Events still live as long as there are witnesses, survivors and participantsDate: 6/11/2019 Events still live as long as there are witnesses, survivors and participants. When those people pass, events become history. While they are preserved with words, audio recordings, photos and film, something is missing without the element of humanity.
There was an anniversary last week that should have been significant to every American, but I’m sure was just academic for too many.
If you missed it, the anniversary marked the 75th year since Allied forces in World War II invaded Europe through Normandy in France.
The stars of the events were the men and women who remain here as witnesses to D-Day and the conflicts that followed.
D-Day was the turning point in the war in Europe. It challenged the Nazis in occupied France and was designed to begin the process of pushing them out of France, Holland and Belgium.
It is difficult to imagine the sheer logistics of placing 24,000 men on those fortified beaches in order to attempt to overwhelm Nazi forces. In fact, for most of us the idea is inconceivable. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.
The invasion successfully established the entry into France the Allies had to have.
Last week, people who survived the invasions were part of numerous ceremonies in the United States, Great Britain and France. I caught a report about a 97-year-old veteran who was one of the paratroopers who parachuted into France that fateful day on June 6, 1944. He marked the occasion by parachuting out of a plane assisted by another.
Tom Rice explained to CBS News the purpose the paratroopers had was to “Chase ‘em out, run ‘em across fields, through cemeteries, jumping over tombstones, chase ‘em all the way back to the German border as fast as we can.”
I saw another quote from a veteran who said he was not a hero. The heroes were the ones who lost their life during the invasions, he insisted.
The Washington Post ran a story about the small town of Bedford, VA, they commemorated the 20 young men who lost their lives that day. I can’t imagine what transpired in that community at that time.
If you are a Baby Boomer like me, there is a good chance either your father or mother served during WWII. Growing up it was often simply referenced as “the war.” In my household it had a special meaning, as my dad was the pilot of a B-17 stationed in Great Britain.
His career in the Air Force included flying B-29s in Korea, B-52s in peacetime and then commanding a maintenance squadron serving helicopters in Vietnam.
Yes, he did the hat trick.
My father, though, did not often talk about that war or any of his experiences. The stories were far and in-between. If he did share something there was a greater chance it was something humorous.
There were many times, especially later in life, that he would speak to a former crewmember and, although we didn’t listen in, it was obvious they were speaking about events in the past they shared.
He did once say that only the people who went through an event as traumatic as combat could actually understand it. I certainly understood that and never pressed him to share his experiences.
There was one rule that my father frequently enforced: he did not want my brother and me to watch war movies. He pretty much despised them, as he did not want war to be glorified. So, even though I developed into a movie guy, I have watched relatively few war movies even as an adult.
My dad would be 97 this year on his birthday and if he was alive today, although he did not participate in the invasion, he would have honored those comrades who put their love of country and sense of service before their own lives and interests.
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