D-Day. June 6th, 1944. 70 years ago, 160,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches or parachuted into the area surrounding Normandy, France to invade “Fortress Europe†and begin the process of pushing German troops out of France and back into Germany. Over 10,000 Allied Troops from the US, England, France, Canada and Poland would be killed or wounded that day in the largest, most complex military invasion in world history. More than 13,000 aircraft and 5,000 ships of all types brought the Allied invasion forces across the English Channel from England to France that fateful morning. The film “Saving Private Ryan,†directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks is one of the most realistic films of the D-Day invasion ever produced. I saw that movie in Austin, Texas when it was released in theaters in July of 1998. In the theater in the row in front of me was an older man about 75 years old. I couldn’t see his face very well, but when this scene of the movie began playing, I could see he was beginning to perspire and he was obviously fidgeting and uncomfortable over what he was watching. This is a difficult part of the movie to watch. As far as war films go, the film and this Normandy invasion scene is supposed to be a fairly accurate depiction of what the actual combat was like for the men on Omaha Beach that June 1944 D-Day morning. When the movie ended and we were walking out of the theater, I was walking beside this man separated by the seats and we both looked at each other. I said to him, “I noticed during the beach landing scene you seemed pretty upset and you were perspiring. Did you serve during World War 2, sir? He looked at me very solemnly and said, “Yes, I was on Omaha Beach that morning.†I said, “That must have been a terrifying experience, I’m glad you came through it and thank you for your service, sir!†He said, “Thank you, I appreciate that. That landing scene gave me chills, it was like reliving it all over again.†I said, “Was the movie realistic, were the battle scenes in the movie like what you remembered and went through?†He laughed and said, “Hell, no! If they showed how bad it really was and all the maimed bodies and sickening wounds I saw, people woulda been puking up their popcorn!†This is in tribute to the 4,400 plus men who were killed that day, the thousands more who were wounded, missing or captured and all our veterans who landed or parachuted into Normandy to fight against Nazi Germany. The America we live in today came about in large measure because of the sacrifice, courage and patriotism of those men and women who made the D-Day invasion a success and paved the way to victory in World War 2. We owe them a debt of gratitude and respect that can never really be repaid. But we can honor, remember and pay tribute to them every June 6th. https://youtube/watch?v=pCLJhxfj608
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 06:12:52 +0000
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