Remembering D-Day -- Seventy-Five Years Later
Today
marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day. Observances will take place in
Normandy, on the coast of France. Speeches will be given. Some of those who
participated in that invasion force will be present, but all who were present
that day are elderly. The youngest among them might be 92 or 93. This might be
the last time that they gather to remember that fateful day in June of 1944
when the tide of World War II was turned. Thousands died that day, on both
sides. A visit to the cemetery’s in Normandy—a visit I’ve not made—serves as a
reminder of the costly nature of that day.
Now, I
wasn’t alive on June 6, 1944. My parents were both teenagers at the time. My
father would join the Navy not long afterward, and my mother would turn
fourteen the next day, but they lived on opposite sides of the country at the
time. So, this anniversary is about my parent’s generation and not my own. The
question must be asked. What would have happened had that invasion not
succeeded? What would have happened if Hitler had succeeded in his plans? The “Final
Solution” was well underway. Hitler was intent on exterminating the Jewish
people, and others besides. What if Hitler’s regime had succeeded in developing
a nuclear weapon? For the people of the United Kingdom and Ireland and The Soviet Union, this was a dangerous possibility. It’s questions like these that
prevent me from embracing pacifism, though I believe strongly in peace.
May we,
on this day, pause to honor those who served that day and other days during
World War II to turn back the tide of Fascism. The Allies were not perfect. One
of our partners in turning back Hitler’s regime was Stalin’s Soviet Union. D-Day
succeeded in part because the Soviet Army was tying up a portion of the German
Army, allowing the invasion force a better chance of succeeding in their
mission. Stalin was probably as evil as Hitler, but for a moment he was needed
as a partner. The rest of us were not perfect, but for the survivors of Hitler’s
genocide, there is something to be thankful for. But there was a great cost, as the cemeteries and monuments in Normandy attest.
So, how do we commemorate the day? In seeking an answer to
the question I came upon this prayer shared with the nation on June 6, 1944, by
President Franklin Roosevelt. It might
not resonate with us in every way, but I think it catches the sense of the
nation at that moment, as they learned of this great invasion that changed the course of history.
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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 good will 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 keenness 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 arrogancies. 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.
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