Remembering the Day That Saved the Free World

       On June 6, 1944, Allied forces under the overall command of General Dwight Eisenhower stormed the beaches of Normandy to take on the German troops entrenched all along the coastline of France. Called "Operation Overlord", the liberation of France with the Allied coastal invasion was the largest armada assembled in modern history, originally planned during the darkest days of World War II when the Nazis were in control of large portions of Europe with a stranglehold that appeared unbreakable. Eisenhower spoke personally with the troops beforehand, telling them all that they were embarked "on a great crusade" to save the world. His speech must have inspired thousands of them.

       The invasion was almost called off due to inclement weather. Eisenhower actually took a big chance with the operation, as he'd been given a brief window of time to launch the attack. Luckily the weather held out and the naval forces were able to land thousands of men on Omaha, Juno, Gold, Utah and Sword Beach. Repelled at first with blistering machine gun and mortar fire, the Allies finally overcame the German positions, albeit with very heavy casualties.

       Today, 74 years later, it is worth pondering what was accomplished that fateful day. The old adage: "If the Allies hadn't won, we'd all be speaking German" is not too far off the mark. The Nazi war machine was overwhelming, brutal and successful in taking control of France, Austria, Poland and several other countries. Although Hitler and his commanders made glaring overcommitments of men and assets that were unsustainable, it is quite possible that, if he had limited his troops to just one or two areas, he could have succeeded. Instead he badly miscalculated in trying to create a vast new German empire which was doomed to fail due to limited resources- and the world benefited from his error.

       The ranks of World War II veterans are thinning rapidly; the youngest person to serve, starting as late as 1945, would today be at least 90 years old. We're losing about 400 WWII veterans every day. One young man wants to make sure their stories are heard. Rishi Sharma- a 20 year old from Redondo Beach, California has made it his mission to interview every living WWII vet. He's traveled to 45 states and Canada and spoken with 870 of them over the last few years. Rishi talks with many of them on the phone, some in person, videotaping their comments to be stored in a "living history" WWII database. Although he realizes it is a nearly impossible task, Rishi persists and is determined to reach as many as he can. He documents his experiences and those of the veterans on his website www.heroesofthesecondworldwar.org. 

       Tom Brokaw called them "The Greatest Generation." While all our veterans should be thanked and honored for their service, those who fought in World War II- on the beaches of Normandy, in the horrific Battle of the Bulge, in the Pacific Theater at the bloody battles of Midway, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, all across Africa and Asia- somehow deserve a very special "Thank you." Without their efforts, hundreds of millions of people around the world might have been forced into lives of desperation and tyranny. Because of them, today... we live in freedom.