D-Day + 77 Years

         A few surviving veterans joined others in France on its western edge to commemorate the Allied invasion in 1944 that sounded the death knell of Hitler's Nazi nation.   It was the largest invasion in history, involving men from many nations, joined together to defeat Fascism and a lethal dictatorship headed by a group of misanthropes bent on dominating the world. In its early days, Fascism won a few advocates across the political spectrum.   A prelude to the coming international clash occurred in Spain during the Spanish Civil War in 1935-37.  Republican forces under Gen. Franco fought with the elected government that sought to repeal the historical ties between large landowners and the Catholic Church which had supported existing laws that suppressed the rights of citizens and essentially created a slave-like underclass of workers.

       When Hitler unleashed his mad-dog militarists against Western Europe in 1939, the world stood aghast as Nazi Storm troopers dashed across the landscape, defeating France, the Benelux, Denmark, and with the help of Stalin- Finland, Poland, and the Baltics.  It appeared that the Great Britain was next on the list.   Only Winston Churchill stood in his was, even as Hitler allowed the British Army to escape from the shores of Dunkirk.  The Blitz, as it became known, would soon follow, the idea being that the U.K. would sue for peace and give up its empire without a fight.  Despite crippling losses and an air campaign never witnessed in history, Mr. Churchill planted British feet and refused to negotiate with the German madman.

       He implored the President of the United States to offer aid in the form of military hardware.  F.D.R. had a difficult time convincing Congress to act, and it was only his political genius that eventually brought surplus Navy ships to England before U-Boats cut the supply lifeline across the North Atlantic.  And then: Pearl Harbor happened, and the rest is history.

       Yesterday,  events were attended by many grateful survivors and more than a few who remembered those who gave their young lives so that the world would avoid totalitarianism personified by Hitler and his corrupt henchmen.

Never Forget.