Visiting the beaches of Normandy and commemorating D-Day
Christopher Tremoglie
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Seventy-nine years ago today, Europe was rescued from Nazi Germany. June 6 should be considered one of the most important days in world history. It was a date that saved a country, a continent, and arguably Western civilization. Operation Overlord, the military code name for D-Day, began just after midnight on June 6, 1944. Hundreds of thousands of Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy to save Europe from the horrors of Nazi Germany. Had this military operation failed, it could have turned the tide of the war in Germany’s favor.
By the end of the day, the Allies had landed 175,000 troops and 50,000 jeeps, tanks, and other military vehicles in France. Less than a year later, Hitler would be dead, and Nazi Germany would no longer exist. With the fate of the free world hanging by a thread, hundreds of thousands of the bravest men in the history of the world sacrificed their lives to preserve freedom.
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Last summer, I was fortunate enough to visit this site of one of history’s greatest battles as a member of the inaugural class of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s George Washington Statesmanship Fellows program. It’s a pilgrimage I highly recommend to any freedom-loving person with the resources to make the trip.
The Musee de la Bataille de Normandie (Museum of the Battle of Normandy) is a phenomenal and moving experience. It explains the military strategy behind the invasion along with artifacts from the battle and emotional first-person accounts of some soldiers who fought in the D-Day invasion.
Visiting Omaha Beach was a surreal experience. Today it’s an area of recreation and leisure as many Europeans were swimming, sailing, or lying on the sand. They seemed to be unaware of the hallowed ground they stood on. It made me wonder if they genuinely appreciated the sacrifice so many gave so they could enjoy their days on the beach. As I stood there taking in the sights, I asked myself the same question.
I was also able to visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. It is the final resting place of thousands of troops who preserved our freedom. It was outdoors and had hundreds of visitors on the day I went, and it might have been the quietest place I have ever been to. Being able to see firsthand a field of cemetery markers of white marble crosses and Stars of David is a moving experience unlike any other I have ever had.
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We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to those that fought that day that can never be repaid. June 6 is just a day on the calendar, often overlooked and forgotten as a day of sacrifice and heroism. But in reality, it is much more than that. Perhaps there is no better way to describe June 6 than what former President George W. Bush said during the D-Day Memorial dedication on June 6, 2021:
“America and the nations of Europe formed a bond that has never been broken. And all of us incurred a debt that can never be repaid,” Bush said. “Today, as America dedicates our D-Day Memorial, we pray that our country will always be worthy of the courage that delivered us from evil and saved the free world.”