Today marks the 64th anniversary of probably the most momentous day in modern history, the day the Allied Powers invaded Nazi occupied territory at the beaches of Normandy, France. Among those Allied Powers were Americans, British, and Canadians, all determined to free Europe from the horror of Nazism. To land those troops on those Normandy beaches that day took the largest Naval armada in history, while overhead planes of the various Allied Powers flew in a seemingly never ending stream of bombers and fighters.
Of the hundreds of thousands of men who landed on that beach that day now so long ago, many never made it off the beach, giving their lives in the fight to liberate an enslaved continent, as the Germans fought fiercely to prevent the Allies from gaining a foothold. But this day belonged to those who fought for freedom, as the Allies did gain a foothold, and from that foothold, eventually pushed the Germans all the way back to Germany in defeat.
Most of those men who landed that day at Normandy were in their early twenties, many even still in their teens. They are now in their eighties and nineties, and we are losing more and more of those gallant warriors - yes, warriors! - as each day passes.
Because of what they accomplished, and the fact that we are losing them at an ever increasing pace, we must never forget their sacrifices in the fight for freedom. For without them, it is highly unlikely we would be enjoying the blessings of freedom as we know them today, and I will be forever grateful to them for what they did.
To those members of the "Greatest Generation" that are still with us, I say thank you.
To those who perished on that fateful day, and those who have passed since, a toast - To Absent Comrades!
