Remembering
Normandy
“...God
almighty, in a few short hours we will be in battle with the enemy.
We do not join battle afraid. We do not ask favors or indulgence, but
ask that, if You will, use us as Your instrument of the right and an
aid in returning peace to the world...” Lt. Col. Robert L.
Wolverton, June 6, 1944
My
friend, Bob, lost his father in the Normandy invasion seventy years
ago. A father he never knew. A few years ago, he and his wife, Carol,
went to France and found his father's grave, and today he is there
again for the 70th Anniversary. I would be remiss if I did
not acknowledge the lives lost there, both Allied and Axis—some
409,000 casualties, more than 200,000 each.
It
is my hope that today, as people gather on Omaha beach they will
strengthen their resolve toward peace in the world. I hope that their
words will not be acrimonious, but worthy of the lives lost beneath
their feet, on that sacred ground. Let the vast swath of simple white
crosses ever be a reminder of what is at stake when we declare war.
I
pay tribute to the men, all of them, who died at Normandy doing what
their governments required of them. They left their families, and
their labors as teachers, carpenters, bus drivers, road builders,
factory workers, baseball players, business men, bakers, bankers,
and more, and went to fight for their way of life and their freedom.
May
the lessons of Normandy be engraved on our hearts and minds. May we
crave peace like water in the desert. May we make war no more.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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