The most consequential day ever?

 

"Was D-Day the most consequential day ever? Many think so. All I know is this - from what I have read, from what I have learned, the young men who took part in that historic invasion eighty years ago - were the very bravest. What we have today, where we are today, is due in large part to these young and very brave patriots. We cannot thank them enough."   

Some know this. Others don't. It pains me to say this, but some don't even care. In two days, we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. As war is always a messy business, D-Day was one of the messiest. But it was vitally important. To land at Normandy, to establish a beachhead so more allied troops could breach the shores of Europe, was going to be tough and bloody. And risky. There were NO guarantees the weather or the intelligence would hold up. Rather than just a very bloody victory for the allies, it could have turned into a Waterloo.

I have often times wondered what it would have been like to be in that armada, headed for the northern coast of France. Some of the young men on the assault crafts were barely old enough to shave. They knew their chances of making through this historic battle unscathed were slim. But they also knew one thing - to beat this menace, which was a threat to the entire world, meant that some might have to die. Some might have to get wounded. It was going to be a hell that no one man could comprehend.

Point of personal history. I had a much older cousin when I was growing up. He fought in World War II. He took part in D-Day. He was one of the small group of paratroopers who landed in Holland instead of Normandy. As a young boy, I never talked to him about his war experience. I did hear about it from my dad. My cousin was captured by the Nazis in Holland after he landed. Instead of killing him, they tortured him to get information. They did awful things to him, including pulling out his toenails.

Historians have often contemplated what would have happened if the invasion at Normandy had failed. Would Germany have won the war? Many think the war would have gone on longer, but Germany still would have lost. Others think with a longer war, the atomic bomb might have been a factor in Europe. The allies (US) would have had one, and the Germans were close to figuring out how to build one. But all this conjecture is just that. D-Day succeeded, and the allies went on to win the war in Europe.

Was D-Day the most consequential day ever? Many think so. All I know is this - from what I have read, from what I have learned, the young men who took part in that historic invasion eighty years ago - were the very bravest. What we have today, where we are today, is due in large part to those young and very brave patriots. We cannot thank them enough.