The
Captains and the Kings depart—
Still
stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An
humble and a contrite heart.
Lord
God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we
forget—lest we forget!
(Passage
from “Recessional” by Rudyard Kipling)
There are moments in time that are slipping
away from us.
Moments in history that each generation
becomes more and more disconnected with. My generation will someday face the
time when moments and events of great purpose will be all but lost in history.
I can assure you September 11th will become a day remembered by
only the few still alive to remember the day and others that learned about it
through textbooks or personal family histories. There is no doubt in my mind
that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will become chapters in books and the
soldiers will become numbers an entire generation of veterans lost to time,
their stories and sacrifices lost and only remembered on days when the History
channel runs a special. Time does a horrid thing to world changing events and
wars that transpire. It slowly pushes them farther back in the collective mind
of the world. They become questions on tests we take in high school with
answers we never fully commit to memory. They become movies and television
shows that we somehow disconnect ourselves from while sitting in our safe plush
seats. It breaks my heart to think that the events that my generation has lived
through will soon be as forgotten as the stories of my parents and moreover the
stories of my grandparents.
Many people have no idea what today is in History. You
may be sitting at your computer right now
asking yourself what June 6th has to do with anything. If you are still in close contact
with your grandparents (i.e. living with them, in contact via cellphone) you
could take a second and ask them. They’d probably know. It might even spark a
conversation with them about your Grandfather or maybe Great Grandfather. A
story about the years he served his country and the world during the Second
World War. Maybe, just maybe that Grandfather may have been a part of one
of the most pivotal moments of WWII. If he was American, Canadian, or English
he may have risked his life on this day in history battling the elements as
well as the enemy for the right to survive a small period of 24 hours that
occurred during a war that lasted six years. Possibly he fell from the
sky as member of the Airborne troops, or maybe he struggled to fight the wind
and the waves as he swam onto the shore with countless other men. Your
old Grandfather was lucky, he wasn’t one of the approximate 10,000 war
casualties (killed, wounded, or MIA) of this day of which the total killed is
estimated at 2,500. Now, stop for a second and think about those numbers. In a
world where the number “trillion” is thrown around so freely we’ve become numb
to numbers. Those numbers may have passed over you without a second of emotion.
You forgot that the numbers 10,000 and 2,500 represent soldiers, men, each one
human being added together to get numbers in the thousands. Those aren’t just
facts and figures, they are lives on paper and those numbers only represent
Allied forces. Let us not forget the members of Hitler’s army, some of which
were Russian, French, or Polish prisoners turned into soldiers by the commands
of what history has deemed a lunatic but the current times had hailed a savior
of a country. The numbers of those casualties are greatly debated but range
from around 4,000 to 9,000.
In the early moments of this day in history the war was
completely changed and by result the history of the world was
changed. Had the members of the airborne troops not fell from the sky and the
other members of allied invasion not fought the sea to land on sand being
showered with death from above the entire history of the world could be different.
June 6th was the day it had to happen. Countless elements had to fall into
place on one single day for the event to happen. A late rising full moon to
light the way for the airborne troops as they silently moved across
countryside’s of France, calm weather, and shortly after dawn a low tide for
the troops to enter the way through. June 6th did not meet all these requirements, stormy seas left men aboard
ships so sick they could not function and shotty moonlight that left men
straining to see in front of them. However, despite the less than perfect
conditions Eisenhower knew it had to happen. “I don’t like it, but there it
is….I don’t see how we could do anything else.” Thus, this day in June 68 years
ago became the day the Allied forces faced a “great and noble undertaking.” On
the beaches Sword, Juno, and Gold Allied troops from England and Canada arrived whilst on the
beaches of Omaha and Utah Allied troops from the US
landed. They had arrived on the beaches of Normandy, they had invaded the land
occupied by Axis troops, they had entered the war.
Two years
short of seven decades ago the war changed
and less a year later the war ended. Today is many things, but
first and foremost today is the 68th anniversary of D-Day. A day that many have forgotten and few
members of my generation know anything about. Only recently did my true
understanding and appreciate for this day in history bloom and I’ve made a
commitment to remind members of my generation and those to come about the
importance of this day. D-Day is not a chapter in history books, a television
special, or fine print on a calendar. D-Day is a day to be remembered in our
hearts and souls, a day to remember the soldiers that came and went
before our time, and that fought when the world needed them most. The “Free men
of the world (that marched) together to Victory!” For there is nothing we can
do for them now but remember and honor. Lest we forget.
Links:
Further reading online:
For a better understanding,
appreciation, and "life changing read":
