D-Day Remembered-70 Years Later

      A few old surviving Allied veterans will join much younger heads of state tomorrow to commemorate the Allied landing on the beaches of Normandy.   President Obama will join with other leaders including Mr. Putin, Mr. Hollande, Angela Merkel, Mr. Cameron(and the Queen?), Matteo Renzi, and maybe the new king of Spain, King Juan Carlos having abdicated this week because of declining health.
      Only the youngest participants on the day are still with us.  Gone are the generals, the colonels, the admirals, and captains.  All we have left are the boots on the ground: the men who did the heavy lifting.  In this case the men who waded ashore under the relentless fire of Nazi cannons in concrete bunkers above the beach.  It was a long day-The Longest Day as the book was called.
      Having walked on Omaha Beach just last October, that experience is easily recalled.  The beach is narrow at high tide and flat and broad when low tide as it was on the day we visited.  The Channel was calm, unlike in '44, when rough seas made landings extremely difficult and the outcome in doubt.
     Long planned under secrecy, and carried out with boldness and daring, the amphibious effort ensured a victory for the Allied forces, including the Soviet Union,or U.S.S. R. as it was known back then when Uncle Joe still lorded over his conquered states.  Hitler's former ally seemed shocked when Adolf turned East in 1941.  Folks back then thought there was honor among thieves, but, alas, not so much.
        The French people recall the days spent under the Nazi boot after the blitzkrieg attack forced France to capitulate in early 1940.  After that date, there were 2 countries of France: Vichy and Free French in the south.   It was not pretty, before, during, and after the Nazi occupation.  In less than a year after the Normandy landing, Germany would surrender, Hitler would be dead, and Europe would begin the long road to reconstruction.  That is Western Europe, the east unfortunately fell behind Stalin's Iron Curtain.
       And so, read the stories tomorrow, there will be significant news coverage.  With all that's happening in Ukraine, the focus will be intense.  As the G-7 Summit  ends in Brussels, more news will be flowing.  What about the G-8?   Well, the schoolyard bully, Vlad the Cad, was not invited.  He doesn't know how to play well with others in the schoolyard.   Like all  bullies, he just doesn't get it. 
D-Day- We Remember