June 6th, 1944

[ColGreeley]

In honor of today's date......we remember those who sacrificed so much for our freedom.....we will never forget

Troy

******************************************
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have
striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The
hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on
other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war
machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of
Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well
equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of
1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats,
in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their
strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home
Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions
of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.
The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to
Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in
battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great
and noble undertaking.


SIGNED: Dwight D. Eisenhower

[Pilgrim]

May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!




But I gotta say... outside of the entire Smash fascism angle, couldn't we have gone in through Belgium and let the Nazi's keep France?

[Rorschach]

Too marshy for tanks, etc, I'd guess. I can't remember the Whys and wherefore of that.

Or maybe nobody cared to deal with the Phlegmish. ;)

[Pilgrim]

Just imagine if any President gave this speech today!



My Fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

Franklin D. Roosevelt - June 6, 1944


The cries of Theocracy would be deafening!

[ColGreeley]

A much different time. But an amazing speech.

[Nate Train]

THEOCRACY!

[Rorschach]

Someone takes the stakes and torches away from Nate...

To Jim's point, I'm wondering when the last time a President did a prayer during a national televised speech? In the context of a Leader praying, I don't find it offensive - its what he wants to seek for guidance...

[Pilgrim]

I doubt many people would take offense to it...

But then some would. Whose people who've taken taking offense to an art form and who believe they should be free from anything that offends the lightest of their sensibilities...

Those are the people who would be loudest, and get the most attention.

Then the lawsuits would come...

[ColGreeley]

Normandy has always been somewhere I would love to visit. To go there, and see the history.

[Rorschach]

Normandy has always been somewhere I would love to visit. To go there, and see the history.

that would be a great visit, except the French are still there...

[Pilgrim]

When I was in France and went to the Eiffel Tower I walked up to this little railing where some French guy was alternating between smoking, drinking and making out with your typical really hot Parisian chick... when I realized where I was.


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40533000/jpg/_40533787_adolf_paris_ap203.jpg

right there... right next to where Hitler is standing was some Cheese smelling, chain smoking, womanizing, alcoholic Snob of a Frenchman...

Made it all seem worth it.

[Nate Train]

Whoops....forgot that Dale is the only one allowed to post snide remarks.


For the record, I was going for a little humor there.


And my liberal friends (read Mike) made comments when Tony Dungy made his spiritually based speech after the Super Bowl...so yeah, people would be offended.

[Rorschach]

I was going for a little humor there.

Ditto :D

I like the new banner, btw.

Too bad we can't have a Rogers/ Danvers ticket in '08 :-)

[ColGreeley]

Defense Secretary Pays Tribute to Fallen Troops in Normandy at 63rd Anniversary of D-Day
Wednesday, June 06, 2007

E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France — Above a cliff of silent reminders, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday evoked the image of fallen warriors to mark the 63rd anniversary of the Normandy D-Day landings that turned the tide of World War II.

The bloody beach assault on June 6, 1944, "unfolded as if it were a lifetime" for the young men who braved German guns, Gates said, looking out upon a vast field of white grave markers on a rainy, chilly day.

Gates and the new French defense minister attended the anniversary ceremony and dedication Wednesday of a visitor's center at the Normandy American Cemetery, the burial ground for 9,387 war dead, most of whom lost their lives in the amphibious assault and subsequent operations.

In remarks at the midday ceremony, Gates said U.S. and allied soldiers landed at Normandy to destroy entrenched forces of oppression "so that this nation, this continent and this world could one day know the tidings of peace."

He tied the memory of Normandy to the challenge of today's war on terrorism.

"We once again face enemies seeking to destroy our way of life, and we are once again engaged in an ideological struggle that may not find resolution for many years or even decades," he said.

(Story continues below)


RelatedVideo
D-Day Anniversary Photo Essays
D-Day Remembrance Speaking before Gates was American Walter Ehlers, a Medal of Honor recipient who landed at Omaha Beach as a young U.S. Army staff sergeant — an experience he recalled in vivid detail.

"We weren't prepared for the chaos and all the disasters," he said.

Gates was accompanied by French Defense Minister Herve Morin. When Gates arrived in Paris on Tuesday evening, he became the first U.S. defense secretary to visit the French capital in nearly 10 years.

Gates highlighted the traditional bonds between France and the United States — ties that have been badly strained recently by the war in Iraq and other differences between Paris and Washington.

"Minister Morin, events like this also remind us of all we have endured together — remind us of our long history in times of war and in times of peace — remind us of the shared values that transcend what differences we may have had in the past, or may have in the present," Gates said.

In his own remarks, Morin said D-Day has lasting importance for his country.

"For the French it was the beginning of the advance of freedom," he said.

In his Normandy speech, Gates painted a painful sketch of the D-Day misery and death, noting that it was preceded on June 5 by the movement of an enormous mass of men and ships that sailed across the English Channel.

"For those who were here, the next day, June 6, unfolded as if it were a lifetime," he said. "Men who had only recently felt the warmth of their families now felt the frigid waters of the English Channel and the lonely sands of a war-torn, wind-swept beachhead.

"Men who had just a few months earlier been boys in the midst of adolescence suddenly found themselves traversing a warren of lethal obstacles on beaches named Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword."

After the ceremony Gates visited Pointe du Hoc, where U.S. Army Rangers scaled sheer cliffs on D-Day, taking heavy casualties, to overrun German gun emplacements that were deemed a threat to the Omaha Beach landing.

French and American veterans and active troops took part in the American cemetery ceremony. Later, veterans from all countries that took part in the D-Day invasion were to join a ceremony at the Signal Monument outside the neighboring town of Sainte-Marie-Eglise.

Commemorations took place in towns along the Normandy coast during the week leading up to Wednesday's anniversary.

On Saturday afternoon, American parachutists landed in Sainte-Mere-Eglise. The town was the first liberated by U.S. forces on D-Day, after paratroopers landed overnight ahead of the main invasion force.

Vintage American and British military vehicles ferried uniform-wearing enthusiasts along the coast to and from a camp set up complete with tanks, jeeps, and women dressed as nurses.

A group of U.S. troops stationed in Germany arrived together in uniform at the American cemetery in Colleville-Sur-Mer on Sunday. Mingling with tourists, the soldiers paid their respects to the D-Day fallen.

[ColGreeley]

http://history1900s.about.com/library/photos/blydday4.htm

[ColGreeley]

Damn, still having trouble trying to post pics. Sorry guys.

[mruch89]

French Defense Minister :D What is his job? Training the people how to throw up their hands properly? ;)

[Rorschach]

Feels like a good day to watch SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and BAND OF BROTHERS.
Given the testing BS and Developer egos I'm wrestling with right now, I'd rather be in Normandy...at least then I can try and shoot somebody. :)

-D

[ColGreeley]

THE LONGEST DAY
SAVING PVT RYAN
BAND OF BROTHERS - Episode entiled DAY OF DAYS

All great cinema, in honor of today.

[Orrlak]

Remember these were both written BEFORE the era of LIMITED WARFARE. It has all changed since the Korean war. Fighting a war to a conclution is so unpleasent. (Of course that war isn't even over yet)

[Da' Boss Troll]

your typical really hot Parisian chick

Hot Parisian chicks?!? The Vikings kidnapped anything that looked good from that place hundreds of years ago. All that's left is ugly broads who need to shave twice a day. The reason the French invented sexy clothes is to draw attention AWAY from thier natural looks.

[Pilgrim]

Ever been to Paris.

As a young Single man I left with a wicked case of Whiplash.

[Rorschach]

All that's left is ugly broads who need to shave twice a day.

Yep...Audrey Tatou, Sophie Marceau, Eva Green, Anne Parillaud, and Emmanuelle Béart ...all total dogs...
:D

[Rorschach]

Fighting a war to a conclusion is so unpleasant.

I agree...isn't that a necessary habit we've talked ourselves out of? In the Old Days, one would fight until a civilized surrender was called, and the vanquished would generally cooperate out of honor, and be honorably treated. Not always, but an expectation to try for that was there. Now, its not even CONSIDERED...yet we keep showing the same forbearance as before.
One day, the West will be pushed far enough to show the world a REAL war. Like Rome would wage when no surrender was possible. The Jihadis should ask the Gauls what that was like...

Of course, adding religion to a conflict screws everything up, and civilization goes out the window. I always figure that the Holy Land *must* be Holy, because its a Miracle anyone is left alive over there and that there's anything left to fight over...

[papaThunder]

Fighting a war to a conclution is so unpleasent.

I know! When was the last time you played a game of Risk all the way to the end!

Normally the loser knows he is beaten, quits, and goes and plays WoW.

[Pilgrim]

I'll be nice and designate a thread that's turned into a political fight... and it seems appropriate.

This one didn't fit my purely my own criteria, so I've moved the political fighting and this thread can continue as a peacefully and loving tribute....

[Da' Boss Troll]

I'll be nice and designate a thread that's turned into a political fight... and it seems appropriate.

I am not a computer geek, nor do I play one on Television, I had no idea how to do that. Thank you for doing so. I expect, unless I get booted for my divergent opinions, that you shall need to perform this service for me many times in the future. Many thanks in advance.


This one didn't fit my purely my own criteria, so I've moved the political fighting and this thread can continue as a peacefully and loving tribute....

Agreed. I almost lost a great uncle on the Nevada when it turned turtle and were it not for the work of Marine Raiders my Grandfather would not have returned from Guadal Canal. Even I served my time in the eighties missing all the dustups somehow. I don't dis the service men and women whose lives were lost in all the pointless wars of the twentieth century, their only mistake was trusting their government, a lesson my fathers generation learned the hard way and one my sons generation seems doomed to repeat.

[ColGreeley]

That is all I intended with this post. It was not to be political in any means. It was meant to be a tribute and to show recognition.

[Orrlak]

Great move!!! My thanks to all those who served either willingly or unwillingly!!

[Pilgrim]

I am not a computer geek, nor do I play one on Television, I had no idea how to do that. Thank you for doing so. I expect, unless I get booted for my divergent opinions, that you shall need to perform this service for me many times in the future. Many thanks in advance.

Yeah it's the kind of thing only moderators can do...

I can't see you ever being kicked for having Divergent opinion, but be prepared to defend them. You've done OK so far on that end.