D-Day Rememberance

[Gator Claus]

I'm sorry that I was not able to post this yesterday on June 6th, the 68th anniversary of D-Day. Please take a moment to reflect and remember the horrific sacrifice that our warriors gave to change the tide of World War II.

The following is an excerpt from the "American Patriot's Almanac" written by William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb.

Dwight D. Eisenhower once described the Allied Forces assembled in Britain for the D-Day invasion as "a great human spring, coiled for the moment when its energy would vault the English Channel in the greatest amphibious assualt ever attempted." In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, that tense, coiled spring was finally released as the Allied Fleet reached Normandy. U.S. Forces landing at Omaha Beach struggled with high seas, fog, mines, and enemy fire that poured down from the high bluffs. Many soldiers were shot getting off their boats and died in the surf. In some units of Omaha, 90% of the troops were killed or wounded. But the assault force managed to cross the beach and drive the German Army inland. Before D-day was over, 155,000 Allied troops were ashore.

Santa's Drill Team has been honored to perform a portion of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Prayer that he read during a national radio broadcast on the evening of June 6, 1944. The Team feels that this portion of the prayer is still appropriate for remembering our service men and women defending our freedom today and is included in our "Memorial Prayer and Salute" presentation.

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

On behalf of Santa's Drill Team, may God Bless you and may God continue to Bless the greatest nation on earth, the United States of America!

[Eileen Strom]

It still boggles the mind that not only were they able to pull it off at all, but the number of lives that were lost on that day.

But what irks me the most is that this marks the 2nd if not 3rd year in a row that OUR nation's leader has for the most part, completely ignored it, and, the sacrifices that were made not only by US and British Forces, but by those dedicated to freeing Europe that perished that day and the days that followed.

[Santa JimL]

Thank you Gator Claus, may we never forget them........

[Santa Warren]

I have a numbered print of the 29th Infantry Division on Omaha Beach.