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Saturday, June 06, 2009
65th Anniversary of D-Day
On June 6th we commemorate the anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy -- conveying our thanks to those who fought and died for the liberation of Europe, and the world, from the Nazis.
Many stories and reflections will be shared today. Here are just a few. On one occasion we were near some farm houses and some large shells began to fall, so several of us near a stone barn dashed into it to get out of the way of shrapnel. Just inside was a mother hen covering her little chicks. When we hurried in she became frightened and fluffing her feathers rose up to protect her young. I looked at her and silently said, "No, mother hen, we are not trying to hurt you and your little family, we are trying to hurt each other." * * * The horrors of that day are still vivid for the D-Day heroes. CNN talks with British veteran Frank Rosier:Rosier told me that what he and the veterans discuss among themselves is very different to what is said in television interviews; but when pushed, he describes what it's like to kill another man.Of the 800 men in Rosier's infantry, only five survived the war unharmed, "the rest were killed, missing or wounded." The closest approximation of that fateful day, according to the testimony of many veterans, are from the initial 24-minute sequence of Stephen Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. It prompted over 14,000 postings in internet chatrooms and obliged the Veteran's administration to set up a hotline (see footage here). The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt. You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.And reflecting on the 60th anniversary of the invasion from his perspective as a German, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) conveyed his gratitude (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung): We give thanks at this hour that this deliverance, in fact, took place. And not just those nations that suffered occupation by German troops, and were thus delivered over to Nazi terror, give thanks. We Germans, too, give thanks that by this action, freedom, law and justice would be restored to us. If nowhere else in history, here clearly is a case where, in the form of the Allied invasion, a justum bellum worked, ultimately, for the benefit of the very country against which it was waged. Labels: civil holidays
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Against The Grain is the personal blog of Christopher Blosser - web designer
and all around maintenance guy for the original Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club (Now Pope Benedict XVI).
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