D-Day 75th Anniversary – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
On this 75th anniversary of D-Day I felt I should write about it. I have shared some of this before, but I think that it is needed now. War is a terrible thing. It brings out the worst in humanity. It also brings out the best. World War II was a terrible and destructive war but it also showed that humanity can, and will, stand up against tyranny and evil. Jesus told us that “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). This was lived out every day of World War II and one of the greatest examples of this is the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France beginning on June 6, 1944. The Allied forces lost almost 10,000 soldiers during that invasion. It was the beginning of the end of the Nazi terrorism and the pure evil that they had spread. If any war could be considered necessary, this one certainly could. Freedom fought back against tyranny and goodness fought back against evil. The darkness of the Nazi regime was overcome by the light of the Allied forces. Proudly, the United States stood tall in bringing forth the light.
D- Day has affected us all in many ways. I realized how much it affected me when my wife and I traveled to France and visited the beaches of Normandy where D-Day happened. My birth father was one of the many soldiers who landed at the beaches of Normandy and lived through that to continue to fight the Nazis in Europe. I certainly am proud of him for that. While standing on the beach there and hearing our guide tell us of the large loss of so many soldiers there, my wife turned to me and said, “Just think about this; if your father had been killed here that day, you would never had been born”. It was a most sobering experience. I thought about those almost ten thousand men who lost their lives on those beaches and mourned for them and then mourned for all those children that they were never able to bring forth. My father had two brothers in that war. One of them, Carl was killed while trying to free Italy from the Nazis. He was only eighteen years old. He is still buried in Italy. His other brother, Milo, lost his leg while fighting the Nazis. My father suffered from “Shell shock” which is what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). War is terrible and does terrible things to people, yet our soldiers go out in to the midst of this hell, willing to give all for the sake of freedom.
Europe is free today because of the fighting of the Allied Forces. When we were in Normandy we saw the honor and respect and gratitude the French people have for Americans. There are so many memorials there showing this. We also saw it in Rome where there are a number of plaques and monuments honoring American forces for setting them free. We, as Americans, should be very proud of what our soldiers did in WWII. We should continue to be proud of them for all of the many wars and conflicts that have occurred since then and before then. I pray that someday war may cease, but until then a strong military is needed. We need to support our soldiers. I am a Vietnam War Era veteran. It was a hard time to be an Army soldier then. The Vietnam War was very unpopular and unfortunately people took it out on the soldiers. Fortunately, this no longer seems to be the case.
As I said, we need to support our soldiers. We can do this in so many ways. We can always thank them for their service when we see them. We can pick up their food or bar tab. I have done this so many times and find it so uplifting, some of the best money I ever spent. We can work with and support soldier and veteran’s groups. I work with and support a local group, Boots on the Ground of Long Island. It is definitely one of the best around. Since I am a Roman Catholic deacon, I also offer spiritual counseling to some veterans who are suffering from PTSD. They have seen and done things in the war that no one should ever see or do. They carry this home with them and it affects them tremendously. Sometimes all they need (besides professional counseling) is a friend to share lunch or a beer with and to lend an ear and caring mind. Our soldiers do so much for us; we need to do for them.
Lastly, as strange as it might sound, we need to celebrate our soldiers. Going to Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day and Fourth of July parades is one way of doing this. Recognizing their accomplishments is also so important. Take time to visit a soldier’s museum or monument. Say a prayer for them. Just today I saw a video from CBS News showing a 97 year old veteran of D-Day, who parachutes out of plane to the field where he landed on D-Day. Check it out here (short commercial before) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tom-rice-d-day-anniversary-97-year-old-paratrooper-jump-2019-06-05/ . This is quite a way to celebrate. Remember, we are called to thank and celebrate the men and women who did so much for us. God bless America.