a different light, doesn’t it?

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9 Responses to June 6th? June 6th? Do I have something on June 6th?

  1. Maquis says:

    Europe is becoming less and less a place I want to bring my family to, but seeing the American Military Cemetery at Normandy, and the one at Henri-Chappelle in Belgium where my great-uncle is buried, remain on our must visit list. All the American Military Cemeteries there are beautiful, but Normandy is just breath-taking, in more ways than one.

  2. DBL says:

    My uncle (who is still alive and well, G-d bless him) parachuted behind German lines the night of D-Day. He was the last one out of his plane before it exploded. He, and all the other brave young men, saved the world. Never forget.

  3. Harrison says:

    If your readers are interested, here’s a really cool site where you can listen to the actual radio broadcasts from D Day, beginning at midnight, June 6, 1944.

    http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/digital/D-Day.htm

  4. Alex Bensky says:

    Well, actually, of the five invasion beaches, the British and Canadians landed at and took three: Sword, Gold, and Juno. The US had Utah and bloody, bloody Omaha beaches, as well as two airborne divisions dropped the night before. It really was a fully co-operative venture.

    I think it was Victor Davis Hanson who pointed out the world-historical importance of D-Day. By that point the Allies would have won the war, but if the Anglo-Saxon nations had been defeated in Normandy, the war would have ended with all of Europe under Soviet domination.

  5. Houston says:

    It is truly amazing to think about the sacrifices of the people who fought in World War Two and you hit it on the head when you point out the number of troops lost in a single day.

    I pointed out a similar point concerning losses at Iwo Jima on a discussion board and compared it to the troop losses in the Iraq war. I was immediately jumped on and beat up for being cynical and playing a numbers game (I guess it’s OK when they do it). I didn’t even bother to fight back as nothing will sway people like that.

    While I always feel one death is one too many, I always find it amazing that the peacenicks (who enjoy being able to march and protest due to the blood shed for them) can never realize that the price of freedom isn’t cheap and while they can harp on and on about a “Quagmire,” they have no idea of what our troops have historically faced.

    I am so tired of the “The sky is falling” from screechers.

    May God bless out troops. Everyone should thank any serviceperson for their service AND sacrifice.

  6. Herschel says:

    As the years go by, and fewer and fewer D day veterans remain alive, we need to thank them for the horror they endured, and to remember the ones that sacrificed their lives for the freedom we now have.
    Its really hard to imagine todays spoiled teenagers, and twenty year olds, doing what needed to be done, 54 years ago on that horrific beach.

  7. Michael Lonie says:

    Herschel, some of them are doing much the same thing today in Iraq and Afghanistan. A few days ago President Bush awarded a postumous Medal of Honor to the parents of Ross McGinnis who flung himself on a grenade in a Hummer, saving the lives of his four comrades. He was 19 when he died, and enlisted at age 17.
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24794042/

  8. Bob says:

    My dad’s 92-year-old brother is still with us. He didn’t go in on D-Day, but he and the rest of Patton’s 3rd Army were there to break through the hedgerows. Uncle Bill is far more than a great man — he’s a good man.

  9. robert says:

    I honestly have doubts that Europe is worth saving anymore.

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