Spearhead wrote:
Kind of annoying when some people (like Reagan in his speech that kmar posted) say D-Day was the begining of the liberation of Europe.... as if they had never heard of Italy and battles like Cassino and Anzio and what not
RIP
Where was that exactly? The word beginning doesn't even appear in his speech. I checked.
He said we came a liberators.. not that we were the only liberators, or that fighting had not already taken place.. Actually he MADE IT A POINT to pay tribute to other allied fighting forces.
We salute them today. But, Mr. President (Francois Mitterand of France), we also salute those who, like yourself, were already engaging the enemy inside your beloved country, the French Resistance. Your valiant struggle for France did so much to cripple the enemy and spur the advance of the armies of liberation. The French Forces of the Interior will forever personify courage and national spirit. They will be a timeless inspiration to all who are free and to all who would be free.
I think I know what you may be thinking right now -- thinking ``we were just part of a bigger effort; everyone was brave that day.'' Well, everyone was. Do you remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren't. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of the bullets into the ground around him.
Lord Lovat was with him -- Lord Lovat of Scotland, who calmly announced when he got to the bridge, ``Sorry I'm a few minutes late,'' as if he'd been delayed by a traffic jam, when in truth he'd just come from the bloody fighting on Sword Beach, which he and his men had just taken.
There was the impossible valor of the Poles who threw themselves between the enemy and the rest of Europe as the invasion took hold, and the unsurpassed courage of the Canadians who had already seen the horrors of war on this coast. They knew what awaited them there, but they would not be deterred. And once they hit Juno Beach, they never looked back.
All of these men were part of a rollcall of honor with names that spoke of a pride as bright as the colors they bore: the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Poland's 24th Lancers, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, the Screaming Eagles, the Yeomen of England's armored divisions, the forces of Free France, the Coast Guard's ``Matchbox Fleet'' and you, the American Rangers.
It's fitting to remember here the great losses also suffered by the Russian people during World War II: 20 million perished, a terrible price that testifies to all the world the necessity of ending war.
He wasn't there to give a history lesson. He was there
at Normandy, on D-day, at the Pointe Du Hoc monument, speaking to the Rangers that participated in the landing, to acknowledge the sacrifices paid on that day. Context is important.
Really, I don't see how you didn't get that (or all of your fellow block quoters, with their curious need to share elementary knowledge of WWII history).. other than you probably just don't like Reagan at all.