Sixty two years ago today, British, Canadian, and American forces stormed their way onto the beaches of Normandy, France, smashing down the 'front door' of 'Fortress Europa', and gaining a foothold into Nazi occupied territory.
From this foothold, Allied forces pushed their way into, and through, the Bocage, an area of farmland inland from the beaches of Normandy, with fields surrounded with hedgerows - some as thick as 6 to 10 feet - that the Germans had fortified and booby-trapped, in an effort to stop the advance of the Allied forces.
In less than a year after the invasion of Normandy, Allied forces had utterly destroyed the German war machine, and after Hitler's suicide, achieved the unconditional surrender of German forces, ending the war in Europe.
As this struggle for freedom was happening in Europe, Allied forces were also pitted in bitter struggle against the military forces of the Empire of Japan. Many of the island names where Allied forces fought and died are etched in the annals of history - Iwo Jima, Saipan, Okinawa, among others.
Then, in August of 1945, the war was brought to an abrupt end with the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Free civilization was able to take a deep breath, knowing that the war of world domination by evil had come to an end - at least temporarily.
At the beginning of the war, young men and women made a decision to make a stand, fight for freedom, and oppose those who would subjugate others for evil purposes. Those young men and women have come to be called the Greatest Generation, an appelation richly deserved through much sacrifice, tears, pain and death.
It has been estimated that we are losing between 1,000 to 2,000 of these members of the Greatest Generation per day now, as old age, infirmity and illness takes its inevitable toll, and it is for that reason that I want to add my voice, to say a thank you and well done to those of the Greatest Generation that are still with us, and who may read this.
Without you, and your sacrifice and struggles against an implacable foe, I would not enjoy the freedoms I do today, and I am forever in your debt. Thank you so much.
As we commemorate this day, I want you to know that, in the struggle against terrorism, another Greatest Generation is being forged in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq, and in other places where terrorism rears its ugly, evil head.
As the first Greatest Generation fades into the annals of history, I am heartened by the fact that there is another Greatest Generation made up of young men and women that are willing to take up the torch of freedom, that have made the decision to make a stand, fight for freedom, and oppose those who would subjugate others for evil purposes.
To those of you who belong to this next Greatest Generation, I want to also say a thank you and well done. I am very grateful for the sacrifice, the pain and tears, that you are so willingly making to ensure that freedom does not die.
I will never forget.
1 comment:
Hooah!
Post a Comment