Well folks, today we’re going to be talking about D-Day, the other name for the Allied Invasion of Normandy during World War 2.
Oh yeah, and the movies that don’t represent it all that well.
Today is the anniversary of D-Day.
As I write this article, it’s June 6th, 2019. It’s officially been 75 years since our troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, many of them laying down their lives.
All so we could get some footing in Europe.
It’s a time to remember.
Take some time to reflect not just for the people who were there and you can see today, but for the people who never made it back.
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For those who stayed in Normandy.
For those who gave their life for their country.
And for those who died fighting against a foreign evil, against fascism, and against hatred.
For those who took those boats out to the beaches that terrifying day and faced Nazi gunfire head on.
Remember however you want.
But my advice is to go visit and listen to a Veteran in your life. Hear their stories, their plights but most of all, spend time with them.
Let them know their sacrifice wasn’t in vain.
But most of all, thank them.
Let them know you appreciate everything they’ve given up. All the horrible things they’ve had to experience so that you can live free of unjust persecution and horrors from overseas.
Thank Veterans today.
Veterans like Frank DeVita.
This man, a World War 2 veteran from New Jersey, recently spoke with Inside Edition about his time in the war.
And the results are… humbling to say the least.
At first, it’s uplifting.
As the narrator says, he’s surrounded by so much love.
102 members of his family and friends travel with Frank to the beaches of Normandy. To pay tribute to this hero.
And then, he stands in the graveyard.
He talks about how “these kids”, his fellow men, had their whole lives ahead of them.
How they had so much more living to do. However, now, they’re just crosses.
He talks about how they’ll never live life.
How now they’ll never walk their daughter down the aisle.
How they’ll never hold their grandchildren in their arms. How the last thing they saw was Nazi bullets and a wet, rainy beach. Because now, they’re just crosses.
Frank’s job was to lower the troop transport landing doors.
Just like we can see in the movie Saving Private Ryan .
And boy, does Frank have a lot to say about the opening scene in particular. He says that the horrors showed… were incredibly accurate.
He tells the story of his landing.
As he puts it:
“I had 32 men on the boat. 3 men got off the boat and made the beach, and they were cut down immediately”.
He continues…
“Then the bullets started coming into the boat and we lost about 14 or 15 men from the machine guns. It was a bloodbath.”
Much like the opening scene in Saving Private Ryan depicted.
He tells another gruesome tale…
About a kid he saw on the beach. He says:
“The kid was two feet away from me. He was not so lucky. The machine gun took his helmet off and part of his head. He was crying… ‘help me…. help me'” And he fell at Frank’s feet.
At Normandy, Frank is considered a hero.
People walk up to him and give him hugs.
They even showed a picture of how he looked back then in the news story. That’s him as a 19-year-old on the left.
You can watch Frank’s story here:
If you click the link below. But no matter what you do today, whether it be to talk to a vet, thank a vet or just watch Frank’s clip, remember one thing:
Don’t let these people become just crosses.
