By this time 62 years ago...

[Nitro]

By this time 62 years ago, over 17,000 British, Canadian, and American airborne infantrymen were behind enemy lines. At 12:16AM the first men from the British 6th Airborne Division landed in gliders, and over 13,000 men from the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions weren't far behind. Scattered over Normandy after nearly every unit missed it's drop zone, most of these men fought alone or in small patchwork groups. Less then 5000 of the 13,000+ US airborne troops accounted for by the end of D-Day, and they were the only Allied force in Normandy until the first troops of seaborne invasion force landed just before 8:00AM.

 

Without the efforts of the brave men of those airborne units, Operation Overlord would have been impossible, and it saddens me to think that the average person knows little or nothing of their part in the invasion. The term "D-Day" conjures up images of men in landing craft storming beachheads in a hail of gunfire, and while I do not mean to detract from the honor and respect that those men most decidedly earned, I hate the way the media focuses on them almost to the point of excluding all others.

 

As a point of pride, however, I'd like to note that of all the amphibious assault units, only the Canadians at Juno Beach were successful in achieving their objectives. Despite having faced resistance stronger than any beachhead other than Omaha, the Canadians had pushed 15km inland by the end of D-Day, further then any other Allied force. Of the 14,000+ that landed, 574 were killed and 340 wounded.

 

By June 11th, a total of 326,000 Allied troops were in Normandy for Operation Overlord. 53,700 of them died before the operation's end with the liberation of Paris on August 25th, and during that time an additional 155,000 were wounded. Even now, 62 years later, over 18,000 men are still unaccounted for.

 

I thank every last one of those brave men. Most of them were younger then most of the people on this board, so I ask you to take some time today to reflect on what it would be like to be a 19 year old kid with a rifle, jumping into enemy territory in the middle of the night, or watching your friends in the landing craft ahead of yours get torn to shreds by machine gun fire before they even got off the boat. Imagine having a 1 in 3 chance of getting through the next 90 days unscathed. There may only have been 220,000 casualties on paper, but I haven't heard of a single veteran that's said they weren't changed by the experience. All of those men were wounded.

 

I leave you with the words of Colonel Robert Sink, commander of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne, from the letter each and every member of the 506th received before the invasion.

 

 

 

Today, and as you read this, you are en route to that great adventure for which

you have trained for over two years.

 

Tonight is the night of nights.

 

Tomorrow throughout the whole of our homeland and the Allied world the bells

will ring out the tidings that you have arrived, and the invasion for

liberation has begun.

 

The hopes and prayers of your dear ones accompany you, the confidence of your

high commanders goes with you. The fears of the Germans are about to become a

reality.

 

Let us strike hard. When the going is tough, let us go harder. Imbues with

faith in the rightness of our cause, and the power of our might, let us

annihilate the enemy where found.

 

May God be with each of you fine soldiers. By your actions let us justify His

faith in us.