Do You Understand D-Day?

If you were to rank the most important days in American history, June 6 would be near the top of the list. Next to some work by the Founding Fathers and Abraham Lincoln, perhaps no event means more in American history than D-Day, the successful Allied invasion of Europe in 1944 that signaled the beginning of the end for Hitler’s evil regime. June 6 marks the anniversary of that amazing surge 65 years ago today.

The majority of the men who made that brave push were young, kids really.  Many of them are gone today. The grizzled few that remain reflect only faint traces of the courageously clueless boys who took the next step because they had to. All they did was save the world, an achievement usually reserved for superheroes. 

I never care much for hero sandwich style writing when it comes to sports stars or corporate tycoons, but I don’t know any other way to describe what took place on the desolate beaches of France during that decisive summer.

Twenty-five years have passed since President Reagan commemorated the event at Normandy. In 1984, he spoke on the 40th anniversary of the invasion. He spoke of efforts by groups like the Rangers who climbed the cliffs in the face of machine gun fire and grenades to win the foothold position necessary for advancing through Europe. He spoke of individual sacrifices, those that risked their lives, those that gave them.

You can watch movies like Saving Private Ryan or Band Of Brothers or even documentaries with live footage. None of that does justice to the reality of what those troops faced. We can only listen to the words of those who fought to try to grab onto something we can understand. That will never be enough either though. In the end, all we are left with is how to respond. Like the astounding beauty of the universe we can not understand what it is we are seeing, we can only feel the awe that strikes anyone who takes the time to consider this rarest of scenes in a time of challenge that required sacrifice from all, selfishness from none.

Not to inject bitterness into these thoughts, but why is so little done on this day? In America, most people under the age of 40 are clueless until they stumble across a special on TV or see an article in passing. I believe June 6 should be a national holiday.

I’m amazed at how millions of people will spend a day planting trees and thinking about how much they love earth, yet those same people couldn’t find Europe on a map and think Normandy has something to do with wine or fashion. Don’t get me wrong, when the kids come home with baby plants we go nuts and find the perfect spot for it to bathe in the sun and slowly die over the coming weeks. But school is also in session every June 6 in my family when we remember the ultimate sacrifice of thousands.