06-09-2009, 02:43 PM
As I've said before, every June 6th - my dad would sit down to breakfast at our kitchen table, look down & solemnly say: "D-day the 6th of June". I had no clue what "Dday" meant or why he'd say it. Now I know that it was his prayer for all the fellows who'd been there.
I've continued his prayer every June 6th since he's been gone.
So often we say the names of all those places - Salerno, Anzio, Cassino - but have no clue what they mean. Only the guys who were there really know, but the rest of us must understand that it meant :valor, pain,fear, sacrifice, loss, exhaustion, and courage. If we don't learn that or if we ever forget it - we'll all be lost.
FDR speech on June 6, 1944: