This past weekend was the 65th Anniversary of D-day. I spent a good deal of my weekend watching many movies, and documentaries on the D-day landing and World War II. Seeing some of the interviews with the Veteran's of the war got me thinking. I know it has been said before, but they really were a special breed. Maybe it was growing up and living through the Great Depression that gave them the fortitude and mind-set that you just had to "suck it up" and do what needed to be done...maybe it was the evil that the world was facing and the desire to help in some way.
Whatever it was, they all stepped up when the world needed them. Many gave their lives all for something they believed in. They fought on and did what was asked of them over and over till those that made it through returned home. And what is most refreshing, did so with great humility. There is a line in the mini-series "Band Of Brothers" right at the end. They are showing interviews with some of the Vets and one recalls a letter from a friend. A little girl asked her Grandfather, "Were you a hero in the war grandpa?", and he says "No...but I served in a Company of Heroes."
Sadly, fewer and fewer of these brave men are left as the years go by. In this modern world so many seem to be self-obsessed, I truly wonder if we would have what it takes to do what they did. I know many in the military that do, but would we as a country be able to muster the numbers for a massive undertaking such as was launched on June 6th, 1944. Someday there will be none of these brave souls left, then remembering will be up to us. We must always strive to remember them and the sacrifices so many made for our freedom.
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