On
June 6, 1944 the civilized world held its breath and prayed
For
the soldiers who would follow paratroopers who jumped inland in the early
morning hours that day
Festung
Europa awaited backed by troops and tanks and crowned with guns, bunkers and
mines
All
part of the Desert Fox’s deadly defend France from the Allies design
If
the Allies were pushed back into the sea with the Russians on an Eastern Front
roll
Western
Europe may well have succumbed to Stalin’s domination goal
High
stakes poker with other than air supremacy the Germans holding the chips
No
wonder Ike and his generals were in a fear of failure partial grip
75
years later with so few aging members of the Greatest Generation still alive
So
hard today in our comforts and miniscule military service imagine how those
brave could survive
To
run down a ramp of a Higgins boat protected only by a helmet and khaki
Into
a hail of bullets and a firestorm of explosions seems completely foolhardy and
wacky
But
they did and the ocean waters and beach sands turned red
Bodies
floating in the waters or crumpled on the sands wounded or dead
How
many of us in this divided country would have stayed in the boats or planes
instead?
On
Memorial Day many flags were planted at the tombstones of the dead
But
little to honor those vets who had not died but only physically or emotionally
bled
The
sounds of silence of the treatment of vets especially in the wars that followed
A
reality of thanks for your service an expression not matched by deeds too often
rings hollow
Instead
of paying only lip service to those living gold star families and vets of later
wars
We
should be contributing to groups like Wounded Warriors or the Fisher House or
if an employer opening jobs doors
To
those vets who landed, sailed, flew or jumped on D-Day
We
owe them and their families a debt we can only try but never fully repay
And
in our daily thoughts and prayers try to help the nation be strong enough to keep
the dogs of war away
©
May 2, 2019 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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