Think back to the time in your life when you were in the 18-25 year-old age group. It’s the prime of life. Graduating high school and getting a job, maybe going to college. A lot of folks meet that special someone and start a family during that time.
Today is a very special day in the history not only of our nation, but in the history of the western world. Today, June 6th, 2024, is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the storming ashore of thousands of men trying to gain a foothold on the Nazi-controlled European continent to liberate it from Hitler’s regime. Over 125,000 American, British, and Canadian troops, most of them aged 18-25, took part in amphibious assaults on the beaches near Normandy, France, while another 23,000 got air-dropped behind enemy lines the night before.
They faced withering hails of machine gun and small arms fire, mortars, unimaginable sights of carnage and gore littering the beach, and surf that turned red with blood. This was a challenge that could only be overcome by throwing wave after wave of men at the enemy, and almost 9,000 Allied troops perished that day. In the end, the effort was enough for Allied forces to establish a logistics hub on the beach where they could unload tanks, troops, and equipment to move inland and ultimately defeat Hitler and his war machine, freeing Western Europe.
Today very few of these men are left. Many of the ones still around are over 100 years old. If any of those who were at Normandy on D-Day are reading this, we owe you a debt of gratitude. Thank you for enduring a series of nightmares for the sake of complete strangers.
Even though it may not have happened on the same day, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also offer a word of thanks to those who took part in the Pacific fight. To the Marines out there who endured unspeakable horrors, were forced to do things no human should ever have to do, and then try to readjust to “normal” life back home when it was all over, hats off to you. The European Theater of WWII gets most of the attention, but you witnessed unspeakable things on a regular basis. Your fight only just started once the war ended. “Thank you” doesn’t begin to cover it, but it’s all I have to give.
By now a lot of movies, shows, or other productions have recreated some of these world-changing events. While I can’t claim to know how closely they compare to the real thing, here are a few ideas if you’d like to get better acquainted with D-Day or the war in the Pacific. For the amphibious landings at Normandy, check out the scene near the beginning of Saving Private Ryan. For the paratroopers dropped in and around Normandy on D-Day, watch the second episode of Band of Brothers. To see war bring out some of the worst of humanity in the Pacific theater of World War II (on both sides), take a look at the miniseries The Pacific.
These depictions are not for the faint of heart, and they are not happy events, but remembering horrible sets of events hopefully helps us avoid future versions of the same thing. We owe much to the men (and a few women) who showed up 80 years ago for the biggest battles to put down the Axis powers. If you know someone who was there, please thank them in a way that’s meaningful to them.
