Normandy: Freedom is not free.

I know these blogs are way overdue and I have no excuse other than the fact that I lost interest in writing them. But I'm going to fight that feeling for there are stories that need telling.
This past week, I was able to travel to one of the most impressive places that I have ever been to and I seriously doubt that I will see anything quite like it again. Normandy is a coastal region in upper France that is situated right on the English Channel. For hundreds of years, it remained a quiet, fishing and farming region with peaceful, unbelievably gorgeous, rolling meadows and grazing pastures for dairy cows. It also was a popular tourist destination for the last hundred years or so which brought people from all over Europe to vacation on it's immense beaches. Today, Normandy is more well known for the critical part it played during World War II as it was the stage for the largest amphibious assault/invasion in history referred to as D-Day, The Battle of Normandy or Operation Overlord. If you don't know, France had been invaded by the fast moving, relentless Nazi army in 1940 with little resistance and had been ruled by a steel fist ever since the occupation. Many people were forced to leave the country of France or lived in great fear. Since the French army had mostly surrendered, the French relied on the "resistance" from citizens of the country who formed an underground army that aimed to fight the Nazis in any way they could. The French Resistance, as they were formally called, consisted of men, women and teenagers who did everything they could do to kill or disrupt Nazi forces. One photograph I saw while in Normandy, showed a middle aged Norman woman wearing a dress and military helmet crouching behind sand bags. She obviously was a civilian and part of the French Resistance. In her hand, she clutched a grenade and looked as though she were getting ready to throw it. The expression on her face was that of fear, but also of courage, and I immediately felt an immense feeling of admiration and respect for her. Seeing that picture made me think of what it would be like to have my home town invaded. What would I do? I have a pretty good idea, but how can I know for sure? What would you do? This sounds corny, but that picture made me think of my loved ones. What if our army was inept at keeping invaders at bay and we had to rely on these guerrilla tactics to survive? I have to chuckle at the thought of my mother wielding a grenade, but this was the French's reality during these tumultuous times. Take a moment and put yourself in that position.
Despite the heroic efforts of the French Resistance, it goes without saying that the French-along with the other allied forces- desperately needed help. Before the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the US had not wanted to join the war effort for various reasons, but mostly because they wanted to maintain their isolationist, post World War I mentality. However, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, President Roosevelt declared war on Japan, Nazi Germany and the Italians. Nazi Germany was considered by Roosevelt to be the greatest threat. In his speech to congress, Roosevelt said that when "Germany is defeated, the collapse of Italy and Japan will follow". By 1943, Hitler had gained so much momentum that defeat of the Allied forces (USA, England, Canada and pretty much the rest of Europe and Russia) seemed eminent if something wasn't done soon. There had also been speculation that Hitler possessed weapons capable of destroying London completely. This would have been a devastating blow to the Allied forces because of England's close tactical accessibility for the Allied forces to the rest of Europe and because it was really the only Allied base left standing. If England had been taken, most of Europe could be speaking German right now.
With defeat being a possible reality, the Allied forces, led by General Eisenhower, decided that an Allied invasion of Europe would be the only way to stop Hitler. Operation Overlord, the formal name given to the plans of the invasion, was set to take place in the summer of 1944. For months leading up to the invasion, the Allies and French resistance did everything they could to mask the plans of the invasion from spreading fake rumors of invasion dates and plans or creating artificial traffic in different ports in England which would lead the Germans to believe the attack was coming from somewhere else in England. The goal was to spread the German lines as thin as possible along the French coast line so they could not concentrate their forces at any particular place along the coast.
In the early hours of June 6th, 1944, D-DAY commenced with American and other Allied paratroopers parachuting deep behind German lines. One of these para troopers was former Syracuse head coach Ben Schwartzwalder who went on to win numerous medals for bravery for his efforts at Normandy. Of these medals were the Presidential Unit Citation, a bronze star, silver star, Purple Heart and four battle stars. As a Captain in the 82cnd Airborne of the 507th, Schwartzwalder lead his men to numerous victories in post D-DAY battles that ensued after. This was at a high cost however, as the 507th lost 65% of it's men. After his military career, Schwartzwalder went to coach Syracuse to a National Championship and coached prominent players like Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Todd Flaherty :). My dad says that he will always remember the half time stories that Coach Ben would tell to rally his Syracuse players. My father can recall him saying things like "I remember parachuting in the behind those Nazi sons-a-bitches and sticking my bayonet right between there shoulder blades.." Something to that effect.
Anyways, back to the invasion, and yeah I know this has turned into a little bit of a history lesson. At 6:30 AM, H-hour, the first wave of American soldiers landed on Omaha beach. Since the Allied Naval forces had not done as good as a job as they planned in bombarding the Germans with artillery from battle ships, boys and men who had come from their homes some 4,000 miles away in the US were met by strong, dug in, German forces (who were made up of mostly teenagers reinforced with seasoned veterans) used machine gun fire, mortar and whatever was militarily possible to slaughter the Americans as they stormed the beach. The American casualties were extremely high, but these brave men ended up "taking" or winning the beach. If one needs any assistance in picturing what this was like, watch the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan. It was a terrible morning at Omaha and without a doubt, the bloodiest part of the D-Day invasion. Of the 34,250 American men who invaded Omaha beach, there were 10,000 casualties (dead and wounded). It is undisputed among the French that most of the credit on D-Day belongs to the brave men who stormed Omaha beach and although today there may be some bad blood between the French and Americans today, I surely did not get that feeling when conversing with the French people of Normandy, in fact, it was quite the contrary. In one moving interview that I watched, a Frenchman was moved to tears at the sacrifice that the Americans and other Allies made. In one part he said, "The Americans were our liberators and we didn't even know them...they came from 4,000 miles away and ended up dying in a place they didn't even know...they came to free us". It was a joint effort that day though as the British and Canadian forces suffered great loss at Gold Beach (which my hotel balcony overlooked) and Juno Beach respectively. Needless to say, they are all heroes too. I have not mentioned the other beaches at Normandy that were stormed because I don't want to make this blog too long, but I think it's disrespectful not to mention these places as well. They were Utah beach (American forces) and Sword beach (British forces). There were other gallant efforts made that I have not mentioned, including the efforts of the US RANGERS who mountain climbed their way with grappling hooks up the the treacherous peak of La Pointe Du Hoc to take out German guns that were aimed right at the Americans storming the beach below. Of those 250 Rangers who climbed Pointe Du Hoc, only 90 survived. Without the collaborative efforts of all these men, France may never have been liberated and the Allied forces would not have gone on to win the war. The storming of Normandy and the crucial battles that ensued months after the invasion, without a doubt, turned the tide of the war. On Sept. 2, 1945 the World War II officially ended.
Today, Normandy is a peaceful, resort area that is quite comparable to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Families come from all over to the see the battlefield sites, but also to use Normandy's beaches for windsurfing, riding jet skis and swimming. At first, I found it a little disrespectful that people would be using these once blood soaked beaches for leisure activities. But then it dawned on me that this is why the Allied forces liberated France-so the French people could have their everyday liberties back. Also, there are numerous monuments and museums, including the Omaha Beach Memorial and American Military Cemetery, that dot the Norman coastline paying tribute to all the men who fought at Normandy. I had a chance to walk down onto Omaha beach(you can see me standing on Omaha in my profile picture) right where the sand hits the waves that carried thousands of young men, some barely 17 years old, to their death at the hands of automatic weapon fire and mortar shrapnel. As I crouched down to run my fingers through the salty water of the English Channel, I tried to envision what it must have been like that day. I tried to imagine looking over at one of my friends who just had one of his limbs blown off. So far in my life, I thought, I had it relatively easy. For some reason, it was my fate to be born into a loving family and to be blessed with many great experiences and opportunities. For others, like the men of D-Day, their fate was to leave their homes to fight on a beach 4,000 miles away. They were sons, fathers, brothers and friends who valued many of the things I do, but had their lives cut short while defending freedom. As I walked off Omaha Beach, I made sure to close my eyes and whisper a quiet thank you for my blessings and for the great sacrifice that those men made and for the men who continue to make them today.
The greatest tribute to their sacrifice can be seen at the American Cemetery that overlooks Omaha Beach. Aside from Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C., the American Cemetery has to be one of the most beautiful monuments in all of the world. To see the symmetry and perfection in which all 9,386 graves are aligned is truly breathtaking. I was able to find the grave stones of Robert and Preston Niland, two brothers who were both killed at the battle of Normandy. Their third brother, Edward, was taken prisoner by the Japanese during 1944 in the Pacific, but was released at the end of the war in 1945. During this time though, the US Military allowed Fritz Niland, the fourth brother, to return home safely to his parents in New York. If this story seems familiar, the film Saving Private Ryan was loosely based off of these events along with the tragic deaths of the 5 Sullivan brothers who were all killed when their battle ship was sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Pacific during 1942. Can you imagine the grief that these families must have gone through?
I have never experienced that sort of grief, but my father has. In 1966, during the Vietnam War, his brother, Lt. Kevin Michael Flaherty was killed in action. This was a more than devastating loss for my father and his family, and they would be the first to tell you that the emotional wounds have never really healed. As a boy, I can remember going to Arlington Cemetery to visit my uncle Kevin's grave site and seeing how powerful it was to watch my father kneel down at the grave of his brother and display the same emotions he must have had the day he heard the terrible news. As I surveyed the cemetery, I realized that this is what all these families have gone through and are still going through today.
Today, it is up to the younger generations to keep these stories of D-Day alive and well. World War II survivors are dying at an astonishing rate and it will be only a matter of time before they are all gone. It's crucial to keep their stories alive in any way we can. It's important to know that Hitler and the rest of the Axis of Evil posed a real threat to the well being of the entire world and unlike some wars, one cannot really protest US involvement in World War II. Regardless of your political affiliation or opinion on any conflict though, one must always realize that there are young men and women in every war who are sacrificing their well being in order for us to have better lives. One must always realize that freedom is not free.

Side note: Total Land forces deployed for D-Day: 156,205 Allied men
Also, I accidentally erased the first draft of this blog...needless to say, I was not a happy camper. I apologize for any mistakes I made or carelessness.