Today is the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion by the Allied troops in which, on June 6, 1944, over 150,000 troops launched the largest sea, air, and land invasion in history against the Fascist powers led by Nazi Germany. The invasion itself saw these troops land in Nazi-occupied France, and it marked the beginning of the end of Nazi control of France and of the European war.
This landing was part of Operation Overlord, the code name for the overall plan to invade and retake France and move into Germany. During this battle, approximately 210,000 Allied casualties, including about 37,000 killed were suffered.
Most of the soldiers who attacked that beach and faced horrific gunfire from the occupying Nazi forces were around 18-20 years old, and they were among the most honorable and brave forces the Unites States ever produced. They were, indeed, among America’s Greatest Generation.
Please remember their courage and sacrifice.
Please remember that their actions helped to create the postwar American-European alliances that are currently at risk.
Truly inspiring courage from those men. I can’t imagine the mental fortitude it took to slog forward through the surf, up the beach, and beyond.
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I cannot either. It is inspiring.
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yes, here’s to everyone of them
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Yes!
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One of the positive roles of social media that I’ve observed since I’ve become involved in it is keeping the sacrifices and memories of the men and women who died for our freedom in war alive and honored.
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I meant to add that today’s blog post is a case in point!
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thank you!
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When you watch the footage of the elderly veterans speaking, it really touches your heart. They made them sacrifices for us, we should be forever grateful.
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Yes, we should always be grateful, and we should always take a lesson from their courage.
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Indeed!
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What is most startling is their youth… And any of those young kids who could see the hail of bullets that peppered the water from their first steps and continued on anyway became men that day… We owe them more than remembrance — we owe them the resolution to uphold what they died for and fought for that day…
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KC, I completely agree with you.
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Well said, KC!
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You are welcome!
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
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Thank you!
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My dad was there. He was 20 years old at the time of D day. He enlisted in the British Royal Navy at the age of 17 when we were already at war with the Germans. So very young to face the horrors of war.
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Your father was a very brave young man. I honor him.
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Amen! May we honor those who fight for our freedom and never forget the sacrifices they make. Wonderful post, Charles.
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Thank you so much, Jennie!
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You are welcome, Charles!
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Hear hear. I have great respect for fiction, but this is one of many reminders that often history – after all – surpasses fiction. The scope of this event is almost unimaginable. That era in US history, and the Marshall plan, is surely one of the coolest and most admirable periods so far – when they did something unparalleled for the sake of others, not for gain, but out of principle.
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Thank you!
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