D-Day Remembered 80 Years Later

June 6, 1944.  The Germans had built the Atlantic Wall up and down the coasts of the European countries they had captured.  The “wall’ was a series of fortifications along the coast to protect newly conquered land. German-controlled France was vulnerable to attack from England, especially the town of Calais because it was the closest spot in France to England. The Axis forces had built up substantial defenses because German leaders suspected the English and other allies to cross at Calais.

They were wrong.  Americans, Canadians, and British chose a less convenient and less obvious spot for their sea invasion: the beaches of Normandy. 

The day was stormy, and the preparatory bombing was unsuccessful, but these young men from the English-speaking world launched the attack that marked the beginning of the end of the war.  On D-Day, (known as J-Jour in France) 160,000 troops crossed the channel into France. Eventually 875,000 crossed. Thousands died. Within days the Allied forces built temporary ports where ships could be unloaded with supplies and equipment. 

And, just for the record, the fighting in Normandy and Brittany went on for weeks, so the coastal victory did not happen immediately.  The French Resistance sabotaged German forces (as my Utah book group has been reading about in A Woman of No Importance about an American woman who was a spy and organizer for the Allies and the Resistance). Eventually the Allies pushed the Germans back. In Belgium the Germans pushed back (Battle of the Bulge).  Allied forces pushed again, and then took Germany, which surrendered.  When Paris was freed, General de Gaulle came back from England and took over the French forces. There is a famous picture of him marching down the Champs Elysee in Paris as the Allies took back Paris and France.

Now the Normandy Beaches are solemn places. The American Cemetery, full of white crosses standing at attention, fills my heart full of thanks for young men 18, 19, 20, 21, who bravely fought in a war far from their homeland, and who sacrificed their lives in the battles.

Being from Utah, we had to see Utah Beach with its moving museum 

 and long silent beaches. 

I can picture landing craft bringing waves of young Americans, Canadians, and Brits to fight against Hitler and his armies. The fate of the world was at stake.

  And many Germans lost their lives. I looked at the dates of the German cemetery to find mostly young men 18, 19, 20, and 21 who had fought on the other side, many of whom, I’m sure, were not Nazi partisans.

  We stopped at Ste-Mere Eglise, a small village with a beautiful church. One man landed with his parachute hanging from the church steeple, and he had to pretend he was dead all night to keep from being shot down. Now the church has a permanent model hanging on the roof in honor of the paratroopers who landed nearby.

 We saw Omaha Beach.

We saw old German Bunkers with the guns still intact at Longues-sur-Mer Battery

and Pointe du Hoc.

 We saw the tops of old boats that were sunk in the Arromanches harbor to create an artificial harbor. 

 And now, I see a new wave of allies who have come to France to help save its people. I am happy to serve with this group of Tahitians, French, Spanish, Mexicans, Americans, Canadians, Germans, and Brits, women and men, who are 18, 19, 20, 21,

and who are willing to give up 18-24 months of their lives and live a minimalist life with maximum spiritual benefits dedicated to helping whoever will listen to their message about Jesus Christ. A very different kind of army in a different kind of conflict, but the fate of the world is still at stake.

They're almost everywhere in the world now . . . to bring the world His peace.