80 years ago men, some as young as 18, stormed the beaches of Normandie. It was a mission that they knew would have high casualties. It did.
"It is hard for us to imagine the scale of the D-Day operation today. The idea of 150,000 Allied forces descending on the beaches of Normandy in Nazi-occupied France seems more the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters than of real life.
But in 2013, British artists Jamie Wardley and Andy Moss went some way in helping us to visualise the number of people killed on 6 June 1944 with their conceptual art piece ‘The Fallen 9,000’." You can read more about it {here}.
Incredible.
"It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives -- the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember."
- Ronald Reagan
Memorial day is not just about WWII, but about REMEMBERING all those who lost their lives in the service of our nation.
My bunting is hung, our flag always flies, and we will be grilling meat for our meal today. But in this home, we will take time to REMEMBER.
My dad is a Vietnam war veteran. I grew up honoring those lost. Let's not forget to teach our children and their children and their children to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
We can never repay them, but we can work hard to have peace, so that we don't have wars.
God Bless the memories of those lives lost.
5 comments:
I hate war....awful. Bless all our Heroes....
hugs
Donna
We always take time to remember. I lost a neighbor friend in Vietnam. I always think of him on Memorial Day and the 4th of July because that is when the marines came out to tell the family and all us neighbors were in the front. I’ll never forget the mom’s wail. Chilling.
Thank you for the tribute to all those that gave their lives for our freedom! My dad served in the British army and was captured at the battle of Dunkirk. He escaped, made his way into German occupied Belgium, and met a wonderful 60+ yo woman that hid American and British soldiers from the Germans. She fed them and helped them to escape. That woman was my grandmother. My mom wrote to my 'some day' grandparents in England to let them know their son was alive. My dad was captured again. He survived the war but had his right ankle and jaw broken while in a German prison camp. After the war, my dad found my mom, they fell in love, and married a year later. My siblings were born in Europe and I'm their American born child. I know Memorial Day is to honor those that gave their lives for our freedom. I can't help but tell my dads story. My hubby served in the Vietnam war . Many dodged the draft in the 1960's and there were so many protests against our brave heroes. Thankfully your dad and my husband were among many that served honorably. God bless these wonderful men and women.
Amen!!
That's unbelievable...I'd never heard of that before. What a visual. And yes, I grew up in a home that always took time to remember. My dad was a WWII veteran and we still take time to honor those who fought and made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.
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