Another June 6 has passed and another opportunity missed for there to be a mention of any kind in the Herald of what happened on this day 71 years ago. With that, I felt a need to write this letter to the editor concerning the lack of any D-Day recognition. I have written letters like this before.
I was disappointed by the realization that perhaps our country is letting this day become just another day. Since America has been at war for years now, maybe we’ve just become numb to it all. I can only imagine, because I’ve never been in the military, what it is like for our soldiers today, especially for those in combat and what they must go through to survive in their war.
But on June 6, 1944, on that day, I do think that perhaps the stakes were higher than most battles. I believe our whole way of life was on the line. Our guys were fighting the formidable German army. Thousands of our soldiers got slaughtered on the beaches that day by German 88s and machine-gun fire. To somehow try to picture what our Army Rangers did, climbing straight up a 100-foot cliff at Point du Hoc to take out enemy guns. Can you imagine? I surely cannot. Somehow the Allies prevailed and breached Hitler’s Atlantic wall.
So for what’s it’s worth, I do think we need to remember D-Day and not take anything we have for granted. We had a fight worth fighting and were right to rid the world of the Nazis. But maybe the average German soldier thought God was on his side, too. We had brave men and women and skilled leaders and thousands of planes and ships and supplies. We probably had quite a bit of luck, too. We should not ever forget what got done in France that day. D-Day.
Monte Roder
Durango
Editor’s note: See “D-Day, 71 years later,” Herald, June 7.)
