We pause today, the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, to pay tribute to the men who took part in the largest amphibious invasion in history, one that changed course of WWII and saved western civilization. According to Newsweek magazine, an estimated 6,603 Americans were killed wounded or missing in action on D-Day. From D-Day until August 21, when Paris, located about 118 miles away, was liberated, 72,911 Allied service members were killed or missing and 153,475 were wounded. Less than a year later, on May 8, Germany surrendered. 10,000 young Americans are buried near the code named, Omaha Beach. The last survivors of that day, members of The Greatest Generation are almost gone.
There were many tributes broadcast on television this morning, moving reminders of the soldiers, sailors and women working on the home-front to keep the war effort going. I heard an interview this morning that answered one of my thoughts, what did this invasion mean for the soldiers and sailors fighting on other war fronts? David Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist, answered that he had asked his dad, a surviving WWII sailor who served in the South Pacific and he responded that it meant they would get more materials and men they desperately needed to advance their efforts.
T's dad and mine were serving at the time, in different war theatres. I hope they too felt the benefit of the massive invasion. T’s dad served in the U.S.Navy on the USS Babbitt, a class of ship informally called a “Tincan Destroyer". He and his shipmates patrolled the sea protecting Allied vessels and shipping lanes in the icy cold North Atlantic off the coasts of Iceland and Ireland. My dad was part of the Army Air Corps, serving in the C.B.I. Theatre, as a part of the U.S. Air Transport Command. He was stationed in Sookerating Air Station, in the state of Assam, India, Dad was a technician who serviced the planes traveling over the Hump to resupply Allied forces. Those C-46 transport aircraft carried cargo, mail, essential war materials and troops in support of tactical operations in China, including evacuations of the sick and wounded. We remember them as well today.
I retired from public school teaching after happily spending twenty eight years playing in Kindergarten. Now I fill my days watching cat antics, taking endless...
