BY JIM VERDI
75 years ago today, young men, some not 18 yet were running into smoke, fire and projectiles that could tear them apart and in many cases did, with the mission of scaling a wall under fire from German guns coming from all directions, with little to no cover on a beachhead. What is it that made them do that? What is it that made them sign up for that? They felt it was their duty.
And you want to talk about immigrants? You had first generation Italians Germans and Japanese who volunteered to leave the security of the new country they called home, pick up a weapon and defend it against the country their parents or grandparents called home, maybe in some cases fighting against their own families.
75 years ago today, Dwight Eisenhower sent men into a battle he knew many would not come back from. He even told them he knew that. They went anyway, knowing they might die far from home. Because they loved their home, they loved their families, and they loved their country. They loved it so much they were willing to sacrifice the most precious thing they had to make sure it remained a free society. They loved that freedom so much they were willing to sacrifice their lives for people in other countries, so that they too would know that freedom.
And as we look back 75 years on what they did and why they did it, as we look at the crosses and stars of David, and crescents that line the cemeteries in Normandy, lined up with great precision, we look back to where we are today.
Those that believe in the values that those brave men held dear, today are called Nazis. We are compared to the evil that our boys were fighting on June 6th 1944. Because we believe in our country and that it’s borders should be protected, that we should have a common language that we can share and communicate with, and that we have one American culture, comprised of many yes, but distinctly American. Meaning we value freedom, honor, the right to speak our minds, the right to worship as we wish, without fear of retribution.
Yes there are still those that are willing to make that sacrifice. When you look at the never ending war in Afghanistan, we have boys that sign up still to go fight it, even though it’s looking less and less like it’s worth it. But they go. Just like the boys on those Higgins boats at Omaha Beach with German 88’s pounding them, they go. Because they believe in something greater than themselves.
I’m asking you today to not let their sacrifice die on that beach with them. Do not let those headstones that lay across an ocean from their home have no meaning. Remember them and what happened 75 years ago today and make others remember. It is the only hope we have for the survival of our borders, our language, our culture, our United States of America.
