I’ve been sick all week and today was the first day I was able to go out into the real world. Honestly, until I was heading back from a meeting, it did not occur to me at all that today was D-Day. I only remember it when hearing someone say on the radio that today was June 6th and we should know what that day is. It then occurred to me that it was D-Day.
The speaker spoke on what happened and while we seem to know what happened, he really spoke on what happened. I found myself getting emotionally gripped as I drove and listened. I heard about what a great day this was in the history of the U.S. Military and in the history of the U.S. period. (Heck. Let’s just say the history of the world. D-Day changed everything.)
Eisenhower wasn’t sure the plan would succeed and they had had to cancel the plan several times because the weather wasn’t permitting. Some say there was divine providence at hand that day as the weather was working in favor of the allied forces. Who is to say indeed that the hand of God was not present and the U.S. Military was his means of eliminating this evil?
The speaker spoke about how it was said that even in training for the event that there were deaths. There were numerous deaths though as the soldiers were just landing on the shores. What was most chilling at this point was hearing about Point-du-Hoc. Here, U.S. Rangers scaled the walls being picked off one-by-one by the German guns at the top, but the Rangers kept coming until they reached the top and won.
I thought about that. How many soldiers kept climbing knowing it likely they’d never see their wives again in this lifetime? They’d never get to hug their children? They’d never share a drink with their friends again? They’d never get to see another sunrise or another sunset? To climb that wall was to be essentially a request to die.
And they did it anyway.
And they won.
A lot of them died of course, but they died knowing that someone behind them was going to go on and carry the fight on. Some of them might have gone knowing they were most likely bullet fodder and they didn’t have a chance of scaling that wall themselves. Apparently, they didn’t care. They knew evil had to be stopped and their desires put aside.
I am not a pacifist, but I believe it was Patton who said “War is Hell.” I agree. It is something that I wish didn’t have to happen. I wish we didn’t have to lock people up in prison, but we do. I am proud of what happened 68 years ago today though. I have great support for our military forces and what they did to bring about the downfall of evil.
And I think we Christians can learn from that also. We can look at the sacrifices these men made. Granted, they died for a great cause, but the greatest cause to live and die for is the cause of Christ. If men are willing to go into known suicide for an earthly cause, how much more should we be willing to face all opposition for a heavenly one?
Men of D-Day! We salute you! If any veteran reads this, you have my salute! Thank you for being willing to die so that I could be free today.
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