The horrors of D-Day are why many veterans refused to ever discuss what happened that day…
S L A Marshall wrote this essay in 1960 in remembrance of the first wave on D-Day and it was printed in The Atlantic Magazine…
Take a few minutes, but be prepared. It is NOT pretty, and not necessarily heroic, just the plain unvarnished truth of that day. Link is HERE.
While the peace types bemoan the ‘horrors’ of war, they seem to forget that without those ‘nameless, faceless’ warriors (whom they denigrate as warmongers) who died that June day, they would be facing a very different world…
This is what it took to overcome the Germans that day… Could it be done today?
I think not… The will to win is not there…
No sugarcoating, indeed. The bravery and sacrifice of these men is almost incomprehensible.
Buck’s right, and so are you: while our current fighting men & women are without peer, the leadership & flag ranks are political wimps.
=1
I have seen photos, some movie art, and personal accounts that come close to capturing the battlefield, but they can’t reproduce the smell or the tunnel vision.
That they pushed on in the face of that bloodbath to victory is beyond mere admiration and respect.
You’re likely right that we lack the will to win such a fight today.
Unfortunately, we’re in the position of having Lions led by Donkeys (a very prescient saying that, considering the logo of the Democrat party).
It may take a major “man-caused disaster” (as the Democrats label it) to wake us up from this lotus-eating slumber.
Sadly, the weaker and less ready we appear to make such sacrifices, the more likely that such sacrifices will be required and a heavy cost will be incurred.
Hey Old NFO;
The GI’s that were there survived the great depression, the weak ones didn’t survive. We were a hardy species of Americans then, now we have a generation of people that are incapable of surviving without government largess, those would not charge the beachhead. I din’t think we as a society have the inner fire to pull off a victory…it is too hard and can’t happen immediately….and besides…Oprah is on.
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Buck/Rev/WSF- No question…
LL- Nope, nobody can ‘capture’ the “smell” of war…
Aaron- Good point!
Bob- You’re right also! I walked that beach years ago, and the hair on the back of my neck literally stood up just standing there imagining what they went through. One of my Masonic Lodge brothers was there with the Rangers. Until the day he died, he could recite the names and service numbers of all the men under him that died that day.
Blessent mon cœur d’une langeur monotone.
My Dad served in the Pacific, and he must have seen some bad things, as I’d occasionally get him talking about things, and then he’d clam up.
I never understood it until some of my friends came home from Nam…..
Ed- Agreed!
drjim- Yep…
I dunno. IMO the will to win still exists at the grunt level, where the rubber meets the road. Like Rev Paul said, it’s the higher-ups where things get flaky.
and now to spend three hours watching The Longest Day.
My old man was with Patton from Italy to the end.
Never said shit until we took him to see the movie, when he told us that he was in the third tank from a bridge the jerries blew that dropped a whole lot of troops and tanks into the river.
Getting bogged down in the mud and out of ammo and taking 88’s and then he clammed up for the rest of his life.
Tim- Maybe…
Ed- Good movie!
Skip- At least he gave you a little bit… Many took what they did to their graves…
We have wussies for leaders.
The average GI still has a fire in their bellies to win.
We need leaders like George S. Patton,”Bull” Halsey,
Chester Nimitz,”Vinegar” Joe Stilwelland Chesty Puller.
Rick- Only problem is, they’ve all been fired/retired…